First Cruise of 2018

Early March, we enjoyed watching spring arrive in Victoria.  We tried some new restaurants, went to listen to live blues at Hermann's Jazz Club and walked in Beacon Hill Park.

Pierogi Sampler plate at Sult Pierogi Bar, Victoria

HarpDog Brown playing the Blues, Hermann's Jazz Club, Victoria

Spring has sprung, Beacon Hill Park, Victoria, BC

We left Victoria on Monday, March 19th, for our first cruise of the 2018 season.  We left our Wharf Street slip after lunch and made a short run (21 nm, 3 hours) to Roche Harbor, WA on the northwest corner of San Juan Island.  It was a calm, sunny day and an easy cruise which is a good way to start the year.  We tied up at the guest dock at Roche Harbor Resort, settled in, then walked up to McMillin's for supper.

As we were leaving the harbor, we watched yachts being loaded onto a ship's deck for transport.
Ogden Terminal, Victoria

The tall ship, Pacific Grace, out for an afternoon cruise.

Sunset at Roche Harbor Resort

March 20, Roche Harbor to Blaine (30 nm, 4 hours):  We left Roche Harbor early morning and cruised to Blaine, WA near the Canadian border.  Overcast skies, but calm seas and very little wind.  This was our first visit to Blaine.  The Blaine Marina has a long guest dock with a wide alley next to it for maneuvering.  There were very few boats along the dock.  We picked a space, tied up and tried to plug into shore power with our 30 Amp splitter but couldn't get power on-board.  I walked up to the office to check-in and found out there was 50 Amp power available 4 spaces down from where we had tied up.  We moved the boat closer to the 50 Amp power, re-tied our lines and settled in.  We walked in to town and had supper at the Mexican restaurant, then got an ice cream cone at the local dairy.

Low tide at the Blaine Marina

March 21, Blaine to Anacortes (34 nm, 4.5 hours):  We left the dock in Blaine at 9:15 and cruised south to Anacortes.  Another nice cruising day, slightly overcast with calm seas and very little wind.  We timed the journey with the currents and made good time.  After settling in at Cap Sante Marina, I did laundry and grocery shopping and Dave set-up to clean the aft fuel tanks.  We walked up to West Marine to pick-up a few things and stopped at Village Pizza for supper.

March 22-23, Anacortes:  Two days of chores in Anacortes.  Dave cleaned both aft fuel tanks and Costica, the Kabola rep, came by to tune-up our boiler and to add inline isolation valves before and after the antifreeze filter.  I did some cleaning and baking.  It was rainy and windy both days so we decided to sit tight before moving on.

Double rainbow, Cap Sante Marina, Anacortes

To make changing out the filter easier, we added isolation valves 
before and after the Kabola antifreeze filter

March 24, Anacortes to La Conner (10 nm, 2 hours):  Light rain and very little wind.  We started the day by moving over to the fuel dock and loading 974 gallons of diesel.  We left the harbor at 11:00 and headed south down the Swinomish Channel to La Conner.  We tied up in the north basin of the La Conner Marina, then went for an afternoon walk.  For supper, we walked into town and ate Mexican food at Santo Coyote, very good food and highly recommended.

Dave fueling from the boat deck and the fuel flowing thru our new fuel fill hose.
We made up a longer fill hose and took it up to the boat deck in order to
get more head pressure to overcome the check valves in the fuel fill ring main.
Fueling went much quicker and smoother than in the past.

Sunset at La Conner

March 25, La Conner to Edmonds (43 nm, 6 hours):  Overcast day, calm seas and very little wind in the morning.  We left La Conner at 9:00 to time our journey with the tides and currents flowing south.  Traffic picked up as we neared Edmonds and Puget Sound and we slowed down and changed course to wait for an ITB (Integrated Tug Barge) heading south out of Everett before crossing the channel to head into the Port of Edmonds.  The guest docks were empty when we arrived and we tied up on the south side of J dock for the 50 Amp power and so that the wind was blowing us onto the dock.  We checked in, then went for a walk along the waterfront to the Edmonds Marina Beach Park.

Bald eagle on a log, Swinomish Channel, south of La Conner.

Kingfisher on the pier at Port of Edmonds

March 26 - 30, Edmonds:  We stayed in Edmonds for one week so that I could attend a Basic Safety Training (BST) course at Compass Courses.  Their training center is located within a 1/2 mile of the marina guest docks so it was easy to walk back and forth to the boat every day.  BST includes several elements required by The International Convention on Standards of Training, Certification and Watchkeeping for Seafarers (STCW).

• Monday, Day 1:  The week started with a class of 9 students who would be there for the full 5 day training course.  The topic of the day was basic fire fighting.  We spent the day learning about the theory of fire, the stages of fire, classes of fires, fire extinguishers, fire fighting equipment, search and rescue, etc.  We learned about the gear that fire fighters wear and our classmate, Richard, suited up to show us how everything went together.  At the end of class, we took our daily quiz to make sure we retained what we learned.  A few of us stayed after class to try on the fire fighting gear that we would be using on Wednesday for basic fire fighting.

Classmate Richard and Instructor Jeremy modeling the fire fighting gear and SCBA.

• Tuesday, Day 2 - Pool Day:  Our class size more than doubled today, from 9 to 19.  We were joined by 10 folks participating in the three day BST refresher course.  Our topic of the day was personal survival techniques.  We spent the morning reviewing ship board emergencies, abandoning ship, vessel safety procedures, training and drills, man overboard and emergency and safety equipment including immersion suits and life rafts.  After lunch, we went to the pool to practice what we learned.  Half the class donned immersion suits and got into the water.  Creating a chain of 5 people, we used our combined energy to travel from one end of the pool to the other.  Next, each of us jumped off the diving board, to simulate abandoning ship, and climbed into the life raft.  We took off our gear so the other half of the class could practice in the immersion suits.  We practiced tossing a life ring, spent a minute treading water in the deep end and then put on our PFDs (personal flotation devices aka life jackets).  We changed back into our dry clothes and headed back to the classroom to discuss the CFR (Code of Federal Regulations) and to take our daily quiz.

Classmates in immersion suits getting ready to board the lift raft.

• Wednesday, Day 3 - Fire Fighting Day a.m.:  This morning we all gathered at Seattle's Fishermen's Terminal to catch the shuttle bus to the MV Fire Dragon, a marine fire fighting training facility.  The facility is a mock-up of a vessel and includes watertight doors, narrow passageways and small compartments, very similar to what you would find on a real vessel.  The trainers are fire fighters from the Seattle metro area. They use propane to generate the fires because it burns clean and they can control it.  We suited up in our fire fighting gear and went straight to work.  Our first activity was a demonstration of using a water/foam combination to blanket a fuel fire.  Next, we paired up and took turns using portable CO2 extinguishers to put out an Class C (electrical fire) in the generator room.  Next we formed into teams of 4 - 5 people and practiced handling the fire hose and nozzle.  We did a dry run of the galley fire exercise that we would be performing in the afternoon; my team, Team 4, got to handle the hose for the demonstration.  After a discussion about the SCBA (self-contained breathing apparatus)  that we would be using for the afternoon drills, the shuttle bus took us back to Fishermen's Terminal for a lunch break.  

The Fishermen's Memorial at Fishermen's Terminal 

• Wednesday, Day 3 - Fire Fighting Day p.m.:  First thing after lunch, we put our fire fighting gear back on and lined up to assemble our SCBA.  We checked the pressure in our air tanks, put the backpack and harness on, then practiced connecting the regulator to the face mask.  As a group, we practiced breathing with the face mask and regulator in place and practiced connecting and disconnecting the regulator.  My team was first to line up on the hose.  We were informed that there was a fire in the galley and that the chief steward was missing.  We turned on the water to the fire hose, checked the entry door for heat and prepared to enter the passageway to make our way to the galley.  On our way in, we discovered the dead body of the chief steward.  The two team members at the end of the hose dragged him out while the other three of us proceeded to the fire.  Once all five of us were back on the hose, we crouched low and experienced a flashover - when a fire has entered the stage between growth and free burning and the materials in the space simultaneously combust, creating a wave of flame overhead.  The flashover ended and we each took a turn as the nozzle person and put out the galley fire.  Back out of the space, we debriefed, then turned the hose over to the next hose team.  After each team had a turn fighting the galley fire, we stowed our gear and summarized the learnings of the day.  Unfortunately, I didn't take any pictures, but... here is a link to a blog on Workboat.com which gives a brief overview of the MV Firedragon training facility and includes a picture of the flashover in the galley.  Also, Workboat's March 2015 issue includes an article on the training and the facility.  
•  Thursday - Day 4, First Aid:  We spent the day studying first aid and CPR and practicing what we learned.  Topics included our role as first aid responders, legal issues and the Good Samaritan Law, first aid equipment, scene and patient assessment and types of first aid emergencies.  
• Friday - Day 5, Personal Safety and Social Responsibilities:  Our last day of class.  The people in the 3 day refresher left after class on Thursday and we were back to the original nine students.  Today we studied emergency procedures, safety management, pollution, safe working practices, confined spaces, hazardous materials, fatigue, communications, etc.  We finished just before lunch, took our quiz and received our certificates.  Friday afternoon, we had the option of attending an additional course, VPDSD (Vessel Personnel with Designated Security Duties).  VPDSD  is an additional STCW  Security endorsement required for mariners working on applicable vessels.  I stayed to take the course along with 6 other students.  We discussed vessel security risks and threats, ship security plans, use of security equipment and responsibilities of security personnel on ships.

After class, Dave and I walked into downtown Edmonds for a tour, happy hour and supper.  We stopped for a drink at Daphne's, one of the smallest gin joints in the Pacific Northwest, then got a wood-fired pizza to go from Evviva and strolled back to the boat to eat.

March 31, Edmonds to Anacortes (52 nm, 8 hours):  Saturday we left the Port of Edmonds at 8:45 for our cruise to Anacortes.  Our original plan was to stop for the night in either Langley or La Conner but the weather forecast for Sunday was rainy and windy so we decided to do a long run to Anacortes.  Along the way, we heard the whale watching boats on the radio saying that they were heading to the south side of Gedney Island.  We adjusted our course slightly and got to see two gray whales feeding close to the shore.  Gray whales typically migrate through the Puget Sound area between March and May and feed on ghost shrimp.  We made our way north through the Swinomish channel and pulled into Cap Sante Marina in Anacortes about 4:30 p.m.  We stopped at the pump out dock to pump out our gray and black water tanks then tied up in our slip on C dock and filled our fresh water tank.  I walked up to West Marine and Safeway for a few things.  For supper we went to the RockFish Grill.

Gray whale tail, South side of Gedney Island

Log boom at the south end of the Swinomish Channel

April 1, Anacortes:  Today was chore day.  We updated our maintenance log and our budget spreadsheet, inventoried and stowed our new spares, did laundry and grocery shopping and did some maintenance tasks.  It was rainy and windy as predicted and we were happy to be tied up at the dock.

April 2, Anacortes to Reid Harbor (Stuart Island) (28 nm, 4 hours):  We left Cap Sante Marina at 7:00 to catch the ebb current flowing west through Guemes Channel on the north side of Fidalgo Island.  Our route took us across Rosario Strait, along the north shore of Lopez and Shaw Islands, through Pole Pass and along the north shore of Spieden Island.  We entered Reid Harbor, on the south side of Stuart Island,  and anchored near the Coast Guard buoy in the middle of the harbor.  A quick lunch and then Dave put on his diving gear and we set-up the hookah system so he could clean the bottom of the hull and inspect the hull zincs.  He replaced the zinc on the generator shaft, sponged the slime off the bottom of the hull and tightened the screws on the bow thruster zincs.  He discovered that our hull zincs are more than 80% gone so replacing them is now at the top of our priority list.  We spent the rest of the afternoon unlaxing and enjoying the quiet of being at anchor.

Swirling currents on the north side of Spieden Island.

Picture of our chart plotter as we cruised along the north side of Spieden Island.
Note our speed (SOG) of 12.0 knots.  We were getting a good push by the current.

 

Dave in his diving gear, Reid Harbor, Stuart Island.

April 3, Reid Harbor to Sidney, BC (12 nm, 2 hours):  We left Reid Harbor Tuesday morning at 8:00 and cruised to Van Isle Marina in Sidney, BC.  A quick meeting with Philbrooks to discuss replacing our house batteries, lunch at the Starfish Cafe and then we cruised from Van Isle to the Port Sidney Marina near downtown.  We walked into town for supper at Bistro Suisse, then relaxed on the boat for the rest of the evening.

April 4, Sidney to Victoria (23 nm, 3.5 hours):  We left Sidney at 7:45 for the run south to Victoria.  Light drizzle and once we got out along the coast, the wind was blowing 15 - 20 knots.  The chop picked up the further south we went and after we rounded the southeast corner of Vancouver Island we were rolling pretty good.  We entered Victoria Harbour, waited near Laurel Point for the Coho to back around so that she could exit the harbor, then made our way into our slip at Wharf Street.  We tied up and settled in.

We are now back into our "routine" in Victoria.  One of the first things we did was to redo and re-prioritize our To Do List.  It has been raining since we arrived but we are keeping busy working on spring maintenance projects and going to the gym and the library.

Until next time...