Day 385 Photos?

We'll see if I can actually upload some photos of recent stops we have made. 

 The first one is on our way up the Prince Of Wales Inlet on the way to Princess Louisa Inlet.  High mountains towered over us all the way up the channel.

The water

falls are the famous Chatterbox Falls at the head of the inlet.  You are surrounded by high rock walls and dozens of falls, some small and some huge.  Being there during the run off season, we were treated to many incredible falls.  The valley scene is looking out from the falls as the clouds settle into the inlet and stayed for the entire time we were there. 

The two pictures with sailboats were taken at Musket Cove where we stopped after leaving Princess Louisa Inlet.  We did a stern tie to shore(run lines from your stern to the shore and tie to a tree).  It kept us from swinging around the little cove.

The last two are of last night in Douglas Bay in Forward Harbour.  A delightful place with forested mountains all around us.  Many places we stop have had the sides of the mountains deforested by lumber companies.  Some have replanted, most have not leaving a large scar on the hill sides.  A disappointing  sight as we cruise through the islands.

And now you are caught up on some of the pictures of the places we have been so far.  We're still heading North though today was more West but tomorrow will be North.

Day 384 More rapids today.

We left Bickley Bay this morning at 0945 to make the Greene Point Rapids by 1100.  We were there by 1030 and just powered through.  There wasn't much current by that time so it was easy.  The bigger problem was the winds that bucked us the whole way down the channel.  Up to 20 knots right at us.  There was no way we could take advantage of the ebb current to speed us along facing that kind of wind.  We still made it to Whirlpool Rapids by 1245 and with a 2 knot current pushing us through, we made it just fine.  Tracy stood out on the side rail and gave me directions on where the whirlpools and eddies were so I could avoid them.

The day started out with sprinkles and just went to cloudy till we got to Douglas Bay(50 28.93N  125 45.29W) in Forward Harbour.  The Sun slowly came out to play and it got sort of warm at least for about an hour and then the clouds came back with the chilly temps.  Oh well, you can't win them all.

We had our anchorage all to our selves for almost 30 minutes before another sailboat followed us in.  They had been in front of  us through the first rapids but we passed them on the way to the second.  Two trawlers came in later in the afternoon.  We finally had our first anchorage to ourselves last night but not tonight.  Forward Harbour is a gorgeous place with tall tree covered mountains all around us.  There is a pebble beach on shore.  One of the first we have seen so far.  I'd love to show you some pictures but my internet connection is really bad tonight.

Once anchored, I went about some tasks I had been putting off.   First, I washed down the deck. Anchoring just about every night can bring on deck a mess of mud, shells and gunk.  Last nights anchorage brought on some really dirty mud.  I'd scrubbed the chain as it came up but you can't get it all so out with the bucket and brush and off with the dirt.  

 The oil in the diesel injector pump needed changing. This is the gizmo that pumps the diesel fuel into the injectors that makes the engine run.  If you have been following my blog for a while, you will remember that this is a piece of equipment on the engine that had gotten missed during regular service for several years.  It still functions just fine and I was advised that since the engine runs just fine, just leave it alone and change the oil regularly.  Some say every 50 hours, some say to do it when you change oil--every 100 hours.  I changed it out today at 83 hours.  The tank normally holds 12 ounces and I got about 16 out when I changed it.  That means some diesel fuel is blowing past the seals in to.  I can get it rebuilt for about $750.00 or just leave it alone and continue to change the oil at regular intervals.  I think I'll save the bucks and do the service.  The engine seems to be just fine the way it is.  As we will hit the 100 hours on the engine tomorrow, I'll probably change the oil once we get to where ever we end up.  Our destination depends on the winds and weather.  If it is blowing to much in the Johnstone Strait, we will take a side channel and go around it if we can.  If it is not too bad, we will end up in either Port Neville or Port Harvey.  The weather will tell the story and the destination.

Since I was in the engine room, I tightened up several hose clamps and wire brushed some corrosion off some pipes that didn't look good.  Salt water will eat away an any metal given the chance.  I flushed the fitting with fresh water once done and will keep an eye on them.

Next, I pulled off the air filters.  On cars, they are made of paper and sit inside a can on the engine.  On Zephyr, they are a foam material.  One had a good bit of oil in it as one of the hoses on the crankcase cover hooks onto the top of the filter and blows exhaust gas and oil onto it(yuck).  Into soapy water and on to a towel to dry over night and they will be just fine for tomorrow.

Next, the raw water strainer(metal tube) got pulled and inspected.  It filters and keeps out the stray floating stuff in the water that might get sucked into the engine through the through hull fitting.  It needs to be inspected every so often depending on the quality of the water you float through.  We've been through some dirty water over the past few weeks.  Once cleaned and rinsed, back in she went. All done till the next time.  You don't want stray stuff getting into the engine cooling system.

After dinner, I read one of the books I bought on engine servicing and trouble shooting.  I learned a bit more of what to watch out for and what to do if some thing goes wrong.  It also went into what you should have on hand as a backup incase some thing fails.  I'll be ordering some more parts once we get back to civilization.  I have a good bit already but not all that I need.  There is always room for more parts!!

Well, it's off to bed as we are out of here at 0500 to try and beat the winds and the bad weather that is forecast for tomorrow afternoon.  We could be at our next destination by noon or earlier if it turns bad sooner that we hope.

More to come.  We're almost to the North end of Vancouver Island.  We've traveled 522 miles so far in the last 6 weeks.

 

Day 3 somethng. I don't remember.

I'm off line writing this and can't remember what number day we are. Oh well. Heck anymore, it's hard to remember what day it is of the week.

We're in Bickley Bay(50 26.708N 125 23.705W) after traversing the rapids at Yuculta, Gillard Passage and Dent Island.

We left Squirrel Cove at 0630 with the plan of reaching the rapids just as they went to slack water--no current running. Not being sure exactly how long it would take us we made sure to give ourselves plenty of time. It was 18 miles and we would be heading up against the incoming tide. We got there about 0945 with about 30 minutes before it was to go to perfect slack water. We were still facing about a 1 knot current flow. We'd been passed by a large crab fishing boat and had 4 more boats behind us. The crabber headed in as the water was just about still and this gave us the shot at making it to Dent Rapids and "Devils Hole" which is a really bad place in the middle of Dent Rapids that has a big reputation of throwing boats around, just as the water started its ebb flow. We breezed right through. Perfect timing. Both of us had been concerned about going through these rapids but timing is everything. Get there at slack water or don't go through.

It was cloudy and sprinkling just about the entire way to the rapids so we had to keep going out and getting the water off the dodger windows so we could see clearly. We flipped up the center window(plastic) as we were about to enter so we would have a really clear view. Tracy stood just outside the cockpit and told me what was coming as we went through. Eddies and whirlpools as well as dead heads(floating logs). It helps to have a lookout during a passage like this.

We were lucky enough to have been advised of what to expect by Randi and Sharon on Blue Heron. They're the couple we met in Port Of Brownsville back in January. They've been going through these rapids for years and really know the ins and outs of passing them by. Our thanks go out to them. It was a big help since we are just about rapid "virgins". We'd been over a few-Dodd and Malibu, but these have a big reputation as being bad. We'll face them again on the way back but at least be better prepared since we have already gone through.

We were in Bickley Bay by noon and started going over charts as to which way to make our way out to Johnstone Stait so we can continue North. We still will be going over two more rapids today--Greene Point Rapids in the Cordero Channel and then Whirlpool Rapids in Wellbore Channel. Again timing is everything. We'll be leaving here about 1000 to make Greene Point by 1100 which is slack water. We'll then ride the outgoing current over to Whirlpool and drop anchor in Forward Bay just North of it. The winds in Johnstone Strait are supposed to be not only bad--15 to 30 knots over the next few days but also exactly from the direction we need to be heading. We may spend a day or two in Forward Harbour. I guess time will tell. I'll write more once we get in where ever that is.

Sorry about the lack of pictures but since I can't connect to the internet I can't add them till I am. With luck, I will be able to post some shortly.

Day 382 Into Squirrel Cove

We took off early this morning --0730 from Musket Island for Squirrel Cove on our way to the Yaculta and Dent Rapids.  Two of the worst rapids along our route but it's impossible to get North with out going through some kind of rapids.  They may not be these but there are others that are worse and can run a current of over 16 knots if you hit them at the wrong time.

We made a stop at Westview next to Powell River on the trip North to fuel up and get more water(showers tonight!!) as well as a few groceries--fresh veggies mostly(plus some wine of course).  We also had lunch at a Thai restaurant that we happened upon while walking back to Zephyr.  Nice and spicy.

Coming into the harbor was fine.  Just a small breeze that didn't affect our arrival.  While getting fuel, it shifted and increased so that it would blow us off any dock we tried to get to.  I though Nanaimo was a tight marina.  This place squeezes them in like sardines.  It was darn near impossible getting Zephyr in without the help of the Harbormaster handling the dock lines.  There was no way we could have done it without him.  The winds that came up were going to make for great sailing after we got back.  Yeah right!!  As soon as I got the sail cover off and we left the dock the wind shifted to the Northwest--where we were headed to and later dropped to zero.  The poor engine had to take us the entire way again.  

After we left Westview while doing the after engine startup checks that I do every time we get under way, I found the coupling joint at the propeller that keeps water out as it turns was leaking like a sieve.  Water was flowing in at an alarming rate and filling the bilge quick.  I had Tracy slow the engine so I could get a better look and get the bilge pumped out.   While I had already bought a replacement emergency pump switch for the bilge pump, I haven't gotten around to installing it.  If I hadn't checked, it could have gotten really bad.  With the engine slowed and the transmission in neutral, I moved the fittings around some and dried it off .  The water seemed to have stopped.  I had Tracy put it in gear and off we went nice and dry.  I stayed in the aft compartment with the boards off in stared at it for the next hour or more just to make sure it was alright.  The last thing we needed was a flood.  It pays to do checks on equipment as you go along.  you never know what you might find.  The only thing I can figure out is that all the gear shifting I had to do in the marina-- and there was a lot of it--had jared the fitting just enough with the forward, reverse, forward, reverse until it move just enough to allow it to leak.  It's a magnetic fitting that keeps the water out.  There is a rubber bellows(full of water for cooling) around the through hull fitting that has a magnet on it and then another magnet that attaches to the shaft.  The magnetics hold the water out by making a seal between the two.  Many boats use a box stuffed full of waxed thread that wraps around the shaft and it keeps the water out.  This is supposed to be much better.  It's the first time I've seen it do this.  I'll be checking it regularly--as I already have been.

We got into Squirrel Cove(50 08.412 N 124 55.220W) about 1750 after a 41 mile trip today and dropped the hook along with lots of other boats.  There are 12 in the cove now and there will probably be another one or two still show up later.

Tomorrow, off to the rapids!!!

 

Day 381 Back on line.

 We've been off line for the past two days so I hope you got caught up on our progress.  We made it to Princess Louisa Inlet and had a nice two days there.  We didn't see the Sun at all, but we sure had some sprinkles and rain.  

We left this morning at 0700 to make the slack tide at 0800.  It worked out just fine.  It's four miles from Chatterbox Falls to the Malibu Rapids and the speed limit is 4 knots so all was fine.  Of course we got passed by a power boat going just as fast as he wanted.  He blew past us and another boat that was ahead of us like we were standing still.  We saw him a few minutes later fishing.  Now there is a sign at the falls that all hook and line fishing is banned in the inlet to allow the resident fish to repopulate.  I guess he didn't care about that either.  It's people like that that give power boaters a bad name.  We ran into another large power boat on his way up the Jervis Inlet going very fast.  I radioed him to try and get him to slow down as he passed but apparently his wasn't listening and through up a wake big enough that we had water splash over the bow of the boat and that takes so power.  Once past us, he slowed down a bit for the two boats behind us but still never answered the call on the VHF radio.

We got through the rapids at the perfect time and motored down the Jervis Inlet to Musket Island (49 43.716N 124 12.789W), a journey of 43.3 miles inside Blind Bay.  We had to pass through Telescope Passage to get there.  It's a narrow passage on the North side of Blind Bay.  There are some rock you also have to worry about.  Just as we entered this narrow passage, we were greeted by a power boat just whizzing along.  After he passed us, along comes a fishing boat loaded with clams on his way out of the bay.  This all happened in the span of just a few minutes and of course it was in the narrowest, rockiest part of the passage.  We didn't see another boat the rest of the way into the inlet.

We dropped anchor about 1500 and lowered Puff into the water so we could do a stern tie just to play it safe.  There were a few other boats(several with stern ties) and we went along with the crowd.  No reason to chance swinging into them in the night-- or day for that matter.

Once secured, we rowed over to Musket Island of a nice walk and a bit of climbing.  It's a very rocky sided island.  We expect to be here just tonight and off for Lund(fuel and water) and Squirrel Cove at Cortes Island for the night.  We will be going through some powerful rapids in the next few days.  One of the bad things about making this passage.  

Look for more when I next get internet.

Day 380 Rain in Princess Louisa Inlet.

It rained and it sprinkled just about all day today. The clouds settled into the inlet and were almost right down to the water line in the morning. With the rain, more waterfalls appeared around the walls that make up the inlet with some of the peaks reaching 8,000 feet in height.

We launched Puff early in the afternoon during a dry spell for a trip to MacDonald Island about half way from Chatterrbox Falls and Malibu Rapids. There were oysters, clams and mussels in the tens of thousands everywhere you looked. We saw people filling buckets with them right on the shore. One woman was using a garden claw to dig up clams. They stop the harvesting of them at the end of May and none can be taken again till the end of September. If you come during the Summer, they're off limits. Right now, you can pick 30 a day if you wish.

As we headed back to the dock, power boats were coming over the rapids in the inlet. Some big and some small with only one sailboat. The largest power boat powered past all the rest to make sure he got the best space at the dock--right out at the end. All the rest had to come in around him. Most docked on the inside of the dock next to shore. A total of six new boats showed up today. The dock is pretty well full with eleven of us tied up. I was hoping for a nice sunny day but it was not to be. If tomorrow dawns sunny, we will stay, but if it is cloudy again we will take off back to Harmony Islands for the night.

We checked the tides and we will need to be at Malibu Rapids by 0811 to get through at slack tide. That means we will have to leave here at about 0700 since there is a speed limit of 4 knots and it's four miles from here. It will be an early day unless the Sun shines and then we will stay. We pulled Puff back on deck just in case we leave. We don't want her hanging off the stern as we transit the rapids. It's one less thing to worry about.

If we leave tomorrow, we should be at Harmony Islands by lunch time. I guess we will see what tomorrow brings.

Day 379 Princess Louisa Inlet

We left Harmony Island at 0630 just to make sure we would be at The Malibu Rapids by 1450 as that is the time when slack tide happens and if you miss that, we'd have had to wait till today at 0750 to go through. With there being just about no place to anchor any where near the rapids it was critical to get there in time.

As we headed up the channel and as we rounded a turn, suddenly there was a lot of sailboats--12 of them heading out of the channel. It was the group of Canadian we had run into at Boho Bay a few days before. They had all gone up to Princess Louisa Inlet. We found out later that they had taken up the entire dock and partied into the night. Glad we missed it. We knew they had partied hard at Bo Ho Bay.

We'd figured in the outgoing tide thinking that would slow us down. Nope, we sped up. It made no sense to us but we were making 7+ knots and had to slow down once it became evident to us that we would be there almost three hours early. We arrived at Deserted Cove-- the only place where you could even try to anchor and wait for the tide to change by noon. Down went the hook and luckily it caught. We had winds coming up the channel at about 10 knots so we were just fine there. We saw another sailboat heading up the channel several miles behind us. Then along comes two power boats. We wouldn't be alone crossing the rapids.

By 1300 hours, all three of them had vanished. We wondered if the time schedule we had was incorrect so we pulled up the anchor and headed the 6 miles farther up the channel we had left in our journey. As we got closer, we saw all three tied together just off the inlet entrance. So we powered back and SLOWLY drifted up toward the entrance. Behind us comes another sailboat just zipping along under sail. As he got closer, he dropped his sails and zipped past us under power. He just had to be in front of us. It was still an hour before it was set to be safe to go through. He was in a lot bigger hurry to get there than us.

About 1410, the two power boats that had been waiting took off for the rapids even though there was a good 40 minutes before "safe" time. They powered up and pushed through. The current going over the rapids can reach 9 knots. If we had tried, we would have never gotten close. They had a lot more power than we did and made it through. At 1430, the sailboat--a Beneteau 41 decided he just couldn't wait any longer and he took off for the rapids. We could see they were still running outwards but off he went. The other sailboat we had seen earlier--a Bucaneer 32, started up his engine and took off too. Ok, in for a penny in for a pound so we joined the group.

We all radioed that we were coming in just in case another boat was coming out. There is no room in there to pass. I pushed the throttle forward with Tracy keeping watch as we went in. The Beneteau got through fine. Slow but fine. So did the second boat and while our speed was dropping we got through just fine. After we arrived at the docks at Chatterbox Falls, I spoke to the skipper of the Beneteau. The tides tables are based on the tides at Port Atkinson with adding 35 minutes to their low tide and that is when you should cross the rapids. This guy says he disregards the 35 minutes and just goes through. We just got suckered in by another person that thinks they know better. We could have just as well waited the extra 20 minutes and gone in at the perfect time. Lesson learned--you don't have to follow the crowd.

As we entered the inlet, we were greeted by lots of falls and high rocky cliffs. It was just like being back in Colorado only they were higher. An incredible sight to see. I'll have to post the pictures later as I'm using a different program to write this blog and it doesn't allow me to add them.

We thought we might tie up to one of the buoys at MacDonald Island but only saw one of the six that were supposed to be there so we slowly motored over to the dock at Chatterbox Falls and tied up along with about 7 other boats. We later found out that of the 6 buoys, 5 had rotted away and the last one wasn't that safe to hook onto. We're glad we chose the dock.

As we docked, as boaters will, one of them came over to take our dock lines to help us in. We started talking to some people and found out they knew Randy and Sharon from down in Brownsville that are now somewhere up in Alaska. We'd even seen their boat--a trimaran--while we were getting fuel in Roche Harbor. We know we have been out here a while as we are beginning to see the same people as we enter different harbors and coves.

The Beneteau that had gone through the rapids before us pulled up to the dock so we took in their lines. Apparently the skipper was teaching the others on the boat how to sail and handle the boat. Tracy fended the bow away from the dock as they came in a bit close. She was amazed how light it was and how easy it was to push the bow away from the dock. Try that with Zephyr and it is not that easy a job to move her. Not a lot of weight behind the Beneteau.

So we are now at Chatterbox Falls(50 12.275 N 123 46.178W) for the next couple of days. Yesterdays trip of 39.6 miles took some time and we want to take a hike or two while here. Of course it rained over night and is still sprinkling. We'll just wait for the Sun to come out No rush.