In A Mood

Posted on May 13, 2009 by bigsnit

20090512_cockpit_view

Sitting in Madsu’s cockpit patching a few small dents in the gelcoat on the cockpit lockers, I can’t help notice Howe Sound’s dramatic sky.

The day was a round-robin of sun, rain, thunder, and little squals.

Perfect really.

The patching I’m doing is really fixing old patches that have fallen apart. They aren’t big, maybe half the size of a dime. I can’t quite figure out how they were caused in the first place, a 30 year old boat has a lot of secrets to tell. Probably a dropped wrench or some other heavy tool. One or two of them look like they might have been from the boom, maybe dropping the main without the topping lift (my boom kicker avoids that altogether).

The wind’s howling again.

I’m wishing I was heading out instead of sitting here with a putty knife and sandpaper. I’ve got a couple of new jibs coming from Dave and Marcia at North Sails for this type of weather, and I console myself with the thought that it would be a rough ride today with my bagged out #2.

Patches done, I head up to the foredeck to soak up some of the late afternoon sun, the smell of salt water and sounds of the harbour surround me.

Perfect really.

Mothers Day Sail

Posted on May 10, 2009 by bigsnit

EB and I spent a fabulous day sailing Howe Sound – my rather lame mother’s day gift to her.

The sound was picture perfect, with some high thin overcast causing a slight ring around the sun.

There was a sweet inflow that had us humming at 5.5 to 6 knots to weather, with Madsu right in the slot the boat was made for, heeled between 15 and 20 degrees, the 150 genoa driving us to weather with a nice steady motion through the chop.

We beat for about an hour and a half or so, tacking to follow the wind shifts, with hardly any traffic. Lots of harbour seals were popping up so the feeding must be good.

On the way back I ran dead downwind for quite a long time, my back to the pushpit and my feet up. I was pretty close to nodding off, as it warmed up considerably as was ran wing on wing. Great was to spend the day.

Sailing with a Porpoise

Posted on May 2, 2009 by bigsnit

The boys and I had an awesome day sailing in Howe Sound.

The overcast sky occasionally spit out of a few drops, but we managed to avoid the real rain until we got back to the dock around 4pm, pure luck that one.

The wind was a steady inflow with some lovely gusts that put Madsu’s rail down a few times – I kept debating whether to reef the main as I’d already gone to a smaller jib, but the puffs didn’t materialize into anything. We kept a steady 5 knots to windward with maybe 3 other sailboats in sight the entire afternoon.

On the way back, while beam reaching, two Dall’s porpoises surfaced twice off the port beam while we were on starboard tack. They were tracking straight towards the beam, and I’m pretty sure they went straight under the boat. They’re always a thrill to see and I headed up hoping they’d come and ride the bow wave, but they went on their way and we didn’t see them again.

Just as we tied Madsu up in her slip at Sewell’s, the rain started, and we managed to pack up and head home before getting too wet (for once).

The Ducks Were Having None of It

Posted on April 20, 2009 by bigsnit

I was stealthy, but to no avail.

I thought I’d sneak up and get some photos, and even though I was all silent-running-like, the ducks were on to me.

The day threatened to turn from grey to drizzle, but never did. Madsu hummed along on a steady outflow in Howe Sound.

It’s always a delight to balance the boat – then set the tiller extender into the lock box and head up to the foredeck while Madsu sails herself

Sitting on the foredeck, I’m quickly reminded that it’s April. The wind blowing down from the local mountains, through Howe Sound, is chilly. It’s not surprising considering how much snow is still up there. Even in the height of summer, the catabatic winds in Howe Sound can be cold. I’m in shorts but I wish I’d brought my toque.

The new rope clutches and deck organizers I installed have worked out even better than I’d hope for. The double Spinlock clutches fit the cabin top just right. (Oddly, even though they are doubles, the drill template that came with them was for a single – and useless)

I like their size and mechanism, and Steveston Marine gave me a better than advertised price on them after I did some comparison shopping online.

The line organizers were a bit of a struggle. Almost everything I looked at was much too big to fit just forward of the pop-top. I finally settled on some simple aluminum doubles from Barton. I made a bit of a mess with the sealant when I installed them, but I should be able to clean it up ok.

It may not be warm, but it’s not raining. BC’s got some mighty impressive shades of grey when the sun isn’t shining.

Madsu’s sailing herself nicely on a close reach.

It’s great to be out sailing again.

Even if I didn’t have much luck with the ducks.

Launch Into Spring

Posted on April 12, 2009 by bigsnit

It’s a sure sign of spring. Madsu made the move from her off-season storage next to the house, to her salt-water moorage at Sewell’s in Horseshoe Bay.

She’s got an “I can see myself in this shine” buff on her fiberglass – it wasn’t nearly as much work this year as last – proof that buffing up the gelcoat is worth it if you do it every year. Catalina really put these boats together well – that’s 30 year old fiberglass shining like it just came out of the mold.

Before hauling the boat down to the marina, I gave the non-skid on the deck a work-over with our powerwasher, packed in all the interior cushions, loaded sails, safety gear, charts, and the most essential item – a coffee pot.

A rental F-150 truck, a few miles down the road later, MB and I step the mast in the Thunderbird Marina parking loft, and the next thing you know, Madsu’s on the lift. The guys in the yard at Thunderbird are totally awesome – I highly recommend them. Madsu looks rather elegant hanging out on the Travelift!

I gave Madsu’s steel swing keel a fresh coat of rust paint – I’m not using anti-fouling paint at all since the boat comes out yearly. You can see the large sacrificial anode bolted 2/3rds of the way forward on the keel.

With Madsu on the lift, you also get a really good idea of how little surface area is actually in the water – with her keel up like this, Madsu only draws about 2 feet.

We had some other things to do, so MB and I made haste for our moorage at Horseshoe Bay. I couldn’t help but notice the snowline on the North Shore mountains, and smiled knowing that while we were sailing, loads of folks were boarding and skiing just a few miles away.

An hour later and we were back at our dock – set for another season of sailing out of Sewell’s at Horseshoe Bay.

Buffing with Aretha

Posted on April 5, 2009 by bigsnit

Being able to trailer our sailboat Madsu is a tremendous advantage.

For one, she spends the stormy winter months parked next to our house, under a full Sumbrella cover.

But the real bonus comes in the spring, when it’s time to get the boat ready for another sailing season.

Now that my seasonal moorage at Horseshoe Bay is available again, spring time prep is just steps out the door.

Today Madsu got buff. With Aretha Franklin on the MP3 player, the hatches open and the sun shining, I spent the day buffing and polishing with a variety of 3M products.

Its such a delight to see the glimmer come back to the hull and cockpit and I find it amazing how 30 year old fiberglass can look brand new with a little elbow grease and rubbing compound.

In the next couple of days I’ll get the mast out of its winter home (hung under the roof overhand in our backyard), put the spreaders back in place, and load Madsu up for the short trip down to the water and a lift back into the salt chuck.

I did loads of work on the boat last spring, so I get a bit of a ‘buy’ this year – not much to do other than clean things up.

I spend a bit of time re-affixing the electrical conduit in the huge port locker, replaced the corroded connectors on the solar panel and attached a new sacrificial anode to the keel. Since all the cabin cushions spend the winter inside, they’re fresh as a daisy. I’ll give the inside of the cabin good cleaning and then we should be good to go. And not one bit of it feels like work.

Especially with Aretha helping out.

Sixty Three Days

Posted on January 27, 2009 by bigsnit

But who’s counting.

My little sailboat Madsu will be back in the water in 63 days.

I was in Horseshoe Bay on other business today and took a walk down the dock. It’s a very different feel this time of year, the docks deserted and today, wet from a light snow fall.

Yet as soon as I walked down the ramp, I immediately felt that thing I feel every time I go down to the boat. Its impossible to describe – a connection of some kind that can’t really be articulated.

In sixty three days I won’t need to try to articulate it – I can simply go - and be.

Meanwhile Down Under

Posted on December 14, 2008 by bigsnit

It’s white with snow all over the lower mainland, and that makes for a lovely break from the grey.

After a morning of snowboarding I started going through some photos I took in Sydney a few years ago.

Maybe because my sailboat Madsu is tucked away out of the water and undercover for the winter, two photos jumped out at me.

A couple of examples of the ultimate in waterfront living…

Steps to the ocean
Pool
Dry dock

Click the pics for larger versions, if you can stand it…

It’s one thing to haul up that nice little runabout.

But get a load of this ketch.

Gotta love those Sydneysiders.

Both of these were taken in November 2002.

How Long Is Summer ?

Posted on November 18, 2008 by bigsnit

The answer is simple.

Cruising with Madsu on a typical BC summer day.

It’s possible it gets better than this, but I doubt it

Get the Flash Player to see this content.

A little reminder of what to expect (again) in just a few months. And really just an excuse for me to futz with Final Cut Studio 2 which arrived this week.

Sailing to Reduce Your Carbon Footprint

Posted on November 8, 2008 by bigsnit

I’ve been pretty smug about my low carbon recreational footprint. My little sailboat Madsu does have an auxiliary outboard motor, but it’s only on for a short period of time while I motor in and out of the docks at Horseshoe Bay.

The rest of the time, Madsu is under sail.

I do have the need for electricity aboard – power for my running lights, GPS, cabin lights, marine radio and of course my stereo. For that I have small solar charger that keeps my two 12 volt batteries perfectly topped up – in the last 2 years I’ve not once had to plug in to the grid to recharge.

So, when I saw a story in Treehugger about a BC community using sailboats to lower their food carbon footprint, I was hooked on the idea.

It’s reallly the story about a community getting together to do something that’s healthy, rewarding, and dare I say, fun.

Almost 200 people agreed to pay 100.00 dollar each for grain grown by farmers using horses instead of tractors. And to reduce the carbon footprint even more – someone came up with the idea of delivering the crop by sailboat…

After the heritage varieties of wheat were grown, harvested and packaged, the grain shipment was loaded at Kuskanook Harbour on the eastern shore of Kootenay Lake. The sailors took one and half days to sail the length of the lake and into its western arm to a private dock in Nelson. CSA members were out in force to help unload the sailboats and collect their zero carbon grain, including red fife wheat, khorasan wheat, hard spring wheat, spelt and oats. (full story here)

Since I’m out sailing in Howe Sound and the Straight of Georgia a few times a week, I’d gladly carry some cargo aboard.

Who knows, maybe my pal James Glave would like some stuff brought over from the mainland to his Eco-Shed on Bowen Island.

So, if if you’ve got a few bags of grain, baked goods or any other stuff you’d like delivered somewhere on the south Coast – let me know.

Madsu’s out of the water now until spring, but I’d by happy to oblige and help lower your food chain impact.

< cross posted to VanGoGreen >

The Otters Revenge

Posted on October 26, 2008 by bigsnit

A couple of weeks ago I made what I thought was an innocuous remark about river otters at the marina and the various ways boat owners have chosen to keep them off their vessels.

River Otters use their scat and urine to mark their territory, and once they find a spot they ‘like’, they return over and over. If your the lucky owner of a boat that’s become their favourite spot – good luck.

Here’s the thing.

They’re cute as hell, but their leave-behind, while I’m sure aromatic to another Otter, is down right smelly. Our friend Mandy on Saltspring says if they get in your boat, about the only way to get rid of the smell is to sell it.

With a sailboat, the issue is less problematic than an open powerboat.

Unless you leave a hatch open.

Which I never do.

Except for earlier this week.

When I did.

Leave the hatch open.

Stupidly.

Ironically, the day I left the hatch open was the day I went down to the boat to wash the otter goo from the foredeck.

Oops.

Normally, leaving the hatch open would mean a nice fresh air smell down below.

Except.

Our local otters discovered my mistake and used otter SMS to let their peeps know it was time to party.

Compared to the cold fiberglass non-slip fore deck, things are downright luxurious below decks. At least from an otter’s perspective (or a cold sailor’s).

Those crazy kids left quite a mess, the smell was quite unbelievable. I spent a couple of hours pulling everything out of the boat, washing it down, and scrubbing down the boat. EB finds it amusing that I can spend hours scrubbing the boat but rarely do the same with our kitchen or bathroom floor but that’s for another post.

Even then it smelled mighty ripe.

A nice day out on the water to air things out seemed appropriate.

What little breeze there was didn’t do a lot to dissipate the smell, so I’ve hauled everything ‘marked’ by my otter pals home for a heavy duty scrubbing, using organic orange peel concentrate and whatever else I can get my hands on.

So far the results are 50-50.

My foul-weather gear is smelling pretty good actually – the 4 settee cushions a lot less so.

Thankfully the boat’s only in the water for another week then will be parked beside the house where I can apply any number of smell-reducing-organic-concoctions in hopes of bringing Madsu back to her odiferous self.

Never before have I longed for that musty smell of a closed up sailboat.

Crisis? What Crisis?

Posted on October 10, 2008 by bigsnit

The title of a 1975 album by Supertramp has absolutely nothing to do with the current financial meltdown. But the phrase (also from the movie Day of the Jackal) is my favourite response when things get testy.

With every news report laden with the latest stories on the financial crisis, and an election campaign both here and in the US, its time to deal with this stuff once and for all.

How ?

Simple.

Fugetaboutit.

Down on the docks at Horseshoe Bay there was no inkling of anything other than the typical waterfront activity.

Ferries from Bowen Island, Departure Bay on Vancouver Island, and Langdale came and went like clockwork. And hundreds of cars – long-weekend mainlanders heading to a B&B or Gramma’s house – lined up (as usual) waiting for their boat to arrive.

Over on the east docks, where Madsu is moored, river otters continue to make a mess on boats tied there. Given the choice between munching their seafood on the rocks or on a nice Sumbrella fabric cover, they go for the boat covers ever time.

They also seem to like those lovely upholstered seats in power boats, and they leave quite a mess.

Here’s what they left behind on the boat in the slip next to me.

This is the same guy who’s parents leave CBC Radio One on in their boat, claiming it keeps the otters away ( and it seems to work).

My boat neighbour though claims he’s found the perfect anti-otter-repellant: wolf pee. I’m not entirely sure how he’s going to acquire it, or how he’s going to apply it, and if his boat will smell better or WORSE because of it, but what the heck – sounds like a plan

Over at the government dock, a big vintage power vessel was tied up, getting all gussied up for what looked like a wedding party.

I’ve not seen the Tarapunga before, and her aft deck was decorated with ribbons and flowers – but the wedding is a fake: they were shooting on-the-water scenes for the TV series Harper’s Island.

While I was out sailing, Tarapunga went steaming by – not far behind the picture chopper flew just a hundred feet or so off the deck – swooping in on Tarapunga for what I’m sure will be a very sweet shot since as she steamed out into the Straight with the sun glistening off the water.

Beautiful BC couldn’t be much more adorable than it was today.

I tried to get Madsu in the shot but when it comes to a race between my Catalina 22 and a helicopter, well…

The wind piped up so I put a 2nd reef in the main and pulled out my bagged out old jib.

Six hours later I was back at the dock, giving Madsu a proper scrub down after soaking the foredeck in salt-spray.

One fine Thanksgiving Weekend sail – and the only bail-out I considered the entire day was in relation to the dinghy.

Markets ? What markets?

Bigsnit Blog

by Robert Ouimet

Tag Archives: sailing