S/V Ragtime

Vessel Name: Ragtime
Vessel Make/Model: Pacific Seacraft Dana 24
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23 June 2018

Gulf Island Cruise 2018 #11

We were up early in order to make Gabriola Pass at slack water (0755 hours). All went smoothly, but out in Georgia Strait we found 1 foot waves rolling down the strait very close together, and some were bigger. This made for a bouncy ride and made eating breakfast difficult. One big wave threw Don across the cabin. He crashed into the chart table breaking one of the supports, but happily he was not injured. We got the sails up and had a fast sail in 10 – 15 knots of NW wind almost all the way home. Got the boat cleaned up, dinner at White Spot, long hot showers at home without having to put money in the meter and a big, comfy bed that doesn’t move. Aaaaaah, bliss!

22 June 2018

Gulf Island Cruise 2018 #10

Time to start heading for home, so we motored north picking up some wind as we passed Porlier Pass, and had a nice downwind sail to Pirates Cove Marine Park.

21 June 2018

Gulf Island Cruise 2018 #9

We were surprised to get a cell phone call from Jay confirming the morning arrangements. In the middle of nowhere, when my cell phone won't pick up a signal at home! The hike to Princess Cove was further and hillier than we expected, especially as Don was carrying his accordion, but we made it to the [...]

20 June 2018

Gulf Island Cruise 2018 #8

We left mid-morning to motor to Wallace Island, yet another marine park with an interesting history that we had not visited before.

19 June 2018

Gulf Island Cruise 2018 #7

Up early to catch the 0924 slack water at Dodd Narrows. Went through with the knot-meter reading 5 kts, but the GPS said we were doing 6.3kts over the bottom with the current! A SE breeze came up so we had a nice sail until it died. Tied up at what used to be one of our favourite marinas, Thetis Island. Looks like the new owners are doing some work – replacing or upgrading the docks and building a new deck off the pub. But we found that the laundry and washrooms were not very clean, and moorage was a bit pricy. However, we needed to buy a few groceries and fill up the water tank, and it was nice to be able to plug into shore power, run the refrigeration and use the WiFi. We had dinner at the pub, but the food wasn’t great and they were short-staffed so the service was incredibly slow. Maybe we’ll try the other marina at the head of the bay next time.

18 June 2018

Gulf Island Cruise 2018 #6

Newcastle Island has an interesting history:

Lund

21 June 2017
As predicted, there was a strong northwesterly blowing this morning. It is supposed to get even sronger tomorrow, and stay that way for at least 3 days. Sure enough, as we left the sheltered bay, we encountered strong winds, and had a boisterous downwind sail to Lund under partly-furled foresail.
Lund is a big, open bay. Unlike most places, it does not have a rock breakwater, but it does have a floating concrete breakwater. This breaks the power of the waves, but the swell still bounces the boats around inside, and there is no protection from the wind. Landing at the dock with the wind behind us was exciting. Don did a wonderful job of bringing us in so that I could step on to the dock (no jumping), but then even with the engine going full in reverse we closing on the boat ahead of us at an alarming rate. However, we got tied up with no damage.
Duncan the mechanic arrived shortly afterwards, adjusted the packing gland and assured us there was no major problem. He also made some astute observations about how the engine was running, and suggestions for things we might want to consider next time we get some work done on the engine. What a refreshing change! Most of them don’t seem interested in preventive maintenance, even when the customer asks them to look at a particular item (like the packing gland), or mentions some abnormality in the way the engine is running (like fluctuating revs, which could be a dirty fuel filter or faulty alternator). They seem to want to wait until something breaks (then they don’t have to figure out what the problem is) and then just replace or repair it without thinking about why it broke.
And we finally admitted that we are not going to get to Haida Gwaii this year. We are way behind schedule, winds in Johnstone Strait are forecast to be strong to gale force north-westerlies for the next few days, which would impede our progress, and it sounds as though the weather further north is cold and damp. On any boat, but particularly a small one, long periods of cold and damp get to be a problem because the boat is submersed in cold water, so you start to get condensation, and things get damp and don’t dry, and then they start to get mouldy and mildewed, and the crew starts to get depressed. So, having resolved the latest mechanical problem, we decided to sail around here for a little while. Unfortunately, our options are a bit limited as we didn’t bring charts and cruising guides for the Strait of Georgia, not expecting to be here. We could go home early, but the ironic thing is that while we were in Campbell River the manager of our marina in West Vancouver phoned to tell us that he had a sub-lease for our slip from June 15 to July 15. They split the revenue with us so it’s generally good news all around, unless you change your plans!
We spent the rest of the afternoon doing a little shopping and window-shopping. There’s a very good grocery/general store, an excellent bakery, a store selling Pollen sweaters, and an art gallery. Not paintings, but sculptures, photograph cards and other stuff. We had dinner at the pub and a very bouncy night at the dock, although we both slept quite well.
On a sad note, we noticed that the flags were flying at half-mast and asked someone about, thinking that maybe there had been another terrorist attack, or a member of the Royal Family had died. We were told that two young people had been murdered there a couple of days earlier. Five of them had gone hunting, but one had run amok and killed two of the others, while the other two were able to run away. Very sad.
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Ragtime's Photos - Main
A gentle Gulf Islands cruise
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Created 30 June 2018
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Created 14 June 2017

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30 June 2018
44 Photos
14 June 2017
6 Photos