Need advice for first longer cruise.

[dhays]

I am a simple person. I like rocks.

 

[man n black]

You guys are making me jelly...I am so ready to be boating the PNW...so beautiful there

Ch

 

[dhays]

I could have timed the currents in Gabriola better....

 

[Hawgwash]

I could have timed the currents in Gabriola better....

Just pretend you are still a blow boater they always get it wrong.
Pirates is a cool spot except in summer. Tight entry with a homemade range.

 

[koliver]

Dave:

How about a weather report from the centre of Georgia Straight?

Here:
wind: 0
waves: 0
sky:sunny
tide: low slack
no of pleasure boats in view: 10
no of crabs for lunch: 5

 

[dhays]

Nice about the crab Keith. Pretty flat out here. More floating logs than boats. I should have a bit over 1 1/2 hours more to Merry Island.

 

[koliver]

Dave:

Too bad about the lousy weather.
Maybe when you get to desolation sound your lunch prospects will improve.

 

[dhays]

BTW, I took advantage of the flat water in Trincomoli Channel to do a sea calibration of the compass. It seems to work as now my compass and the AP heading agree and the AP is a lot more well behaved.

 

[dhays]

My view looking WNW.

 

[dhays]

Ended up in Secret Cove. Not terribly happy with my anchor position. Water too deep, rode too short. So far it is holding, but the tide is coming in.

Secret Cove is a nice spot. A bit busy with locals and visitors buzzing around in their runabouts or RIBs respectively, but lovely spot and great weather.

 

[Hawgwash]

Ended up in Secret Cove

I saw where you made an about face on your first entry. Was that because you heard a pump action and the word Yankee coming from the deck above the monster green boat house?
He's really not a bad guy.

 

[man n black]

Lol

 

[dhays]

I saw where you made an about face on your first entry. Was that because you heard a pump action and the word Yankee coming from the deck above the monster green boat house?

He's really not a bad guy.

He actually waved at us as we came in. I think it was because he knew there was no room inside, other than. Nice open space with 4' of water. My wife was driving and she really kicked up a lot mud backing out of there. Nice spot, but two derelict boats are right in the middle. The RVYC has a very nice outstation there though.

 

[koliver]

The Secret Cove outstation is one of my favorites, as it has few facilities compared to the nearest other one, at Garden Bay, so gets very little traffic. Once you walk up to the road the walking is excellent. Never seen much wind in that cove, rarely enough wind to sail a Sabot. Out where you are anchored, there can be a nice afternoon breeze, enough for sailing a Laser.

 

[dhays]

The Secret Cove outstation is one of my favorites, as it has few facilities compared to the nearest other one, at Garden Bay, so gets very little traffic. Once you walk up to the road the walking is excellent. Never seen much wind in that cove, rarely enough wind to sail a Sabot. Out where you are anchored, there can be a nice afternoon breeze, enough for sailing a Laser.

Today the outstation looked completely full. You are right about the breeze. We have a nice Southerly where we are that keeps things from getting too warm. We are actually a across from what I think is the Secret Cove marina.

 

[rochepoint]

You sure are across from the Secret Cove Marina, it has been fun tagging along....

 

[drb1025]

BTW, I took advantage of the flat water in Trincomoli Channel to do a sea calibration of the compass. It seems to work as now my compass and the AP heading agree and the AP is a lot more well behaved.

Funny, I had to calibrate my compass a couple of times as I progressed north, then again when I got back home. I didn't realize that would be necessary.

 

[Hawgwash]

BTW, I took advantage of the flat water in Trincomoli Channel to do a sea calibration of the compass. It seems to work as now my compass and the AP heading agree and the AP is a lot more well behaved.

Did you find the issue with the plotters and radar?

 

[dhays]

Did you find the issue with the plotters and radar?

All I have figured out is that when my Sirius Wx receiver is activated then the system does the reboot as soon as the Sirius receiver gets a signal. It takes a bit for the Sirius receiver to get the info and as soon as it does there is a Sirius disclaimer that you have to acknowledge. As soon as this happens the system locks up then both MFDs will reboot a couple seconds later.

I am going to try and test some more as tbh I am not sure exactly what is connected to which circuit breaker, but there is one breaker that if it on eventually the systems will reboot, bit only after the Sirius gets a signal.

 

[koliver]

Dave

Sounds like a Serious Sirius problem. In today's weather, I would just use the wheelhouse window for weather prediction and keep the Sirius turned off.

Seriously!

sorry, couldn't help myself

 

[koliver]

Dave;

Just had a look at the Sirius program lineup. If you have the $9.95/mo subscription, the Wx is US only, so maybe that is the problem, as it hunts for data relevant to your present location.

Otherwise, you are into $29.95 or $49.95 per month for Wx data covering your Canadian waters, which I couldn't justify for cruising in protected waters.

 

[Hawgwash]

Dave

Sounds like a Serious Sirius problem. In today's weather, I would just use the wheelhouse window for weather prediction and keep the Sirius turned off.

Seriously!

sorry, couldn't help myself

You are a morning person for sure, Keith.

He needn't worry about all the gadgets for the next week anyway. He'll be rafted to dozens of boats who can keep anchor watch for him.

Dave, as Roche Point said, it's been fun tagging along.
I'm curious to know your cruising speed over those first two long legs and how you liked Swinomish.

 

[koliver]

Hawg:

Usually a Morning person, but especially right now, as I am enjoying 5 and 2 yrs old grandkids this week, so up very early (they are still jetlagged, having flown Friday from Lisbon).

I have lots of time to keep up with Dave's travels.

If I could get away, I would be in Desolation Sound, preferably in areas where I couldn't use my cellphone or computer. That will be happening after the kids leave.

 

[dhays]

You are a morning person for sure, Keith.

Dave needn't worry about all the gadgets for the next week anyway. He'll be rafted to dozens of boats who can keep anchor watch for him.

Dave, as Roche Point said, it's been fun tagging along.
I'm curious to know your cruising speed over those first two long legs and how you liked Swinomish.

I have had everything turned on this morning sitting at anchor for about a 1/2 hour. So far no reboots. I will see what it does while running today.

Our cruising speed was lower than I expected. In the past, 1400 would give us just shy of 7 knots. However on the trip up, even 1500 would only give us about 6.4 knots. Before someone (if there are any still following this thread) asks... No, I have not tested my tachometer. That is something that I will need to do. However, the fuel flow on the Cummins seems to still match the tach.

Anyway, because I am a cheap SOB, I didn't go much above 1500 rpm most of the time. A lot depended on the sea condition. We flew through the flat water of the Swinomish Channel, partly because of the flat water and partly because of the timing of the current. We averaged about 7-8 knots entirely wake free. My boat puts out a very mild wake at displacement speeds.

Going across Rosario Strait we were beat up pretty well and out speed dropped to about 5.5 knots due to the combination of wind and sea state.

We really enjoyed the Swinomish Channel. Lovely location and now that we have been there once, we will go back to La Conner some time maybe for a long weekend if we can catch the currents. A knot or two of current makes a huge difference in travel times and so timing is big in Puget Sound as you know.

BTW, if my boat was a couple of knots slower, I wouldn't have made it through Gabriola Passage. I didn't power up much, but still was down to 2 knots at one point going through.

 

[Hawgwash]

Our cruising speed was lower than I expected. In the past, 1400 would give us just shy of 7 knots. However on the trip up, even 1500 would only give us about 6.4 knots. Before someone (if there are any still following this thread) asks... No, I have not tested my tachometer.

I wasn't thinking tach but maybe you need to wipe your bottom.

La Conner is a great weekend get away in the off season, by boat or car. Quiet and some really good grub.

 

[dhays]

I wasn't thinking tach but maybe you need to wipe your bottom.

La Conner is a great weekend get away in the off season, by boat or car. Quiet and some really good grub.

Yeah, I have my bottom wiped by a diver every 3 months. I should check to see when the last was however.

 

[CPseudonym]

I get sluggish when my bottom hasn't been wiped in a while

 

[Hawgwash]

If spot is accurate, at 1300 you should be at the latitude I gave you earlier.

The homestead...

To starboard you will see a white flagpole in pic 1 (thanks to Twisted Tree) and if you look closely you might see me and my two pals on the beach (thanks to mom).

 

[dhays]

We looked as we went by, but not sure we found the right spot. My wife kept saying the whole area looked wonderful.

 

[dhays]

That Apple falling far from the tree thing...

When we arrived here at Westview, we were greeted by a very nice, polite, friendly, helpful and exceedingly competent young man. Sure enough, it was Northern Spy's son. Great kid.