happylife

Gulf Islands Cruise 2006 / Day#1

We met together at the marina in Coal Harbor around 6:30 before casting off at 7:00 o'clock. As we had finished loading yesterday, we could start the cruising very smoothly. With a strong NW wind, our sailing boat had to proceed against numerous moderate swells. All the crew except for one, more or less suffered from seasick, but after we passed through Porlie Passage, we were all fine with the calm sea and peaceful scenery. We sailed towards Montague Harbor along the Galiano Island. It was around 15:00 when we arrived Montague Harbor, which was super busy because of the long weekend. It was so busy that we couldn't hook any mooring buoy and we had to anchor among numerous boats. After a few trial and error, we anchored at the east area of the harbor. As the outboard engine for the dinghy didn't work, we couldn't land and enjoyed this beautiful sunset from the sailing boat.

A long break of my blog

To tell the truth, I'm writing this blog almost a week behind the date of it. I had been too busy to have my own quality time owing to some parties, guests, and my body trouble. Anyway, on this day, I went to Caulfield Pier by my car with my friends who are the member of the coming cruise in the Gulf Islands. We were looking for a good cove where we can anchor at the night of the first cruise day. Unfortunately, this cove was too small and shallow to stay over night. It was actually at the lowest tide, and the small sailing boat at the head of the cove was sticking in the beach! I'm wondering what to do on the first day because we have to cast off the marina at an inconvenient time; we don't have enough time to arrive a good anchorage before the sun sets. It's difficult to persuade other crew members that we can't leave the marina on the first day.

Maintenance

At the east apron of our airport, we can see a lot of filthy airplanes which seem to have left for years without flying. Some of them are even filthier than my boat. Different from boats, airplanes are regulated by law in details; how often each part of the airplanes should be checked or exchanged in what kind of ways by what kind of people. I have forgotten most of the rules seven months after my flight test, but I remember well that the rules were absolutely strict and detailed. If I could find one of the littered airplanes' owner and talk to him, I might be able to get it for a super reasonable price, but the maintenance fee should be high. Owing an airplane is a great thing even in Canada.

Nippon Maru

Nippon Maru, the typical Japanese tall ship, has come to English Bay. I don't know the utility value of this kind of tall ships but they are at least beautiful, almost elegant, and I think it's the good reason for maintaining them with a lot of cost. They need less money and are way more beautiful than battle ships. According to the Internet, it was built 20 years ago in place of the Nippon Maru 1st, and is used mainly for sailing training. Anyway, when I approached to it on my boat, it was just dinner time, and I heard an announcement on the ship, which said in Japanese, "Every crew and students, it's time for the long-awaited BBQ party!"

How to tie

I'm going to sail to the Gulf Islands with my friends next month. We are renting a 37-foot sailing boat for a week and cruising around the Gulf Islands. It might sound fun, but there is a problem; all the members except me are inexperienced in sailing and I have to be the skipper. That's more or less a pressure for me. Though I have certificate of sailing instructor, I don't like instruction, however, I'm telling them how to sail for our safety and happiness. Anyway, while I was looking for sites about how to tie, I found an interesting page, which introduces the world's fastest shoelace knot called "Ian knot." I tried the method at once and I felt that it might save my time for tying shoelaces from now on.

Caulfield Pier again

I went sailing with my friends late afternoon. The wind was so good that I decided to go to Caulfield Pier just before Point Atkinson. It took about three hours to go and two hours to come back because the wind was blowing north westerly. Fortunately the only dock was vacant and we could park there and enjoy walking along the coast. It was a very hot day and several Canadian and a dog were swimming in the sea. As we didn't have a swimsuit and enough time, we only watched them without bathing. It should be way more pleasant to swim here than bathing in scummy beach or public pools around Downtown.

I'm a dog.

I'm a dog. I have my name but I forgot it because I'm a dog. I have been living on this 40ft sailing boat for years. To tell the truth, I don't like sailing because the boat heels and I can't hold my body by myself. As I can't retract my nails like cats on a slippery deck, I get at the mercy of the boat heel. I don't remember how many times I have hit my head or nearly drown. I love strolling on the land, but it's impossible on the boat. You might think I am a kind of unhappy or stressful dog, it's not correct. I'm enjoying my life on the boat. My friend who is the skipper of the boat sometimes drops his ball into the sea, and I would help him jumping into the sea to collect it. It is not only a great help for him, but also a good exercise for me. Taking a nap on the rocking boat is a super pleasant experience. I think my life on the boat is better than the normal life on the land in total.

Going to Alaska

I came across this luxury liner when I was sailing in English Bay. According to my investigation on the Internet, it is sailing to Alaska in a seven-night and eight-day cruising. As I have never got on board such a huge ship, I can't imagine how the cruising life there is. As far as I look over the pictures on the Internet, it seems to be just like a luxury hotel with pools, theaters, restaurants, spas, and anything you would need for vacation. Only the difference from general hotels is that it moves on the sea. The top speed is 22 knots, which is about four times as fast as my boat, and it means that I can go to Alaska on my boat in one month. Of course I wouldn't do such an adventure, but I can feel happy just by thinking such things and realizing the size of the earth.

Caulfeild Pier

After shopping at Saveonfoods in North Vancouver, I drove to Caulfeild Pier. It was located just the east of Pt. Atkinson. I didn't know about the pier and of course I had visited there neither by boat nor by car until, I heard from my friend about it a few days ago. There was a small pier spacious enough for only one small boat and several floats for mooring. I don't know for sure if it is deep enough for my boat, but I'm thinking about visiting there by my boat someday soon. Sure the sailing in English Bay is absolutely pleasant, but there was no suitable pier in a good distance where we could take a rest or lunch. If we could use this pier as a kind of base camp, we would be enjoy the sailing around English Bay much more.

Engine maintenance

My boat has a 25-year-old, water-cooled and outboard engine manufactured by Honda. It had been working with almost no trouble, but a few days ago, I was pointed out by Doug, the ex-owner of my boat, that there was no cooling water coming out. The engine is supposed to suck up sea water from the bottom, and cool itself by the water, and then the used water is drained off from the upper part of the engine. No water from the engine means that the engine is not cooled at all. That is a very dangerous situation because the engine is possibly overheated. With the help of my friends including a professional engineer, we had been working  since yesterday to fix the engine. We checked the lower part of the engine yesterday, but we couldn't find any problem at all. Today, we broke up the upper part of the engine and finally found a lot of crystallized salt clogging the water route tightly. We melted it with hot water and scraped it so that the cooling water can run smoothly. I was happy when the engine started again with a lot of cooling water drained off. I recognized that the daily maintenance of the engine is important, but at the same time, I found that the Honda engine is so well designed that it can work without any maintenance for a few years.