I"m back! Sailing trip update!

CaptainScott · Post by **CaptainScott** » Mon Jul 25, 2011 7:54 am

Well,
If you are really bored, read on but there really is no info than a summary of our sailing trip!
Two weeks ago, we left on our yearly trip to the San Juan and Gulf Islands! We spent the first night aboard so we could get an early start allowing for plenty of time to get to Deception Pass for a slack tide passing. We had excellent tides and winds and made it to Spencer Spit in record time! 8 hours traveling! We stayed here one night. The next morning or the very first full day of our trip, I was taxiing our Corgi to shore so she could pee when I was stopped by a BIG fishing boat. I looked up and they were all grinning ear to ear! Want some crab they asked . .. you bet! Suddenly the air was full of flying crabs! They loaded me up with a bunch off fresh, live dungenous that were 7+ inches across the back! WOW! I was barefoot and in shorts and my dinghy crawling with crab! Must have been a sight! They laughed and took off! Sheesh and this is day one! So off to Double Island where we played phone tag with friends we were hoping to meet up with. Once the anchor was down I went to shore and cleaned the feast bringing it back to be freshly boiled! Our friends showed up even though we never managed a call! They know us well and where we'd be! LOL! We left Destiny on the hook and took off with them to Deer Harbor on there "Blue Moon" towing our dink for a return ride. At Deer harbor we stocked up on wine then proceeded to sit in there cockpit eating fresh crab! WOW! And this is still day one! Just before sunset were turned to Destiny via the dink and spent two nights there relaxing. Next day, Roche Harbor! Lots of sea planes and yachts! Next stop was Victoria BC Canada! While we have crossed the border MANY times we've never done it with a pet. We had shot records, rabies tag, medical history, and everything else you can think of for our dog right down to the receipt when we bought her. No worries or problems. Customs was a none issue.
We spent the next three days in downtown Victoria, we watch street performers, shopped, walked, and walked and walked, and just generally immersed ourselves in the downtown touristy atmosphere. Then off to Sidney Spit! This Spit is a great long sandy beach! The Island has a several long hikes which we took in and lots of things to see! We anchored in 6 feet of water at mean low low tide! Funny to watch other boats come in to anchor near us and turn immediately around when they saw the depth! 15 foot tides can bite you! Oh wait, did I mention we anchored at mean low low tide? in a few short hours we had 20 feet of water under us! LOL!
Next stop was Tumbo Island. This is a very remote place that we all LOVE! We Kayak, hike, and site see in the wild here! In one evening we watched a family of 5 otters eating. Mom and Pop otter getting oysters and bringing them to the kids and showing them how to crack and eat them! Very cool! Then a Bald Eagle swooped in and landed in a tree 30 feet directly above the otters! I thought for sure we'd see some real nature going on but the Eagle never did dive on the family. However , the family briefly left their rocky beach and a raccoon came in and ate the left overs! We saw many bald eagles, deer, otters, raccoons, fish, oysters, etc etc etc! Literally living in a wildlife reserve! We were treated to a few rainy days here where we simply curled up and read books and played scrabble all day! we had some beautiful sunsets and rain squalls! Sometimes at the same time!
Next stop? Back to the US, US customs, and Friday Harbor! US Customs in Friday Harbor are wonderfull! Very polite, very friendly yet business like. Friday Harbor, while touristy, has more of a business like atmosphere. Still fun to visit and see, lots to do, and shop around. I however managed to pick up a nasty cold somewhere and here is where it settled in on me! While the girls went shopping I sat in the cockpit sneezing and coughing. Still better than shopping though! LOL!
Ah, off we go again! We sailed off to Spencer Spit! remember the first night there? We decided one night was not enough so we went back for two more nights! More kayaking, beach combing and generally fooling around! The next day was the beginning of the end. We sailed with 50% of the main and 50% of the jib lazily across Rosario Straight back towards Deception Pass. The winds decided to blow and the currents were swift and in our favor so we still arrived several hours early befor slack so we dropped the hook in Bowsman Bay for lunch. We passed through Deception yet again without incedent. It is amazing the Horror Stories I've heard about this place! We've always passed when appropriate and have NEVER had any issue of any type! Once through the wind picked up and was blowing about 20. The crew was grumbling about an over nighter anchored in Oak Harbor where we would be protected yet reasonably exposed. Been there, Done that. Anchord in 25kt steady with gusts to 30 can be a very long night. we sailed on to Oak Harbor. We dropped anchor only to be treated to the very end of Whidby Island race week where hundereds of sailboats gather for races! We watch the boats come in as the wind steadily increased. Beautiful to watch! We jumped in the dink and headed off to shore so we could get to our favorite restaurant before the racers arrived! By 6:30 we were back aboard Destiny and the crew was again grumbling. The winds have indeed increased to a steady of 25 with 30kt gusts. We were rocking and rolling at anchor! With tongue in cheek I suggested why not just sail the reast of the way home? This wind is perfect for a good ride and perfect to broad reach ALL the way home 4 hours away! My daughter piped up immediately with "Lets do it"!! So . . .. up came the anchor and out into the swelling seas of Port Susan! We broad reached at 8kts SOW with very little main and about2/3 of the jib! We had a smoking fast ride most of the way home and I was so tempted to call Alan Hodge just to say "Guess where I am" LOL! I held off though since it was getting late. About an hour out the wind died off to 6 kts puffing to maybe 10 so we furled the sails, turned on the radar and GPS, and motored the rest of the way in the dark!

We spent two weeks aboard cutting our normal vacation short since my daughters 18th birthday was yesterday and she's preparing to head off to college in 3 weeks.
We had a great trip however the weather was less than stellar. We did not allow that to stop us though!
I'm back now and will resume the weekly questions next week.
Pictures to follow!

Scott

tgentry · Post by **tgentry** » Mon Jul 25, 2011 8:53 am

Scott, that sounds like a great trip. Thanks for the story!

Bhacurly · Post by **Bhacurly** » Mon Jul 25, 2011 11:23 am

Sounds like a perfect trip!

Glad it went smooth and really look forward to seeing the picts.

Welcome back!

Alanhod · Post by **Alanhod** » Mon Jul 25, 2011 12:05 pm

Great Story, thanks

Alan

mariner · Post by **mariner** » Mon Jul 25, 2011 12:27 pm

Thanks for sharing, sounds like a great vacation!

mcrandall · Post by **mcrandall** » Mon Jul 25, 2011 1:50 pm

Very nice! Thanks for sharing!!!

KeithR · Post by **KeithR** » Mon Jul 25, 2011 5:03 pm

Awesome story, it is too darn hot here to spend much time the boat.

EmergencyExit · Post by **EmergencyExit** » Mon Jul 25, 2011 5:20 pm

Hey, welcome back ! Sounds like a great trip..

Will be taking a week down to the Gulf next week but the only thing I'm sailing on is a big ole hammock !

Alanhod · Post by **Alanhod** » Mon Jul 25, 2011 6:10 pm

KeithR wrote:Awesome story, it is too darn hot here to spend much time the boat.

Ahh, that's when you get in the water and swim around the boat.

Yea, I think we're pushing the mid 60's today. We did hit 82 yesterday which I think was the all time high in the last year or so. Summer seems to be a little shy around here this year.

Thanks
Alan

jbbkamp · Post by **jbbkamp** » Thu Jul 28, 2011 6:36 am

Just read through your vacation story. Love hearing about trips like this. Sounds like a blast!!!

hadaveha · Post by **hadaveha** » Fri Jul 29, 2011 2:55 pm

scott sounds like a great trip, I have a off subject question if you dont mind, it looks like in your pics that you replaced your keel pin by droping your keel a small amount and sliding it back, but never clearing the slot that the keel moves up and down in, is that so or am I nuts
dave

Alanhod · Post by **Alanhod** » Fri Jul 29, 2011 6:32 pm

I can answer this one because Captain Scott (69shark) let me help. I built the cradle for the keel you see in the photo.

Nope, keel does not have to come all the way out. We slid it back to access the forward part of the trunk to get at the brackets.

Captain Scott had one other exceptional idea too about blocking up the keel from underneath as shown and then cutting the pin with a saws all with a long blade right from underneath with it resting on the cradle. The pin was coming out anyway so he cut it as slick as you can imagine. Lowered the keel and the cradle a little and slide the whole rig backward in the cradle.

Wala, your good to go.

Now for refinishing the entire keel pulling it all the way out would be the way to go I'm thinking but this technique would work till you were ready for the re-finishing.

Thanks
Alan

hadaveha · Post by **hadaveha** » Sat Jul 30, 2011 5:20 am

my keel really doesnt seem to need to be refinshed, I am not compleetly sure that it a necessity i replace the pin and brakets right now, they just have some surface rust, I am conceding this summer so I thought I would just go ahead and have gotten that job out of the way, and sliding it makes it seems so much less of a intimidating task.

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I"m back! Sailing trip update!

I"m back! Sailing trip update!

Re: I"m back! Sailing trip update!