Relaxing at Montague

N 48 53.450, W 123 23.734
Montague Harbor, Galiano Island

Yesterday morning we checked in at Poet's Cove. The customs officials were not happy that we did no check in when we arrived on Saturday even through we have a quarantine flag up. So a warning to anyone entering Canada by boat, please make sure you check in immediately, day or night, 7 days a week.

After check in we proceeded to Montague Harbor on Galiano Island. We have stopped here many times. In fact we stopped here in 2008 on the way back from the Broughton Islands and we counted over 200 boats here at that time. Today there are only about 40 boats.

We decided to relax a little, read books and take it easy, so we stayed here again today. It was nice to spend time in our enclosed cockpit, even when it is raining out. In the afternoon it cleared and the sun was out.

We have officially named our dingy, Boomerang. It continues with the Aborigine theme. When we were cruising in the South Pacific we stopped at the island nation of Niue, a small island east of Tonga. There is no anchorage at Niue, just an open roadstead with some mooring buoys at it is over 100 feet deep. One night our old dingy slipped the painter and drifted towards shore. As it was too dark to try an recover it then, so in the morning Rich went out with another cruiser to go look for it. They went up and down along the shore line looking. Finally there was a call on the VHF. The cargo ship that was coming to supply the island found a dingy drifting 10 miles away and they were asking if anyone lost one and that they were bringing it in. Well, yes, it was our dingy, minus an oar and the portable gas tank. So, in memory of the old dingy, we named our new one, Boomerang, hoping it will always return to us. We also put 2 name plates with Boomerang in black letters on the bow of the dingy.

Tomorrow we plan to go through Porlier Pass and across the Straits of Georgia to Vancouver.

By the way I forgot to mention in our last report that we saw at least a half dozen pilot whales as we crossed the Straits towards Cattle Pass. This was the first time I had seen them in this area. I looked for Orcas but I did not see any.

No worries,
SV Windarra

Windarra has left the country

N 48 45.052, W 123 14.117,
Poet's Cove, South Pender Island

After spending a little over two weeks removing the old windlass and installing the new windlass and new anchor chain, as well as a few other projects in the meantime, we left Seattle again. On Thursday, June 24, Sarah helped us go through the locks, we did a quick car shuffle and we headed over to Port Madison for a quiet night at anchor.

After a restful night night and a relaxing morning we went to Port Ludlow. Now mind you, sailors are a superstitious bunch and I sometimes fall into it. I hesitated writing an update to the blog until we had successfully left Port Ludlow. We did have a minor issue that the windlass battery was not charging but Rich found that the wrong wires had been connected to the battery and it was easily remedied.

This morning we easily pulled up anchor at 10:00 am and headed north. We caught the ebb in the morning and the flood took us through Cattle Pass at San Juan Island. At one point we were going 11 knots. Of course, being summer in the Puget Sound area, we were motoring as the winds were light or non-existent.

We dropped anchor at Poet's Cove on South Pender Island, Canada at 7:40 pm. As the customs dock is closed, we are flying our quarantine flag. Tomorrow morning we will check in and perhaps go to Montague Harbor.

The adventure begins, for real this time.

Back in Seattle

We had two great nights at anchor. The second day the wind picked up so we moved our anchor. We installed the fiddles in the galley and read our books most of the day. I was able to finish my book, granted I started reading it a few weeks ago. It was "Humboldt's Cosmos" by Gerald Helferich and it was about Baron Alexander von Humboldt and his journey to America. In case you don't know, the Humboldt Current that runs north only the west coast of South America is named after him as well at other places such as Humboldt, California. It is an interesting non-fiction, and I have decided I do not want to travel up the Orinoco River any time soon.

Thursday morning we got up and prepared Windarra for passage. Our plan was to raise the anchor, go to the fuel dock, top off the tanks, take on some water and then head across the Strait of Juan de Fuca and then on to Pender Island to clear customs into Canada. That was the plan. We thought it was a good plan. Unfortunately things don't always go according to plan.

As we were raising the chain almost to the shank of the anchor, the windlass made a noise and then stopped. Rich was on the bow, and stepped on the foot switch again. He could hear the motor running but the windlass was not turning. He pulled the anchor up the rest of the way and secured it. We motored to the fuel dock as we planned and he would take a look at it there.

I practiced my helm skills and steered to the fuel dock. While I was fueling the aft tank, Rich took a look at the windlass from below. The top of the windlass was no longer flush with the underside of the deck. It was hanging a few inches down, suspended by the ground strap. All 5 of the bolts that hold the windlass to the deck had been sheared off.

This was not good. This was not part of the plan.

We arranged to get slip space at Pt. Ludlow Yacht Club. Once secured to the dock, Rich looked at the damage further and we decided on a new plan. After a few calls we arranged for a rental car at Poulsbo and a taxi ride to get us there. Once we had transportation we drove to Tacoma Screw in East Bremerton for some replacement bolts. Unfortunately the longest bolts were only 6 inches and we really needed 6 1/2 inch long bolts. So we drove to Pt Townsend to Admiral Ship Supply and bought 8 inch long stainless steel bolts. The original bolts were chrome plated brass that we had installed in 2000 when we did the first refit of Windarra. These special bolts cost about $60 a piece from the manufacturer, Maxwell in New Zealand. So the stainless steel bolts at $13 a piece seemed like a good replacement.

Friday morning, Rich took the windlass apart and we installed the new bolts. A few he had to cut down so they would fit. Luckily we have a die set on board to chase the threads. With the windlass back installed we checked it out. No joy. We surmise that when the bolts broke, the gears failed as well. This is not good.

So we hop back in the car, take the Kingston ferry to Edmonds and then drive to our storage unit to pick up our spare windlass. We have been exchanging these two windlasses, having the motors rebuilt to keep them operational. After the storage unit, a quick stop to pick up our mail and Costco to get some vacuum packing bags we are in the ferry line on a late Friday afternoon.

On Saturday, Rich removed the windlass with the bad gearbox and connected the one from the storage unit. We do a quick test before installing it completely. I step on the foot switch, the shaft turns which is good, but wait, it is turning counter clockwise. The windlass is built to power in both directions. When we had the motor rebuilt the last time, the shop indicated that one set of stators were bad and it would only power in one direction. Unfortunately it is in the wrong direction for our needs. It can only power to let out chain, not to bring in chain and raise the anchor.

We have two windlasses, one with a broken gearbox and the other with the wrong set of stators. Unfortunately the motors are not interchangeable and neither are the stators. This is not a good thing. This was not part of the plan.

Our friends, Doug and Nancy, who live on Bainbridge Island and were on their way to Port Townsend for the weekend, picked us up from Poulsbo after we dropped of the rental car. We joined them for brunch on Sunday morning.

After brunch we motored Windarra back to Shilshole.

The new plan is to find moorage for Windarra, then arrange to get a new windlass, install it and then leave again. In the mean time while we wait for the new windlass to arrive, we have plenty of other boat projects, like connecting the new solar panels, the water maker, etc. etc.

We are going through the 4 stages of grief. The first stage is the shock that the windlass was broken. The next stage is the denial that the windlass can not be repaired. The following stage is the anger that this happened at all and that we are not out cruising like we planned. The last stage is acceptance, that it is time to replace the windlass and it is better to do this in Seattle where we have access to our car and the storage unit and marine stores, etc.

Hopefully things will go according to the new plan……..

Windarra has left the dock....

47'55.218N, 122'4.336W, at anchor at Pt. Ludlow

I know that many of you have been wondering when we would leave. I understand that someone was taking a poll on the dock predicting it. Well, for whoever guessed June 1, 2010 at 10:30 am, you are a winner.

This morning we got up early to run some last minute chores before heading out, pick up cat food, check, kitty litter, check, pick up mail at our mail service and let them know we will be gone for a while, check, stop at the place where we got our water maker and pick up some supplies and parts, check, pay for the new batteries, credit card and check, drop off our key fobs for the marina, check, have the holding tank pumped out, check, prepare Windarra to sail, check, start the engine and cast off from the dock, CHECK!!!

It is liberating to, at last, sail away after so many months (and years) of preparation. To leave behind the rat race (the rats are winning), the rush of traffic, the hurry, hurry, hurry to get things done, whatever those things are.

At the same time, it is sad to leave family and friends. We will miss weekly dinners with Sarah and watching the latest episode of 'House'. We will miss having Dan call up and invite us over for dinner. We will miss going to Doug and Nancy's on Bainbridge Island for a meal that Nancy calls something simple but the rest of us think it is right out of the pages of Gourmet magazine. We will miss going to Cafe Besalu for the greatest pain au chocolate.

But, at the same time, we look forward to seeing new places, having new experiences, meeting new friends and connecting with cruising friends we have met in the past.

Right now we are anchored in a small harbor. The wind generator is spinning away. It is time to relax, slow down, take a nap, read a book.

Make sure you take time, to slow down too.

No worries

Soon

We have been busy this week.

The solar panels are mounted above the davits and the dingy is now hanging from the davits. Normally when we make a passage the dingy is deflated and stowed on the foredeck but since we will be on inland waters (Puget Sound, San Juans, Straits of Georgia, etc) for a while we will hang it from the davits.

The refrigeration is complete for now. We are starting to put the fiddles on. This helps keep things from sliding onto the floor in the galley when we are sailing.

Rich had taken the old hatch from the forward head shower a few months ago and we had plastic covering. This was not sufficient for passagemaking. Since we have been so busy with other projects, we had Dave install the new hatch. It looks great.

Rich installed the new watermaker. It is not connected yet so it will not process sea water. That will be a project for some anchorage in the future. We carry 140 gallons in tanks below the settees in the main salon so we will be okay for a while.

I am starting to vacuum pack spares and storing them, such a engine fuel and oil filters which are stowed below the settee in the aft stateroom. I have a Foodsaver vacuum packer that we got at Costco before we left in 2001. It is still going strong. I use it for lots of things, spare parts, food stuffs, paper goods, clothing, etc. Toilet paper takes a lot less space when it is vacuum packed!

We went through some items in the storage unit today to bring back onto the boat such as paper charts of the west coast of Canada and from Neah Bay to San Francisco. Other items included the storm sail, Galerider, genicker plus some spare parts.

We have been waiting for our batteries. They finally arrived at the trucking depot. Instead of waiting for them to be delivered to the place where we bought them (Tuesday at the earliest, since it is a holiday weekend), Rich and I drove down to the depot and they used a forklift to load them in the back of our Subaru. We purchased 2 batteries, 270 amphours each and each one weighs 140 or so pounds. The rear end of the car definitely went down when the batteries and the pallet they were on were loaded. Tomorrow we will take the bed apart in the aft stateroom, remove the old batteries, and replace them with the new ones. It is not easy getting these heavy, awkward items out and into the salon, then up the gangway and out onto the dock and then reversing the process for the new batteries.

Thursday nights the liveaboards get together for BBQs. Everyone brings their own main dish plus a side to share. There was quite a crowd on the main dock by Windarra. Some friends, Linda and Brad, left last year to go cruising. While they were in New Zealand, they had a mishap on an unmarked reef near Doubtless Bay and their boat went down. Luckily they were able to get out and launch their life rift with no injury. They fired some flares and someone on shore saw them and rescued them. The fellow that rescued them was from a nearby Maori village. They were able to stay there and collect the items that washed onshore from their boat. They had insurance and they have already bought another sailboat in New Zealand and will be working here for a bit before going back and cruising again. Cruisers are hearty folks.

Now if we can just get the batteries in and get everything stowed.....

Open boat and dock party

Yesterday we had an 'open boat' and a dock party. An 'open boat' is like an open house but of course it is for our sailboat, Windarra. Since we invited more people than can fit on the boat at one time, it spilled onto the dock, hence it was a dock party as well.

It is great to be able to show everyone what we have been doing to Windarra the last 6 years and especially the last 5 months. We get excited about our new refrigeration, charter/plotter, radar, LED lighting, new bulkhead in the v-berth, etc. Of course we also just like being with our friends! I am sorry I did not get pictures of all of you but here are a few:

We are mentally ready to go. Unfortunately Windarra is not quite ready. The new batteries for under the aft stateroom are not arriving until Thursday, so we will have to wait. In the mean time we have other items to work on. Today Rich installed some of the hardware for our new boom brake. For you novices, this allows us to control the speed of the boom as we tack or gybe. This is very important when you have heavy winds.

Graduation at Reed and other news

This past weekend we went to Portland, Oregon to attend graduation at Reed College. Rae, Jesse's girlfriend, was graduating.

Rae graduated with a dual degree in chemistry and biology. All seniors at Reed write a thesis which is published and a copy is put in the thesis room in the library. Rae's thesis title is, "A study on the Effects of Small Conductance Ca2+ -activated K+ Channel Type 2 on Dendritic and Spinal Morphology". I am afraid you will have to ask her what this means.

I also got a chance to meet more of Rae's family. I have met her mother, Louise and her husband, Michael as well as Rae's twin sister Jenny. This time I also met Louise's mother, Ruth, Rae's brother, Gregory as well as Rae's father Peter. You can see us all in the picture below (from left to right: Gregory, Ruth, Jesse, Rae, Sarah, myself, Peter, Rich, Michael and Louise.

Here is the happy graduate with her brother and sister. Notice the resemblance.

We also cheered on other graduates including Jess Dennis, a good friend of Sarah's. Jess received a degree in psychology. Her thesis was "Metacognition in Rats". She invited us to attend a gathering that the Psychology department had for the graduating seniors. The thesis advisors wrote a limerick for each senior's thesis. The limerick for Jess' thesis was:

Jess made it her thesis ambition

To instill in rats, metacognition.

The rats, now self-aware,

Ask, "how do you dare

Study us without our permission!"

Jess and Sarah will be sharing an apartment in the fall when Sarah returned to Reed to do her senior year.

We had a great time and the weather cooperated.

And, by the way, the other news, Jesse and Rae are now engaged....