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The Seattle Boat Show is on until Sunday at Centurylink Field and South Lake Union. There were lots of exhibits and boats to see.  South Lake Union We had wonderful weather today and the weekend forecast looks great as well.  Island Packet Estero We took a close look at the Estero, a 36′ sailboat made by Island Packet. The show was great and ends this weekend. If you miss it, there is still the Vancouver Boat Show coming up February 8-12. Cheers!  Cherry Point We went for a walk today at Point Whitehorn Marine Reserve in Whatcom County, WA. Family was visting from Edmonton Famous last words “I know how to do this, I’ve done this lots before.”  splash Ahhh, but my hubby is so sweet, after he takes this photo of me he runs over to help me out. And what are the first things I hear when my head re-surfaces? “Boy, that was graceful.” and “We should have got a canoe.” I must admit, after the cold shock wore off I was laughing too. The kayak wins the first round. Dry off and try again. This is how it’s supposed to look:  right side up This is why we practice. LOL!! Morning at the dock …  Misty Morning We have lots of work to do on the boat! One step at a time (I keep saying). We hope to spend more time on her in the future. The tarp at the back is to help keep the rain off, it’s that time of year. Summer went by so quickly … time flies! Cheers, Lorna August 24-26. We bought Island Song in Seattle WA and sailed her north, through Puget Sound and the San Juan Islands to Blaine. Click here for details and photos of our trip.  Island Song Bought a boat! A Camano 34 trawler, made in the Pacific NorthWest. She has a raised pilot-house design with doors exiting to side deck accessing the bow. The wide body design creates a good-sized salon and galley. The door aft exits to a cockpit with a transom door to access the swim-platform. (Someone likes to swim, even in these cold waters LOL!) With a lapstrake hull built to commercial standards, she is one of only nineteen built. She’s an older boat that has been well cared for at times in the past … but now needs some TLC … so we’ll be busy! Cheers! Our sailboat has been sold to a lucky couple from the U.S. We wish them all the best and hope they have many fun and safe journeys. It was hard to let Haefen go … but time for us to move on. We hope to be back on the water again some day. Who knows what the future will hold! cheers, 09/20/10 Monday.  One of the many islands in the Broughton Archipelago The phone call we’ve been waiting for comes in and we are OK to head out again away from civilization and phone coverage. Its sunny today - nice weather for September. We pay for our slip and motor over to the fuel dock to fill our diesel tank with 51 litres. Jeff calculates that we have been using 0.5 USgal/hr, pretty good as we have been running the diesel heater regularly. (It’s that time of year!) We leave the fuel dock 1505 and head east … by the north side of Cormorant Island, down Blackfish Sound, thru West Passage and into Broughton Archipelago Marine Park. The Broughton Archipelago was named in 1792 by George Vancouver in honour of William Robert Broughton, the captain of the expedition’s second ship, HMS Chatham. It consists of numerous islands and islets, the largest are Broughton Island, North Broughton Island, Eden Island, Bonwick Island and Baker Island. We anchor 1840 on the east side of Leone Island, it’s a lovely spot. Tranquil here, there is no wind.  Broughton Archipelago Marine Park Established in 1992, Broughton Archipelago Provincial Marine Park is BC’s largest marine park, accessible by boat only. The park is about 30 km east of Port McNeill, near the mouth of Knight Inlet, on the west side of Queen Charlotte Strait (near the north end of Vancouver Island). Port McNeill (aka the gateway community to the Broughton Archipelago), is approximately a four hour drive north of Nanaimo. The park consists of a multitude of islands and sheltered anchorages with a backdrop of the magnificent coastal mountains to the east and the waters of Queen Charlotte Strait to the west. Jupiter is at opposition tonight, and we are able to see four of her moons with the stabilized binoculars. Cool! Our moon is almost full and very bright. ttyl 09/15/10 Weighing anchor 0710 we head down Port Harvey into Johnstone Strait. It’s calm in Port Harvey but windy in the Strait. Winds are forecast SE 15-25 knots today. At first we try sailing with a reefed main and staysail but it is too rough and we are afraid of an accidental gybe. This can occur when running downwind and the direction of the wind changes from one side of the sail to the other (whether the wind itself changes or the helmsman is avoiding an obstacle). The boom/mainsail suddenly and with great force swings across the center of the boat. This is really hard on the rigging. At one point the wind is driving Haefen over her hull speed and we are doing 8 knots. We decide to run downwind with a reduced jib only, mostly on a broad reach, gybing occasionally. Our average speed is 6 knots, until we are close to Alert Bay around noon. Then the winds and waves subside a little and we sail into Port McNeil. The wind is still blowing at 15 knots as we dock at Port McNeil Boat Harbour 1450 – Jeff put down the fenders and I let the wind push us to the inside of “E” dock. Covered 36 nautical miles today.
 sunset in Port McNeil
09/16/10 – 09/19/10 We spend several days tied up at Port McNeil Boat harbour, shopping and dining out, catching up on things like maintenance and laundry. We are expecting a phone call Monday so we also need to stay within cell coverage. (Much of the north-east coast of Vancouver Island doesn’t have GSM cell coverage.)
 float plane in Port McNeil
Located on Vancouver Island’s north-east shore on Queen Charlotte Strait, Port McNeil was originally a base camp for loggers. It has a population of roughly 3,000. The town was named after Captain William Henry McNeill of the Hudson’s Bay Company. Port McNeil is a popular tourism destination and calls itself “the gateway to the Broughton Archipelago”. It’s an excellent place to stock up as everything you need is within walking distance from the harbour.
 world’s largest burl
We have quite a few foggy mornings and some days it lasts well past noon. It’s that time of year!
ttyl 09/14/10 It’s misty, cloudy, and calm this morning. We listen carefully to the forecast this morning as we will be heading out into Johnstone Strait, a 110 km (68 mi) channel along the north east coast of Vancouver Island.  cool wet morning in Sunderland Channel We motor out of Forward Harbour 0915 and head SW along Sunderland Channel, then west along Johnstone Strait. The winds pick up in the strait and we motor-sail until it’s time to head NE into Port Harvey, an inlet about (2 miles) long. Don’t know who George is, but his neighbours don’t like him! There are several signs along the inlet which declare that George is a bad neighbour. I wonder if he’s the guy who owns the junky barge anchored at the end of the inlet. Port Harvey is nice and protected with a good mud bottom, but there are a lot of junk floats. I think we’ll try to avoid this inlet in the future.  junk anchored in Port Harvey We anchor 1420 just past Range Island. Then an over-temperature alarm goes off just after we anchor. Weeds have blocked a tee near the through-hull in the sea water cooling line. We must have picked them up motoring into Port Harvey. Fortunately Jeff is able to clear the line. It’s good that he installed an additional over-temp alarm – it caught the coolant blockage before the engine got too hot! Covered 27 nm today. ttyl |
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It was a blustery day with winds over 15 knots from the East. However, once we walked thru the park and down the steep hill to the beach we were protected from the winds. Lovely view of the Strait of Georgia, the San Juan Islands and the Gulf Islands. The sun came out – yay!