April 29, 2017
After carefully ensuring my computer’s time was within a second of the NIST clock, I began a three day process of submitting a 60 day in advance request for entry into Glacier Bay National Park. When I hadn’t received a response, either positive or negative, by the third day, Monday, I called the park. Lucked into the person working on my permit and asked for the June 29-July 6 time period. This had been my third e-mail but she was about to respond to my first. Received my permit a few minutes later. Wonderful support from GBNP.
May 2
Had a lot of difficulty making a reservation at Anan because of glitches in the recreation.gov web site. I tried to make reservations for 3 people on July 21 but, when I clicked on the reserve button, it sent me to login. When I got back to the site, the day was no longer available. I reserved the 17th then called the Wrangell Ranger District for help. After several phone calls the ranger made an “Admin” reservation for Linda, Cash, and me. More wonderful support from a park service employee.
May 3
Took Hobbit out for an hour to test the ground tackle and treatment system. Linda put a coat of Cetol on the rails and we now have Hobbit physically ready to go; just need clothes and food. Thunderstorms expected tomorrow so maybe the 5th or 6th. Also changed our phone plan today for unlimited text, talk, and data for the entire trip including Canada.
May 6, Anacortes
Linda and I spent last night on Hobbit so we could get an early start in the morning and catch the 2:00 slack water at Deception Pass. Shortly before we were ready to go Jack and Jean Rothrock (Peijac) showed up and promptly departed. Our plan had been to loosely cruise together at least as far north as the Broughtons. Gorgeous day to depart with quite a few more similar days in the forecast. The only detractor was the one day opener for prawns in Saratoga Passage. In some places the boats and prawn trap floats were so thick it almost seemed you could walk on them. Following our computerized route to Deception Pass was impossible as manually dodging buoys was the order of the day.
The trip from Everett to Deception Pass always seems boring; kind of like you’re just traveling. When you pass through Deception Pass it seems you’ve finally started your vacation. The current in Deception Pass can flow at speeds exceeding 10 kts; however, if you time it correctly going through it is a no-never-mind.
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| Peijac in swift current approaching Deception Pass |
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| Hobbit entering Deception Pass |
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| Hobbit being towed to Anacortes |
Stuck in Anacortes on a beautiful day without knowing for sure what was wrong with Hobbit and no way to get the problem fixed if we did know. I took the opportunity to fix a couple of things on Hobbit then Linda and I walked to West Marine so I could buy a new joker valve for one of the heads. Eventually we decided to take a walk up to the top of the hill overlooking the harbor.
Hobbit is nearly dead center at the end of one of the docks
Based on a recommendation from Towboat US, I called North Harbor Diesel. May is probably their busiest month as boaters try to get their vessels ready for the cruising season. In spite of that, their service manager, Collin, arranged to send a mechanic, Dillon, out to Hobbit. He quickly concurred with my assessment that the transmission was probably the problem and proceeded to remove it. A second mechanic, Josh, the lead mechanic, helped him with the heavy work and some advice.
As the transmission came off it was apparent the problem was the drive plate which connects the engine to the transmission and which takes up some of the shock of going into gear. The drive plate was in several dozen pieces. Because it is necessary to get out all of the small broken pieces, Dillon removed the bell housing at the back of the engine and found a small oil leak in the engine’s rear main seal. For some time I have been aware of a small oil leak but didn’t know where it was coming from. Since making this repair would only add a few hours labor to a highly labor intensive activity, I decided to have that fixed while the engine was apart.
Fortunately the North Harbor Diesel had a rear main seal in stock, but a replacement drive plate had to come up from Harbor Marine in Everett. Fortunately, Kent Wehle was available so he picked it up then drove to Anacortes with Cathy. The four of us had a pleasant happy hour on Hobbit followed by dinner at Anthony’s.
May 9, Jones Island (San Juan's)
It took Dillon all day to put Hobbit back together again. At 4:30 in the evening we did the final test and had a very pleasant four hour cruise to Jones Island where we tied up to a buoy for the night. It’s hard for a picture to show tranquility; below is the best I could do.
May 10, Nanaimo
With a calm day and wishing to make up some time we cast off from Jones Island early in the morning, cleared customs at Bedwell Harbor, then continued on to Nanaimo: Approximately 45 miles for the day. We had been going very slowly for the last most of the afternoon because of the high current in Dodd Narrows. As we approached the narrows I was planning to stop and fish for an hour and a half so the 6 plus kt. current could subside to around 3 kts with us. Another trawler sporting a Canadian flag approached at the same time and was clearly not dissuaded by the high current so I followed at a couple of hundred yards to watch him and alter course if he got into trouble. Going through with a high current isn’t a problem inside the narrows as the water is very smooth. The problem is that when you exit the narrows the water is very turbulent with upwellings and eddies for more than a quarter of a mile. In this area you have little control of your boat. What I observed the Canadian boat do was stick closely to shore on the right as he exited the narrows. I followed his lead and found that I was in the turbulence for only a few seconds after which I was able to make a big curve around it. As luck would have it there were several reciprocal spots available at the Nanaimo Yacht Club when we arrived at 4:00. Unfortunately, the bow thruster failed as we were coming in. I think the motor burned out.
May 11, Nanaimo
A windy, rainy day. With a strong wind warning coming from Environment Canada, we decided that spending the day in Nanaimo was the prudent thing to do. Mostly we just sat on Hobbit and read. In the afternoon when the rain subsided we took a walk into town for some groceries and to have fish & chips and homemade ice cream on the warf. Linda and I have fish & chips whenever we can. Perhaps the best we have found anywhere in the world is at Trollers which is a floating restaurant in Nanaimo harbor. Even the leftover pieces warmed up the next day were better than most restaurants serve.
In the evening the wind came up with a vengeance and threw all of the boats tied up to the dock around. Water came up over the dock and even splashed as high as Hobbit’s deck.
May 12, Nanaimo
So far we have lost 3 days to mechanical problems and 1 day to weather. We made up one of those days with the long haul from Jones Island to Nanaimo. Winds in Nanaimo harbor were light and about 10 kts. in the Strait of Georgia; in the hope of not losing another day we decided to venture out towards Comox. About a mile outside the harbor we had been bounced around enough and returned to our spot at the Nanaimo Yacht Club dock. We spent the day on Hobbit reading and working on relearning how to use our blog.
May 13, Squirrel Cove
The forecast for today was calm winds in the early morning rising to 15 – 20 kts. by mid-day. With hopes that at least the morning forecast was correct, we rolled out of bed shortly after 4:00 a.m. and cast off at first light. True to the prediction, the winds were calm in the Strait of Georgia but southerly swells of 1 – 2 feet hitting just behind our starboard beam kept us rocking and rolling for almost 2 hours. I could have put the swells on our stern and gone up the center of the Strait, but I really wanted to make it to Desolation Sound (about 70 miles) and feared rising winds would force us off the water at Comox which if we went up the west side of the Strait. By putting up with the discomfort for a couple of hours we finally got behind Texada Island and had calm sailing for the rest of the day. We anchored for the night in Squirrel Cove which, in the summer, frequently has more than 80 boats spending the night. Today there were only 8 of us.
May 14, Shoal Bay (Mother’s Day)
We slept in this morning as the distance we have, and, in fact, are able to travel is limited. Today and tomorrow we have to pass through 4 rapids and can only do so near slack water. Timing of the rapids dictates our schedule. Squirrel cove is only a couple of hours cruise from the first two, the Yuculta and Dent rapids which are fairly close together and are traversed on a single tide cycle. While waiting for time to leave, Linda received a “happy Mother’s Day” call from Melinda.
As we were lifting the anchor, an Alaska salmon troller, the Brenda G., passed in front of us. We followed her out, through the rapids and docked beside each other at the government dock in Shoal Bay. Shoal bay is the place where, on our first trip in Hobbit Melinda, at the tender age of 18, had her first legal drink. On the dock I encountered the couple and asked the woman if she was Brenda G. She replied “that’s me”; her husband stuck out his hand and introduced himself as John. After introducing myself, I turned to Brenda and said “so you’re fishing with John” which immediately elicited a smile from both. Fishing with John is one of my favorite books and both John and Brenda felt an affinity for it. Fishing with John is an account of the life a woman who wrote magazine articles had with a commercial fisherman named John. John trolled for salmon in British Columbia. John and Brenda live on Bainbridge Island in WA and have been going to AK for more than 30 years to fish for salmon. The four of us walked up to the lovely facility at the end of the dock to enjoy the garden and general tranquility of the place.
May 15, Port Harvey (off of Johnstone Strait)
I was awakened about 3:00 this morning to halyards slapping on the mast and Hobbit rocking and straining on the mooring lines. The expected bad weather had arrived. By the time dawn arrived the wind was gusting to 15 kts. and we were getting 1 to 1 ½ foot swells on the dock accompanied by moderate rain. The plan had been to catch the 1:00 p.m. slack at the Green Point rapids so I was surprised to see the Brenda G. heading out at only 7:30 in the morning. Puzzled, I called them on the radio and learned that they wanted to find a calmer place to wait for the slack current. First time I’ve ever seen a boat leave a dock because of bad weather. Linda and I elected to stay bouncing at the dock until time to leave for the rapids.
While fixing our morning drinks I suddenly heard Linda scream and turned to see she had spilled the coffee she was fixing. Unfortunately, some of the near boiling water ended up on her foot and resulted in first and second degree burns; her blister is the size of a quarter. Walking will certainly be difficult for her for the next several days. After she had calmed down and had a bag of ice on it she remarked: This makes three bad things (transmission, bow thruster, and burn). Hopefully the bad things are over with.
When the noon departure time finally arrived the wind had calmed down considerably. Since Linda could barely walk, I had to do deck hand duties while she drove Hobbit off the dock. The trip through the Green Point rapids was uneventful and the wind continued to subside. As we approached the turn for the Whirlpool rapids, I started to wonder about bypassing them and continuing down Chancellor Channel into Johnstone Straits; the idea of a three hour day ending at Forward Harbor, our usual stop, bothered me given all the time we have lost. After concluding that we would reach Johnstone Strait at a time when Current Passage, a stretch of sometimes very turbulent waters, would be near slack, we decided to risk the change in route.
Initially Johnstone Strait was moderately friendly. Wind was blowing 10 to 15 kts., but it was on our stern which made it hardly noticeable. We encountered some turbulence in Current Passage, but it was not too uncomfortable and we continued towards our planned destination of Port Neville. As we approached Port Neville the ride still wasn’t too bad in spite of 20 kt. winds gusting 25 so we decided to press on to Port Harvey. About 5 miles before we made the turn into Port Harvey the winds continued picking up and the length of the fetch increased. When we turned the wind was gusting to 30 kts. and the seas were 2 – 3 feet but still on our stern; a little uncomfortable but surprisingly, not too bad. By this time a driving rain had also started and I was really thankful for the new side-to-side windshield wipers I installed just before the trip. Deep inside the protected waters of Port Harvey the wind dropped to 0 and the water was calm. Anchorages this bulletproof are nice to find in a storm. We turned what historically has been a three hour day into a six hour one which makes Port McNeill possible tomorrow if the morning weather is reasonable.
May 16, Port Harvey
About 8:00 we weighed anchor and headed out into Johnstone Strait. The wind was about 15 knots and the swells were only 1 – 2’. Unfortunately, today they were in our face and Hobbit kept diving into the waves which resulted in spray over the bow. Discretion being the better part of valor, we turned around and went back into Port Harvey to anchor for the day.
May 17, Port McNeill
Slept in till 6:00 this morning then headed out into the Johnstone Strait for the 5 hour jaunt to Port McNeill. Beautiful day; the sun was shining, the wind was light, and the seas were rippled. Could hardly ask for anything better. At Port McNeill we did our usual grocery shopping, laundry, and visit to the marine center for various and sundry items.
Wally, Jennifer and Alan enjoyed reading about the first leg of your journey. Sorry to hear about 3 bad things. You're making good time through an unsettled spring. The pictures are lovely, whether sunny or grey. Look forward to hearing more... maybe about mudflats!
ReplyDeleteWally,
ReplyDeleteI found the link. Thanks for the nice blog. We are behind you, entering Desolation and the Broughtons next week. We will not go much further. Keep up to date so we can see how you are doing. We wish we were with you! Beckt and Glenn