August 13, 2022
Our spinnaker and jib arrived from the sailmakers this week, just in time for our last long summer trip. We couldn't wait to get out and test them out and see how far we could make it before coming back and settling in for a fall and winter of boat work.
I'd like to say we left first thing in the morning, but in reality, we went around noon. Once we got out and settled, we decided to try out the spinnaker. Did we know how to put it up? Nope. Did we even have a general idea? Also nope.
After some googling and watching YouTube, we were confident we could raise the sail without much incident. We ran the sheets and tack line, attached everything and then realized we rigged it wrong and had to start over. 45 minutes later, we had it raised, and we were cruising along toward Bowen Island.

Ultimately we were heading back to Gambier, so we pulled down the spinnaker and headed between Bowen and Keats for a longer sail into Port Graves on Gambier. We eventually reached Gambier and settled in for a couple of days.
Well, a couple of days turned into almost a week. Our vacations didn't start for another week, we hadn't planned on any big sails, but we were planning to head back to the dock for a day or two before taking off north for an extended trip.
Being on anchor for this part of the heatwave made living on the boat much nicer. The mornings were usually pretty calm while the day heated up. Typically, the winds would pick up after our lunchtime swims and die off by around 6 or 7 for an evening paddle board. Sprocket was improving his paddleboarding skills and enjoyed morning paddles around the anchorage before work.
Mark needed to be back in the City for work on Thursday night, so we woke up Wednesday morning with plans to sail back to the marina. The winds kept building all day, and it looked like it would be annoying to dock the boat by the time we were back in the marina. We toyed with the idea of heading into False Creek instead. But ultimately, we decided to go over to the Sunshine Coast. We were just having too much of a good time out on anchor and weren't ready to head into the City just yet.
The plan was to go back to Keats. I'd dinghy Mark over to the ferry and spend the night alone on the boat on a mooring in Keats. Then I'd pick him up the following day, and we'd head off North.
NM Sailed: 32
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