Clam Bay to Campbell River

Woke up around 6:30am and left for Dodd Narrows enroute to False Bay.   We transited Dodd at full flood, with roiling water on the north side and a lot of logs and debris floating around.  The weather was relatively calm in the morning though.

After arriving in False Bay a bit after noon and dropping anchor, we invited Ruby Slippers to raft to us which turned out to be great for the girls.  They really enjoyed spending time with Jim.

We got our inflatable kayak out and the girls decided they wanted to go out by themselves, which turned out to be awesome.  They did so well, kayaking around the bay, greeting all the other boats.   Devon and I were super impressed they managed on their own without needing a rescue.

I fired up our DJIMavic Pro drone and launched it off the foredeck successfully.  I managed to swoop down and capture a little video of the girls kayaking as well as some of the other boats anchored around us.  Unfortunately, I somehow stopped the recording for part of the flight without realizing it and missed several good shots.

The girls wanted to show Jim our piano so we got it out, plugged it in, and they played for him for a bit.  Then Jim got his guitar, Devon grabbed her flute and one of her recorders, and they all played with Morgan on the piano, and even Ellie playing one of Jim’s harmonicas.   A full 4-piece band.   The girls had a ton of fun with that.

Devon made a great chicken and pesto potato dinner for us while some of the other boat crews checked out the pub at the hotel in the bay.   After the kids got to bed Devon played piano while I did the dishes and then it was time for the adults to hit the sack, ready for our 9am departure.

The forecast for Georgia Strait the next day was 15kt from the North, so it was going to be lumpy.  Further, the forecast for Johnstone Strait over the next 4 days is calling for “Gale Warning” (25-35kts) which could change our northern transit plans.  There seems to be a low-pressure system hanging out just northwest of Vancouver Island.

An issue with the new toilet has reared its head–see what I did there.   It seems to lose its raw water prime when we are underway, likely due to suction from the outside created by water passing by the thru-hull inlet.   The raw water line has a high loop but no anti-siphon valve at the top of the loop which the install instructions call for, so I will add an anti-siphon valve as soon as I can and see if that helps it keep the prime.

Tuesday morning we woke up, Devon made French press coffee, much stronger than the previous attempt, and much better.  It’s Kona coffee which has a distinct flavor and it’s good but I’m not sure I can drink it all day like I can with more traditional Italian style coffee.

Ellie piloted us out of False Bay and we turned NNW toward Campbell River, about 7 hours away up Georgia Strait.  The wind was already blowing 14kts from the North and seas were very lumpy.   We bashed North at 7kts SOG through very choppy water all day.   The girls did great, we gave them Kids Dramamine early on and Morgan and Ellie both took little naps in the cockpit but generally they played some iPad games, ate breakfast and lunch, had some snacks and hung out relatively happy.

While underway I played around using towels to dampen the engine sounds from various areas, and could reduce the most obnoxious noises significantly.  I will try to get some soundproofing foam from the marine store in Campbell River to stuff into some of the nooks and crannies around the companionway ladder/engine cover, which seems to be where most of the sound is coming from.

The current and wind at Campbell River were both very strong–20+kts of wind and probably 4kts of current.  We headed up past the marina entrance and turned late to compensate for the current/wind effects.  Then we proceeded to our mooring location, on the south side of H dock and parallel parked, which took us plus two dock hands to manage since the strong wind was blowing us off the dock.

We made it though–Anacortes to Campbell River in 3 days (~150 nautical miles)–and that was cause for dinner out.  I hit the marine store before its 5pm closure and got a new boat hook (no idea where ours went), two fishing rod holders (how else are we going to troll for Salmon), a Canadian courtesy flag (no idea where our flag bag is) and some plumbing parts for the toilet (that will hopefully solve the flushing problem).  We had dinner out, checked in to the marina, got the wifi code, and settled in to our boat for the night.  For some reason my side of the bed had a large wet water spot close to the bow.   That’s… not… good…