day 14 – Koskimo Islands to Bunsby Islands (Lo50°05.5’L127°33.0’)

Another 04:30 wake-up call, another return to bed at 04:50. There was still a gale warning in effect, but the winds were predicted to diminish. This is a good sign, but not quite good enough to lift anchor just yet. Back to bed, then back up for a lazy breakfast and to listen to the next weather forecast at 10:30. Finally! The wind warnings were over! 15-25 knot winds, diminishing, and 1-2 meter waves, sun shining. Good enough for us, let’s go!! Today’s journey was a long one – overall it was calm, but as soon as we hit that swell again I could feel it in my centre. It took about an hour to get from our anchorage to the swell, then about 4 hours to the western-most point of Brook’s Peninsula, Cape Cook and Solander Island. But once we rounded that corner, and resumed surfing with the southeast flowing current instead of jumping diagonally across it, I could feel the sea-sensitivity in my core instantly numb to comfort. I could even read my book a little bit. Another 2 hours to the south tip, Clerke point, then we rounded that corner and entered into Checlecet Bay. From there it was much smoother – the swell was behind us, winds were calm. We continued until the Bunsby Islands, at the mouth of Ououkinsh Inlet and Malksope Inlet. Anchor down in a small bay beside Small Bunsby. It feels and looks at a little different – we are no longer on the North Island, we are now Central Island. The wind is a bit warmer, the water a little smoother. I don’t know if it’s the geography, or the weather system, or a little of both, but it feels like August again!

day 13 – Koskimo Islands

Today was the first day that the Carefree Isle did not go anywhere, except for a couple of feet sideways in either direction as she drifted with the waves and wind against her anchor and stern lines. Another 04:30 wake-up call, another day of resigned acceptance that the sea was too hectic for us to venture into. Environment Canada’s marine forecast on VHF told us that another Gale warning was in effect, with big waves for company. When we created our tentative itinerary for this journey, we factored into it that there may be periods of time when the weather would prevent us from going anywhere. Especially on the west coast. We have been making pretty good time up until now, so we don’t mind stopping and smelling the roses for a while. But we are looking forward to rounding that elusive Brook’s Peninsula and visiting more of the island. Our protected anchorage is not in one of Telus’s pockets, so this morning we ventured out in the dinghy with our laptops, in search of communication coverage. On our way back to the boat, we passed close beside 2 mink whales as they breeched the surface. There was just enough time to get the video camera rolling and catch a pretty good image of these enormous beautiful beasts (which will be posted as soon as possible!). This afternoon, Cap’n Adam and JP finished working on a project started a few weeks ago – replacing the first netting on the bow, between the 2 hulls. Armin & Julie headed out with rods in search of food. Getting the stinky bait off of the poopdeck, and giving the poopdeck a good scrub-down seems to have curbed our Quatsino Sound horsefly situation, which is not as painful as it is overwhelmingly annoying. Let that be a lesson to you all – keep your poopdecks clean! This afternoon most of the crew headed out for an exploration of a secret-special-magical-creek-bed, accessible only at high tide. One of them will have to Blog about that, for I opted to stay behind and enjoy the silence and solitude for the afternoon. I also made a stir-fry dinner for everyone when they got back, so we had a relatively early dinner tonight at 6:30, so we can try to get up, again, tomorrow for the 04:00 Environment Canada Marine Forecast Update…

day 12 – Winter Harbour to Koskimo Islands (Lo50°28.0’L127°51.2’)

Fwap. Fwap fwap. Fwap. Fwap fwap fwap. That is the sound that the waves in the harbour made against the hull of the boat all night. When our alarms went off at 04:30, the sound was still just as loud as when we went to bed. The wind causing this chop was a strong one, and not getting any lighter. Before the Cap’n even started up the motors, he turned on the VHF radio for the latest marine weather forecast. “Gale warning in effect, 2-3 meter waves increasing to up to 4 meters in the afternoon. 15-25 knot winds, increasing to 35 knots in the afternoon”. Yikes, too much action for us. Considering there were already whitecaps in the waters of the harbor where we were still tied after 2 nights, we opted to go back to bed and then figure out a new plan when it was light out. Several hours later, the wind was still a’ blowin’, so we changed our intended destination from around Brook’s Peninsula to further up Quatsino Sound. That is, if the cap’n was able to get the boat off of the dock, as the wind was blowing us directly onto it. After breakfast, some pondering, and some strategic bumper placement, Cap’n Adam decided we would go for it, and make it an entire crew effort to get off of the dock. We were not as much worried about damaging the boat (it is, after all, built kind of like a tank) as we were worried about damaging the dock. Clearly it was an important lifeline for the small community, and one of the wharfingers had already told us that he had a sister who could “kick our ass” (no clue why, we hadn’t done anything to deserve an ass-kicking yet). With the stern end tethered to the dock, the Cap’n at the helm, and the dinghy already separated from the catamaran and tied further up the dock, we waited for a lull in the wind and the remaining crew pushed the bow end away from the dock, leap-frogging and being careful not to fall in. Cap’n throttled up, the Carefree Isle was off the dock and under way! And now the crew remaining on the dock just had to hop into the dinghy and catch up to the ship! We considered heading all the way up to Port Alice, but opted rather to explore some little bays and islands in Quatsino Sound, and we anchored in a small protected cove. Although our guide book told us this was a great spot for scallops, abalone and sea cucumbers, our crew member who strapped on his SCUBA gear unfortunately came back with an empty milk crate. We putted around in the dinghy, exploring the local landscape. We’ll try again tomorrow to get up early and hit the seas, but we know that there is a storm system or 2 that we are waiting on.

day 11 – Winter Harbour to the mouth of Quatsino Sound, and then back to Winter Harbour (Lo50°31.0’L128°01.7’)

“Which is that law again that states that everything that can go wrong will go wrong?” I heard one of our crew ask today. “That’s Murphy’s Law,” was the response. And that seemed to sum up our day. Perhaps Poseidon didn’t want us on his sea today. Perhaps Winter Harbour wasn’t done with us yet. Whatever the reason, we are going to spend a second night tied up here to the government dock. Not that we didn’t try to leave. Knowing that the weather forecast called for increasing winds in the afternoon, Cap’n Adam set his alarm for 04:30 (that’s a.m., BTW) so that we could be around the west tip of Brook’s Peninsula before it got too hairy. He woke up at 05:30, his alarm didn’t go off. His first attempt to start the engines was unsuccessful – although we were plugged into the dock and receiving shore power all night, we still managed to drain the battery power overnight.

On the boat we have 2 different electrical systems – the 12 Volt DC (battery power, charged from the engines running and the solar panels), and the 120 Volt AC (either from shore power, or battery DC power converted to AC through an inverter). The machinery that is “hard-wired” into the boat always draws from the 12 Volt DC power (toilets, fridge, water pump, some lights…). The things on the boat that are “plugged-in” to the boat use 120 Volt AC power (computers, some lights, speakers, etc…). So even though we were plugged into AC power from shore all day, we still continued to use DC battery power all day too. The solar panels alone could not keep up with the energy draw, and there was not enough juice left in the batteries to turn over the motors in the morning.

So, that’s where the generator usually comes in handy. Except this morning Cap’n Adam discovered that there is a leak in the saltwater side of the heat exchanger. So, it looks like we are without our back-up generator for the rest of this trip. No biggie, just something we need to remember. At least generators also have their own 12 Volt DC power supply, so Cap’n Adam, who now had his crew assembled and on-task, managed to use that power to jump-start the starboard side motor. Yay! We were on our way! We untied from the dock, and started cruising along on one motor, hoping to let the battery pack charge up again before we tried to start the port side motor. Wondering why the now running starboard engine did not seem to be charging the power supply at all, an investigation revealed that a fan-belt had snapped and wrapped itself around important engine bits, creating smoke and confusion. An oil cap had also rattled loose during this time, spewing black oil all over the motor. Once that was sorted out and a new fan-belt was in place, our crew engineer Armin did a little investigative work to see what else was going on in the engine room. He discovered some loose screws on the driveshaft – not a crucial issue at the moment, but best dealt with now to prevent future troubles. As for the batteries – it appears we may have an issue with that alternator, for it does not seem to be charging the batteries even with the fan-belt fixed.

By this time, we were at the mouth of Quatsino Sound and faced with a dilemma. We could continue on our way on one motor, and wait for the solar panels to charge up the batteries enough to start the port side engine, or we could head back to port. Because we would be headed into unknown waters the Cap’n decided, with the full support of his crew, to head back to Winter Harbour and its dock to have a look at everything in calmer waters. To make the trip around Brook’s Peninsula, we would rather know we have both motors fully operational (even though most sailboats only ever operate with one motor). As we came close to port, there had been enough energy from the sunny skies of the morning to top up the batteries, and the port engine purred back to life. Back on shore, both engines running, energy topped all back up. Ready to go.
So tonight we will have another early night. Try again tomorrow, the forecast is the same - no winds, clear skies and small waves in the morning, with winds picking up in the afternoon. And we will see if the sea will accept us on our journey…

day 10 – Browning Inlet to Winter Harbour (Lo50°31.0’L128°01.7’)

A quiet morning all to ourselves in a northern tip of Quatsino Sound. Once we rolled out of bed, the cap’n and I grabbed our raingear, shovels, rakes, and milkcrates and went in search of clams. There were none to be found in the spot we paddled to, and the tide was coming in quickly. Plus there was a bear within sight, not too close, but within sight. Back to the boat for breakfast, and we lifted anchor and headed to Winter Harbour, the first community we’ve seen since we passed Port Hardy. We’re now tied up at the government dock, hooked up to power, the boys are doing some maintenance. Water filter unclogged, we now have functioning onboard showers! We are going to spend the night here, so we can get provisions, have warm on-land showers, charge up the batteries, and do some laundry. There is no cell phone reception (and therefore, for us, no internet connection) here, but the bait ‘n tackle shop has Wi-Fi. Tomorrow we set sail for Brook’s Peninsula, quite a day’s journey into the rolling Pacific. Once we get past that point, it should be smoother sailing until our next anchorage on the other side.

day 9 – Sea Otter Cove to Quatsino Sound, Browning Inlet (Lo50°30.0’L128°04.5’)

The crew felt fully recovered from yesterday’s adventure, and we were ready to hit the seas again. This time some arrangements for the journey were made ahead of time – lunch and snacks were pre-planned so no preparation in the galley had to happen at sea. The waters that we crossed yesterday around Cape Scott point were bubbly and confused as the southeast flowing current from the Pacific Ocean and Queen Charlotte Sound crashes into the tip of Vancouver Island. These were the crazy seas we met yesterday. From our departure point this morning, we were back into the smoother flowing southeast current. Sunny skies, perfect winds and both sails hoisted made for a hypnotizing day on the swell. There is most definitely a rhythm to the sea – ride the wave, rock back and forth at the bottom of the trough, wait for the next wave. Up. Down. Rock side to side. Up. Down. Rock side to side. In a catamaran, at least we don’t also keel side to side like mono-hulled boats do. With an increasing northwesterly wind at our backs, we reached a top speed of about 9.3 knots just before we arrived in Quatsino Sound. A significant increase from our average of about 5.5 knots when under power. No crew members were sick today, although I did feel pretty nappy at about the 4 hour mark, just before we found the calmer waters of the sound and just after the winds increased from about 10 to about 20 knots. Even at that speed, somehow Armin was able to troll a Chinook salmon off the stern, which about 20 minutes later we began eating. Then we ate it again for dinner. As we pulled into Browning Inlet, we saw an adult bear foraging on the shore, bald eagles soaring overhead and perching in treetops, and otters floating on their backs. But no other boats. We anchored just outside a tidal bed. We(well, I) learned the hard way about conserving power on the boat. Do not use heating elements (toasters, etc…) unless the motors are running, they consume way too much battery power. There was just enough juice left to fire up one motor, barely, so we had dinner by candle light and an early evening.