Sailing the Karina C
| Vessel Name: | Karina C |
| Vessel Make/Model: | Spencer 35 |
| Hailing Port: | Nanaimo, B.C. |
| Crew: | Jay + Anita Bigland |
| About: | We are a crew of 2 ready to take on adventure on the Pacific Coast. We have returned from sailing to Mexico from 2010-15. |
| Extra: | email us at jayanitabigland@gmail.com |
25 July 2023 | Home port
25 July 2023 | Home Port
12 July 2023 | Poet’s Cove
21 May 2023 | Home port
14 August 2022 | Home port
20 July 2022 | Home port
15 April 2022 | Nanaimo Home
14 April 2022 | Nanaimo
13 April 2022 | Saltspring Yacht Club
12 April 2022 | Van Isle Marina
11 April 2022 | Van Isle Marina
09 April 2022 | Van Isle Marina
08 April 2022 | Van Isle Marina
07 April 2022 | Sidney Spit Marine Park
06 April 2022 | Montague Harbour
05 April 2022 | Clam Bay
30 March 2022 | Home Port- Nanaimo
10 February 2022 | Mill Bay
06 September 2021 | Home port
31 July 2021 | Home port
Recent Blog Posts
25 July 2023 | Home port
Ode to Old Age
We made it back in time to do a little work on a project we have going in the back yard: a retaining wall. We have bought 4 palettes of bricks and we are about to lay them. We've hired a young man who is a very good worker and he has been ever so helpful. Today I (Jay) went to the ophthalmologist's office [...]
20 July 2022 | Home port
Out for a couple of weeks
In late June, Anita’s shoulder and my eye healed sufficiently to make a little journey on Karina C.
Lovely Westport
11 August 2010 | Gray`s Harbor
Jay
8/10
We got going again yesterday after failing to cut a deal on any kind of break on the price of moorage ($1 a foot) or electricity ($8.50 a day). So, we got out of town at 1200 yesterday on our first overnight passage. Things went OK enough for a first go around. We started on our 2 ½ hour shifts at 1700. We stuck to that routine despite having to change a fuel filter at 0300. We motored most of the time from 1200-1900 and 0030 to 1200 today.
Thoughts on our first overnight passage (no particular order):
*It is kind of like being on a 8 hour roller coaster ride. At first you are terrified all the time. Then, you are still terrified, but you get tired of being scared. I couldn't see much as it was foggy most of the time.
*Most of the time, you would just look at the radar, AIS, depthsounder and windex.
*We were told to stay outside 300 feet of depth. At times this was over 10 miles offshore. It worked.
*Another idea is to keep all lights out of the 1100-1300 zone of your bow. You never know how far off those lights are. I noticed one that was in that zone, but thought it was several miles away. I narrowly missed it. Don't know what it was, but |I saw the light pass within 100 feet of the boat.
*Crab traps are all over the place. Stay in more than 300 feet of water. If you wrap up a crab line (even if you have the cutter) you will likely wrap up the propshaft and the force of the motor shutdown with the heavy flywheel of a Diesel could shake the motor mounts. This could be a serious problem on a dark night.
* 2 ½ hour shifts are OK. We did
Anita- 1700-1930, 2200-0030, 0300-0530
Jay- 1930-2200, 0030-0300, 0530- 0800
The only problem is that there are always things that come up that are typically blue or pink jobs. This makes the rest intervals more like 6 hours a night rather than 8. I had to change the fuel filter and deal with navigational issues a few times during my rest interval. For that reason, we had a good long nap when we got in. I would say that a crew of 3 would probably be better. We couldn't connect with the kind of person that would fit on our crew. As well, we had Karina stuffed with all our stuff. It would have been very difficult to leave enough room for a 3rd person.
*It is a good idea not to have deadlines. Having the deadline of Westport at 1100 mean we had to blitz along most of the night with the motor on. For one thing, its noisy and that makes it hard to rest. Secondly, its stressful cooking along at 6 knots and not seeing anything in the water. So, if you don`t have to be somewhere, you can take your time. I am starting to see some wisdom in the straight shot at San Francisco. We are kicking around the idea of a 2 day passage next.
Westport is very nice. It boasts the most affordable moorage we have ever had for Karina. As well, the weather has returned to sun and clear. This has improved my attitude immensely. We will stay here at least 2 days and wait for a good weather window for our next leg. We are considering whether we will make a long leg to Newport (150 miles) or break it down to 2 or 3 shorter day trips. A lot of the thinking about this will involve timing bar crossings and our tolerance for overnight passagemaking.
8/11
After breakfast I walked up to the hotel and used their free wifi to skype Mom and do some other chores. According to all my sources, we should have a nice cruise South for the next few days. We think we will take a straight shot at Newport (150 miles). We expect to accomplish this in 48 hours as the wind is soooo light. In the night, we will try to fly just the genny as the main bangs around so much when the air is light. During daylight, we will motor or sail according to conditions. We hope to do more sailing, so we are talking about heading out a ways (20-30 miles) as the winds are forecast to be a little better (15-25).
Westport boasts free unlimited showers. For sailors, this is always a plus. The town has definitely fallen on hard times. There are a lot of businesses that are closed or in restricted hours. A lot of the fleet is tied up and not out there. Yet there is an optimism and hope that seems so characteristic of the American people. Very warming.
The museum boasts a first order Fresnel lens. The rest of the exhibits are a little worn out. The Fresnel is well worth seeing.
We got going again yesterday after failing to cut a deal on any kind of break on the price of moorage ($1 a foot) or electricity ($8.50 a day). So, we got out of town at 1200 yesterday on our first overnight passage. Things went OK enough for a first go around. We started on our 2 ½ hour shifts at 1700. We stuck to that routine despite having to change a fuel filter at 0300. We motored most of the time from 1200-1900 and 0030 to 1200 today.
Thoughts on our first overnight passage (no particular order):
*It is kind of like being on a 8 hour roller coaster ride. At first you are terrified all the time. Then, you are still terrified, but you get tired of being scared. I couldn't see much as it was foggy most of the time.
*Most of the time, you would just look at the radar, AIS, depthsounder and windex.
*We were told to stay outside 300 feet of depth. At times this was over 10 miles offshore. It worked.
*Another idea is to keep all lights out of the 1100-1300 zone of your bow. You never know how far off those lights are. I noticed one that was in that zone, but thought it was several miles away. I narrowly missed it. Don't know what it was, but |I saw the light pass within 100 feet of the boat.
*Crab traps are all over the place. Stay in more than 300 feet of water. If you wrap up a crab line (even if you have the cutter) you will likely wrap up the propshaft and the force of the motor shutdown with the heavy flywheel of a Diesel could shake the motor mounts. This could be a serious problem on a dark night.
* 2 ½ hour shifts are OK. We did
Anita- 1700-1930, 2200-0030, 0300-0530
Jay- 1930-2200, 0030-0300, 0530- 0800
The only problem is that there are always things that come up that are typically blue or pink jobs. This makes the rest intervals more like 6 hours a night rather than 8. I had to change the fuel filter and deal with navigational issues a few times during my rest interval. For that reason, we had a good long nap when we got in. I would say that a crew of 3 would probably be better. We couldn't connect with the kind of person that would fit on our crew. As well, we had Karina stuffed with all our stuff. It would have been very difficult to leave enough room for a 3rd person.
*It is a good idea not to have deadlines. Having the deadline of Westport at 1100 mean we had to blitz along most of the night with the motor on. For one thing, its noisy and that makes it hard to rest. Secondly, its stressful cooking along at 6 knots and not seeing anything in the water. So, if you don`t have to be somewhere, you can take your time. I am starting to see some wisdom in the straight shot at San Francisco. We are kicking around the idea of a 2 day passage next.
Westport is very nice. It boasts the most affordable moorage we have ever had for Karina. As well, the weather has returned to sun and clear. This has improved my attitude immensely. We will stay here at least 2 days and wait for a good weather window for our next leg. We are considering whether we will make a long leg to Newport (150 miles) or break it down to 2 or 3 shorter day trips. A lot of the thinking about this will involve timing bar crossings and our tolerance for overnight passagemaking.
8/11
After breakfast I walked up to the hotel and used their free wifi to skype Mom and do some other chores. According to all my sources, we should have a nice cruise South for the next few days. We think we will take a straight shot at Newport (150 miles). We expect to accomplish this in 48 hours as the wind is soooo light. In the night, we will try to fly just the genny as the main bangs around so much when the air is light. During daylight, we will motor or sail according to conditions. We hope to do more sailing, so we are talking about heading out a ways (20-30 miles) as the winds are forecast to be a little better (15-25).
Westport boasts free unlimited showers. For sailors, this is always a plus. The town has definitely fallen on hard times. There are a lot of businesses that are closed or in restricted hours. A lot of the fleet is tied up and not out there. Yet there is an optimism and hope that seems so characteristic of the American people. Very warming.
The museum boasts a first order Fresnel lens. The rest of the exhibits are a little worn out. The Fresnel is well worth seeing.
Comments
Gallery not available
