Vanisle 2017 adventure

June 11, 2017
Were getting ready for another adventure.  This time were headed around Vancouver Island with our Alaska cruising buddy's from last year.  We leave on Friday for an RHYC Fathers Day Cruise to Port Ludlow.  From there we head north to Victoria and then clockwise around the island in 4 to 6 weeks.  Weather permitting.  I suspect that we will not have a lot of connectivity so we will post as we are able.
The boat was hauled out last week for new shaft packing and to replace a thru hull that was not working well.  A bit of excitement as the brakes on the travel lift barely held the boat.  Question is how much do we weigh?  not sure.  Literature says we weigh 36,000 lbs, the travel lift is rated for 60,000 but is 30 years old and they don't lift to maximum wt.  They always complain however that we are a heavy lift for them.
Checked the Coast Guard Certificate of Documentation and it says it is 35 GRT and 28 NRT so I have no idea how much it actually is.
Dad is not doing well and is in hospice.  I suspect I will have to fly home at some point but if we don't go then nothing will happen.  Decisions, I am torn a bit but have decided it is not impossible to get home so were going.

June 29, Morse Island to Sitka

Were off to Sitka today, an early morning start at 0700 after pulling the crab pots.  We have 50 miles to run but have a good outflowing current to push us through Peril strait.  Averaged 10 plus through the straits.  Jason and Johan are coming today.  We will pick them up and hang out somewhere close by.  Visit Sitka tomorrow waiting for Marie to show up and do dinner in town.  Leave on the first for somewhere north to fish and surf. 

June 28 Appleton to Morse Island

Moved again a bit further north to Morse Island anchorage.  There is a forest service cabin there that Jim has reserved for the 29^th and 30^th.  He is planning on a beach party the night of the 29^th.  We anchored next to the mooring buoy and I tied to it adding to our anchor security.  Were leaving early tomorrow for Sitka so did not want to be in the middle and ended up next to Nelsea on the outside.  We dropped shrimp and crab pots and did well.  I had over a hundred shrimp in the first pull after just a few hours soaking.  Mostly smaller ones but some good size prawns as well.  We caught 4 crab, one was a monster 8 incher.  One of the biggest I have ever caught.  Fished for a while with negative results.  Weather again was sunny and calm.

June 27, Ell cove to Appleton Cove

Leisurely run up to Appleton Cove with stops along the way to fish for halibut.  Buck caught a nice 15 lb. halibut in Echo Cove; the only fish caught this day.

Dozens of crab pots in Appleton did OK, several caught by various people, we got one nice sized one.  Tried fishing outside the cove with negative results

Weather was breezy but sunny and warm

June 26, Hot springs to Ell Cove

Moved today a couple miles north, sunny, calm and warmer.  Beautiful anchorage well protected from all directions.  A great waterfall nearby for photo ops with the boats.  Visited the Hidden falls fisher hatchery and got a tour.  They have up to 60 resident Grizzly bears that make the lagoon their home.  We saw 5 or 6 of them up close and personal.  They could care less about people. 

Got 4 shrimp, no fish.  Chum are running and several purse seiners were working the bay but they don’t like bait so we had no luck catching anything but black cod.

June 25 Baranoff Hot Springs

Rain today, heavy mist and then rain.

We tried fishing but nothing was biting and it was pretty miserable, cold wet and choppy.  Went out twice, trolled for salmon, nothing, bottom fished for halibut, nothing.  Plane unable to get in to pick up Linda and Nat due to poor weather conditions

June 24 Canary Cove to Hot Springs Cove

Woke up to cloudy sky’s and a bit of a breeze.   The plan was to head for Red Bluff Bay with a stop along the way to fish for halibut in one of Jim’s hot spots.  Glen, Pete and Willard just dropped lines off the big boats while Buck and I jumped in No Debt and Chris continued on at idle speed on Miner’s Debt.  It took only about 20 minutes and I had a nice halibut on board.  It was not big but it pulled hard and ran out the line 4 times.  Buck missed it the first time with the Harpoon when I got it to the surface but got it the second time.

Jim and Gary had continued on and were entering the Chatham Strait from Frederick Sound and began talking about 30 mph winds and 5-foot waves over the radio.  Gary was taking a pounding in his little 39 foot Bayliner  I decided it was time to catch up to Chris and the big boat if things were getting that bad.  We caught her while the conditions were still moderate, just 2 footers.  After getting No Debt back in tow we continued on towards Red Bluff.  Jim was about 5 or 6 miles ahead of us and kept a running commentary on the sea state and winds.  He was reporting 30 plus MPH winds and 5-foot seas.  Gary was echoing those reports claiming 6 footers at times.  We just were not seeing those conditions where we were but the reports were enough that we decided to abort the trip to Red Bluff and turn north to Baranoff Hot Springs.  Once we turned north thee seas were behind us and the ride became much easier.  We never did see 5or 6-foot seas or 30 mph winds. 

We found the dock full at the hot springs with commercial fishing boats and the normal summer time locals.   We found our regular stern tie spot across from the docks.  As soon as we could we jumped in No Debt for the trip to the hot springs.  As we were walking up the dock I spotted two young men getting out of Kayaks and went over to talk to them.  Conner and Kelly were kayaking from Ketchikan to Juneau in collapsible Kayaks.  They had just come from Red Bluff Bay in those conditions and said it was the most exciting day so far of their trip except for the first day, which was the day of the 50 mph winds in Ketchikan on June 3^rd.

We continued up to the hot springs with me on bear watch with the shotgun.  It has been reported that grizzly’s roam the area and have frequented the hot springs and the boardwalk trail.  We spent a pleasant hour soaking in the springs with various other groups before heading back to the dock.  We stopped to talk to Kelly and Conner again and I invited them out to the boat for dinner.  They were eager to accept having spent the last three weeks eating their limited rations of rice noodles and energy food.  We had a very pleasant evening talking with them about their trip and the area they were headed into.  We gave them some suggestions on where to go and what to see as they travel north past Sitka.  They have a web site that they are trying to keep updated and will write their story when they get home.  It is freeburnbound.cph@lan.com.

June 23, 2016

Another beautiful day, not a cloud in the sky.  We pulled anchor and headed for Cannery cove where Jim said there were halibut, shrimp and crab.  Glen stopped off for a bit to fish and caught a nice halibut which we all shared for dinner.   Dropped pots all over the cove and ended up with about 8 keepers between everyone.  I had 22 in one pull, all females no males and no keepers.  Fishing was a bust as well.  I did get three shrimp.

June 22, Lords Pocket

We all cruised over to Kake to shop, hopefully, and tour the town.   We were first over and talking to a local he told us to tie up behind the ferry landing float, he did it all the time and no ferry was due that day.  The store, the SOS for same old stuff, was just 500 yards down the road vs. the 2 miles from the public dock where we were.

We tied off to the float and climbed the 10-foot vertical ladder to gain access to the ramp.  Sure enough the best store yet was just down the road and we were able to find all the supplies we needed there.

After shopping and touring the town we tried our hand at fishing again.  Jim hired a guide in Kake while the rest of us tried our hand at finding the best halibut hole.  As it turned out I ended up in the same place as Jim and his guide but none of us found a fish that was biting.  Skunked one and all.

Buck and Lisa arrived by float plane at 530 pm.  They landed right next to the boat and once again their pilot proved Alaskan bush pilots are crazy good.  He dropped them off then took off and came back to do a low fly by buzzing the boats at about 20 feet.   

June 21 Monte Carlo Island. 

From Port Protection we cruised to the south end of Rocky Pass and anchored in the lee of Monte carlo Island.  It is a low, tree covered island that is not mentioned as an anchorage in any of the books.  The cove is surrounded by rocky reefs but is 30 feet deep right up to the Beach.  It is a great spot to stop prior to entering the pass.

We wanted to hit the Devils elbow at Slack but headed out a bit early.  The current gave us a 2 knot push through the southern part and we reached Devils elbow an hour before slack.  Plenty of water however, least depth of 12 feet for us as we led the fleet through.  Glen had lost his GPS leaving Hole in the wall so he tailed behind us.  I loaned him a spare computer and GPS so he at least had some older charts to follow.  There are no less than 45 way points and turns in the pass.  We anchored in Lord’s Pocket at the north end of the pass  about 6 miles west of Kake.

June 20, Hole in the wall to Port Protection and beyond.

After stopping at Port Protection for a short visit we continued on to a small Island at the south end of Rocky Pass.  Monte Carlo Island is not in any of the guide books but we found it to be a good anchorage fairly secure from a south wind.  Any other direction might be questionable.  Surrounded by reefs, enter from the north into a 25-foot deep, flat mud bottom, cove on the North side of the island.  It started raining once we got set up.  Stern tied with about 500 feet of line to keep us from swinging.

Port Protection is a quirky place as anyone who has watched the TV show can attest.

It is very remote and access only by boat or plane.  We bought out their fresh vegetables that had come in by barge that day.    Jim and Cheryl Matheson rejoined the group after a quick trip home.  They left us at the south end of Prince of Whales Island, going back to Ketchikan to get their fishing boat motor repaired.  It had a steering problem and we could not fix it in the field.  While they were gone the local mechanic in town fixed it for them.  So were back to 7 boats and reshuffled the order of rafting again.  Were no longer on the end so NO Debt becomes more of a hassle but we worked it out. 

Tomorrow we head through Rocky pass, a 20-mile, shallow winding pass with rocks and kelp beds aplenty.  We did it last year without a problem, I led all the way so should not be a problem but Jim and others are a bit worried and want to go at slack water since currents can run up to 6 knots thru there.  Tomorrow peak currents are only at about 3 knots.  

June 19 El Capitan to Hole in the Wall

Next morning was breakfast of Waffles and fruit and then a hike up to the caves for a tour.  The two seasonal rangers met us and gave 6 of us the grand tour again.  These are huge caves, not yet fully mapped and the tour only shows you the first 500 feet of cave.  There are several miles of caves total.

From the caves we traveled through El Capitan Pass which is a narrow ten mile long dredged channel.  We pulled into Hole in the Wall just south of Port Protection for the night.  It blew hard all afternoon so it was a bit or a rock and roll ride into the entrance.  We had to put out three anchors and two stern lines cause even inside the wind had us pushed sideways onto the drying flats.  Steve was a bit concerned when he had 3 feet of water under his keel.  

June 18  Edna Cove to El Capitan

Went out again with Steve, Willard and Diane in the morning.  Immediately had a big one on but he took everything from the weight down.  Ended up catching 5 black Cod, a big Ling Cod and Willard had something really big on.  He fought it for a good 30 minutes but never got it close enough to see what it was.  It finally pulled so hard it untied his knot and was gone. 

We moved from Edna to the docks at El Capitan Caves.   It was fathers day so we set up dinner on the dock and had a great fish and chips dinner with the black cod.  It is great eating. 

June 16 & 17 Esquibel anchorage to Edna Bay

Went fishing in Roller bay with Steve and Gary in Nellie.  Caught 5 halibut but no salmon in Roller Bay.  Moved to the north end of Noyes island and fished in the lee of the point.  Within 5 minutes Steve and I caught 2 King’s, one 14 lb. and an 11 lb.  Good fun.  Perfect weather, a bit windy and bumpy out in Roller Bay which is the Gulf of Alaska.  We moved the morning of the 17^th to Edna Bay.  This is a big open bay with a marble mine, houses and a new landing just built for a new logging operation.  While we were there a barge came in and unloaded tons of heavy equipment, cables, ecology blocks, anchors and floats and assorted other stuff. 

We went out fishing on Nellie again and caught a bunch of black cod.  I had a couple huge fish on but one bit right through the leader so it must have been a big ling cod. 

Nat got a good sized cod and Linda a nice King after we moved inside a bit and fished the kelp line.

June 15 Noyes Island to Esquibel Island Group

Moved on to new anchorage north of Noyes Island, small indent in the Esquibel Island group called Nagasay Cove a very pretty and very remote feeling place.  Entry was via a very narrow kelp strewn channel called Launch Passage.   Book said go to the south of two small islets so Glen went north.  The south side was full of Kelp, the north not so much and was three times deeper.

Chris and I chose to go around to the ocean side and rocked and rolled a bit and still had to dodge and weave through kelp and rocks to get to the anchorage.  As I was weaving I noticed a black object rise up next to the boat 20 feet off the port side in my peripheral vision.  Thinking rock with surf breaking over it, I looked and thankfully it was just a whale.

June 14

Left Craig and headed for Fishegg island just a mile north to wait for Nat and Linda to arrive.  Glen had to break in his new motor and take it back for a final check by the dealer so we decided to stay close by Craig.   Put down a crab pot and got only one crab.  No one else caught any.

Steve and I tried fishing for Halibut but no luck.

June 13 & 14  

Refugio Harbor to Craig.  We stayed in Craig a couple nights to shop and do laundry.  The harbor was full but the harbor master gave us the entire municipal dock.  It was blowing hard when we docked and the harbor master was duly impressed.   He had doubts that we could all fit much less get in with the winds blowing as they were.  It was a narrow entry between two piers and required me to enter nose first and pivot sideways to give room for Steve and Willard.  We fit with feet to spare and no one dinged a thing. 

We went to dinner that night at the fireweed lodge in Claywock.  Had a great meal, it was Gary’s 75^th birthday. 

Glen found a new motor, cheaper than in Seattle and so he bought it and had it installed on his inflatable.  He went from a 50 to a 70 hp. motor.  We started a pool to see how quick Glen hits something with it.  (4 hours)  (twice)

June 12, 2016

On to Refugio Harbor.  Not a good choice with forecast 35 knot winds out of the SE.  Very open and exposed on 3 sides.  Winds picked up and blew hard and then changed direction blowing from astern.  The one stern line we had out seemed a bit minimal when I awoke at 3 am to check on things so I got Willard up and we put out a second stern line.  It was a wet rainy windy day.  Fortunately it is light at 3 am up here so we did not have to do it in the dark.   The hi-lite of the day was a humpback whale swam into our anchorage and right under our boats one time before wandering off again into the open water.  He was 10 t0 15 feet off the side of Nelsea with everyone trying to get photos.   Everyone is on the bow with cameras when the whale suddenly surfaces at the stern and it was like a Laurel and Hardy comedy watching everyone scramble and push to get to the stern for a photo op that came and went before anyone could get the photo.  

June 10 and 11

Moved to Crab Trap cove just south of Hydaburg.  The cove is well named.  I caught 10, 8 inchers in my first pull.  Beautiful crab.  Others did not do so well.

We visited the community of Hydaburg with trepidation.  Locals in Ketchikan told us not to go there, it was a hostile place and not to leave our boats unattended because others have had stuff stolen off the boats while gone. 

We found the people there very welcoming and hospitable.  We got a tour of the village, spent two hours with Haa Goo the village elder, carver ad story-teller.  He told us of his early life and being set to boarding school where they attempted to assimulate him into white mans ways and beat any attempts by him and his friends to maintain their culture.  After many years of being bitter and hateful he has decided to share his story and rebuild his culture.  It’s working.  Enjoyed our visit and would recommend to others to go and stay at their docks, nice new ones and enjoy their culture, arts and history.

June 8 & 9, 2016

Moved on to Hetta cove, a very secure and landlocked cove where the Haida have a fish camp and have set up a fish weir for counting returning salmon.

We stayed two days here to fish.  Shrimping was good, did not crab however.  Steve caught a 44 lb halibut after Gary came back with a fish story.  He hooked a halibut and fought it for 45 minutes and could not get it on board.  He said it was 5 feet across and must have been at least 100 plus lbs.  He put a harpoon into it but it took off and broke the tip right out of itself.  Big mean halibut.

We did catch a couple of big yellow eye which are great eating.

June 7, 2016

From Hessa Inlet we wound our way through the barrier Islands to Mable Cove.

Beautiful setting, not quite as remote as Hessa Inlet with logging visible, a house with a satellite dish near Clump Island, probable the most southern place on the whole island.  Again we tried fishing and only Jim came back with halibut, two good sized ones. 

June 6, 2016

We stayed an extra day at Hessa Inlet, fishing and exploring.  Again, other than Jim we had no luck fishing, several rockfish but no halibut and no lingcod. This is a wild and remote place with virtually no sign of human habitation.  No logging, no other boats and one wonders if how many others have ever been in this place. . 

June 5, 2016

We left Kendrick bay to round Cape Chacon, the southern tip of Prince of Whales Island.  It means 20 plus miles exposed to Dixon entrance.  Locals had advised us to round the cape at any time other than at slack tide, which seemed exactly opposite of what would seem best.  The charts show rips and one local said he has rounded the cape a thousand times and had calm seas only once.  There are reports of 6 foot confused seas even when there is no wind when the tides change.  Three currents meet at the cape and create confused and violent seas when the tide changes even with no wind.  We rounded the cape during full flood tide, one of the largest tide exchanges on record and had perfect flat conditions. 

Once around Cape Chacon it’s another 10 miles to Cape Morse before turning into Bushman Passage, a narrow rock strewn entry to Hessa Inlet.  The anchorage was ideal and well protected.  This is where Glen had arranged for Liz and Diane to meet us by float plane that afternoon.  While waiting we tried fishing and put down crab and shrimp pots.  Struck out on all counts.  The floatplane came in and the pilot, a long time Alaskan bush pilot put on quite a show, buzzing the flotilla before dropping the ladies off.  When he took off I was in No Debt at the north entrance to Bushman Passage.  The pilot’s take off was one of the shortest I have ever seen, rocking up on one float and turning on that float before going airborne, skimming just a few feet off the water as he turned into Bushman pass where I was sitting.  He flew 10 feet off the water passing by me with his floats 6 feet above the water, his wing passing over no debt so close I was sure he would take off my radio antennae.  I was pretty sure he was surprised by my presence and thought for a moment he would crash but he was fully aware of what he was doing and after passing over me and Steve and Michelle who were ahead of me in Nellie, he pulled up in a steep climb, roll over in a tight turn and dove back down to buzz us again a bit higher before returning to buzz the flotilla giving everyone a display of amazing Alaskan bush flying.  I got the only photo of the whole event.

June 4,2016

After a whirlwind trip home to move mom and dad were back in Alaska.  We flew down on Wednesday the 25^th and with a lot of coordination and planning we were able to move them in one day.  Jason, Becky, Mike helped otherwise it would never have happened.  I rented a u haul from Tacoma and picked it up on Friday.  After Memorial day traffic died down I headed north to Mt Vernon where Becky had found two rooms.  They followed a few hours later.  Jason and I caught the 455 ferry with reservations and Becky, Chris and Mikey followed on the 640 by walking on. 

When we arrived we had breakfast then headed up to the parents place.  They were up and mom had sort of started packing her room but initially I figured we were doomed to failure as did my father.  Once the rest of the crew arrived we made quick work of mom’s room stuffing shit in boxes and hauling them to the truck.  We started on Dad’s room as soon as he left for breakfast and had it cleaned out before he got back.  We decided to try and catch the 1040 ferry with the furniture and let mom and dad and the girls follow on the 1:55 which i had reservations for.  I feared if they did not get on the earlier ferry they would loose the reservations at 155 so they waited and we left.

We hit very little traffic and were at the new place in Gig Harbor by 3 pm.  Unloaded and set up both rooms with the beds, TV and chairs.  The rest would get organized later.  The parents were delayed by customs since they were on the international ferry so they did not arrive till late.  We missed the dinner service so we ordered pizza.

Mom and dad were in good spirits and seemed pleased with their new facility.

Dad’s room was easy, mom on the other hand took the next three days to organize and cull all the junk and garbage.   My shed is full of boxes most will go to the dump or goodwill when we get home.

On June 4^th we flew back with Steve and Michelle.  We apparently missed a week of really horrible weather, heavy rain and wind.  The day before our arrival winds were clocked at 50 mph in Ketchikan.  A cruise ship attempting to dock in the harbor was pushed against the pier by the high wind causing several million dollars in damage to the dock and the ship.    I found the boat in good condition but the rear line from No Debt to the Miner’s Debt was broken.  Hard to imagine that waves big enough to break the mooring line could have been generated inside the marina. 

Glen had crossed Clarence strait the day of the high winds in Steve’s 20-foot Grady White to pick up Nichole his daughter.   The waves were 9 feet on the crossing. 

The winds had died by the time we arrived and when we left to cross over to meet Glen and company in Kendrick bay on the SE side of Prince of Whales Island.  Our crossing was on mirror flat seas, hardly a ripple. 

 May 24, 2016

Sudden change in plans.  We are flying home on Wednesday so we can coordinate moving my mom and dad from San Juan Island assisted living to Mallards Landing in Gig Harbor Assisted Living.  We gave mom the information when we were up in April and when I next called her she had made the decision and decided to move.  We were originally planning on September but the rooms are there now and ready for them to move in and they are at a great price.  We only have 9 days to make it work since we have to be back to move the boat by the 4^th of June. 

May 23, 2016

Decided at the last minute to head out and see what Dixon Entrance looked like.  Still forecasting gale winds for east Dixon but no stations are reporting high winds in any area.  Ocean swell 1 to 2 meters.  Figured we could get to Dundas anyway and hunker there if it was bad.  But it looked pretty good with about a 15 kt wind at our tail so we kept going.  So far ¾ of the way cross it was a good decision.  Sun has come out and we have blue sky and blue water and light wind chop with low westerly swells.  So far so good.  

We are in Ketchikan!  The weather held till we arrived and then the wind picked up to 30 out of the north as we milled about for two hours off the fuel dock waiting our turn to fill up. Finally got to the dock and were able to relax after a rather uneventful crossing of Dixon.   Forecast was for 11 foot seas and gale force winds yet we had aybe 3 to 4 foot rollers with an occasional 6 footer but virtually no wind and what there was, was out of the south behind us.   Good thing we crossed today cause the forecast for next several days is much worse. 

Kethcikan with 4 cruise ships a day is a bustling place after three weeks of the inside passage. 

We met up with another fleet of 6 boats out of Bellingham, a mother goose type trip where there is a lead boat and captain and everyone else is leasing the boat for the Washington to Ketchikan leg of the trip.  From there others will sign up and take the boats to Juneau or Sitka and then another group will run them south.  For three days we were on parallel paths with 12 boats within a few miles of one another.  It was a traffic jam in Grenville Channel.

May 20, 2016

We are in Prince Rupert.  Weather so far has been amazing.  Lots of sun and blue sky, but lots of wind as well.  Gale force winds forecast for Dixon Entrance for the next three days.  We dallied in Grenville channel instead of racing to PR to wait.

After getting the steering fixed we took a 50 mile side trip to Eucott Hot springs and then Ocean Falls.  Two really great spots.  Crab and shrimp every night. 

From Ocean falls it was back to Shearwater to top off my fuel tanks for the trip to Ketchikan. 

Stops along the way were at Tom Bay where I got a pot load of Shrimp and several nice size crab while Pete put his pot down next to me and no shrimp at all?

From Tom bay we cruised up to Khutze where the weather changed to cold and wet.  Still very little wind.

More crab and shrimp

Khutze to Bishop Hot springs for another dip in scalding hot water.  The ramp to shore is gone so getting there was a bit of a challenge. Sun came back out and warmed up again.

Bishop hot springs to Lowe Inlet where we sighted a very healthy black bear grazing behind us for several hours. 

From Lowe we headed to Kumealon inlet where there was another lagoon to play in, more crab and more shrimp.

May 13, 2016

Success.  We left Joe Cove about 9am and headed to Shearwater with me steering with just engine RPM’s.  We rigged the rudder a little better so I had better control of the direction with out such large adjustments of the engine RPM’s to keep us strait.  I managed to maintain 9 plus knots all the way.    While underway Michelle called Teleflex in Florida, the steering manufacturer and asked them to trouble shoot the problem over the phone.  Steve relayed over the radio for a three way conversation, me on the radio to Steve, Michelle on the sat phone to Teleflex technical expert.  He had me spin the wheel as hard as I could and as fast as I could to the right after Michelle explained the situation.  I did and then I had movement both directions of the wheel until I locked it hard over to port again.  It appeared that I was at least now moving the rudder cylinder back and forth.  Still freewheeling to the right. His diagnosis was there was a short in the Auto Pilot pump no allowing the check valve to close.  A short?  There is electrical power to the pump?

After the call the guys, Glen, Pete and Willard all were confused and could not figure out how a short in the pump would take away the manual steering.  When asked about the fact that we turned off the auto pilot and still had a problem the technician said the auto pilot pump would cause a problem even if turned off.

Michelle had also called ahead to Shearwater and a mechanic, Mark, would be expecting us. 

We arrived at Shearwater about 2 pm and I ran up and found Mark.  He came down and spent about 10 minutes on the boat and said,  My guess is the Auto Pilot pump has no power to it and there is a check valve that is open which does not allow the fluid to properly flow through the cylinder.  He said he did not have time to work on it today but would be back in the morning about 9 and trouble shoot the problem

I thought back to what the technician at Teleflex said about a short and what Mark said and realized that the Rat from two years ago had chewed through some wites on the auto pilot computer but only the outer layers.  I had never fixed those since the auto pilot worked.  I looked at that again and saw a bunch of fine wires from the shielding had crossed over several electrical contacts and thought maybe that was the source of the short.   I cleaned up those wires and rewired the computer getting rid of the chewed parts.  As I did that I noticed a fuse in the computer that was not mentioned anywhere  in the user manual.  I pulled it out and tested it as it looked good but it was an open circuit when tested.  I put in a new fuse and heard a click in the computer.  Checking the system showed we now had power the pump and the function of the steering system was restored completely.  Wow, all of that and it was just a stupid fuse.  No-where in the books does it mention this fuse or what might happen if it blows.

I put the boat back together and tomorrow were off to Ocean Falls-

May 12, 2016

Oh what a day.  Houston, We have a problem!  We left Blunden Harbor at 0800 and headed north on calm seas with virtually no wind and beautiful blue sky.  At 1000 as we were just a few miles from Cape Caution we lost all steering.  Suddenly, the boat veered to the left and started turning in circles.  I tried to correct it by turning off the auto pilot and steering but the wheel just freewheeled to the right and no amount of turning could stop the left hand circle.  There we were, driving in circles in Queen Charlotte Straits with 3 foot ocean swells which were no problem when driving into them but when circling became somewhat problematic,.  Thank god it happened today and not two days ago in Johnstone Strait in 5foot breaking waves and 30 mph winds.  I radioed the others who were a couple miles ahead of me and advised them that I had lost all steering control.   Of course the suggestions started pouring in.  Turn off the Auto Pilot, yep no good.  Try the other helm station, yep no good.  Steer with the engines, nope, not with the rudder hard over.  Check for fuses, what fuses, I know only of a breaker switch. 

Thinking I had lost a linkage I jumped down on the back deck, pulled up the lazarette hatch cover, pulled out all the power cords stored there and pulled up the shelving floor I had built over the steering mechanism.  It all looked just fine.  It just did not work.

 

I jumped in No Debt and ran over to Pete who was closest and picked him up while Linda continued to motor Spirit Bear north at slow speed.  Glen headed back to help as well, he was several miles ahead of us.

Pete and I got the linkage un-hooked and got the rudders strait so we could at least tow in a strait line. 

We rigged a towing bridal and Glen pulled up close and we passed him a tow-line made up of two fifty foot 9000 lb rescue ropes.  He put us under-.tow while Pete and I tried to figure out the problem.  We were making about 6 knots under tow.  We tried bleeding the system thinking there was air in the system.  I checked all the fittings I could see and saw no leaks so could not figure out how air would have got in the system.  We could get the ram to move in and out but with any resistance on it at all the ram would not move. 

We decided to try motoring on our own and try using the engine RPM’s to steer.  We cast off the tow line and our initial efforts were a total failure.   The rudders would not stay centered and after just a few minutes we were turning to the right with no way to correct it.  Pete jury rigged a couple ropes to secure the rudder in place and after several adjustments we were able to cruise in a relatively strait manner using just engine speed.  My GPS track shows a very wobbly course over ground but we missed all the rocks and managed to round Cape Caution under our own power but with useless steering system.

We got to Joe’s Cove in Fishegg Inlet, one of my favorite spots on the whole coast.  I had no trouble getting in and side tying to the raft up using just engine controls.  Just like docking.

We took a break from trying to figure out the steering problem and took the dinghy’s into Elizabeth Lagoon.  You can only enter at or near high water slack and it is a shallow entry.  I led the way in No Debt and promptly found a rock killing the engine.  No prop damage and the engine restarted.  Elizabeth Lagoon is just amazing, a large brackish lake that empty s into the salt water at low tide and the salt water rushes in at  high tide creating a brackish lagoon. 

We spent about 40 minutes inside racing around in the dinghy’s exploring and enjoying the remote wild place where there is no signs of any human habitation. No logging no encampments nothing.  Again one of my favorite places on the whole trip.

We returned before getting trapped inside by falling waters and faster moving rapids.  Pete was using our dinghy, Rubber Check and found the rock about three times trying to get out of the Lagoon,  I now have half a prop on Rubber Check

After returning from exploring the Lagoon I quickly put down a shrimp pot before getting back to the job of sorting out the steering.  Unfortunately we found nothing.  Between Pete, a hydraulic engineer and Glen, who knows everything and me and my manuals on the system we were stumped.  Bleeding the system eventually ended up locking the system hard over to port.  No amount of turning the wheel to the right did anything, it spun freely but going left it locked up completely.  There are three hydraulic lines leading from the upper helm to a T joint with one side leading to the auto pilot pump and the other leading to the lower helm station.  From there the lines run down into the engine room where they disappear behind the fuel tank.  At the back of the boat there are only two lines.  What happened to the third and what does it do, it’s a mystery.  We suspect there is some sort of manifold and check valve that is stuck that is not allowing the free flow of fluid back and forth.  But if we cannot find the junction box we are screwed.  The boat is a mess, I had to tear apart the back closet and move everything from the back lazerett into the front bedroom.   Were stumped and will have to work our way to Shearwater tomorrow and make some calls to the steering manufacturer and see if someone can solve the problem for us.  Stay tuned.

May 11, 2016

We had a pleasant stay in Blunden Harbor today.  Lots of crab, limits each day!!

Crab feed tonight!  Glen and Liz joined us this morning.  It was windy all day so a good day to hunker down.  Not as bad as it has been but enough to have made the crossing interesting.  Went dinghy exploring and ran the rapids into the lagoon and cruised around inside for about 30 minutes before Glens deflating dink and the increasing current in the entrance forced us to leave. 

What a gorgeous place.  Low hills, scrub trees, blue sky and water. 

Should be heading north tomorrow around Cape Caution.

10, 2016

We crossed the straits to Blunden Harbor today from Port McNeil.  What a great stop, Steve and Jessica, the owners of North Harbor Marina are just great people.  They have installed extra long fuel lines so they can fuel you at your berth.  They are friendly and willing to do most anything for you.  Definitely a spot to stop going and coming. 

The crossing was on calm seas for the first half then slowly the wind built as predicted till there were 2 foot waves and 20 mph winds.  Entered Blunden harbor and found it deserted.   Windy inside, not all that protected but I found a spot with some protection and a clear view of the straits through a cap in the islands.  We dropped three anchors and stern tied   A beautiful spot, we sat on the back decks and enjoyed the sun till the wind picked up in the evening and chased us inside.

We dropped several crab pots and caught bunches of crab on the first pull.  Dropped them right back for more.

The wind really picked up again this afternoon just as predicted blowing up to 25 in the anchorage creating white caps in the middle.  A sailboat came in late in the afternoon, said it was blowing 25 outside.  Good thing we crossed when we did.

My anchor is set well tonight, holding 4 boats total on mine for a while the other two were slack, you could play music on mine.

No Debt seems to be working ok, concerned after towing Glen in that I did something to the engine as it was running rough at idle, but we got up to plane with four big adults aboard.  It runs great at higher speeds.  Hopefully it will be good the whole trip. 

It has been windy, far more wind than the other two trips up.  But lots of sun and virtually no rain.  I  would take some rain if the winds would quit.

  

May 8

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Monday, May 9

Port McNeil

We made it through Johnstone Strait.  When they are forecasting gale force winds in Johnstone Strait believe them and don’t go.  Not sure what the rush was but we went when we should have went back to Shoal Bay and played for a day.  Got the shit kicked out of us in the straits.  Made it as far as Blankenship Bay and Glen said, nope, not worth it.  When Glen says not worth it that means something.  We hunkered down for an hour there in the lee of the land and waited for the turn of the tide hoping the waves would stand down a bit.  Nope.  We tried for another couple miles and Steve and Michelle and Chris and I decided to stop at Port Neville while Glen and Willard continued on.  It sounded horrible.  We were taking waves up to the bow spit, none over it while the others all buried their bows several times.  We found a spot on the dock at Port Neville with Steve, he took the dock and we side tied.  Windy all night, 25 plus at the dock from the side but no waves to worry about. Pete stayed in Blankenship and had an uncomfortable night rockin and rollin but secure on the hook.  It is a good spot to hole up if need be but Port Neville is better   Better yet, don’t go.  We woke up to light winds, sun and a calm Johnstone strait.  Everyone went, even the big boys were out there today, funny nothing was out there yesterday but us, HMMMMM?

We cruised through the Broughtons on a beautiful sunny day, just an amazingly pretty place.  On to McNeil for fuel (327 gallons added to the 100 at Blind Channel and were doing good, 1 mile to the gallon is what were averaging.  Averaging 9 mph, sometimes faster with the current or when we need to get or slower when working against the current.

I need a new antennae for No Debt and Pete needs new batteries.  Good place to fix those last minute issues discovered on the cruise up here.  Weather looks good for crossing Queen Charlotte Strait in the next day or two, calm winds for the next three days. 

Don’t need another beating like yesterday and Chris would not like me much as she was not happy with that mother’s day present.

So far multiple Eagle sightings, a couple Orcas, a gray whale, several porpoise, a couple otters and Fran saw a Grizzly the other night. 

Could be a couple more days before we post again as we will be headed into far remote regions of BC with limited coverage. 

Day 2

Friday Harbor.  Got in about 430 this afternoon, just in time cause the inside of the breakwater filled up within 15 minutes of our arrival.  Big weekend here, their opening day and a big yacht club event plus Anacortes charters has a big gathering here before heading north.
Sunny and warm now, was cool and cloudy with light rain earlier.  Saw our first whale, a single gray whale off the South end of Camano Island.  Not very active but River was excited.
Will walk up after we eat to see my folks.  We have not told them we brought River with us.
I teach a SAR management class all day tomorrow and half a day Sunday.  So this part of the trip is a business write off.

Day 1.
Left Pourt Orchard at 1 pm, arrived at Langly at around 5. Easy cruise up till the Edmonds ferry, wind picked up and started taking spray over the bow from 20 mph winds out of the North. Getting No Debt alongside prior to docking was a bit of a challenge but managed without adding any new scratches to the freshly repaired hull.
Walked up to town with River for dinner at the Pizza place.  Got back before it started raining.
The past week has been busy with all the last minute details to finish, shopping and loading the boat with 4 months worth of supplies. You would think we were going to a third world country for God sakes. I made at least five trips to the boat with full truck loads of food, clothing, parts, extra oil, coolant and booze.  This morning before leaving I had the fire suppression system checked and recertified, stored what I thought was the final truck load of stuff before going home to pick up Chris.. Well she had a another truck load of stuff waiting to load up.  Have no idea where I stored most of the stuff so we will spend the next month searching for things we know we brought along.
Things we did in preparation for this trip:
hauled the boat in September, new bottom paint and repaired 8 years of dings and scratches on the hull.
Replaced all zincs, filters and fluids,
Cleaned the fuel tanks and polished the fuel
Replaced the refrigerator
Replaced the freezer
Cleaned the rugs
Replaced the Mattress on the bed
Replaced a starting Battery
Added another 12 volt freezer unit
Stripped and repainted No Debt
Replaced the motor on No Debt
Put a new fuel tank in No Debt
Got my Captains license (100 ton Master)

It's better not to know what that all cost.