06/13 - 06/14 - Pender Harbour 2014

hardee · Posted: Sat Jun 14, 2014 5:15 pm Post subject:

Glad everyone made it safely. The Wx report here off NOAA didn't sound so reassuring, especially for naniamo and St of Georgia. This morning the straits are some better, and at the Low tide it looks like you could walk half way across Sequim Bay.

If I was up there, I sure would be looking up the hill to Skookumchuck and watching those rapids. Today they should be SPECTACULAR given the tidal exchange. Watch from the over look, seeing this from the water for a first time could cause serious medical conditions ........ heart attack.

Hi to all, and enjoy. Looking forward to ........ next year.

Harvey
SleepyC Moon

ghone · Posted: Sat Jun 14, 2014 11:57 pm Post subject:

Fantastic gathering. Thanks so much Ian and Jackie for hosting us in beautiful Pender Harbour, and everyone for coming. We had a local resident Len tell us stories of his family's generations of life here in Pender Harbour, followed by a great potluck. Great friends old and new, with 3 boats christened and new owners Rhonda and Blake from Nanaimo who took possesion of of thier 22 C Fury last wednesday! We had a visit from local residents Doug and Shannon wanting a C Dory and several owners gave tours. Thanks all. Great C Brat cameraderie. Many of us are continuing to Princess Louisa Inlet after the weekend. A few of us will overnight first at Egmont and hike in to view the Sechelt Rapids ( Skookum chuck). We continue on after that towards Desolation Sound. George and Carolyn

Blindbaybob · Posted: Sun Jun 15, 2014 2:23 pm Post subject:

Just racing the ferry past Earls Cove. Slight ripple clear vision cloudy. On our way to Princess Louisa will see some of you there or en route.
Thanks so much to Ian and Jackie for organizing such a super gathering !
And thanks for dragging me (Lori) up Pender Hill.

TyBoo · Posted: Sun Jun 15, 2014 2:27 pm Post subject:

Here's an album for when you get time to share the pictures.

Thanks. Enjoy the rest of the cruise, wherever it takes you!

CC Rider · Posted: Mon Jun 16, 2014 11:20 pm Post subject: Thanks to all!

Thanks, everyone for a warm welcome, and a great, fun gathering... I have posted some pics in the gallery.
Cathy and I had great time, and met some wonderful C-Brats. To everyone that went on to PLI, stay safe and enjoy!
Chris & Cathy

Paddle-2tc · Posted: Tue Jun 17, 2014 1:43 am Post subject:

Hi all. It sounds like you had a great time in Pender Harbour. I wish we could have been there! We do find it is hard to be in two places at once. See some of you in the summer we hope!

Bill and Dorothy
Blue Skies
Nanaimo / Saskatoon

bridma · Posted: Wed Jun 18, 2014 5:55 pm Post subject:

Great gathering. A pretty little marina, pub and fuel dock close by, friendly staff. Kudos to Ian and Jackie for organizing this one. It all ran perfectly and although Ian and Jackie brushed aside thanks, saying "it was nothing", we all know the work that goes into these gatherings. So from Nomad, thanks guys, awesome job.
After the gathering 10 boats went to Princess Louisa Inlet. We had a great time there as well. It was like a sub-gathering I heard someone say.
When we left Comox last Thursday evening at 1830 hrs, sea conditions were good, and we arrived at Pender 2100 hrs. Nice to have made it just before dark. Stayed in Egmont last night, with Larry and Liz "Anytime Baby", Roger and Cheryl "In Cahoots", Blake and Rhonda "C-Fury". Weather forecast was not good for crossing the Georgia Strait. We departed at 0630, I think the other boats were heading back to Pender and wait for a window to open for the crossing. We decided to poke our nose out into Malaspina and take a look. Weather was snotty and the waves were high, but not stacked up, more like rollers. So we rolled and bounced and surfed straight across to Texada Island. Got into the lee of the Island and then turned north. Entering Georgia Strait, that was crappy as well. We decided to push on and just suck it up. Made good time, Egmont to Comox, three and a half hours.

Where's the next Canadian gathering in 2015, any takers? Gulf Islands would be nice.

Martin.

Igrant · Posted: Wed Jun 18, 2014 6:36 pm Post subject:

Martin, glad to hear you made it back safely. It looks pretty rough out there right now with a gale warning in place. No fun heading into it for those boats headed to Nanaimo. Also I heard that WG has been closed because they have been exercising with the aircraft carrier Nimitz so have to go the longer way around.

We had a great time hosting the gathering and Princess Louisa was a bonus getting to hang out with everyone for another two days.

ghone · Posted: Wed Jun 18, 2014 6:51 pm Post subject:

Great gathering in PL guys! We left on this mornings high slack with Dan and Tanya. Boisterous run in places. SE gale is on the last few miles into Pender were bumpy. On the hook in Garden Bay now. Pretty and calm. Thanks everyone. Safe travels. George and Carolyn

Jazzmanic · Posted: Wed Jun 18, 2014 10:07 pm Post subject:

What a great gathering and post-gathering at PLI! Caryn and I had a wonderful time reconnecting with old friends and meeting new ones. Thanks so much Ian and Jackie for putting on such a well-organized and well-attended event.'

We ended up trailering to Bellingham on Thursday and going through the Gulf Islands, ending up at Nanaimo just in time to fill the tanks. Continued on to Newcastle Island where we found new friends Blake and Rhonda at the docks. After reading that the other C-Brats decided to cross that afternoon because of favorable wind conditions, we decided to wait until Friday. The winds were indeed up and I checked the hourly buoy reports to see if the winds would die down in our favor. Finally it was go time around 1:00 or so. By this time, Dave on his boat Raincoast arrived so the mini-flotilla of three boats headed for Pender Harbour. The seas started fairly flat but a little chop developed midway across. No worries though as the we quartered over the beam seas with no banging whatsoever. Arrived in Pender just in time for the dinner at the pub. Thanks to Barry of C-Cakes for staying in contact with me to make sure we were ok. Aren't C-Brats great?

Caryn and I started our Saturday morning by undertaking a fairly steep hike up Pender Hill. The views were spectacular. The rest of the day was very relaxing with 3 boat christenings, a talk by a Pender Harbour local named Len and then the potluck. The food and company was great as usual. On Sunday we headed to Princess Louisa Inlet a little behind the C-Brat flotilla but arrived in time to cross the Malibu Rapids with no difficulty. Thanks Martin and Andrea of Nomad for waiting for these PLI newbies to escort through. We spent two days in the spectacular environs of PLI and left with the rest of the C-Brats (except for two boats) on Tuesday morning. After discussing our options with Pat and Patty about the best way to get down to Bellingham, we decided to stay in the Strait of Georgia rather than cross over to the inside (Gulf Islands) and then cross back over. It didn't make sense to me to boat all the way over to Roche Harbor or Friday Harbor for customs check-in and then turn around and backtrack to Bellingham so we decided to check-in at Point Roberts which meant traveling the length of the Georgia Strait ALL DAY! The water was very lumpy in spots, choppy in most but doable and never dangerous. C-Dancer was up to the challenge and was ridden hard yesterday. It made for a long day as we were on the water from 8:30 am to 8:00 pm.

The long day became eventful at the very end of the run. As we were entering the Bellingham marina, the engine started to sputter and died. This was in the entrance surrounded by ROCKS! I thought maybe the tank was empty so I switched to the other tank. No such luck, the motor wouldn't start. By this time we were drifting dangerously towards the rocks. I quickly lowered the kicker into the water with Caryn ready to fend off with the boat hook. Lucky I always start the kicker just for emergencies like this as it started almost immediately and I shoved it into reverse with no time to spare. Caryn said we were within an inch of hitting the rocks before the boat reversed away. We ended up staying overnight at Bellingham at the P dock where many CBGT's took place. We've never had a mechanical problem with the Suzuki before, it had always performed flawlessly. I figured it was a fuel delivery problem but couldn't be a fuel quality problem since the kicker performed flawlessly. I tried starting the motor again that night but it would start but would quickly die out. After sitting overnight, I decided to try starting the motor once again. I emptied the fuel filter and spent extra time squeezing the bulb, thinking there could be some type of vapor lock. This time it started right away and ran with no problems. I called the owner at Master Marine and explained the situation and he surmised that it could have been water in the fuel that eventually passed through. Me thinks big Suzy was just pooped after running hard all day. The motor ran fine this morning at low speeds. I guess I'll have to test it at higher speeds next time out to see if the problem continues.

I took three things away from this trip. One, thank goodness once again for the kicker as we were dangerously close to CRUNCH time at the bow. I told Caryn we were mighty lucky and she responded by saying it was my skill and experience for keeping the kicker tuned and ready. I'll take that. Two, break up the trip back home. Twelve hour days on the water are too long and hard on the engine. Lastly, the Strait of Georgia was definitely no picnic and not a pond. Running the length of the strait was very long and unforgiving most of the time and next time we will be crossing over to the Gulf Islands and keeping boat and trailer in Anacortes. It might be a little more expensive but not so out of the way, IMHO.

Thanks for letting me digress and thanks again Ian, Jackie and all the C-Brats for a spectacular gathering!

Peter & Caryn
C-Dancer

Pat Anderson · Posted: Thu Jun 19, 2014 12:27 am Post subject:

Thanks to Ian and Jackie for a GREAT CBGT at Pender Harbour and to everyone who came up for a wonderful mini-CBGT at Princess Louisa Inlet!

After we left PLI, we went down to Smuggler Cove, where we had stayed Thursday night on the way up. It was delightful as always. We shared the inner cove with a Ranger 25.

We had a lumpy ride home on the mainland side today, uncomfortable but never unsafe. We had a couple of engine issues too! An overheating alarm went off, nothing on the water intakes, ran on the kicker for a while, then re-started the main without a problem - until we were 15 miles for Point Roberts...then the fuel water separator alarm went off. Ran in with the alarm beeping. Need to try to fix that tomorrow. Cleared customs at Point Roberts, retrieved at Blaine and are home now.

Peter - you are right about breaking up the trip, I really thought you were nuts for thinking you could run from PLI to Bellingham in a day! Don't give up on the Mainland route, either! Crossing the Strait of Georgia twice for a more protected run south may not be the best choice much of the time! It may be a 50-50 proposition, when the Strait is behaving the Mainland route is much shorter and faster. Today the Strait was not behaving particularly well, but we made it into Point Roberts, issues and all, by 4 p.m.

For ourselves, we proved that the solar panels can make us mostly energy self-sufficient, even with the freezer - we did not have shore power at Pender Harbour, and only ran the engine once to bring the batteries back up at PLI due to lack of bright sunlight. The Victron battery monitor gives me confidence that I know what is going on with the batteries, and we were never close to being in trouble, I just wanted to have them at 100% SOC at bedtime, which they mostly were!

The ARB is a great addition, imagine having a freezer that can make ICE and keep your frozen food FROZEN! Everything else was in the cooler, and that was OK, but we are looking to upgrade the cooler for Lake Powell.

All in all, hugely enjoyed this one, issues today and all!

RogerJuntunen · Posted: Fri Jun 20, 2014 10:08 pm Post subject:

Thanks to Ian and Jackie for a great and adventuresome gathering. Four of us left Egmont following PLI and attempted a crossing. Instead returned to Fisherman's until Friday morning because of Gale winds on Thursday. Anytime Baby, C Fury, C Renity and us, In Cahoots relaxed and visited. Crossed early this morning, Friday. It was the "pond" Martin described.

We come home with affirmation of our love of Canadians, C-Brats or locals.

Roger and Cheryl

Blindbaybob · Posted: Sun Jun 22, 2014 12:32 pm Post subject:

We too hung around till the gale died down. Spend a night at Musket Island Park, then over to Egmont (a day late to join the Brats, but had a great breakfast at the bakery on the trail), then to head of Hotham Sound where we gorged on oysters and mussels (no red tide there), back to Musket, and on to Mink Island in Desolation. A pleasant stop in Powell River where we unexpectedly found a lovely clean free pump-out.
Many thanks to Reverend Barry for enlisting Neptune to keep us safe!
Safe travels all - so nice to spend time with you.
Ps- how can I post pictures from my iPhone?

Blindbaybob · Posted: Sun Jun 22, 2014 12:35 pm Post subject:

We too hung around till the gale died down. Spend a night at Musket Island Park, then over to Egmont (a day late to join the Brats, but had a great breakfast at the bakery on the trail), then to head of Hotham Sound where we gorged on oysters and mussels (no red tide there), back to Musket, and on to Mink Island in Desolation. A pleasant stop in Powell River where we unexpectedly found a lovely clean free pump-out.
Many thanks to Reverend Barry for enlisting Neptune to keep us safe!
Safe travels all - so nice to spend time with you.
Ps- how can I post pictures from my iPhone?

colobear · Posted: Sun Jun 22, 2014 1:24 pm Post subject:

Ahem Bob...that's 2nd deputy asst rev. to you. Jim of Jim and Laurie is rev. and Dave of C-Shift is asst. rev. Be nice to see them doing some of these.