Déjà Vu???

North to Alaska Seattle Series 2008

20-21 July 2008

Lat N49.27.764

Lon W124.43.970

Since its John’s birthday today, the 21^st, and when asked what he wanted for his special day…he replied, “I’d like to get as much out of this day as possible.” Being that he is now the oldest one aboard and we’re not sure how many more special days he has left, we deciphered that wish to mean that he wanted a ‘long” day. So we woke him up at 4:30 this morning so he could enjoy as much of it as possible. Happy Birthday to John! And yes, Sue, he got a hug, kiss and a card early this morning as requested. As you read further, you’ll see why we all arose so early today.

Upon leaving Wallace Bay on July 19th, we continued on a generally NNW heading winding through the beautiful Gulf Islands of British Columbia. We arrived at Dodd Narrows about 30 minutes earlier than needed so we just coasted in idle with all the other boats waiting to transit. There was quite the queue as a matter of fact. Then all of a sudden, boats started moving and off we went. It is aptly named as a “narrows.” Fortunately, it is a very short pass – about a quarter of a mile, and very windy where you can’t see the boats coming at you but people are very good about using the radio to announce their entrance into the narrows along with boat size which is helpful. One of the rather large BC ferries was close behind us and as he approached he pretty much took up the entire pass so everyone just let him go. This is where one of the more important rules of the road applies – “the law of gross tonnage.”

Namaimo is shortly beyond the pass and we called ahead to secure dockage at the Namaimo Yacht Club. We docked right at the end of their guest dock and started inquiring as to where the local ship chandler might be so that we could buy a new Delta anchor to replace the one that managed to separate from the chain as we were departing Wallace Bay. That was interesting. As the anchor was coming up and just about to make its final bend into the anchor roller, it suddenly fell…another law of physics here – gravity! The high speed, low drag, self-deploying , and expensive stainless steel shackle that connects the anchor to the chain sheared off internally. We check this thing regularly and it must have had a crack inside that could not be seen from the outside. As nobody wanted to dive in 35 feet of 58 degree water and if we missed the slack tide at Dodd Narrows, we would be delayed yet another day…well that’s why we needed to find another anchor. Actually, we have two others on board but since we were headed further into more remote areas, we thought it prudent to see if one was available. It was, and then someone even volunteered to drive one of us and the anchor back to the Yacht Club (their pickup truck was limited to two people). John returned to the boat with the anchor and Roger and I walked (strolled actually) and found the grocery store to pick up a few more fresh vegetables and fruit. Nanaimo is a cute little town and about your last opportunity for civilization as you head out of the Gulf Islands. It’s located almost directly across from Vancouver on the Canadian side. This is opposed to Vancouver Island where the city of Vancouver is NOT located. The city of Vancouver is across the Georgia Strait on what I’ll refer to as the mainland. We had dinner aboard, and watched a movie before turning in.

We planned on taking two days to get to Desolation Sound. As we departed Namaimo on the morning of the 20^th, we were headed to Tribune Bay Park on Hornby Island. That plan changed as the winds piped up to over 20 knots out of the east making for what would have been a very uncomfortable anchorage, so we altered course slightly to our secondary anchorage in Deep Bay. Here is where our story gets again “interesting.” I’ll use that word rather than “annoying”, “challenging”, or “frustrating” which is really what we experienced. As the winds increased, so did the swells and it quickly became one of those very bouncy rides. The seas were short and choppy off the starboard quarter and the wind was dead behind us. As we were closing in on our destination, we started to experience our old engine symptoms of loss of rpm’s, running rough, all the signs we saw offshore from Hawaii. Once we got through the initial feelings of denial, we moved quickly to anger and then onto depression…

After anchoring in Deep Bay at 1615 hours, Roger began his ritual of changing filters. This delayed Martini time, by the way. And yes, there was more water in the fuel than should have been there and the other telltale signs we are now so good at identifying. We called both our fuel and engine gurus in Port Angeles for their assessment. They were more than willing to provide their insights as we interrupted their Sunday night family BBQ’s. They each thought that it was a residual effect of our initial problem and would work itself out with more engine time. Hummm! While we hope this is the case, we’re not all that motivated to head into even more remote areas and we had another day of predicted rough water ahead before reaching Desolation Sound…not to mention the trip back. My fun meter is pegged!

So…here we are again…changing our plans. We decided to head back into the Gulf Islands where we have seen typically calmer waters. We want to be closer to US waters should we need to get mechanics, etc involved and I would feel much more comfortable knowing that Vessel Assist was within hailing distance…just to be a little more mentally secure. We don’t need to add the cost of a long tow to this already over-budget trip. The mental anxiety of this challenge is amazing to me. When the boat is running as it should be, there is no limit to your destination goals…all seems well with the world.

But as soon as that engine goes into A-Fib…so do I. Well, John just read this over and while I might be in A-Fib, Cutthroat’s issues are more of the ventricular nature… analogous to reduced cardiac output in a human – i.e., reduced flow of blood out of the heart, and as it applies to our fuel system, a reduction in engine power (RPM) caused by reduced fuel flow. Suddenly the prospect of being limited to sail power with the extreme currents becomes almost frightening. It was one thing to have this happen offshore where there was a limited downside…potential loss power; but once you “arrive” inland, the situation changes. A sound engine is essential to maneuvering. Without the engine, we’d have more control in a kayak.

The new plan…depart Deep Bay at first light (5 AM or so) and make as much progress back toward Nanaimo and entrance into the Gulf Islands as we can before the forecasted late morning high winds come in to play. ( I feel better now that I have the full story. I thought that we were getting up early because it was John’s Birthday today and he was going to get to do everything he wanted to do so he wanted us up early to get the maximum benefit of the Day and the associated privileges it provided him.) If all goes well, we may even make it back through Dodd Narrows with the 1230 PM slack tide. That would be great! If not, we have several choices where we can drop anchor or stop in Nanaimo again.

As of 0830, we have been underway since 0525 and making great progress with flat seas and virtually no wind. The engine hasn’t burped once, and the rpm’s are holding at 2800 (a little higher than our normal cruising speed). The winds are starting to fill in around 0900 as is the swell, so it’s looking like our decision to leave early was a good one. We entered Nanaimo Deep Bay just outside of Nanaimo at 1040 hours and the lee of the if Gabriola Island so we are now in safer waters and will wait for slack tide at Dodd Narrows.

Waited to transit the narrows at slack tide. All went well, but lots of the powerboats tended to speed through and bring on the wrath of others with encouraging guidance about the benefit to all of slowing down. Actually, the radio chatter is pretty entertaining up here. Being in a fairly confined area, you can hear all kinds of conversations given the quantity of boats out and about. It seems that just about every day somebody has left an open mike to the annoyance of all. It just crackles and squeaks for hours on end. Then there are a dozen calls to fix it. Unfortunately, the guy with the open mike doesn’t hear the calls…it would be pretty funny if it weren’t so annoying.

We arrived at our destination, Telegraph Harbor on Thetus Island in the Stuart Channel of the Gulf Islands at 1415 hours. We got a slip at the marina for two nights and are enjoying some down time. It was a very shallow channel into the marina as the tide was just about at its low point. It’s another remote location with the only access to the island by boat or ferry…or of course seaplane.

Not sure what’s next…we’ll figure it out tomorrow.

Love to all of you and keep those great comments coming. We all appreciate them!

Roger, Elise and John

s/v Cutthroat