I don’t think I rolled out of bed until 10:30 a.m. The gentle rocking motion of the boat helps me sleep incredibly well. We had bacon, eggs and hashbrowns and decided that the 67-degree water was inviting enough for a morning swim. After a few minute adjustment period we swam laps around the boat and Trenton and I took turns leaping into the water from the roof of the galley.
Aunt Christine and I headed out to explore in the dinghy. The afternoon brought winds and quite a bit of chop, so we cruised around and watched how the remainder of the boating community was coping with the wind. We found an even nicer anchorage than the one we were in, with water that was probably 10 degrees warmer and no wind, but our plan was to leave early in the morning and head north, so we spent the night in the same location. We feasted on chicken masala over rice and watched the sun set from the pilothouse.
Our goal for the day was to make Bull Passage between Lasqueti and Jedediah Islands. The Straits of Georgia were windy with rolling waves hitting us nearly exactly at the beam, making for an imperfect ride until we were in the protected areas of Bull Passage. We covered 29.2 miles of water in just under 3 hours. This area is really beautiful but we all noticed something strange about the water—it was almost blood red. It is probably a red tide, so to play it safe we will stay away from clams, oysters and muscles this year.
Once in Bull Passage we attempted to anchor in one bay on the west side of Jedediah Island, however we were unable to get a stong hold from the anchor, so we moved down one bay and dropped the anchor in 33 feet of water with a stern tie to a tree on the bank behind us. It’s a good thing we had a solid hold, the wind and waves came up overnight and had all the other boaters out with flashlights at 3:00 a.m. inspecting their anchor situations. Two boats were blown out of the bay, one circled the bay all evening and the owners of a really tiny boat loaded all of their gear in their dinghy and ended up setting up a tent on shore. We were one of two boats that made no adjustments and were able to sleep really well through the night.
Following a nice omelet breakfast with bacon and fruit, we headed out for the 47 mile jaunt between Salt Spring and Galiano Islands and up the Trincomali Channel to Naniamo. They are now charging $65 per night for a boat of this size to tie to the dock, so we anchored out in the bay in front of the city. That $65 can now go toward the $500+ prop repair and nearly $400 in haul-out fees. We took the dinghy into Naniamo and walked around town, enjoyed a famous “Naniamo bar” consisting of chocolate and a mix of sour cream and cream cheese with graham cracker, then headed back to the boat for lamb burgers, followed by a hike around the perimeter of Newcastle Provincial Marine Island.
While waiting on the prop repair we walked around Anacortes, stopped in to watch the construction of a brand new multi-million dollar 55-foot Northern Marine Yacht and were at the propeller shop at 2:15 picking up the newly repaired and balanced prop. This particular one is made from bronze, so they can add material where chunks were missing and balance the assembly by grinding away material to achieve a perfect balance. Cap Sante hauled the boat out of the water again, replaced the prop and had us back in the water and on our way. They were nice enough to charge us for only one haul, rather than the two hauls they performed.
Going back in the water:
We left Anacortes just before 4:00pm, traveled around the northern side of Orcas Island (part of the San Juan Islands) and crossed the Canadian border at 7:30pm. We declared Customs at Bedwell Harbor and dropped anchor in the harbor in 61 feet of water. Total trip mileage for the evening was 42.1 miles. We had curried chicken on croissants for dinner and watched the sunset from the back deck of the boat.
We awoke to a warm sunny day, ate breakfast and headed into Anacortes. Cap Sante had a Travel Lift (a 60-ton marine hoist) waiting for us, so we coasted in and a really helpful employee rigged the boat and the Travel Lift for the haul-out. The Sanddollar weighs 20 tons; it was really interesting to watch such a large boat being hauled from the water. As soon as the props came out of the water it was immediately apparent what was wrong—the starboard propeller was very obviously damaged. Apparently earlier in the year they hit a buoy chain in the San Juan Islands. They were not aware of the damage at the time but yesterday I was at the helm and my uncle headed into the galley for food and immediately noticed the vibration.
Sanddollar and the haul-out:
The techs pulled the prop and measured the run-out on the prop shaft, which was also bent. Shafts have to be custom-ordered and take weeks, so that option was out. We soon learned of a propeller repair place a few blocks from the marina so my uncle headed up to talk to them about prop repair. Turns out, he knows the owner of the shop. They dropped their other work and started the repair immediately. After removing the starboard prop, Cap Sante dropped the Sanddollar back in the water, now propless on one side, and allowed us to spend the night at the dock, even providing us with shore power. Trenton and I unloaded the two brand new Necky kayaks and we paddled around in the marina admiring the millions of dollars tied to the docks and watching people come and come from vacations of their own. We headed back to the Sanddollar and had pulled pork over potatoes with cilantro and lime, topped with sour cream along with some really nice wine.
Sunday, July 31, 2011
I departed for Seattle late Sunday night and was greeted at the airport by my Aunt, who was smiling and just as ready for vacation as I was. My flight was already a late one, with a scheduled arrival into Seattle at 10:30 p.m., which ended up being 11:00 p.m. as Alaska Airlines was running late on departures out of Sacramento that evening. We headed straight for the boat, I unpacked my clothes into the wardrobe closet, helped load supplies and we slept on the boat that night prepared for an early Monday morning departure. The following morning, August 1, we lined up for our turn through the locks that would lower us twenty feet from the freshwater of Lake Union to the saltwater of Puget Sound.
We had a nice smooth trip heading north between Whidbey Island and Camano Island, passing under the Deception Pass Bridge with the San Juan Islands as our destination. While the sea conditions may have been smooth, the boat was all-but. A vibration had manifested itself when underway, so we headed east through Guemes Channel and dropped anchor on the north side of Saddlebag Island in 27 feet of water. Total trip mileage for the day was 80.8 miles. We settled down for dinner with pulled pork tacos and a beautiful sunset and contemplated our next action. Aunt Christine made some calls and arranged to have the boat inspected the following afternoon at Cap Sante Marine in Anacortes, Washington, only four miles away from our anchorage.
Weather-wise we got a really late start on summer, but I am having a great one so far. The blog has suffered as a result. BBQs, pool parties, live shows, rafting, weekend getaways, home improvement and just simply time at home enjoying very small fruits of my large labor. With the exception of some weekend getaways I have spent most of the first half of my summer in town. I was out of the country for almost half of the summer last year and it feels really good to be home a little more to spend time with friends. My friends are simply amazing and with only a few exceptions (you know who you are), most of them all live in Roseville. Now that I think about it, there was never a time in my life where I had so many friends close by, where it's common for a dozen of us to get together once a week for happy hour, dinner or house parties. We all love our little town so hopefully no one relocates and we can keep our 'good thing' going for years to come.
Last month Hanna and I stayed at a nice bed & breakfast in Moss Landing, situated between Santa Cruz and Monterey by twenty minutes in each direction. The opportunity to go was a very last-minute one, spurred by a call from my sister Jen that her and Joe would not be able to use their reservation that weekend due to a sick cat. We cancelled our plans and headed down without any planning whatsoever. The building was constructed shortly after the 1906 SF earthquake and the inn's keeper and her husband did a complete remodel while maintaining the important historical and architectural detail. We were upgraded to the "captain's quarters," the nicest of the rooms. When the inn's keeper asked what I did for a living, my response was followed by a smirk as she was a former Board Member for my agency, as well as an E.O. for the Department of Fish and Game. Moss Landing has a nice beach and a really cute downtown area with some excellent restaurants, including Phil's Fish Market, which was recently featured on Food Network's Throwdown with Bobby Flay.
Jen and Joe were able to come up and meet us for a hike around Point Lobos Reserve and a walk around Fisherman's Wharf and Cannery Row in Monterey. Thank you two so much for the great weekend! I think everyone knows this but I will be an uncle in mid-September!
The following day Hanna and I went to Santa Cruz, caught the Santa Cruz Beach train which leaves from the Boardwalk and goes up the mountain to Roaring Camp, then returns to the beach a couple of hours later. The train stops in Roaring Camp for long enough to hike a trail through the redwoods and down to the San Lorenzo River.
We followed up with time on the roller coasters at the Boardwalk (the Big Dipper is sooo much fun!) I could get used to living here.
Matt and Renee had quite the blow out party for 4th of July, and they certainly have the right property and house for it. They had bad mitten, ping pong, air hockey, tons of food and a DJ to keep it all lively. Matt and a buddy of his spent $1,300 each on fireworks and guests were asked to bring some as well, so the total estimate was pushing $5,000 worth of fireworks for this party. It was the backyard show that lasted for two hours with at least 5-8 fireworks going simultaneously. Awesome.
This is a bed of a Ford Superduty without the 75+ guest's contributions (the boxes underneath are cases of fireworks):
And here is the wonderful sight, sound and smell of money burning:
Speaking of Matt and Renee, we took a spur-of-the-moment trip over to Swabbie's Bar on the Sacramento River to watch the AC/DC coverband Sin City play. Swabbie's is a greatly fun place and is accessible by boat with tie-ups at the dock. It took forever to get our food because they were so busy, but the band was great and the shrimp and fish tacos were way better than I would ever expect from what amounts to bar food. We had a great time and will go back soon.
A clip of the Livable Design home video is out. I feel funny sharing it because I hate seeing and hearing myself on-video, but oh well, here it is.
