Heading home for the winter

[koliver]

Retreat has spent the summer near our home on Saltspring Island. She is now heading home to her shelter in Vancouver for the winter. The storms of the last couple of weeks caused a bit of a delay getting started, but a weather window opened yesterday afternoon, and is still open, so I am on the go. Yesterday I had a pleasant journey up Trincomali Channel to Silva Bay. I didn't know there was a strike of Vancouver Longshoremen, but all available anchorages in Trincomali, Navy Channel, Stuart Channel, etc have freighters in them, all of the 200 to 250m size. I saw 10 as I went up Trincomali and my Boatbeacn discloses the others.
This morning I was away by 07:55 and off Thrasher by 08:00

So far, I haven't seen a single pleasure craft. It is no surprise that there are few early risers at this time of year, but yesterday, in the afternoon, in protected waters, I was surprised.

Conditions are good. I am using windfinder.com and I find it to be accurate and comprehensive. It predicted this window, and so far, as I near teh 1/2 way mark crossing the Gulf, I have had winds of less than 12 knots, waves of only .25m and some sun. That is much nicer than the weather of the last few days!

Mu Boatbeacon is also proving useful, as it gives me CPA for all of the large amount of commercial traffic that is out on the water just now and allows a relaxed cruise.

 

[BandB]

Do you use it over the winter or just let it sit?

 

[koliver]

The first 10 years we used Retreat 12 months of every year. Then we bought a place on Saltspring Island, so started going there more and more in the winter, so winter use declined to mainly maintenance visits. There is a group of guys that I enjoyed seeing at the marina on the weekends, lunch together, exchange of lies and tools. In 2011 we started going south for the worst part of the winter. Now I spend 5 months in the desert every winter, so Retreat gets put in her shelter and checked by that same group of guys and by my own kids, until we return in April.

With the shelter protecting the boat from the weather, she will be in the same condition in April as she is in today, plus a covering of dust. There is very little risk of frost or snow in a Vancouver winter, so the heaters and the frequent visitors will see her through.

 

[dhays]

Have a safe trip Keith. Nice photo.

 

[koliver]

As today has been a typical Vancouver day for the date, rainy, windy, it has been an opportunity to do the shopping that doesn't happen on Saltspring, and to wonder that yesterday's crossing could have been so benign.

The most wind was about 1/2 way across, when the odd whitecap was trying to form. By the time I got into English Bay, the water surface was mirror smooth. There was a lot of commercial traffic, including some that I had to change course to avoid, and almost no pleasure boat traffic. For the last 1/2 of my trip there was an open mike on 16, demonstrating that even commercial boats can cause an open mike.
My shelter was empty, there is high water pressure, so Retreat got a good fresh water wash down, something that can't be done at Saltspring, where there is no extra water available. The diesel stove was on the whole way, so everything was nice and warm, and dry.

 

[Nomad Willy]

Keith wrote ...
"five months in the desert"

I couldn't do that. Think I'll go up and see Ted again this winter. Been away for a week in the eastern Wash/Ore desert .... was glad to get back even though it's raining ... big time. Anxious to get down to the boat tomorrow.