Day 403 Straight shot day

Today was pretty much a straight shot day. Once we hit Grenville Channel, it was a straight line all the way down it.

We upped the anchor about 0715 and took off for the channel. We had calculated the tides and currents and knew we had to wait till 0800 before we entered. That's when the current and tide change and go the opposite way. It would help us out--not much but every little bit helps the diesel fuel bill. The bad thing is that we were heading into 25 to 30 knot winds most of the time. It slowed us down some times to 3.8 knots and that is pretty much unheard of. I bumped the throttle and gave Zephyr some more juice and we slowly inched up to 5+ knots. Once the tide was turned and we could "ride it" we got up to 8.3 knots for a while near the end of the trip. All in all, we did our 34.4 miles in just under 6 hours. We left at 0715 and got in to East Inlet(53 42.926N 129 43.717W) at Klewnuggit Inlet at 1300. Not really that bad, all in all.

As we went down Grenville Channel, we had been told that it was the freeway for boats in the area. We saw only one large freighter and darn few other boats. About 4 miles into the channel, there was a bank of fog out in front of us. With it blowing so much, it was gone by the time we got to it. With the AIS(Automatic Identification System) down, we fired up the radar to help look out in front and behind us. We saw a few boats but only the one freighter as I said. We turned it off later in the trip.

We journeyed today with Astarte again. We left the anchorage first but they passed us a few miles into Grenville. We kept in radio contact all the way in. He told us about what to expect since he was out in front and I warned him of what was sneaking up on him(nothing).

Once we got to East Inlet and dropped the hook, Zephyr would not go into the wind as just about every boat is supposed to. They float downwind of their anchorage. Zephyr stayed at about 90 degrees to the wind. We started up the engine to try and get her to swing her stern around but she just refused. We weren't aground so she just sat there. It ended up that there is a stream close by and the current from it was more powerful than the wind. Once the tide changed and the streams input was diminished, we turned right into the wind. Astarte had gone through the same thing when they came in to anchor.

I spent the rest of the afternoon whipping the ends(wrapping a smaller waxed thread around the end of the line to keep it from unraveling) and cutting more line. The reefing lines(we have 3 sets of reefing points for the main sail) were all quite long. Much longer than I felt was necessary and it junked up the last with all this extra line hanging from cleats on it. Today I remeasured and cut and whipped the ends of the lines. Some I cut off over 20 feet of line to get it to a more proper length. I whipped each of the reefing lines with the number of the reef it was. The first reef got one "whipping". The second reef got two "whippings" and the third got three. All in red twine. When you need to reef(make a sail smaller but still have it up)you pull in on one of these lines which come out the bottom of the boom with the main sail only part way up. This line then pulls a set portion of the sail down to the boom and allows a much smaller area of sail to power the boat. This way, the boat doesn't heel over so far and is much safer to sail. It's a safety thing. If you have to much sail up in a blow, you can knock the boat over(bad thing).

Once the reefing lines were done, I worked my way around Zephyr checking everything that had line on it to make sure that the ends were properly done. Some people melt the ends of their lines once they have whipped the line but I leave my natural. Melting the ends puts a hard surface on the end and isn't good for the line. There were lots that still needed doing. I thought I had done all the lines on Zephyr but I guess not. Now,I think they are all done. But you know how that goes--there is always one that got missed. It will turn up in a few days.

Tracy made Red Chili Beef Enchiladas for dinner. It was all I could do to not finish the entire serving but I saved enough for lunch, probably tomorrow.

We have plotted a course for tomorrow and talked it over with Astarte and plan on being out of here about 0600 to catch the outgoing tide. If the figures are right, we could catch a 2.5 knot current. That would really push us along. I guess we will see tomorrow. I think we will be out of here before Astarte but they can go faster being a power boat. Lets hope the wind is more forgiving tomorrow.

We will be in Prince Rupert(weather permitting) by Sunday and probably stay for a day or two until the parts we are waiting for arrive.

Have a great weekend everyone. Of course, by the time I can get back on the internet, it may be over.