New engine, cruising fun, whales, rendezvous and last minute jitters

New Beta Marine 30 hp Diesel engine

Our new engine is finally installed!  We are happy to have that worry over with and I am very happy that it runs quieter than the Perkins did.  We took it out for a cruise starting July 23, buddy boating with our good friends on Arbitrage we managed to get the engine up to the requisite 50 hours when the first oil change is required.  Scott is happy about that as we can make sure that first oil change is done before we actually depart in TWELVE DAYS........

With Arbitrage we headed north to Nanaimo where we tried to deal with an issue with our AIS receiver.  This device allows us to see where large ships are and gives us their course and speed.  It is supposed to share this information with our chart plotter as well but they are not communicating as well as they should and it leaves some holes in the information we receive.  Sadly our attempts at resolving the issue were unsuccessful so we continued on and had a wonderful crossing of Georgia Straight. With just the right amount of wind and in wonderful sunshine we practiced using our self steering wind vane and that was successful.

arriving at Jedediah Island

 We stayed at Jedediah Island for two nights.  It is absolutely delightful there and we enjoyed the quiet anchorage and hiking on the island. The entire Island is accessible as it is another one of BCs fantastic parks.  From there we made a stop in Pender Harbour to resupply and get more ice.  Almost immediately upon leaving Pender Harbour we were treated to an amazing display of  spy hopping, tailslapping and breaching by a pod of Orca.  After that incredible show it was up Agamemnon channel to the Harmony Islands in Hotham Sound.  This is an area of very dramatic scenery.  High mountains drop precipitously into the sea creating narrow and very deep channels. The water was warm and the swimming delightful.

Arbitrage in Hotham Sound

After three days of enjoying this

it was time to head back south, so with a stop in Secret cove, another sail across Georgia Straight and a quiet night in Clam Bay, we said see you soon to Arbitrage and headed to Winter Cove on Saturna for the Farewell to the Fleet rendezvous hosted by the Vancouver Chapter of the Bluewater Cruising Association. The associations mission is to foster seamanship and friendship for people with an active interest in offshore cruising and it has been instrumental in making our dream of going cruising a reality.  We have met so many people with the same aspirations as us and the information offered by the "doners", those who have returned from their cruises but are still active in the association has been invaluable.  So a big thank you goes out to all of those people!  However all the talk at the rendezvous of cruising and the offshore part of the sailing brought on a sleepless night for us both as we wondered how we could even begin to think that we are ready for this challenge.  In the light of day it seems more manageable and the fear eases and we are comfortable in the knowledge that the boat is ready.  Whether or not we are remains to be seen I guess.  Our planned departure from Saltspring Island is August 16th, with a stop in Seattle to pick up Marshall and then out the Straight of Juan de Fuca and turn left.

Looking forward to seeing more of this!