SV Darwind

Today was a day of variables, both in terms of weather, and just in general. It started out with a cold early morning drizzle in Pender harbor as we left, and even before leaving the bay and heading out into Malaspina straits, the usual morning petty disputes between mom and I had escalated into a full scale row, with threats of mutiny and sulking at either end of the boat, myself at the helm and mom in the V-berth, with Carmen in the main cabin separating us. This boded ill for the voyage, as never being more than 28 feet apart at the very most, and forced to live in the same room day in and day out for the next week or more did not seem very pleasant. However, by around 11:00am, the sun came up, and with the help of some Jimmy Buffet ( Changes in Latitudes Changes in Attitudes was especially appropriate) and the wind off the port beam we soon made up and enjoyed the sailing. Just like our moods, the wind started out pretty wishy-washy as well, sometimes gusti...

          Today was, in stark contrast to yesterday, one of the greatest sailing days so far. We got up fairly late, around 0730, and motored over to Gibsons towing the dinghy to top up fuel. At the fuel dock we also got another 6-gallon jerry jug, as there might not be a chance to refuel for a while.             After we crossed the shoal channel again in company with two other sailboats, one of which turned south and the other motor sailing north along the same route as us, I raised the main and genoa without any kind of autopilot, help from the crew, or even tying the tiller off, which was fun to say the least. The wind at this point was around 8-10 knots from the south and it was bright and sunny with some thin clouds to the south.             As we headed out on a broad reach into the Straits of Georgia the wind continued ...

Our first Canadian port of this voyage was actually somewhere none of us had been, which was a bit surprising, as mom had sailed this passage three times already, twice going north. Plumper Cove, situated on Keats Island in Howe Sound is one of the nicest little places we have traveled so far. Being only about a mile away from the town of Gibsons on the mainland, and in a well-maintained park with mooring balls and a small dock.             When we arrived, the first thing we did after tying up was to pump up the dinghy so that Carmen and I could go ashore and try to find some wrecks shown on the chart while mom was cooking dinner.             Ashore, Plumper Cove is just as nice or nicer than it is from the water, with a great grassy field and lots of good campsites I the woods. The most interesting thing however is the twin wreck on the other side of ...

            Though it started innocently enough, May 31 turned out to be a long day. A very long day. And not just a long day, but also a boring one.(probably one of the reasons it was so long) We woke up at the now usual hour of 0500 AM, and first thing left Blaine and motored 2 miles to White Rock, Canada to check in. At least the checking in went quickly. In fact, checking in and fuel consumption were probably the only things moving quickly all day. After being tied up to the customs dock for ten minuets and checking in over the phone, without seeing anyone but some fishermen who helped us tie up, we left and actually went back into US waters for a few miles in order to get out of Boundary bay and on our way to Plumper Cove, 47 nautical miles north.             There was no wind at the start.          ...

Last day on board for dad             This morning (Monday, May 30, sorry about any possible confusion with the other posts) I woke up as no sailor ever wants to wake up: Wet. As soon as I realized that I was sleeping in a puddle of salt water on the cabin sole, there was a brief moment of panic before we realized that the problem was that someone had simply forgotten to close the seacocks on the head, and with the rolling from wakes throughout the night, the bowl had slowly filled then overflowed. Luckily nothing was damaged, and the only harm done was a wet sleeping bag which dried in the sun on the way to Blaire.             After dealing with the water, we got ready to go, and while we were eating some oatmeal for breakfast, a Doe walked out onto the beach on Doe Island, which distracted us from the cold morning dew and wet sleeping bag on deck.    ...

This morning when we woke up at five and turned on the VHF to the weather it almost looked like we would be staying another day in Port Townsend. The NOAA weather had a small craft advisory out, with a 15-25 knot west wind pretty much all day in the eastern straits of Juan De Fuca, with a chop of four feet or more. All right across our route to the San Juan Islands. There was about half an hour of debate whether we should go out at all, but in the end, the decision was made to try it, and if it really was too rough, the West wind would blow us straight back to Port Townsend. So at 06:30 AM, with full foul weather gear on, dad and I cast off the lines and headed out, with two reefs already in the main, the #2 jib hanked on in place of the genoa, and headed out in the cold drizzle and fog of Admiralty Inlet.             Just around the end of Port Townsend, within sight of the Sea Dart , we raised the jib and double reefed main, an...

At the dock in Ballard, this is where we spent a week working on the boat preparing her for the trip. One of my many projects was the gimbaled stove. The frame is made from aluminum strips held together by small bolts, and the stove is an old Iwatani butane camp stove that was given to us by another sailor at the dock. Locking through into the sound Friday morning Finally underway