May 4, 2023
Finally, after 3 very long weeks, we splashed and happily motored away from the boatyard. Well, happily might be a stretch. Yes, we were happy to leave, but we knew the list of things to do was far from over. Also, with the last-minute electronics failure, we had an imminent issue that would need to take priority for fixing. That and we made a massive mess in our recently cleaned boat. Seriously, it was like a bomb of tools, boxes, and spare parts had gone off.
We had previously planned to attend a sailing seminar in Nanaimo, which we knew would be a stretch since it is 40ish miles away and one notorious tidal passage away. We wouldn't make it one day, so we likely had to spread it over two.
We didn't check the forecast (rookie mistake). There wasn't much wind at the marina. It was later in the afternoon, so we planned to just cruise over to Galiano Island, which was quickly beginning to feel like a home base for us, given how often we'd been there in the last two months. Since one of us (me) assumed there wouldn't be a lot of wind, I didn't want to go to the hassle of putting up the mainsail. To be clear, putting up our mainsail is a production - one person has to go forward to the mast, fiddle with all the lines, and then haul it up by hand as far as it will go and then winch the rest While the other person needs to hold the boat directly into the wind. Mark relented and agreed to just put the headsail out. So out it went, and the engine was turned off.
We drifted along thanks to a friendly current and coasted past Portland Island. Once we cleared the protection of land, the wind just started building, and so did our speed! In no time, we were shooting along at 6 knots and then 7. I don't think we've reached those speeds. It could have been the moderately good job on the bottom paint or the 20 knots of wind. Regardless, we flew and sped right into Montague Harbour in record time. We tried our hand at sailing right through the narrow-ish channel. We made it pretty far but decided it was just getting too narrow, and we motored the last five minutes to the North Beach, where we'd settle in for the night. One. Night. Only.
Lol, to the one night only. Our plan was to get up and head to Nanaimo. To make it through the rapids at Dodd Narrows, we needed to time our passage right. Well, that plan went out the window. I woke up sick, and we were exhausted from the last push to finish in the yard. We decided it was best to stay put and take a break for a few days. I slept the day away, and Mark deep-cleaned the galley.
Even though we said we were taking a break from projects, we couldn't sit still for long. We wanted to clear some space up in the boat, so we installed the panel in front of the fridge the next day. When squinting, it looks like we have a whole U-shaped settee instead of two settees and a fridge randomly at the end. Not bad.
With one project behind us and still a pile to finish, we took some time to relax. North Beach is famous for its sunsets; we were not disappointed this time. We finally had a forecast that would agree with getting a good sunset. Even though it was cold and we wore all of our warm clothes and wrapped ourselves in our blankets, we sat out and enjoyed sundowners with proper sunsets.
We knew we'd need to move on at some point, but this weekend it just wasn't in the cards.
NM Sailed: 15
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