November 23-24 Keith and I took the boat out for a trip to the Gulf Islands. We left the dock around 10am, and motored out to Pt. Grey. From there we managed to pickup up a 8-10kt ESE breeze. After an hour or so of drifting along at 5-6 kts, two Doll’s porpoise joined us. I will try to post a bit of video on this, but anyone who has seen these porpoise know that they are quick and sporadic (compared to the Pacific Whiteside dolphin) and the filming was a bit dodgy and will need some editing. Our original plan was to head to Tugboat for the night, but as we got closer to the Gulf Islands the winds backed and to keep apparent wind speed high enough we had to turn south. After looking at the tides for the evening and the morning a quick decision was made to head to Polier pass. Two miles out from the pass, the wind died completely and we were left motoring. A quick hour later we had decided on dropping the hook in Princess Cove on Wallace Island. With the boat securely anchored and stern tied we set to a peaceful night of discussing preparations for VicMaui 2014!!! Over wine and a great dinner, plans were put in place for 2014 VicMaui. Stepping outside to make sure all lines looked good for the night, revealed cloudless night and absolutely clear stars and a bright moon.

Saturday morning I was up at 7 and enjoyed a very pleasant sun rise on glassy water. A slow morning of coffee, breakfast and a short walk around the island lead to pulling anchor at 11:30 ish for the trip home. We were expecting light to no wind. Once through Polier Pass north bound, we could see some darker water in the mid straight area. Shortly (within 2 or 3 miles) we had a steady 10 kts NW wind. With full main and genoa we were sailing 7-8kts with AWA of 60 degrees. By mid straight the wind had backed 30 or so degrees, so we prepped the spinnaker and hoisted. This set the boat up perfectly with an average of 8.5 kts almost directly at Pt. Grey. More Doll’s porpoise and a perfect weekend of sailing.

I hope to be posting more as we build up to attempting the VicMaui 2014. We are putting a crew together and getting the boat up to requirements.

I posted a video of the West Vancouver Yacht Club to my YouTube channel. Search turnagain50. I will also attempt to put a link in here. the title of the video is Stag Race. We had a great time. Did not place too well..... The boat is not exactly "race" ready and we were up against some very slippery boats.

Enjoy. Love to hear some feed back.

We had not used the boat in a couple of weeks, so decided to take a couple of friends our for the day. The wind was forecast SE 20-30, so it promised to be some good sailing. I reality, the wind peeked at 22 true. Still, the boat was moving and we had a great day. I will post a short clip to my YouTube once I can edit the sound a bit. Turnagain50 is the user.

I have been using the boat at least every other week after getting back from an extended cruise this summer. And we are trying to plan new years eve trip this year. It is shaping up to be about 2 weeks hopefully.

Leaving the marina mid-day Friday, we made it to Elliott Bay by 2:30 in warm sun. The summer does not want to seem to end (no complaints here, though I expect we will pay for this later in the winter). With the great weather there were many boats at th dock when we arrived (10 night one, 25 night two and down to 20 night three).

By Saturday afternoon, there were a number of kid boats around and Sylvia and Callum were having a great time running around the docks and park. A three hour tender ride over to port greaves for a hike and return left some of the kids tired and hungry making a Dad's job that much easier (Mom took the water taxi back to Vancouver for some work obligations).

Your text to link...

I think the link should take you to Catharine's Flickr. There are many photos from our adventures over the past few years with the boats and kids.

Speaking of which, I gotta go for now. More updates to follow.

Ps. Search turnagain50 on YouTube to see some videos of the boat and the family.

Last weekend we decided to head out to the out station for some family time. We left Vancouver about 3pm in heavy rain with reasonable south east winds (12-18 kts). As we rounded pt Atkinson into Howe sound the wind basically dropped off to nothing. So much for a great sail. By 6 pm we were secure to the docks in Elliot Bay and the kids were excited to be at an island with a play ground. After a hour tramping around and visiting the playground we had dinner and got the kids to bed.

Saturday we woke to more rain, but signs of easing. By noon Callum was requesting a dinghy ride, so down it went and off exploring we went. The merc fired right up after a quite winter. While passing RVYC docks Callum noticed the coast guard hovercraft. We slowed to check it out and were fortunate enough to be invited aboard to check out the vessel. A friend of mine is a pilot for the coast guard and it was cool to see where is "office" was. Unfortunately, Troy was on leave and we did not get to see him. Saturday evening was pleasant with a quiet dinner and movie night for Catharine and I.

Sunday arrived with clearing skies and lots of energy for exploring the grounds. The family enjoyed hours of exploration before a 1 pm departure. On the trip home, just off of Snug Cove, we came across a small (20 or so) pod of Dolphins. They swam with the boat for 10-20 minutes before swimming off to other more exciting boats. I will post some video on my youtube channel turnagain50, check out all the videos there.

As far as the YouTube channel. I will be posting many videos this year on our boat fun so check back often.

Ok. So we are in Vancouver. Not a very harsh winter (yet). It was about 5 today with mixed cloud and rain. We had a lazy down wind out of English bay in 8-10kts then started making our way back in. The wind picked up to 15 or so and made it much more fun. The boat was performing flawlessly reaching 9kts on the gps 9.7 through the water.

I will take some time over the next couple of weeks and create some new posts about the past summer sail. We spent about 8 weeks in two chunks on the boat. The first making it as far north as the Broughtons and the second period of time was spent closer to family and the warm waters on the sunshine coast. I will also attempt to load up some photos on the posts. Check out turnagian50 on YouTube. There are some videos from the past year.

The boat has been GREAT and First Yachts in North Vancouver have been fantastic in working through the new boat hurdles.