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:

Gulf Island Cruise 2018 #8

20 June 2018
We left mid-morning to motor to Wallace Island, yet another marine park with an interesting history that we had not visited before.
http://www.env.gov.bc.ca/bcparks/explore/parkpgs/wallace/#Nature
A reef lies parallel to the long, thin island so we took the safe route around the buoy at the south end of the reef and then motored back up to the entrance to tiny Conover Cove. There was room for another boat at the small dock, but we elected to anchor with a stern tie (a floating line run from the back of the boat to a secure point onshore, used to prevent the boat from swinging with wind and tide in small anchorages, to avoid swinging into other boats or obstacles) to one of the rings placed in the rocks by Park staff. The rings are sometimes very difficult to see, but in this case they had recently been marked with red paint. All was going well until Don was getting ready to drop the anchor and he asked me how deep the water was. We had been getting readings of 10 to 12 feet. We need a minimum of 4 feet, and the tide was going to drop another 1 or 2 feet, so it was shallow but OK. The depth sounder read 8.8 feet. How deep now? 8.8 feet. How deep now? Still 8.8 feet - uh-oh - the depth-sounder is flashing, meaning the last reading was 8.8 but now it can't get a reading - darn thing is malfunctioning. This is not good. But we got the anchor down and Don got in the dinghy and ran the stern-tie ashore without incident. Just as he brought the end back to the boat a couple of hikers started waving and shouting at us. This was a bit worrying - did they know something we didn't? - until we realized they were boating friends from Nanaimo. We tied the line off and rowed ashore for a chat. Their boat was anchored in Princess Cove, a short hike away. They are both musicians and invited us over the following morning so that Don could join them for a jam session.
We had a lazy afternoon. Don got some pictures of a heron and later enjoyed his favourite cruising pastime - a twilight row around the anchorage looking for wildlife and chatting to other boaters.
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Ragtime's Photos - Main
A gentle Gulf Islands cruise
44 Photos
Created 30 June 2018
6 Photos
Created 14 June 2017

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30 June 2018
44 Photos
14 June 2017
6 Photos