Archive | Spirit RSS feed for this section

May 25, 2014

The wind remained calm all night in the quiet anchorage in Pruth Bay.  The weather is beginning to deteriorate for the next few days, so we are heading to Codville Lagoon Marine Park, just 25 miles away.

Turning left shortly after leaving the anchorage at Pruth Bay we headed into Meay Inlet and across Hakai Passage where the ocean swell had penetrated.  We then headed up Ward Channel, a narrow but deep passage between Nalau Island and Underhill Island.  We identified several potential anchorages, totally secluded, for future visits.  The rock formations were interesting due to the erosion patterns.  We re-entered Fitz Hugh Sound via Nalau Passage and set a direct course for Codville Lagoon.

We anchored Spirit in 40 feet of water in Codville Lagoon just off the trailhead to Sager Lake.  The only other occupants of the basin when we arrived were a pair of loons cruising around.  Shortly after setting the anchor “Peregrine” entered and anchored close by.  We travelled only 30 nautical miles today, in a now familiar downpour, beginning to remind us of our 2007 Alaska trip on the previous “Spirit”, a Jeanneau 49 DS.  The persistent rain on that trip led directly to ordering the current boat.  Patrick set a crab pot, hopefully there are still some crab in Codville Lagoon.

After 5 hours the crab pot only had a large starfish, so no luck.  The commercial fisherman pulling his pots in the same bay had the same result!  The rain returned, with a vengeance as we headed to Peregrine for another potluck dinner of crab cakes, salad and quinoa with broccoli, washed down with both wine and martini’s and a fruit compote for dessert.  Miriam and Patrick returned to Spirit about 2300 in another torrential downpour after a great evening with Dance’s and Dachel’s on Peregrine.

The rain continued heavy most of the night.

May 26, 2014

Memorial Day started out partly sunny as we headed out at 0730, meeting the cruise ship Oosterdam heading for Lama Passage.  We followed astern, since they were doing 15 knots compared to our 8 knots.

Based on weather reports we will not arrive in Ketchikan until either 29 or 30 May.

0430 arrived all too quickly as we turned on the coffee pot and made preparations to get underway in the dawn twilight.  We were not the first boat to get underway, a 62 foot power catamaran “Wild Wind IV” beat us by about 10 minutes.  We cast off the lines at 0456 in light rain, calm winds and a relatively cool 52 degrees.  By 0500 the tender was in tow astern.  Cutting across Neill Ledge through the 24 foot deep gap we headed past Graeme Point on Malcom Island and into Queen Charlotte Strait, setting a direct course for Pine Island.  The seas are less than 1 foot with the beginnings of a low westerly swell.  It looks like a parade of cruise ships, tugs and pleasure craft all headed out into Queen Charlotte Sound and Pine Island via Gordon Channel.  The cruise ship Zaandam is at the front of the group, but will have to slow and drop off the pilot at Pine Island, where we will turn north past Egg Island and into Fitzhugh Sound.

We changed our minds on the routing when we were alongside the Walker Group and diverted up Bolivar Passage to the north end of Storm Islands to avoid some of the flood current and shave a few miles off the crossing.  The swell increased to a moderate westerly swell as we approached the tip of the Storm Islands and set a direct course for Cape Calvert at the entrance to Fitzhugh Sound.  By 1300 we were out of the swells and into Fitzhugh.

Earlier that morning we had talked to Doug and Karen Dance on the Selene 53 “Peregrine”, who were some 4 miles ahead of us and agreed to meet in Pruth Bay.  We had not anchored there before, so it was to be a new experience.  At 1600 the anchor was set in 55 feet of water.  We had covered 84 nautical miles for a grand total of 382 nautical miles so far.

Pruth Bay has free wifi provided by the Hakai Beach Institute, with the caution not to download large photo files or videos, so we will save most of the pictures for a few days.  No phone service however.

We all headed to shore and took the walk through the Hakai Beach Institute, visiting the mosquito sculpture carved into a large cedar tree and out to West Beach.  West Beach is exposed to the ocean and is a large and scenic sand beach with some interesting rock formations to photograph.

Returning to Spirit, and waiting out a torrential downpour, we decided to have a potluck dinner on Spirit, pulling pizzas from the freezer which were then doctored with additional toppings and supplemented by a big salad with home-made vinaigrette dressing.

May 25, 2014

The wind remained calm all night in the quiet anchorage in Pruth Bay.  The weather is beginning to deteriorate for the next few days, so we are heading to Codville Lagoon Marine Park, just 25 miles away.

May 21, 2014

We awakened to light rain as we prepared to go fishing with Herb, our guide for the morning.  After trying several locations, depths and lures, we called it quits about noon, having only hooked up with one juvenile king salmon and two rockfish.  As we returned, the rain increased to heavy showers, and we thought we might have a repeat of our 2007 Dent Island experience with lightning storms striking all around us, but fortunately that did not transpire.

Returning to Dent Island Lodge, we took care of maintenance items on both Spirit and the tender before heading to dinner in the lodge.  We were the only guests, and the first dinner guests of the 2014 season, so we had a unique menu from available supplies before the shipment of fresh goods, which included appetizers (goat cheese and caramelized onions on potato pancakes), spot prawn risotto, tenderloin with gnocchi and sautéed mushrooms, and a dessert of éclairs stuffed with ice cream with a blueberry sauce.  Joe, the new executive chef, who had been the sous chef the last three years, did a great job, with perfectly cooked and seasoned food, even though he had not yet gotten the annual shipment of supplies and fresh food from Campbell River.  It is clear that he loves cooking and interacting with the guests to make sure the food experience is great.  We are really looking forward to stopping on our return to see how the “Rapids Grill” experience is, where 12 or more people come, possibly as strangers, but definitely leave as friends.

May 22, 2014

Rain and fog in morning when we got up, we could not see across to Stuart Island.  The fog lifted slightly as we cast off the lines at 1115, just before high slack water.  By 1132 we had cleared Dent Rapids and proceeding down Cordero Channel we entered Green point Rapids at 1308 with no problems.  Proceeding down Chancellor Channel to Wellbore Channel we were flushed though Whirlpool Rapids at 1420 into Sunderland Channel and from there into Johnstone Strait.  The strait was smooth, with little wind until we passed Port Neville, where the wind increased to 20 knots, but from behind us, so the ride continued smooth.

At 1740 we docked at Port Harvey Marine Resort, operated by Gail and George Freeman.  This is one of our favorite spots to stop, with the warm welcome and the beautiful setting, and the well-stocked store.  This early in the season the “Red Shoe Café” was not yet open, but Gail and George still deliver pizzas to the boat and cinnamon rolls in the morning.  We ordered a large pizza which was delivered right on time at 1900.

We have now covered 265 nautical miles.

May 23, 2014

The fog was thick when we got up to make coffee before our cinnamon rolls arrived, but by 0800 the fog had lifted to provide one mile of visibility.  The cinnamon rolls were huge and still warm from the oven when George brought them to the boat, where we shared coffee before departing at 0845.  We are now charter members of the “Port Harvey Yacht Club”, just an informal group of people who like Port Harvey and the Freeman’s.

Johnstone Strait was mostly calm with light winds, but a few gusts to 20 knots.  We kept Spirit close to the north shore to minimize the effects of the flood tide, which was running at 3 knots in the center of the strait, but only about 1 knot close to the shore.  The main obstacles this morning were the amount of logs and other debris to avoid.

Ahead of us, on AIS we could see another Selene Trawler, “Peregrine”, so we called them and agreed to meet the next day in either Pruth Bay or Green Island Anchorage after crossing Queen Charlotte Sound and then up into Fitzhugh Sound.

Docking at North Island Marina (formerly the Port McNeill Fuel Dock and Marina) at 1340 we headed to the store for last minute perishables since the next store will probably be Ketchikan in about one week.  We needed some spare parts (fuses, wiper blades, another 12 pound downrigger cannonball, etc) and managed to find everything we needed by early afternoon.  We have now covered 298 nautical miles since leaving Anacortes,  

The weather around Cape Caution across Queen Charlotte Sound sounds favorable, so we will depart tomorrow between 0500 and 0530 and will not have cell phone or internet except possibly in two days at Shearwater.  We will be a little short on weather info since the critical buoy at West Sea Otter has been out of service for 9 days, and that is the wave height info that most pleasure craft rely on to make the decision to cross the longest open water crossing of the trip.

May 17, 2014

With no early departure scheduled, we slept in until 0700 and then, after coffee and a trip to “Urban Fare” for pastries, lounged in the cockpit in the sun and had the pastry snacks.  After a while, we got up the energy to prepare shrimp and avocado omelets chased down with Bloody Mary’s while watching the pedestrians heading to the ferries and the dragon boats both training in the estuary and providing tours for the two cruise ships in port.

At 1300 all four of us headed to Granville Island using the water taxi so we could shop and also search for more fresh oysters.  The oysters were found at “The Lobsterman” and we brought back several dozen which we shucked and had as an appetizer before going to “Provence Bistro” for a meal of “small plates” that we shared.  The menu included escargot, stuffed Piquillo peppers, meatballs, calamari, mushrooms and gnocchi, all good.  Returning to Spirit, we had a reprise game of”Mexican Train” before finally calling it a night.

May 18, 2014

Pat Benson on the Selene 53 “Wild Blue” had recommended some frozen croissants from Urban Fare called “Vancouver Croissants”.  Patrick had purchased a box of plain and a box of chocolate croissants, and we tested them by letting them rise overnight per the directions.  By the time we got up on Sunday morning they had fully risen and became the centerpiece of breakfast in the cockpit.  They were as good as advertised!

At 1000 we said goodbye to Ted and Lisa Marx, who will take the afternoon train back to Edmonds and headed out of False Creek.  The weather was mostly sunny, with just rippled seas and light winds.  After threading our way through the numerous freighters anchored in English Bay we headed past Bowen Island at the entrance to Howe Sound.  As we passed White Islets we saw a number of both mature and juvenile bald eagles and sea lions on the rocks.  Continuing towards Pender Harbor we passed Mary Island lighthouse and cruised through Welcome Passage past Smuggler Cove.  Smuggler Cove looked nearly full of sailboats as we passed the entrance, where we had anchored on our trip north in 2007.  We did not even use the stabilizers as we continued to Pender Harbor and our favorite anchorage spot in Gerrans Bay.  Arriving at 1600 at the entrance to Pender Harbor, we brought the tender alongside and by 1630 were anchored in 40 feet of water.  Tightening the stabilizer housing bolts also apparently slowed the small leak in the seals, which is great news.

After all the good food the last several days we just kicked back and had leftover ribs and potato salad for a late dinner as the sun dipped below the hills to the west of the anchorage.

Today we covered another 48 nautical miles and have now gone 133 nautical miles since Anacortes.

May 19, 2014

We had rain overnight, loud enough to wake us up, but that changed to light rain by dawn and just clouds by the time we pulled the anchor at 0730 and headed up Malaspina Strait.  The spot prawn fishery is in full swing with lots of pots in the water.

By 1030 we were abeam Grief Point, aptly named based on prior years storms, but today just rippled seas, partly sunny skies and pleasant temperatures.  Marine traffic was light, except for the number of boats fishing.  We diverted slightly to Powell River to see what shape the derelict concrete ships that form the breakwater were in, but little visible change from two years ago.

Entering Thulin Passage at 1230 we debated which anchorage would best suit us to make slack tide at Gillard Passage at 0944 the next morning, without having to get up before dawn.  Toba Wildernest Resort won out, since we had never been there before and all the other places were already familiar to us.  Proceeding up Waddington Channel past the oyster farms and across to Toba Wildernest, we finally docked at 1550.  Kyle and Andrea Hunter, who own the Resort and their daughter Rowan were on the dock to take lines.  The views of the BC Coastal Range from Toba Wildernest were spectacular, even shrouded in clouds.  After a tour of their facility, including the unique hydro power facility, we returned to Spirit to soak in the scenery after a 62 nautical mile day, with our total mileage now at 194.

May 20, 2014

Departing at 0630 under sunny skies we motored down Pryce Channel, Raza Passage and then Calm Channel.  Arriving early at Yuculta Rapids, with the current against us, we slowed down and waited 30 minutes until the current slackened a little.  We still arrived at Dent Island Lodge nearly one hour ahead of plan and were the only vessel.  Justin Farr, the general manager, took our lines and after settling in, Patrick prepared the Grady White for a fishing expedition.

The cook will not arrive until this afternoon, so we will cook our own dinner on-board, menu to be determined.

The Grady White handled the eddies and whirlpools nicely as Patrick headed back to Lewis Channel, where “Springs” (Chinook Salmon) had been plentiful the previous week.  Lack of maintenance on the downriggers (our fault) caught up to Patrick as a corroded wire broke, leaving 12 pounds of lead in 200 feet of water at the bottom of the channel.  Returning to Dent Island empty handed, new synthetic cables were purchased to avoid a repeat performance.

We have now traveled 204 nautical miles.

After a short turnaround at home, checking mail, etc, we headed back to Anacortes, where Spirit was fueled and nearly ready for departure.  After a nice gathering with friends at Skyline (Tucker’s, Lieschner’s,  Alveys and Hislops’s), we headed to Spirit for a much needed night of sleep before rising early to launch our new tender which had been in dry storage.  We installed the new propeller, intended to improve performance, but it actually made the performance worse so we put the original one back on.

After a final trip to Costco and Safeway we met our cruise guests, Ted and Lisa Marx about 7 PM for dinner at the Brown Lantern before retiring for an early departure from Anacortes Marina.

May 15, 2014

Dawn arrived all too early as we prepared to depart Anacortes Marina.  Spirit departed the slip right on schedule at 0600, while Miriam and Ted took the tender out separately to meet outside the breakwater and hook up the tow line.  By 0620 we underway seriously and headed down Guemes Channel to take advantage of the large ebb tide.  Passing through Thatcher Pass we then headed across Blakely Sound and through Pole Pass and then past Stuart Island across Haro Strait to Bedwell Harbor where we cleared Canadian Customs.  That process took only a few minutes by phone since the Customs dock was unmanned.

A short run from Bedwell Harbor brought us to Port Browning where we anchored Spirit in a nearly deserted bay in 25 feet of water.  Patrick and Ted headed ashore to check out the Pub menu and hours before all four of us took a scenic cruise in the new tender through the Pender Canal back to Bedwell Harbor and then around South Pender Island via Haro Strait and back to Port Browning.  Dinner at the pub was good, with an interesting cream of broccoli soup with blue cheese.  Thursday was also fish and chips special night, with good beer battered cod for very reasonable prices.

Returning to Spirit the four of us played “Mexican Train” until late, then realized that with the large ebb tide in the morning that we needed to have another 0600 departure.

May 16, 2014

We raised the anchor right on schedule at 0600 and decided to try a new route (for us) via Georgeson Passage into the Strait of Georgia.  Georgeson Passage, while a little narrow, has less current then Active Pass, and is 15 nautical miles shorter than going around the east end of Saturna Island.  There were a few violent eddies and whirlpools, but nothing the boat autopilot could not handle.

Exiting into the Strait of Georgia we set a course for Vancouver that would keep us in Canadian Waters until we cleared the northern USA boundary and then cut across the VTS lanes to the correct northbound lane near Sand Head.  The wind and seas had built to 25 knots and 3-5 foot seas on the starboard quarter.  The stabilizers were working hard and we kept hearing a strange banging noise.  Checking the engine room Patrick found the starboard stabilizer top bearing support housing bolts were loose, causing excessive motion and presumably causing the leak in the seal we had noticed.  A few minutes with a large Allen wrench on the capscrews solved that problem and the rest of the trip into Vancouver’s False Creek and Quayside Marina was uneventful, where we arrived at 1225.  We have now covered 85 nautical miles, only about 4000 left to go until we return to Anacortes.

The new tender towed nicely in the seas and arrived behind us in Vancouver with no spray on board, unlike Spirit, which had a lot of salt spray.

We re-provisioned with the fresh vegetables we could not bring across the border at both Costco, just a few blocks away, and at Urban Fare, one block from the marina.  After a snack of fresh oysters at “Provence” Bistro at the head of the dock we put on a rack of St. Louis style baby back pork ribs to slow cook for a late dinner.  The sun and warm temperatures made the cockpit the perfect place for dinner, which started with a shrimp and avocado cocktail.  As the skies gradually darkened we finished off the evening with another round of “Mexican Train”.

May 4, 2014

The weather is beginning to change as we head north towards San Diego.  The temperature is dropping and the wind is picking up, although the seas are still relatively calm.  Not much is happening on the ship, and the infection control measures continue.  We had the last formal night of the cruise, with “surf and turf” one of the entrees for dinner.

May 5, 2014

After a morning walk as the sun rose, with temperatures cool enough to require a jacket, we settled into the “at sea” routine, except that we avoided the crowds of people.  At noon we participated in an Indonesian Richstaffel lunch put on for those in suites.  The food was spicy and reminded us of our trips to SE Asia in the early 1990’s.  We did attend the evening show with the full cast of the Zuiderdam performing a high energy performance of singing and dancing to Broadway and Hollywood show tunes.

May 6, 2014

The Zuiderdam approached San Diego harbor before dawn and was docked at the “B” Street pier downtown by 0600.  The clearance process by US Customs was lengthy and we did not get off the ship until after 0900.  We took the shuttle to Balboa Park where we met Kathleen and Kyle, fellow cruisers from our transatlantic voyage several years ago.  After a tour of Balboa Park, led by Kyle, we enjoyed lunch on the patio of “Prado”, a nice restaurant located in the park.  The ship departs relatively early, so we arrived back on board before 1500.  

The ship finally departed at 1600 in brisk winds which really picked up as we exited the harbor for the 1231 nautical mile run to Victoria, our next stop.  By the time we were fully out in the Pacific, the winds were in excess of 30 knots, with seas to match.  Dinner was a high motion affair in the increasing bow quarter seas.  The ship rocked and rolled all night, and all the outside decks were closed due to the high winds, which exceeded 60 MPH at times.

May 7, 2014

The decks remain closed since the winds continue strong out of the Northwest.  The seas are at times enormous, but seem to be decreasing somewhat as we continue north.  With not much else to do, we had a leisurely breakfast in the Pinnacle Restaurant.  Our walk will have to be on the inside decks.  Miriam had lunch for the first time in the main dining room with Dorothy Vaccaro, one of our evening tablemates.  Dinner was the next highlight of a long and relaxing (boring) day.  The show was another high energy full cast production by the Zuiderdam Singers and Dancers.

May 8, 2014

Sometime during the night we passed though the winds from the northwest and the winds are now from the south at 29 MPH, with following seas.  The ship speed has increased to around 19 knots in order to make Victoria, BC by 1600 tomorrow, but the motion is very calm with the seas coming from dead astern.  At midday the visibility decreased and the fog horn came back on as we steamed towards Crescent City, CA.  The ship continues at the highest level of infection control.  I guess we have to be glad that it is only the hands that have to be sanitized every time one enters a public area, even the shops.

April 26, 2014

Today was another day at sea on our way to “five ports in five days”.  The weather was mostly cloudy with some brief but intense showers.  Once again, the day was slow, with another formal night.

April 27, 2014

We arrived early into Puntarenas, Costa Rica where Patrick had an early shore excursion, combining an aerial tram up through the rain forest canopy and then a zip line adventure back down the hill.  The zip line was in ten sections, several more than 1200 feet long and several hundred feet above the valley floor through the rain forest canopy.

Miriam had a scenic tour by bus through the countryside, with a stop in a small town for folkloric dancing and bands.  Both tours arrived back at the ship with just a little time before sailing.  The weather was very hot near the docks, so we passed on the walk into the small port town we had driven through.

April 28, 2014

The ship arrived in Corinto, Nicaragua shortly before 1000 and we headed on a tour to the Flor de Cana rum distillery, about a 45 minute drive through the countryside towards the city of Leon.  The immediate impression was of a very poor country, reinforced by the guide’s talk as we drove along relatively poor roads.  The distillery was modern and set up for tours, with electric carts to take us from place to place in the very hot weather.  Flor de Cana prides itself on “Slow Aging” their rum in white oak barrels that had previously been used for American whiskeyand bourbon.  Each barrel can be used twice more before it has given up all the taste and color to the rum.  We tasted both 18 and 7 year old rum, both good.  Returning to the ship we saw quite a few people eating in the small port town of Corinto, which proved to be a taste of things to come.

April 29, 2014

The ship docked in Puerto Quetzal, Guatemala shortly before 0900 and we boarded a bus for a 90 minute drive to Antigua, a colonial town we had visited by bus some years before.  The previous visit included Palm Sunday with colorful processions though the city.  Today we shopped for jade, walked around the streets and ended up at “Frida’s” for lunch, a Mexican restaurant we had tried on the previous trip and knew was “safe”.  We were given about 3 ½ hours in the city before the 90 minute drive back to the ship, giving us just a few minutes of last minute sightseeing in the shopping mall at the cruise terminal before departing for the next  port.

April 30, 2014

Puerto Chiapas, Mexico was our next port of call, arriving shortly before 0730 to the sounds of Marimbas and dancers on the dock, greeting the ship.  Boarding our bus, we headed for the small town of Tuxtlachico to see the entire chocolate making process the local people use, visit the local market and church before visiting the archaeological site of Izapa.  Izapa was an Olmec site, predating the Mayan civilization by several hundred years.  The excavated site was relatively small, but was only about 3 percent of the total site.

Returning to the ship we relaxed near the shoreside pool and restaurant complex built to support the cruise ships where the breeze provided relief from the heat before the ship departed for Hualtuco, Mexico.

May 1, 2014

The stop in the small port of Hualtuco was short, only about 7 hours.  We took a catamaran sail to visit five of the nine bays forming the Hualtuco area, which has really developed since our last visit in 2007.  We were surprised at the size of the hotel complexes, which now total over 6000 rooms out of a planned total of 17,000 rooms.  Returning to the small marina we found a spot in the shade on the beach and had a swim in the warm water while relaxing in the breeze, providing relief from the heat.  May and June are the hot months in Hualtuco, with temperatures often exceeding 100 degrees.

Returning to the ship we found that measures had been taken to try and prevent the spread of some GI illness that some passengers had experienced.  We could no longer get our own coffee and water, and everything was now “served”.  Unfortunately, not everyone complied, apparently, since the measures became more drastic over the next few days.  We are not affected.