Thanksgiving Cruise

October 2008

Three CFSA boats headed to Thetis Island to join up with the Bluewater Cruising Association for their Fall Rendezvous. Just south of Sidney Kiskadee's carb float stuck and she started overflowing raw gas into the bilge. Here's S/V Alphie towing us the last couple of miles into Sidney.

On Saturday morning we ripped her apart and found the carb full of dirt and rust. Within an hour it was cleaned and we were ready to head to Thetis Island. Unfortunately the wind was on the nose all day so we had to motor. In most areas out here the bottom falls away quickly from the shore. In this picture we're only about eighty feet from shore but in over 250' of water.

The weekend with the Bluewater Cruising Association was the most fun we've had since moving from Halifax. We are definitely joining as we have to hook up with these great people again. Dee cooked a turkey in Kiskadee's oven and we had a huge Thanksgiving potluck feast.

They had a driftwood sailboat race and our entry, Witches' Crew, looked like a real contender. Unfortunately she pitch-poled about two inches from the start and stayed inverted. We still had tons of laughs and learned enough to guarantee us a winning boat next year... Ha!

Kiskadee was well tucked-in, deep inside the marina at Thetis Island.

On Sunday evening they had a TV Theme Song contest. We scored 26.5 out of 50 and won. Our prize was a remote control talking Macaw, which has since learned a few bad words. We left for home at 0630 on Monday morning. The cold wind was on the nose and the threatened rain held off until we were alongside in Sidney. I returned on Tuesday evening and single-handed her home early on Tuesday morning. I'm not fond of 0630 departures, but it was necessary to ride the current.

September Maintenance

September 2008

After returning from the August cruise we completely overhauled the fuel system. I removed and cleaned the tank and installed all new lines, fittings, hoses, valves and filters. Everything from the deck fill to the carb is new and spotless. Here I'm using a shop-vac to blow dry the well scrubbed fuel tank.

During the cruise the fresh water cooling pump's impeller blew apart, shedding three of its six vanes. I ended up hauling the engine's water jacket apart to search for them. In the end I only found two and pray that the third is in the bilge. Here's the engine compartment all back together. The new fuel pump had just arrived from Moyer Marine in Maryland.

After sorting out the engine I finally tackeled a long overdue cockpit table project. In the end I'd spent $30 to build a folding table. It's perfect for a meal for two or snacks for six. It also holds the chart booklet and Current Atlas when I'm sailing. Hopefully it will survive the winter.

Here's Kiskadee, ready once more for her next cruise. I recently bought a 1970 Evinrude 4hp outboard to get around the anchorages. At last we can make waves and noise.

Summer Cruise 2008

August 2008
After a couple months of shaking things down and day sailing, we finally got away for a couple of weeks. We quickly learned about the huge currents on this coast. If you plan correctly you get a couple knot boost. If you plan wrong it's a long day. In this pic you can see the water being churned up during a current change. It sometimes instantly swings the bow up to 30 degrees.

Here's Dee enjoying healthy sailing food: Bottled water, cookies and twizzlers!

We spent almost two weeks cruising up to Nanaimo and back. The fuel system crapped out from dirt stirred up while being hauled across the continent, so we ran on jerry cans in the cockpit for most of the trip. We covered a lot of ground to get a feel for the area that you just can't get from the charts. Our stops at anchor and alongside included: Sidney Spit, Nanaimo, Maple Bay, Ganges, Port Browning and Sidney Spit.

Here we're entering Dodd Narrows, following a long line of south bound boats rushing through during slack water at the turn of the tide.














One has to always keep an eye out for tugs towing barges and for the ever-present BC Ferries.














On the return trip we stopped again at Sidney Spit. This time we hiked out and around the light house. It's a great spot and only $10 per night for a mooring ball.














It was a beautiful evening with the promising red sky. We went to bed early and left at 0700 to catch the ebbing currents and knock a couple hours off the trip back to Esquimalt.

Tall Ships

June 2008

We spent a couple days sailing off Victoria with the Tall Ships. Below shows the Bounty heading out and starting to hoist sail. We watched a multi-ship mock cannon battle, sailing about a quarter mile astern of the fleet.













When the Tall Ships left they raced to Washington state. Here the USCGS Eagle has her 21 sails hoisted and cranked on speed to cross the Strait. We sailed hard, but she quickly outran Kiskadee.

Taste of the Pacific

April 2008













Kiskadee arrived in Esquimalt on March 25th. Yes that's a different truck, as the original truck's engine died in Quebec. Other than road dirt and a sheared gooseneck, she was in excellent condition. A quick rabbit resulted in a replacement gooseneck that is far superior to the original. Thank you Canadian taxpayers.

New Gooseneck

Sheared Gooseneck

Over a couple days I replaced a cracked thru-hull, painted her bottom dark blue and rigged her mast. She was launched on 31 March. Every ocean is a new adventure and this was Kiskadee's first taste of Pacific salt water.