Adventures of Nordic Sun II

Vessel Name: Nordic Sun II
Vessel Make/Model: Hylas 44
Hailing Port: Tacoma, Washington, United States
02 September 2017 | MacDonald Island in Princess Louisa Inlet
02 August 2016 | Polnell Point
15 April 2016
Recent Blog Posts
25 September 2017

First Trip to Boat After Surgery

Today was my first trip to the boat since I had a total left hip replacement 5 weeks ago. Today i finally decided to see if the Nordic Sun II was still floating. I planned my trip to the boat while tides were high. This kept the ramp to the dock from being too steep. I measured the final zipper on our new cockpit enclosure. I also looked into the small pin hole leaks I had in my wet exhaust. Can't wait to start working on some of my boat project. Need to finish some of these old projects so I can get started on the long list of new projects.

02 September 2017 | MacDonald Island in Princess Louisa Inlet

Rapid ahead Captain!!!

The following video follows Nordic Sun II up Jervis Inlet to MacDonald Island in Princess Louisa Inlet.

02 August 2016 | Polnell Point

Langley to Polnell Point

We are now cruising north for Langley on the south end of Whidbey Island. Heather is steering while I write. We started off the morning by sleeping in. That was followed by spending an hour or so trying to figure out if the freshwater pump was getting electricity. Turns out it has power, so we determined [...]

31 July 2016

Summer Cruise 2016 - Tacoma to Langley on Whidbey Island

Left the Tacoma yacht club once we loaded up the last of our stuff. It was 11:45 am when we exited the basin. It was a great day. There was a south west breeze blowing. We eventually rolled out the jib and did a little motor sailing. The wind was up and down. In comes the jib. Out goes the jib. [...]

15 April 2016

Been A While

It has been a while since I posted anything, so here's what has been going on.

First Trip to Boat After Surgery

25 September 2017
Today was my first trip to the boat since I had a total left hip replacement 5 weeks ago. Today i finally decided to see if the Nordic Sun II was still floating. I planned my trip to the boat while tides were high. This kept the ramp to the dock from being too steep. I measured the final zipper on our new cockpit enclosure. I also looked into the small pin hole leaks I had in my wet exhaust. Can't wait to start working on some of my boat project. Need to finish some of these old projects so I can get started on the long list of new projects.

Rapid ahead Captain!!!

02 September 2017 | MacDonald Island in Princess Louisa Inlet
The following video follows Nordic Sun II up Jervis Inlet to MacDonald Island in Princess Louisa Inlet.

Enjoy!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ENdhUrw9fNY

Langley to Polnell Point

02 August 2016 | Polnell Point
Greg Larsen / Sunny
We are now cruising north for Langley on the south end of Whidbey Island. Heather is steering while I write. We started off the morning by sleeping in. That was followed by spending an hour or so trying to figure out if the freshwater pump was getting electricity. Turns out it has power, so we determined the pump went out. We will have to pick up a new pump in Anacortes.
Before we got moving I cooked bacon and fried eggs for the two of us. I even had a little hot apple cider. Forgot the coffee, not that I need it.
Went to start the motor this morning and it fired right up. Of course then it quickly died and won’t start. I jumped down below and opened up the engine compartment. I wanted to confirm that the diesel fuel pump was working. It was. As I sat there and listened I eventually heard the pump slow down. I then went backup up and cranked the engine over for a good 10 – 20 seconds and the engine finally started.
We brought up the anchor and washed the chain down as it came up. Not much mud here. I’m guessing it might have something to do with the tide going in and out. The movement of the current constantly taking away the loose muddy stand.
Heather motored all the way to our destination, which is Polnell Point. Polnell Point is just east of Oak Harbor. When we got there Rod, another boating buddy of mine was there. He was taking a local named “Joe” out for a sail. I anchored, and eventually Rod came over and tied up to us. We chatted and eventually showed Joe our boat. Later he took us up to his house. His house is right on the edge of a clay bank and has one spectacular 180 view.
After visiting with Joe we headed back to the boat for dinner, taco salad. Heather and I then finished the day off by beachcombing as the sun was going do. I took more pictures then beachcombed. Eventually we headed back to the boat and went right to sleep.

Summer Cruise 2016 - Tacoma to Langley on Whidbey Island

31 July 2016
Left the Tacoma yacht club once we loaded up the last of our stuff. It was 11:45 am when we exited the basin. It was a great day. There was a south west breeze blowing. We eventually rolled out the jib and did a little motor sailing. The wind was up and down. In comes the jib. Out goes the jib. Eventually I just rolled it in and left it.

It was a hot day as we motor by Blake Island, and all the boats sailing around Elliott Bay and out in front of the entrance to Lake Union. Once passing Edmonds the number of pleasure boats diminished. Of course by now it was around 5 PM, and I guess most of the weekend warriors where heading back to their slips around the Seattle area.

We dropped out big CQR anchor out in front of Langley, with all the other local boats. The time was about 7:30 pm. We had a quick bite to eat. I took a few pictures and we called it a night.

While trying to brush her teeth Heather found that the pressurize water was not working. After making sure it was turned on, we finally concluded that something was wrong with the pump. We resorted to the foot pump. Which causes problems, because the fresh water facet was plumbed into the wrong sink. It was plumbed to the dish raft side.
Eventually settled in for bed around 9 PM.

I was sound asleep within minutes. Must have something to do with the rolling of the boat. Guessing it never grows old being rocked to sleep.

Nordic Sun II does Swiftsure International Sailboat Race 2016

07 June 2016
This year I decided to take Nordic Sun II up to the Swiftsure International Sailboat race. We are all set up for cruising not racing. We went up for the party and did the inshore race. Here is a video of the race: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6cc6FK_EbGc

Been A While

15 April 2016
Greg
It has been a while since I posted anything, so here's what has been going on.

Since we bought our new boat a Hylas 44 we have been busy fixing the problems it had. First it was fix all the things the surveyor found that my insurance company required me to fix. Once those where completed then I could move on to other projects.

One of those projects was replacing my florescent tubed thin-lites with LED lights. The LED sure brightened up the cabin. This project was very simple. I drilled out the pop rivets that held the ballast and tube ends and removed the guts from the light fixture. Then I just connected up the LED lights, and presto they worked. Could not have been easier.

When we bought the boat we figured the motor was going to be a real problem, since none of the gauges worked on the instrument panel except the voltmeter. Turns out all the gauges worked, but the wires to the gauges where just broken off at a junction point. I traced down each of the sending units one at a time and found the disconnected wires and reconnected them. Now all the gauges are working. The RPM gauge still needs to be calibrated.

There was a leak in the aft cabin that had cause a some of a teak bulkhead to get discolored. It turned out to cause by two leaks in the screws that held down the traveler. With a little 4200 and some work those leaks where fixed.

We are slowly making the Hylas 44 ours, one project at a time.

Last weekend we went to the boaters swap meet at Fisheries in Seattle. Crazy place. We got there at a little after 5 AM and the parking lot was already full, but we found a spot. We sold some of our stuff and bought more stuff. Now I have more supplies for more projects.

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