Cruising Caro Babbo – Page 9

Hecate Strait: Advance Class in Feeding The Fishes

An unnamed cove west of Welcome Harbour, BC, 13-JUN-2018 – We’ve crossed Hecate Strait twice now. Jennifer says it’s not too bad this second time. In the past she is thought of this as the worst possible thing that could happen. Now, she tells me you just vomit and get it over with, again and again and again. No pictures in this post, the waves are never as impressive in pictures as they are on the water, and the rest of the activities we engaged in are not pleasant to watch.

Hecate Strait, we were told by more than one person, is the fifth most dangerous body of water in the world. It is quite shallow, generally less than 80 feet, winds of 50 knots are not uncommon nor are four meter waves.

You pick your weather carefully.
Continue reading “Hecate Strait: Advance Class in Feeding The Fishes”

Water where it’s not supposed to be

Bag Harbour, Haida Gwaii, 6-JUN-2018 – It’s been raining in Haida Gwaii. As far as I can tell that’s all it does. The wind is variable: it might be good sailing wind, or 40-50 knots, which sends us and every other boat to find a safe harbor and hunker down. While in the safe harbor we use the dinghy when there are breaks in the wind.

When we first bought Caro Babbo I hadn’t considered a water maker. All the books and long-distance sailors I’d read talked about two things: a mister for rinsing after washing in salt water (everyone washed in their cockpits after stripping off their shorts or bathing suits – they don’t sail the waters we sail in*), and collecting rain water.

Continue reading “Water where it’s not supposed to be”

Gwaii Haanas National Park and Cultural Sites

Rose Harbour, Hadia Gwaii, BC, Canada, 3-JUN-2018 – We’ve been in Haida Gwaii for twelve days. Six of those days have been spent waiting for weather to pass. The two days before we crossed Hecate Strait we spent waiting for weather, so by my count, eight of the last fifteen days have been spent waiting for suitable weather to travel.

Some anchorages are more protected than others.

Some days waiting for weather have been on board in a harbor, or inlet, or sometimes little more than a dimple in a coast line out of the wind and waves, waiting. Waiting isn’t too bad. I get to spend it with Jennifer. We read, I cook, I do maintenance, but I haven’t been writing a lot – only one published piece in Three Sheets Northwest, which I haven’t seen yet. Continue reading

Part 3: Threads reweave, one ends

At the fuel transfer station office, Wendy sat at her desk speaking to a deep-voiced man who I could not see. When I asked her where he was, he stepped out of a door. He was tall, craggy faced, muscular and handsome.

When he learned I wanted some kerosene, he told me I must be a sailor, which I confessed I was. He introduced himself as Lyle, and told me about the sailing courses he had taken, and how he would quit his job right now to join us. Wendy told him, oh no he wouldn’t. I countered he could join us for a short while if he would like, and he told me he was very interested. Continue reading “Part 3: Threads reweave, one ends”

Threads reweave, one ends

Port Hardy, BC Canada, 6-MAY-2018 – I spent a good part of Friday at the top of our mast reinstalling our antenna and the cable that leads from it through the mast through the engine compartment through the bilge and into the basement where the cable connects to a signal splitter.

I spent enough time at the top of the mast that another boat owner spoke with Jennifer and offered to pay me to go to the top of his mast. I was flattered, but not tempted.

In Friday Harbor, we had bought and installed an 8 foot whip antenna as a temporary solution for our failed masthead antenna. We started showing up again on AIS. The harbor master in Port Hardy, where I sat atop the mast like a Christmas Angel, spoke to us through our VHF. Continue reading “Threads reweave, one ends”

We left three weeks ago while CaroBabbo.com was down

Billy Goat Bay, Johnstone Strait, British Columbia, April 30, 2018 – thanks to John Vins, CaroBabbo is back on line.

I don’t have a good explanation about why I wasn’t writing posts to put online all at once when CaroBabbo.com was back online. I didn’t, and here is a fast catch-up.

We’ve been on the trip twenty days so far. Alone, just Jennifer and me. It has been a lovely trip with unexpectedly good weather. We been taking our time and are just entering Johnstone Strait today. Continue reading “We left three weeks ago while CaroBabbo.com was down”

I can see your house from here…

28-MAR-2018, SEATAC Airport – …and other views from up high.

The items highest in my mind are three:

I haven’t found the leak in the aft cabin starboard locker. Mogens Winther in the Maxi 95 group has suggested that the water is getting in through the cubby on the starboard side of the cockpit. I can’t see anything there, but I haven’t looked as hard as I might. This could be the entry point.
The leaky locker. Water is visible, lower left. Despite all the caulking water rain water still enters.
The fuel line still seems to be getting air in it despite having replaced everything from the injection pump to the tank including the filters, filter holders, all lines and the valve at the tank. The engine started fine several times in a row over a few days, but on the sail to Port Hadlock, starting was difficult with all the earmarks of air in the lines. The next stop is an electrical pump to push the fuel forward. I’ve resisted, but I’ve run out of ideas.
OpenCPN for Android is no longer speaking to the Vesper AIS. We’ve upgraded everything in one go, so it is difficult to pin point what the problem is. I suspect it is the new OpenCPN for Android release, since OpenCPN on my mac works fine. John Register, the author of the port to Android, has been providing fast, intelligent support.

Continue reading “I can see your house from here…”

Trip over, Caro Babbo is in her slip.

Port Townsend, WA, 7-SEP-2017 – This year’s trip is over. Caro Babbo is in her slip at Lee’s landing. Jennifer, Hilary and I are back in Port Townsend for the next few weeks before we start our fall travels: We’ll spend most of the fall at my residence in Atlanta, with time in Phoenix, New York and, for Jennifer, Berlin. Continue reading “Trip over, Caro Babbo is in her slip.”

Vacation after Adventure; Sailing the Portland Pudgy

1-SEP-2017, Matia Island, WA – Yesterday morning we motored just after sunlight from Port Roberts to Matia Island in the San Juans.

We had spent two nights in Vancouver’s False Creek, where, as we have whenever we are anchored there, we dragged.

The dragging isn’t serious. The bottom is sand. When the tide changes the anchor takes twenty or thirty feet to reset. But, it is tight anchoring and I suspect everyone is as fluid as we are. We powered up the first morning and reset. The second morning, we just raised anchor and left.

We didn’t wander around Vancover, visit museums, or even visit the community centers to shower (we have very good internet onboard, so we don’t need to go ashore for internet).
Continue reading “Vacation after Adventure; Sailing the Portland Pudgy”

Adventure over, Home waters

27-AUG-2017, just outside Pender Harbour – We’ve come to realize that the adventure is over for the year.

It is warm here, in the 20sC, 70sF. We haven’t worn foulies or even long trousers in a couple of days. The locals tell us its only rained for four days since May: It has been a glorious summer. Continue reading “Adventure over, Home waters”