Sail Cutthroat

22 June 2009

Sidney, BC

Leaving Bell Harbor Marina in downtown Seattle after two busy days left us with just

enough “city” flavor as any of us required. Charlie and Kathryne were ready to cruise to more remote locations and had seen enough weird people to keep them happy for awhile. I must say, Seattle is definitely the center of the grunge movement – we saw more people dressed in black, with tattoos and piercings to create quite a bank of memories. We had a long day ahead of us and while I didn’t think it at all possible, we pulled away from the dock at 0720 hours…that’s early even in my book! The kids were actually up and moving by 0630, on their way back to Pike Street Market by 0700 (Charlie wanted some fresh pastries, and I wanted him to pick up some mushrooms that I failed t get the day before), and back to the boat by 0715.

So off we went, heading up towards the east shore of Whidbey Island where we were to link up again with Bruce and Angie on M/V Desert Venture in Oak Harbor. They anchored in Poulsbo (a quaint little Norwegian town that we visited last year) while we were in the big city. We spent the night anchored just outside the marina basin – lots of mud, Roger’s favorite! Mud is one of those good/bad sort of ying/yang things in cruising. The “good” part is that it provides excellent holding power for the anchor – I’m a big fan – high sleep factor for the Captain. The “bad” again falls on the shoulders of the mighty and faithful first mate, Captain/Colonel Roger. It requires much more work in getting the anchor up and back into the hold while constantly hosing it off as it comes up. Now on Desert Venture, Bruce easily stands on the foredeck with his high powered hose and completes this task making it look very simple. On Cutthroat however, one must be a contortionist by climbing around the bow pulpit, over the windlass and 2d anchor chain and fire our not so powerful sailboat style hose at an odd angle to get the mud off – while assisting the chain into the anchor locker so as not to jam in the process. One extra person is a nice advantage in doing this task…blue, I might add. Now, mud has a stink power all of its own and s quite particular to where you happen to be anchored. What’s left on the chain then makes its way into the bilge, where again on a sailboat becomes a part of your inner world so to speak. The aroma can easily become overwhelming making our otherwise pristine home somewhat less than desirable. Fortunately, there is his always willing and usually cheerful staff (Charlie and Kathryne) to assist in this process.

Dinner was aboard Cutthroat this time (it was our turn). Cooking every other night is a good deal – I could get to like that! Oak Harbor was a convenient stop before we went through Deception Pass heading into the San Juan Islands. The kids went ashore discovering it to be basically a Navy town.
Deception Pass is best transited during slack tide which on this particular day occurred at 1308 hours so we hung around Oak Harbor until 1100 getting there just in time. This is a particularly strong narrows offering beautiful views and narrow inlets, and immense currents. It is also the road to the beautiful San Juan Islands where we spent that night at Shaw Island anchored in Blind Bay. There’s not much there beside a ferry dock at the entrance, but it is a very well protected anchorage – that means I can sleep well throughout the night, not worrying about all the potential anchor nightmares like dragging up on the rocks or having another boat drag into us, or any number of unimaginable scary nighttime thoughts…or even Jason coming aboard. That last one is Kathryne’s fault – she weaves him into all our stops somehow. For those of you who are Twitter challenged, you may also be unfamiliar with “Jason” – the character from the Friday the 13^th movies…don’t feel alone here, I’ve yet to see one but I don’t like scary movies.

By Friday, we were ready to cross into Canada, and we did just that clearing Customs over the phone at the Port Sidney Marina at 12 noon. From the Customs Dock, we moved to our slip, washed the boat and did some much needed laundry. S/V Bellatrix, a neighbor from Ko’Olina Marina in Hawaii was still at the Port Sidney Marina upon our arrival. They wintered the boat in Sidney after also bringing her up from Hawaii last season, and were putting the final finishing touches on her before heading to Desolation Sound. Jan and Corrie became good friends while we spent the previous winter in Hawaii. This is a very interesting vessel – a Ted Hood design, custom made in Holland boat that truly sets the standard for high tech sailing. It is absolutely magnificent in every way. Jan and Corrie are the caretakers, for lack of a better word. They maintain this boat for the owner who owns a shipbuilding factory in Holland. The owner sails the Bellatrix on the passages as they are making their way around the world…one long passage at a time. This year they will go down the coast to San Francisco, then on to Hawaii and ultimately Australia. While we didn’t see them for long on this trip, we did all get to enjoy dinner together at the Sidney North Saanich yacht Club. We have really come to enjoy their company and look forward to meeting up with them again in the future.

Tod Inlet is just around the corner from Butchart Gardens and provides a perfect anchorage and location for our next stop. It is protected from all directions. The only downside is that high winds (williwaws…yes that is the technical term) can swoop down from the high trees that surround this otherwise quiet cove. The gusts overnight sounded like they must have reached 30 knots but when I turned on the wind indicator, they were only registering in the low teens – strange feeling. There is a nature conservatory and wonderful walking paths through what used to be a cement factory that was worked by Chinese workers back in the 1800′s. The remnants depicted deplorable living conditions for the workers – looked like many of the slave quarters we saw in the Caribbean.

Monday morning we have an appointment to replace the raw water pump on the generator. It has a slight leak that we thought would tighten up with some use – a result of the long, cold Seattle winter. Fortunately, the part is available and it should be an easy fix. So once that gets done, we’re out of here and will continue our path northward. Sorry if this all sounds quite boring – we certainly don’t want the excitement of last year…even if it makes for better reading!

The crew is well – motivated and enjoying the beauty of all that British Columbia has to offer. Charlie is also a legal beer drinker here and trying to take advantage of those opportunities as well…sorry Anna.

Fair Winds from the Crew of the Cutthroat,

Elise, Roger, Charlie and Kathryne