Tag Archives: Sewell’s Marina

latest, Madsu

Sixty Three Days

20090127_madsu_63But 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.

20090127_horseshoebay1-sm

latest, Madsu, Photos

Mannion Bay Lunch Hook

Sometimes things just line up right.

Pushing aside the fear I may be turning into a big softie, I’ll just go ahead and say it. We had an incredible, magic day on the water.

Madsu is ship-shape after a spring of upgrades/fixes and it’s a real pleasure to see and feel the difference every time we go out.

Today, MB came along (my oldest son) and our friend’s daughter who’s interested in sailing.

We took off from Sewell’s Marina in Horseshoe Bay around 11:30, and at 1:30 we were comfortably on the hook in Mannion Bay on Bowen Island.

(click the image for a large panorama shot from the cockpit)

The bay is pretty deep (a few hundred feet) until you get close in then in drops rapidly. We anchored in about 30 feet of water near a lot of other boats on mooring bouys.

The local Canada Geese were out in full force, with a honking and chirping family paying us a visit within minutes of us setting the hook. Looking for handouts, they stayed a while then moved on to check out a more generous group of visitors. I don’t know how long the immature geese stay with their parents, but this bunch looked not quite ready to take off on their own.

MB fired up the Sea-B-Q and we had some delicious hot dogs, sitting in the sun enjoying what has to be British Columbia’s greatest asset; itself.

The sail back was incredible – we close-reached across in about half-an-hour, never dropping below 5.5 knots the entire way over. Again, those new North Sails are keeping us smiling every minute under way.