Raven's Journey

Back under way - Finally!

2010-07-04T12:35:00.000-08:00

Well it's been more than a year since I updated this blog - you've been patient long enough. My last update was from Shearwater in British Columbia. I, of course, challenged the weather and water gods by blithely claiming how easy our next few day's travel were going to be. Of course, they were nothing of the kind. I guess the gods heard us. We ran into rainy fog just before Ivory Island and had to feel our way into Oliver Cove. Then, we motored around and up to the east end of Oscar Inlet. Along this stretch we saw a small group of Dall's Porpoise one of which was completely white! Have never seen a white Dall's Porpoise before. That east end of Oscar Inlet has a very confined 'S-turn' which must be a corker when the current is flowing. Luckily, we arrived there at slack water and were able to just enjoy the view. After Oscar Inlet we had a very fast beam reach across Findlayson Channel around the end of Cone Island and up to Klemtu where we stopped quickly for a few supplies before heading up to Cougar Bay for the night. The next day's run was very long but we ended up anchoring near the dock at Bishop Hot Springs where we spent a couple of days just soaking and enjoying being stopped. Three more days of mostly motoring along had us in Prince Rupert where we discovered a couple of geocaches and did a little shopping before heading across Dixon Entrance and home to Alaska. We mostly fooled around and meandered our way to Juneau where we took a place at the dock and, I went back to work for the next year maintaining and updating Cold Fusion applications for the department's webpages and, learning Visual Basic dot Net programming to create a totally new apps for the department. My! How fast a year passes.

Well, we're back underway again. The boat's been moving very slowly. The first couple of days, we had trouble breaking 4 knots and have been averaging closer to 3 knots, especially against wind or wavelets. Now that we've been moving for three weeks we've knocked most of the year's worth of growth off the bottom so our speed is picking up a little. A friend recommended the marina/haulout at Point Roberts in Washington for pulling us out and getting the bottom painted: much less expensive than here in Southeast even with them providing the labor! So, we'll be really slowpoking our way along until then.

We started our voyage with our 2-year old grandson Dylan along. He crewed with us from Harris Harbor in downtown Juneau around Douglas Island to anchor behind Suelda Island in Auke Bay. Then the next day, up to the fuel dock and, after fueling up, over to the loading zone for a crew change. We swapped youngest grandson for youngest granddaughter: 5-year old Kitty. We had lunch of cheeseburgers and milkshakes before heading out to Funter Bay. Kitty is sure she could survive on Chocolate milkshakes alone for weeks at a time. With Kitty aboard we spent 5-days visiting Funter Bay, Hoonah (across from the entrance to Glacier Bay), Swanson Harbor at the end of Couverton Point and back to Auke Bay for a night and day at anchor before heading into Auke Bay harbor for another crew change. Now, we're in Petersburg with our oldest granddaughter, Isabelle, along as crew.

It took us 2 days to bash our way to Cedar Cove in Freshwater Bay on Chicagoff Island with an overnight at Funter Bay. Slow, tedious smashing into wind driven waves of 2-3 feet and 15-20 knot winds. We're making 1.5 to 3 knots and it seemed like forever before we go anywhere. This was our first time in Cedar Cove; what a little jewel! After all that bashing, I declared a day off and we laid around resting up for a day. The next day we headed over to Tenekee Springs arriving early in the day. In Tenekee we walked in to the town and did a little shopping. I stayed outside with the doggies while Christine and Izzy shopped. I was sitting just outside the building that houses the community hot springs when I heard singing "You are my sunshine, my only sunshine. You make me happy by night and day." It was a group of women in the springs harmonizing and belting out old songs. I was absolutely charmed! What a wonderful moment; a bunch of naked soaking women singing in the hot springs and I get to listen in! Perfect!

There are two geocaches in Tenekee; one at the City Park and, one downtown across from the store. We, after considerable searching, were able to find one but, not the other. Still, that made us First Time Finder for the one we did find. We ambled back to the boat picking salmonberries along the way and left the next morning heading down Chatham Straits.

We spent the night in Cosmos Cove (another little jewel of a place - long narrow inlet with barrier island keeping the waves in the strait from coming into the anchorage, tall snow capped mountains as a backdrop - what could be nicer? Well, how about Baranof Warm Springs where we arrived early the next day. Remarkably, we were able to get a place at the dock, an easy walk up the boardwalk to the bathhouses and were even, across the dock from an old friend; Vic Cano, musician, carver, singer and all around renaissance man. We spent 2-nights at Baranof Warm Springs before forcing ourselves to leave - Izzy has a plane ticket from Ketchikan later this month and, if we're going to get her to the plane on time, we have to keep moving.

After BWS we passed under the bottom of Admiralty Island with a quick stop to watch a large family of sea otters play in the kelp beds then, headed up the the Fox Farm anchorage behind Whitney Island. The water was glass smooth: hard to believe this is the same water we've been bashing into for days! We've been coming to this anchorage for 15-years and never knew that there was a geocache here. We went looking for it but, couldn't find it even though the hints and directions were very complete. This cache was placed in 2003 and hasn't been found since 2006. Alot of leaves have fallen since 2006, trees fall, the old fox farm buildings have completely disappeared. Still, even though we didn't find the geocache, we did spend a wonderful evening sitting in the cockpit and listening to a wolf howl on the island. He must have been lonely and sad - he kept it up for hours. This has been quite a trip for wildlife viewing: whales, porpoise's, sea lions, sea otters and now, wolves! Alaska!

Another day's smooth passage brought us to the Ruth Island anchorage in Thomas Bay. I like to anchor here and always read "The Strangest Story Ever Told." This is a small booklet you can pick up in Petersburg that tells the story of strange happenings in Thomas Bay: gold, monsters, crazed miners... this story has it all!

We woke to rain yesterday 7/3 and I'd have been happy to snuggle back into my sleeping bag but, we upped anchor and headed into Petersburg. It was 5-hours of motoring into rain, wind on our nose and, seas but we arrived here yesterday at about 1600. After that many hours of wind and rain, I was ready to tie up to the dock and call it a day. The rest of the crew headed into town for a quick shopping trip while I stayed aboard with a little medicinal brandy.

We'll be here in Petersburg for a couple of days (today's the Fourth of July and most stores are closed). Tomorrow, hopefully, the library will be open and I can post this entry then, the next day we'll head on down the Wrangell Narrows and keep working our way south.

I'll try to be better about keeping this blog current - I promise.

David and Christine and Crew
SV Raven
Juneau, Alaska

Currently located: Petersburg, AK

Codville Lagoon to Shearwater

2009-06-04T19:32:00.000-08:00

This will probably be our last blog entry for a while. Once we leave here tomorrow (probably) we won't be around towns or villages that have wifi again until we arrive at Prince Rupert in two weeks or so. From here we'll head out Seaforth Channel to turn by Ivory Island light and spend the night in Oliver Inlet. Then, it's around through Oscar inlet and Findlayson Channel to Klemtu Channel where we'll overnight at Clothes Cove just before Klemtu. From there we'll head up Tolamie Channel to Green Inlet and Horsefly Cove for the night. From Horsefly Cove we'll have a long day to Bishop's Hot Springs where we'll probably spend at least 2-days soaking away the stiffness and soreness from the past week's travel. From there it's up Grenville Channel to Lowe Inlet for the night then, if we can catch the tides right we spend one more night in Grenville Channel before making our way to Prince Rupert.

I'm comfortable telling you all of this as, this is the highway most traveled on the Inside Passage. Other than the places we're stopping, there's not much else to distract us. The Channels are long, straight, and without crossings. Since the islands on either side are so tall and the sides so steep, you as the boat-driver, just put it in gear and try to keep from falling asleep from boredom.

An interesting thing happened this morning. I was up at 0630 making coffee for the day's travels. It was already pretty warm (70's) so I had the hatches thrown open as well as the sliding window over the stove and also, had the companionway doors open. As I waited for the water to boil, I heard this loud buzzing sound. I looked up and what should I see? A hummingbird had flown into the cabin and was hovering above the galley. He banked this way and that til he finally, turned and flew out into the cockpit and was gone. This was the second time a hummingbird has visited us. When we were heading out the Straits of Juan de Fuca last year in the fog a hummingbird stayed with the boat for quite a while before heading off into the fog and (hopefully) shore.

We left Codville Lagoon at just after 0800 and headed for Lama Passage. Just before we got there I heard the Alaska State Ferry Columbia make a 'Securite' announcement that they'd be heading down Lama Passage past Bella Bella. We were going to meet in Lama Passage. I worked on the Columbia for two seasons with the US Forest Service giving classes to Elderhostel travelers. This was my ship!

Here we were, two great Alaska vessels meeting in the wilds of northern British Columbia! I was jazzed. (See pic above).

We arrived here in Shearwater just before noon and pulled up to the fuel dock to try (once again) to top up the tanks and cans. This time, the attendant let us know that he was closing in about 10-minutes for lunch. We tied up there anyway and took to Sibs out for walkies. Like sailors everywhere, as soon as we reach an new port, they want shore leave. Sonny has even begun to let out a lusty howl once the anchor's down to let the locals know that a 'new dog is in town.'

We walked up into the woods just past the Shearwater boatyard and found a Geocache located near an old WWII bomb shelter. A quick, fun find and, we were back to the fuel dock in time.

After fueling up we anchored then, went ashore in the dinghy to do some shopping: dog food, tortillas and, wifi access. That, pretty much brings you up to date with our journeys.

David and Christine and Sibs
SV Raven
Juneau, AK

Currently lying: Shearwater, BC

Port Hardy to Codville Lagoon

2009-06-04T19:00:00.000-08:00

Well, we left Port Hardy on 6/1 at 1512 heading for the fuel dock to top up the tanks prior to attempting Queen Charlotte Sound. We pulled up to the dock only to have the attendant inform us that "there's no fuel." There's a power outage that's affecting the entire top of the island. No electricity from Port Hardy to Port McNeil. We have enough fuel in jerry jugs on deck to get to Shearwater with fuel to spare. Just that, Shearwater's a resort and very expensive to boot. Well, that's why we carry 25 gallons on deck. Just for emergencies like this. We fill up the water tanks anyway and head out for God's Pocket in Christie Passage for the night and hope for continued good weather tomorrow.

Got up at 0500 6/2 and the weather forecast was good. Had a quick breakfast and headed out Gordon Channel to pass west of Pine Island. Seas calm, wind light, so far, so good. Turned northwesterly to pass west of the Storm Islands, seas pretty calm, wind light and on our nose, still: so far, so good. We raised the main and sheeted it hard while cheating the traveler to try to grab some of that wind on our nose. At the very least, we'll get some stabilization from having the main up there.

Headed up towards Egg Island, very light swell from our forward quarter, light wind on our nose, seas rippled - still good! We're almost there! After passing Egg Island, we started feeling wind coming down Fitzhugh Sound. Again, right on our nose. Seas became a little lumpy but still no noticeable swell action. Even though it makes for a very long day, we decide to bypass Safety Cove and head on up to Kwakshua Inlet and Pruth Bay. We dropped anchor there at 1811 for a total crossing of more than 13 hours! No wonder we're tired. This was a great day for wildlife watching. We passed a group of about 30 Dall's Porpoises, spotted 2 black bears along the shore of Calvert Island and watched a humpback whale slapping his pectoral fin right off the entrance to Kwakshua Inlet.

We expected to make a short day on 6/3 and just head up to Sea Otter Inlet and drop the anchor after only about 4-hours of traveling. Sea Otter Inlet is just under half-way to Bella Bella/Shearwater where we expect to get on 6/4. As it turns out, we're feeling strong and rested after our easy QCS crossing and decide to just continue on to Codville Lagoon where we'll have an easy 4 or 5 hour trip into Shearwater. The last time we were in Codville Lagoon we were pinned down for 4-days by deluging rain and gale force winds. We went stir crazy and were desperate to get out of there. So desperate that we went out into Fitz Hugh Sound in 20-30 knot winds and slogged our way down to Namu where we tied up to a rolly dock. This time, the weather was with us. We had beautiful blue skies and warm wind (on our nose of course). By the time we'd anchored in Codville Lagoon at 1648, the temperature inside the boat was 81. By the 2100 it had risen to 83.3! We had to Lagoon to ourselves. Only the osprey, eagle, mink and sea lions disturbed the quiet. It was so hot and quiet you could hear me moaning for miles.

David and Christine and Sibs
SV Raven
Juneau, AK

Currently lying: Codville Lagoon, BC

Bickley Bay to Alert Bay

2009-05-25T18:38:00.001-08:00

We left Bickley Bay thinking we'd figured the slack times for the next (and final) two sets of rapids. We must of been wrong in our calculations. We reached Greene Point Rapids during a strong ebb flow that had us straining along at less than 2kts. We took pictures of the swirling, churning, bubbling water but in the end, they just look like pictures of water! The Whirlpool Rapids were also a tussle with strong currents and whirlpools that pulled the boat down and tried to send us off in directions that we didn't want to go (like towards the rocks and shoals!). We made it through to our night's anchorage at Forward Harbor.

I awoke early on Saturday morning and went outside to look around when what should I see? A beautiful black bear foraging along the shore! He was turning over rocks below the high tide line and munching on the little crabs that lie under the rocks. We watched him for more than an hour as he worked his way down the shore then back again. Must have taken more than 40 pictures and even a video of him. See above for a picture of Deja watching the bear from the boat. The sibs were, of course very interested in the bear. They each 'woofed' at him but very quietly. Little quiet 'woofs' that satisfied their egos but didn't disturb the bear at all. What a life we lead - sitting in our cockpit, eating breakfast and watching a bear just yards off our stern! This is why we cruise.

The weather forecast was for high winds and even gales in Johnstone Straits for Saturday and Sunday so we just stayed where we were and did boat projects. I polished the winches in the cockpit; Christine scrubbed the deck to get rid of the doggie pee smell. The bear didn't come back while we were watching. He must have other beaches he dines at. We were up at 0600 Monday morning and departed by 0700 heading north.

Our day's destination was flexible. Did we want to go through Havanah Passage and spend the night near Minstrel Island? Did we want to just go up Port Harney and spend the night where we were when we came south in '07? As it turned out, we lucked on an ebb current headed in our direction and were able to ride it almost to Alert Bay. We made more than 48 miles today in less than 9-hours for an average speed of more than 5-knots! That's great for this boat - especially as it hasn't had its bottom painted since June of 2007!

The forecast for tomorrow is high winds again. We may stay here in Alert Bay for a day or more. We'll see. The weather guys say Wednesday and Thursday should be good days to cross the Queen Charolotte Sound and get inside Calvert Island (see our Trip Log #27 on the Queen Charlotte Sound in 2007 logs). If we can get there early, we'll head over to Port Hardy and restock and fuel up before we jump off for points north. If the weather sets in earlier than forecast, we'll just stay here and look for some of the geocaches in the area.

David and Christine and Sibs
SV Raven
Juneau, AK

Currently lying Alert Bay, BC

Tenedos Bay to

2009-05-22T07:02:00.000-08:00

Since Monday May 18th was a Canadian National Holiday and we couldn't get out new cable made until Tuesday, we decided to spend a couple of nights at Tenedos Bay. A very good decision.

Tenedos Bay is a dreamlike place of wonderful brown, black and dark gray cliffs that drop in fractured steps to the water. The whole effect is softened with a covering of velvety yellow-green moss interspersed with Madrona and evergreen trees. Beautiful! We spent two nights; I could have spent weeks. I was able to spend some time and found the bad wire that was keeping the ignition switch/starter button from working. We're all back together. While there, we met a young couple from Yellowknife who were exploring Desolation Sound from a canoe. We all had a very pleasant evening chatting over snacks.

After an overnight stop at the Copeland Islands we arrived in Lund early on the morning of the 19th where we tied up to the outer floating breakwater. I pulled the bad cable while the sibs had the run of the float. Then, we all dinghied over and walked up to the parts store. $75 cdn lighter, it was back to the grocery store for provisions. We left the next morning, after a stop for gasoline for the generator, heading north.

First night we headed back into the head of the Teakerne Arm to anchor in a small nitch right next to the Park dinghy dock. Another spectacularly beautiful place. From the dinghy dock a natural staircase of rock leads straight up the side of the cliff next to a waterfall to the top of the cliff where we found a geocache (see picture at top of entry. I'm practicing with the timer feature on our camera and took a bunch of pictures of my butt before we got a few of us all together). The anchorage was a little exposed and choppy but calmed down in the evening for a quiet night and an early start north to the rapids.

Even though I'd calculated the transit time and slack water at the Yuculta Rapids we still arrived 2-hours early. The Yucultas are not something you fool around with so we spent the next couple of hours jilling around in great big circles til we just couldn't stand it any more and headed north. We entered the rapids about 1 hour before slack and battled our way up the current running against us at about 4kts. Throttle wide open we continued to make progress through the boils, eddies, upwellings and overfalls to the pass at Gillard Island. This small stretch of about 200 yards had us slowed down to 1.6kts but we made it through and into the Dent Rapids on the other side. After all the dramatics of the Yucultas, the Dents were a breeze (we actually hit the Dents just at slack water) and we passed through them with hardly a ripple. From the Dents it was another 2-hours to our night's anchorage at Bickley Bay.

We're up early today to head north through 2 more sets of rapids (Green Point Rapids and Whirlpool Rapids) before the day's done. Thankfully, these are the last of the rapids we'll encounter as we head north.

David and Christine and Sibs
SV Raven
Juneau, AK

Currently lying: Bickley Bay, East Thurlow Island, BC

Meltdown!

2009-05-18T13:49:00.000-08:00

5/12 My mother's birthday. Happy Birthday Mom! I tried to call 3 times - really! Line was busy each time.

1030 Engine start. Christine went forward to raise the anchor. All normal. Same thing we've done daily for years every time we anchor (which is most of the time). Then, I heard an alarm buzzer. I didn't pay too much attention, the bilge pump often goes off just after we start the engine. This time the buzzer went on longer than usual. I stuck my head into the companionway and saw smoke coming out of the battery cupboard. Thinking it must be the anchor windlass frying the cables, I held my breath and jumped down to flip off the 100 amp breaker switch for the windlass then, back to the cockpit to shut down the engines. Buzzer continues, this time when I look into the cabin I see green acid smoke coming from the battery cupboard. Hold breath, jump down into smoke filled cabin, feel my way to the battery selector switch to disconnect the batteries. Battery selector switch just spins in my hand. Christine, who'd come aft to see what all the action was about, started fanning smoke out of the companionway with a towel, I, from on deck, pulled open the two hatches in the cabin and fore peak.

The Damage (see accompanying photo for composite picture of cable, battery and battery selector switch):
    - Battery selector switch fuzed and melted
    - Battery cable connecting House bank to common ground burned up - GONE!
    - Starter cable from battery selector switch to starter shorted out - less than 1/3 of its thickness remaining
    - Numerous fuses blown
    - One of the House bank batteries holed by melting cable

I pulled out the holed battery and joined the remaining House bank battery to the Starting battery (which wasn't injured during the meltdown). Then, I reconnected all the wires to their appropriate poles replacing fuses along the way. We were able to dinghy over to the Squirrel Cove community store and buy a replacement battery selector switch (an On/Off switch rather than the 1-All-2-Off switch we replaced).

I wrapped the shorted starter cable with insulating tape and rerouted it away from the place where it had worn through (it had been pinched between the engine blok and the motor mount - lots of vibration and wear). By now, we have power to most of the boat's electrical again. All the pumps, lights and radios, etc. seem to be working. I can't, however, get power to the ignition switch, oil pressure alarm and starter button.

Using a remote starter button I'd bought to use for tune-ups and valve adjustments I am able to start the engine. Starter appears to have survived just fine and engine is undamaged. We're a half-days motor from Lund where there's a marine repair shop and parts store. I called and spoke with one of the mechanics there. After I told him just about what's written above he thought a moment and told me that there must be a fused or missing wire someplace. On a Yanmar motor, the ignition system is seperate from the starter power circuit. Monday is a holiday and he can't help me before Wednesday. "You've got plenty of time, find that wire."

I'm looking. Seeing as how we're mobile, we decide to continue exploring Desolation Sound by moving over to Tenedos Bay

Bloodied but unbowed we are,
David and Christine and Sibs
SV Raven
Juneau, AK

Currently lying Tenedos Bay, BC

Nanaimo to Squirrel Cove

2009-05-18T11:44:00.000-08:00

Area Whiskey Golf. Area Whiskey Golf is a large semi-rectangular area of the Straits of Georgia just north of Nanaimo where the Canadian Navy practices with their submarines and torpedoes. Normally, when such practices are going to be going on, they make an announcement over the VHF radio "Area Whiskey Golf will be active from 0800 to 1700 today." They probably made that announcement on the day we left too. We didn't hear it... we left Nanaimo on the morning of the 7th of May. From Nanaimo to our days destination at Lasquetti Island is 3 1/2 to 4 hours directly through Area Whiskey Golf. This would have us taking the wind and waves on our aft quarter and running pretty much down wind and wave. It wasn't to be.

We were about 1/3 of the way across when a large range patrol boat hove up in front of us blue and red lights flashing. We were left in no doubt that Area Whiskey Golf was active! Told to turn around and head back the way we'd come, we had to head up along Vancouver Island's eastern shore until we'd cleared the active area then turn towards Lasquetti Island and Boho anchorage. The range controllers (Winchelsea Control) did monitor our progress and let us know as soon as we could proceed without interfering with the activities in the area. Unfortunately, that put both wind and wave on our beam. Seems like the Straits of Georgia start the day fairly calm then, as the day goes on wind and wind-driven waves start to build. Winds were 10-15 kts (not too bad) but the waves had built up to 3-4 ft and were causing us to roll considerably. Poor Deja was very sick even though we'd administered Dramamine to each of them before we'd left, it was apparent that on longer days, we'd need to re-administer another dose. The trip which should have been a downhill run of 3 1/2 to 4 hours turned into a rolly 5-hour drone.

After a night at Boho Anchorage, we continued north with an overnight in Sturt Bay on Texada Island (a very well protected cove with lots of curious sea lions and active ducks) and a stop in Westview to top up the fuel and gasoline tanks. Then on to an overnight in the Copeland Islands where we arrived early and ran a line ashore to keep us from swinging. Within a couple of hours several other boats came in to anchor too. What a show! Two trawler style boats spent the better part of 2-hours dragging their anchors around the cove, trying to get them hooked while backing at at least 10 kts! Then, rowing ashore with a stern line only to find that they were too far away from shore for the line to reach so, back to the boat, let out more anchor rode, row back to shore with the stern line, by now, the boat's drifted away in a completely different direction so the guy has to try to pull it around with the stern line while trying to keep his dinghy from getting away and working his way up the bank to a tree around which to run the stern line. At first it was kind of funny to watch... then it was just painful.

Next day we went into Desolation Sound and made our way up Grace Inlet to a little anchorage where we could just kick back and wait for Monday when we wanted to head over to Squirrel Cove store and mail off my letter to Juneau. Last time we were in Squirrel Cove was in August. There were hundred's of boats anchored there. The place was a parking lot. (See our Trip Log #28 from 2007) This time we were there for 5-days due to electrical problems and alone most of the time. Much nicer experience this time. We were able to take the dinghy over to the community store (about 2-miles) and do some shopping, let the dogs run free on one of the islets in the middle of the Cove and not have to curse people speeding around blasting their PA systems.

See our next entry for details of the Great Electrical Meltdown!

David and Christine and Sibs
SV Raven
Juneau, AK

Presently lying Squirell Cove, BC

Stuck in Nanaimo

2009-05-04T13:50:00.001-08:00

We pulled in here on the evening of May 1 expecting to spend the night and take off for parts north the next morning. Today's the 4th and we're still here.

The high pressure ridge which had been holding over the Canadian Rockies has broken up and wave after wave of low pressure troughs have rolled through. Each one bringing winds, winds and rain, winds rain and thunderstorms with lightning... You get the picture. Winds to 40kts are predicted today and maybe tomorrow with Thursday being the soonest we can hope for a break long enough to head north.

Nanaimo's a pretty good place and we'd be exploring and geocaching our time away here except that, we're at anchor behind Newcastle Island and there is a fetch of several miles to the south/southwest - the direction the winds are coming from. Waves build up along the length of that open space and make our anchorage quite rocky and unsafe to dinghy over to the island. We've been stuck on the boat for 2-days now and are looking at an additional day at least. Stir craziness is beginning to set in "Here's Johnny!" "Redrum, Redrum" (Obligatory Stephen King references.)

The plus side is that Nanaimo has a city-wide Free Wifi Internet Access. It isn't the best baudrate (very slow) and seems to drop you at least a couple of times each session and limits you to 2 hours out of a 4-hour period. But, it's free! It's available! I can blog and email my friends and family! They could email me too!

I've been occupying myself reading and hosting a Terminator film festival (audience of one - Christine doesn't like the Terminator movies). Christine has spent her time cooking scrumptious meals and playing computer games. Both of us are ready to be underway NOW! The Sibs have invented a game of 'steal the chewtoy and run around the boat barking like crazy'. They've had a great time. They like it here.

David and Christine and the Sibs
SV Raven
Juneau, AK

Currently lying
Newcastle Island, Nanaimo, BC

Fixing your boat in exotic places

2009-04-30T08:23:00.001-08:00

The title say's it all. For much of the past week, that's just what we've been doing. Not all though - you know us. We have a hard time working too hard for very long.

We spent a night at Roche Harbor and anchored in the bay just outside the marina. The place was full of large motor yachts - Selenes. They were having a Rendevous and the place was crawling with owners, vendors, speakers and locals come to see all the pretty boats. Because of the crowds, we were unable to pursue a geocache that's located near the little store (a vendor's pavilion was sitting right on top of it). We were however, able to find one at the mausoleum a short, very pleasant walk up the hill. See the picture above. As you can see, it's a lovely location to spend eternity. Inside the arches is a cement table with cement chairs with names and dates etched into them. The writeup for the geocache says that the deceased ashes are mixed into the cement of the chairs. A nice place to spend eternity and, people can rest their weary bones for a bit on your ashes!

We left Roche Harbor and moved over to Reid Harbor on Stuart Island. Thats where the 'fixing boats in exotic places' comes in (though I don't know how exotic Reid Harbor is). We spend a night anchored and tried our hand at another geocache - a Did Not Find. We tromped all over that little island and found nary a trace of a geocache. We think its been removed. Then we moved over to a floating dock that doesn't have a connection to shore. We had the place to ourselves. The Sibs had the run of the dock and we were able to pull the dinghy up and apply the new registration numbers we'd brought back from home. I know, I know, we've been down here for 4 months, how come we didn't do this before? Well, the contact cement for hypalon needed 65-75 degree temps to cure properly. This was the first time we'd had the opportunity to get the boat out of the water and work on it when the temp was right. We also took the opportunity to replace the dinghy's name and home port (Yeil - Tlingit for Raven) with new, pretty red and black letters. Then we broke out the sander and proceded to sand and Cetol (a kind of varnish) everything that didn't move (good thing the Sibs are so fast!). Then, we tidied up the boat just in case Canadian Customs wanted to come down and inspect us.

We checked into Canada yesterday here at Sydney (no inspection) and spent the day wandering and shopping our way around the downtown area. Sydney is a nice little town with a, seemingly, aging population. Seems like every third person we see is in their 70's or 80's. Is this where older Canadians come to retire? Could be... In any case, it makes for a compact, easy to navigate downtown. We tried our hand at another geocache (a Find!) and just enjoyed walking around the town.

David and Christine and Sibs
SV Raven
Juneau, AK

Currently lying, Sidney Marina, Sydney BC

Spring in the San Juans

2009-04-24T13:17:00.001-08:00

Well, we left out slip at Harborview Marina on the 1st of April in snow and slush, and moved over to the little cove by the FH Labs for a couple of days. We'd decided to head to Bellingham and Costco/Walmart to stock up for our trip home to SE Alaska this summer. Our time at Harborview was great! The people made us feel right at home, the docks were sheltered and snug and, the walk into town kept us - and the Sibs - exercised. The trip to Bellingham can take 6-8 hours depending on the currents; we spent 5-days getting there.

We figured we'd Geocache our way to B'ham. Geocaching is like treasure hunting or an Easter Egg hunt for grownups with gps's. Here's how I explained it to my niece: "We've started geocaching. It's kind of like hunting for treasure with a portable gps. All over the world there's these secret caches that most people just walk past without noticing. Geocachers follow the gps and unravell clues to find the cache. You log your find into a logbook at the site and online. The successful geocacher can take some of the treasure as a reward and usually, leave something equally valuable in its place. For example, we took a Woody (from Toy Story) rubber action figure and left a keyring with a sand-dollar charm in its place. We spent our trip from Friday Harbor to here in Bellingham looking for geocaches who's coordinates we'd found on the Geocaching.com website. We've found five of the six we've looked for so far. So far, all the caches we've found have been in locations that you need a boat to get to. That's not always the case of course. They're everywhere."

So, that's how we got to Bellingham. First stop, Blind Island in Blind Bay on Shaw Island. This is a small dot of an island. We were able to release to dogs from their leashes and let them "Fly! Be Free!" Did they ever! Deja chased Canada Geese, Sonny rolled in Canada Goose poop. After 2 tries, we were able to locate the cache (a very tricky clue to the second coordinates). Then over to the small store at the ferry dock for beer and a geocache there (see the picture at the top of this entry). Deja dug in the gravel on the beach, Sonny rolled in rotting seaweed. From there, we motored around to Spencer Spit on Lopez Island for a stroll along the driftwood covered beach and another geocache. Deja discovered some deer poop, Sonny rolled in it. People come to Spencer Spit to picnic and, while they're there, build forts out of the driftwood. Some are quite impressive.

We left the Spit and headed to Doe Island for lunch. We tied to the state float and walked the trails all over this small beauty of an island. The Sibs had the run of the dock, Sonny found some otter poop to roll in. It was pretty rolly in the little bay so we decided to keep going and head around to Inati Bay on Lummi Island just off Bellingham. There's a geocache there but, after 3 tries, we were unable to find it. (The owner, after we'd logged our failure, went and checked the site and found it missing. He's since replaced it with an newer better cache.)

We shopped til we dropped in Bellingham on Easter weekend. We also geocached 3 sites around town - one, 'It's a Nautical Life' with a very tricky clue to the final coordinates. Christine gets the prize for figuring out that one! It was a doozy.

After shopping, we left Bellingham on Monday and headed for Matia Island and more hiking and geocaching. The hike was great. The geocache had been moved from its coords and though we found it, it was a fluke. Still, a find's a find. Next day we headed to Sucia Island and Fossil Bay where we anchored the first night and picked up a mooring buoy the next. We walked out the trail to Ev Henry Point for another cache. All in all, it was much easier the last time we'd walked it 15-years ago! From there, we headed to Deer Harbor on Orcas Island for another walk on the shore and another cache. Then, back here to Friday Harbor so Christine could see her doctor and we could take Sonny to the vet to get him chipped. After removing: deer poop, otter poop, rotten seaweed, and goose poop!

We'll be leaving here today or tomorrow and heading around to Roche Harbor, Reid Harbor then Sydney in British Columbia where we'll start our trip north.

David and Christine and the Sibs
SV Raven
Juneau, AK

Currently lying: By the labs in Friday Harbor

Jack Russel Terriers On Boats

2009-03-29T13:16:00.000-08:00

Well, we're still here in Friday Harbor. We've pretty much settled into
life at the dock. Up in the morning for an "early walkies", boat
projects, a longer walk into town after lunch then, dinner and dvd's
until 2130 when it's "late walkies" before bed. The Sibs love walkies
and, since we've started using those Gentle Leader halters, we're
enjoying them much more too. What a difference those have made. They
still try to take us for walks instead of the the other way around but,
not as hard and, when we pull back, they know we mean it!

Other observations about JRT's on boats:
- JRT's are hyperactive 2-year olds with ADD. They're very bright
and very curious; a leaf or feather blowing by will send them into the
stratosphere. Because their attention span is measured in seconds (or
fractions of a second) we've begun varying our walk training to keep
them next to us when we walk. We walk fast for a few steps then, slow
for a few steps then, Tim Conway's old man slow for a few steps then,
stop and turn right then, ... well, you get the idea. As soon as they
start to get in the rut, we change the pace. They're actually starting
to look up at us for direction as we walk along.

- JRT's don't play well with 'lesser' dogs (or even other JRT's!).
They are not team players. When we take them to the dog park (a great
place for doggies to play) they immediately start to whip the other dogs
into line. It's usually Deja that starts this then, Sonny comes to her
aid. Because there's two of them, they team up against any dog that
shows weakness or is too submissive. It's got to be instinctual, I'm
sure no one trained them to do this. On the other hand, these are not
wimpy dogs. They're not dogs that will allow themselves to be pushed
around by other dogs. Their pride just won't allow it. If you want a dog
that will lay around and piddle when the newspaper boy throws the paper
against the door, JRT's are not for you. If you want a dog that will
follow a badger into its den and stay there until dragged out, maybe
JRT's are.

- JRT's are adaptable. One of our concerns about having dogs on a
boat was getting them to pee and poop on deck. When we're under way for
a long day or at anchor and it's gushing rain, they need to be able to
go and we're not going to be able to row them to shore every time. A lot
of dogs are so habit bound that if the location isn't exactly right, if
the grass isn't soft enough, if some other dog has or hasn't been there
before, they just won't go there. Our dogs don't share that problem.
Each of them took to the idea of going on deck right off. We set a
welcome mat sized piece of astroturf on the bow for them to use and, do
they ever use it! I'm putting on a plastic glove or bag every day and
picking up poops off the mat (and elsewhere on deck). Dog poop in fact
has become a constant obsession. Are they pooping enough, is it the
right color, size, is it too hard, not hard enough, what's that green
thing in there, is this his or hers? We each carry around two poopybags
with us whenever we take them out for walkies and restock our supply at
the dispensers located around town (Friday Harbor provides these Doggy
Doo dispensers throughout the marina and downtown area). It's a constant
irritation to observe how many dog owners won't use the bags provided.
We've even seen poop at the base of the dispenser stand!

- JRT's sleep alot. For all their high-energy exuberance during play
and walkies, when we come inside the boat, they're both more than happy
to snooze until it's time to go out again - at least as long as we're
here with them. If we leave them alone too long, their need for
diversion will make them find ways to occupy themselves. Probably not
ways that we'll be happy with when we return. We've started to zip them
up in their crate if we're going to be gone for more than just a few
minutes. This is a new phenomenon. When we first got the Sibs we could
leave them uncrated for hours while we went shopping. Not anymore. I
think they were being on their best behavior like when our kids would go
over to spend the night at a friends house. How they'd help clean up
after dinner or, even help with the dishes. They'd never do that at
home. I think the Sibs acting up when we leave means that they think
this is home now and they don't have to behave. How's that for spin?

- JRT's love attention. Each of them welcomes as much oohing and
ah'ing as they can get. Deja was quite shy when we first got them and
would often pull back from people's hands or even growl at them when
they would try to pat her or scratch behind her ears - especially
children. She doesn't do that anymore. She'll even nudge Sonny out of
the way and get to the front of the line. They're both convinced that
the word 'cute' was invented just for them. For example a stranger's
"Isn't that a cute pair of shoes?" will get them up and wiggling for
attention. Not to mention the multitude of "Oh, what cute doggies!" they
hear as we walk around town.

That's it for now, time for afternoon 'walkies'.

David and Christine and the Sibs
SV Raven
Juneau, AK

Currently lying Friday Harbor, WA

First Complete Month of Dog Ownership

2009-02-22T13:55:00.000-09:00

Feb. 02, 2009 - Groundhog Day.
Well, its been a month since we added our new crewmembers. Everyone is
settling in pretty well. They aren't trying to pull our arms out of the
sockets with every walk, and, we're getting more exercise than we ever
did before. For example: last Wednesday Deja had to go in for surgery to
be spayed. We all walked the mile up the hill to the vet's office then
back to the boat with Sonny. Then, Christine and I walked the 3-miles
out to the electric company to start service in the slip at the new
marina we're moving into. Then, of course, we walked the 3-miles back to
the boat. By then, Sonny had been zipped into his crate for a couple of
hours so, we took Sonny for a walk up to the park for doggy relief.
Then, it was 4 o'clock and time to walk back up the hill a mile to pick
Deja up from the vet's. She couldn't walk so (thankfully) we taxied back
to the harbor where at 9 o'clock, we took Sonny out for his evening
walkies. Man are we ever getting whipped into shape.

David, Christine and the Sibs (Sonny and Deja)
SV Raven, Juneau AK

Currently lying: Tied to the dock at Harbor View Marina, Friday Harbor,
WA
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Friday Harbor, WA

2009-01-22T10:43:00.000-09:00

(Christine and Sonny playing 'Fate'. Fate is a computer adventure game where the hero has a pet that accompanies him or her through the levels of a dungeon. The pet can start out as either a cat or, a dog - a Jack Russell Terrier! Sonny seems very interested in that other dog.)

Well, we've been here a week and a half. It hasn't rained once. Was the rain just a Bellingham thing?

We left Bellingham on Monday morning early into dense, drizzly fog. By the time we were in the middle of Bellingham Bay, you couldn't see the shore in any direction. Very cold and wet. It's times like these that you really appreciate all those electronic gizmos: radar, gps, etc. We rounded Eliza Island on the south shore past Eliza Rock. Could just make out the outline of houses on the bluffs. Made course between Vendovi Island and Viti Rocks with the point of Sinclair Island as our next waypoint. The fog had begun to lift a little and by the time we eased between Towhead Island and Cypress Island it had lifted enough that you could see all the way across Rosario Straits to the Peavine Pass.

Christine went below and let the sibs out of their crate. One of them (probably Deja) had thrown up but, both were ready for a little exercise. Christine threw the tennis balls and they chased each other around the cabin (not Christine, just the sibs), completely ignoring the engine noise. There was no further seasickness either.

Altogether, we had a nice, calm 6-hour passage and arrived here in Friday Harbor to find the visitor's dock mostly empty.

Our plan was to settle in here at the dock for the rest of the winter. We'd enroll the sibs in obedience school, take long walks and just relax. That was our plan. Doesn't look like that's going to happen. RANT ON: Friday Harbor has initiated a rule that liveaboard boats (and only liveaboard boats) must have completed a Coast Guard Auxiliary inspection. This is the Aux's voluntary inspection. You know, the one you get the decal for. The decal that does nothing. Won't keep the CG from stopping and inspecting you. Won't get you a break on your insurance. Nothing. All those white plastic weekend toys sitting at the dock rotting away don't require a 'voluntary' inspection. Those of us that spend every day and night aboard ensuring our boats are secure and in good working order do. I see this as a bullying tactic. The harbor board's way of letting me know who's boss. Well, I got news for them. On my boat, I'm boss (as long as Christine lets me). I get to decide who comes aboard.

Customs and Border Protection have a lawful requirement to inspect my boat. The Coast Guard also. Either of them want to come aboard, I'll even offer them a cup of tea. The harbor board doesn't. So, as soon as our outboard gets here, we'll move out to the channel and dinghy back and forth to the town. Probably better that way anyway. We'll save money and the sibs can have free rein to run around the decks.

RANT OFF: So, we're here (uninspected) at the visitors dock and paying the visitors rate rather than the lower 'monthly' rate waiting for our outboard to be shipped down from Juneau.

Semi-Rant On: I called FedEx on Saturday to arrange for pickup in Juneau and delivery to us here in Friday Harbor. This is after going on line to the FedEx.com website and creating a profile and a shippers account. Monday being a holiday (MLK Day) they promised that someone would be there Tuesday morning. No one came all day Tuesday. I called to confirm and request pickup Wednesday. Again, our son-in-law rescheduled his day and waited for FedEx to show up. Again, no one showed. Apparently, FedEx is taking its business model from the Cable Guy: keep the customer waiting for days, when they call to complain, blame the customer for missing the call, etc... I called FedEx Wednesday evening and canceled the shipment then, I called UPS. UPS agreed to have someone go by today (Thursday) to pickup our box with the outboard. We'll see... Semi-Rant Off

We made an appointment for Deja with the local veterinarian. She's going to be 'fixed' on the 28th. Isn't that a funny saying: 'fixed'? It's not like there's something broken. Her parts are working as designed - are they ever! We got the sibs on Friday the 2nd of January. By Sunday the 4th, Deja was exhibiting strong dominance behaviors over Sonny. By Tuesday the 6th, she was flowing steadily. We knew she hadn't been spayed, the previous owners estimated 2-months before she'd come into season again. I'm thinking that the stress of moving to a new family, home that moves, exercise schedule caused her time to arrive early. We'll all be very, very, very glad when she's no longer 'natural'. On the other hand, they are coming right along with their training. We've almost got walking alongside us without trying to drag our arms out of their sockets down (only the very occasional lunge at a bird). We're stopping at every corner and waiting and have begun with 'sit' and 'stay'. The biggest problem right now is socialization. Both sibs are very protective of us. They tend to growl when someone comes too close uninvited or too quickly. A little of that is okay with me. I want them to protect us and let us know if someone is onboard the boat in the middle of the night. Growling or lunging at strangers while we walk down the sidewalk is Not ok. We're going to have to work on that distinction. I think Deja's delicate condition contributes to some of her crabbiness.

Yesterday we were able to get online with a good strong wifi signal. While cruising the web, we checked out the Geocaching site for possible caches here in Friday Harbor. We found two within easy walking distance of the boat so, we went out in the afternoon and found both of them. Not a bad excuse for a pleasant walk around the area. The dogs even give us a good excuse for diving off into the bushes to get the caches. We bought some travelbugs to leave in a cache but I put them in the box with the outboard and, of course, they haven't gotten here yet. If you want to know more about Geocaching, go to the Geocaching website at: http://www.geocaching.com/

David, Christine and the Sibs (Sonny and Deja)
SV Raven, Juneau AK

Currently lying: At the dock, Friday Harbor Wa

Still in Bellingham

2009-01-09T13:26:00.002-09:00

7 January 2009
So, here we are, Jan 8, 2009; 5 days after we got our new crew; 5 days after our reason for being here ended, here we are - still in Bellingham. Not that there's anything wrong with Bellingham. There really isn't. The harbor staff is pleasant and understanding. There's a grassy area for walkies. There's even a great fish and chips restaurant just steps from the top of the dock. The only problem is; we don't want to be here. We want to be somewhere else: Friday Harbor.

Friday Harbor is just better set up for cruisers without a car. The supermarket is just 1 1/2 blocks up from the marina. The movie theater and drug store are 2 blocks up. The West Marine and state liquour store and bowling alley are 3 blocks up. Everything we could need including a coffee shop with wifi (1 block up) within easy walking distance. Compare that with Bellingham where the nearest bus stop is more than a mile away; the nearest supermarket is at least 2 miles and the West Marine is also at least 2 miles from the marina (saving grace is that there are 2 good chandleries - LFS and Redden Marine - here at the harbor).

Tomorrow, Thursday 1/8 is supposed to be a little more settled than the past week: 15 to 25 kt winds and rain as opposed to the 25 - 35 kt winds and gulleywashers we've been having. There's flood warnings/watches and flooding all around here this evening. Each evening, we've walked up to the harbor office and paid another day's transient moorage. We're hoping to leave tomorrow.

We'd had a problem with our electrics on the way here: both the depth sounder and the new autopilot would suddenly drop off. Intermittent electrical problems are horrible to figure out. Christine was reaching into the cupboard to get treats for the Sibs (from now on, the crew plural are the 'Sibs') and noticed a loose wire. Looks like the ground wire for the new autopilot. As usual the fix only took 30-seconds or so. Getting out the tools and parts took the better part of half an hour. Ah, boat life!

9 January 2009 - Same dock, just 20' farther along
The National Weather jokers said we'd have 15 to 25 kt winds and 2-4 ft seas today (didn't show up as forecast yesterday) so we got up early and left for Friday Harbor. The National Weather jokers were joking. Bellingham Bay was the color of chocolate milk and full of floating logs washed down the rivers from the flooding going on right now. It has been raining pretty much constantly since we got back from Juneau: sometimes drizzle, oftentimes a real gullywasher. All the local rivers are over their banks (the Snohomish crests at 15' and is currently at 23'. Similar with the Stillaquamish and Skagit rivers). The weather reports are full of flood warnings. Still, we'd hoped to use today to slip out of here and get to FH. Not gonna happen.

The wind and waves picked up as we headed across B'ham Bay and by the time we were opposite Chuchanut, the now, 4-6ft waves were hitting us broadside. The Sibs were not enjoying their first boating experience. Deja got seasick and was vomiting and shivering. Sonny started out a little shy then, got in the mood and began exploring the cockpit and even, the side deck. All looked good for him until, we noticed that he'd begun fixating on the water going by the boat and soon, started making throat and mouth motions indicating that he was getting ill too. I suspect that Sonny's more laid back personality gives him an advantage here. He just 'takes it as it comes' where Deja gets stressed out by new things. Neither dog liked the engine noise: Deja in fact discovered a new 'short cut' over the back of the settee, along behind the stove and under the paper towel roll to avoid the engine. We're going to try starting the engine for an hour or so each day and hope they get used to it. We'd bought some anti-stress paste that you squeeze onto your finger prior to traveling. It's supposed to calm them down and help with the stress of the trip. We couldn't get them to try it. Might be easier just to give them some kind of tranquillizer and let them sleep through the voyage altogether.

So, for now we're back to the same dock we'd left. The weather jokers are holding out 5-10 kt winds for Sunday. We're still here and still hoping to get somewhere else.

Happy New Year!

2009-01-03T22:09:00.000-09:00

Well, we've had quite a time the last few months - since we posted last.

We didn't jump off to the southland as planned from Neah Bay (our last post), just too many breakdowns. We dropped back to Port Angeles, rebooted the radar with a boot chip provided by Raymarine tech support (George Martin - topnotch tech help) and replaced our autopilot with a newer model. Since the new AP came from Canada (just 50 miles from where we were at) it took almost 6-weeks to get the parts and more parts through customs, then, another 2-weeks to get someone to help install it. By then, we were coming up on October when we wanted to fly back to Juneau for our grandson, Dylan's first birthday (October 8), our granddaughter Kitty's 4th birthday (November 22), Thanksgiving and then Christmas.

As before, we left the boat in Roche Harbor when we flew home. We returned on Sunday 12/28 to find everything as we'd left it only, covered with mold. It was raining the day we left and everything we brought in from outside for security inside was wet. Kayaks, sails, generator... all wet and all molded. We spent the next 3-days cleaning and putting everything back where it belonged.-

While we still in Juneau, we'd continued our search for a new pet. In every place we'd spent any time this past summer we'd looked for a dog to be a companion on our journey. Friday Harbor had 2 dogs and 80+ cats, the dogs were too big and we didn't want a cat this time. In Port Angeles, there were no dogs that were the right size for our boat. Juneau had no dogs at all (though plenty of cats and even, rabbits!). We kept looking. Finally, we tried Craigs List for Bellingham and viola! There were two of the perfect size dogs a cruiser could hope for. Brother and sister Jack Russell Terriers. These are the long curly-haired variety - think Eddie from the Fraizer television show only with long curly hair. They're 2-years old and the previous owners even brought them down to the boat to meet us yesterday. We fell into instant love. So, we've now doubled in size with more crew and a great excuse to walk all over.

Just so's there's something sailing related in this sailing blog, we left Roche Harbor around 8 o'clock Thursday morning headed for Bellingham to meet our new crew. Although we'd left in light rain/drizzle, the wind picked up to 20-25kts and the temp was in the high 20's. We only made it as far as Echo Bay on Succia Island before deciding to call it a day. One peek out at the blowing foam and breaking waves in Georgia Straits convinced us that we should stop. For the first time ever, we were able to use our cell phone from Succia and called the dog's owners to let them know that we were still coming, just, tomorrow instead of today. Temps dropped over night and I lay awake obsessing about whether we had enough kerosene to run the heater.

The next day started out windy but by noon, the wind had dropped to 10-15 and we headed out across the Straits. There was still some leftover waves crossing abeam of us so we spent every 5th wave rolling on our beam ends but it only took an hour or so to cross into Hale Passage where the wind and waves left us and we had a flat calm motor into Bellingham's Squalicum Harbor.

And, that's where we are right now. The wind's back, this time bringing snow and very icy docks (both Christine and I have fallen). The new crewmembers are getting used to boat life and the cabin is covered with new chew toys, balls, dog beds and a collapsible crate for them to travel in.

Our plan (you know how we are with plans) is to head back to Friday Harbor and spend the next couple of months tied to the dock. We'll take obedience training and walk our legs off and be whipped into shape in time for next summer's cruising.

David and Christine, Sonny and Deja
SV Raven
Juneau, AK

Currently lying Squalicum Harbor, Bellingham, WA