Categories
Madsu

Wet, Cold, Hungry and Tired. Now That’s Sailing

20090620_plumpercove

Two days away on Madsu, a short solo trip up to Plumper Cove on Keats Island.

Wind was basically inflow into Howe Sound, but loads of puffs and crazy gusts on the outbound trip made for a fast and furious ride, albeit in the sunshine. Madsu rarely made under 5 knots SMG, no matter what point of sail it seems.

Spent a rocky night at the Cove with the wind blowing in from the straight. Once again, Madsu was the smallest boat in the park – but looking sharp under her blue tarp and a foredeck full of sailbags.

Trip home this morning was outstanding – hit by three separate squalls and cracked 6.5 knots SMG on a close reach.  Frantic tiller/mainsheet work as boat went from flat to pinned in gusts, even with a reefed main and #2 jib.

Thankfully, now have my new North Sails foresails – made for a hairy and fun trip home.  Surprise  !  Not another sailboat in sight until I headed into Queen Charlotte Channel.  Squalls came complete with cold, horizontal rain and a few hailstones.  Still wearing shorts, but also had to don a toque and heavy foul-weather jacket for the ride.

No time for lunch or photos, just time for tiller and  trim.

Verdict:  when can I do THAT again.

Categories
Madsu

Bring on the Tourists

20090617_clouds

Its been weeks since we’ve seen any kind of cumulus clouds in Howe Sound.

With a bit of a weather change the last couple of days, we’re seeing some lovely picture perfect cloud formations, like this one over Vancouver, framed in the foreground by Passage Island.

Weather here can be extremely localized.  When I left our house in North Vancouver, about 10 km away from where the boat is moored, it was drizzling slightly.  At Horseshoe Bay, it was all sun.

With a nice southerly at about 12 knots, Madsu was doing 5 knots SMG beating to windward, against the flood tide current, as we headed out to the Straight.

Categories
Madsu

I’d Rather Be Doing – What ?

20090617_chillaxin

I finally got around to adding the GPS and MP3 player to my minimal companion way nav station.

The light for the compass is passed through the teak board and goes to a standard 2 pin car-hitch connector that I picked up at Lordco for about 3 dollars. I ran a lead off the house lights switch and it’s secured just inside the companionway.

Once I drop the board in, I just have to plug-in and I’ve got a lovely green glow from the compass for night passages.

The MP3 player plugs into a standard mini plug that goes to the house stereo system, and there’s a charger if needed. It plugs into a standard ‘cigar lighter’ plug I mounted inside out of the wet, just to port. that   I usually run the GPS on its rechargeable batteries, but also have a DC plug I can use that goes to the same charge plug.

I had wanted to mount my handheld Icom VHF  (IC-M72) on the board, but its electronics cause a huge amout of compass deviation when it’s within 8 inches or so, so it’ll stay in my lifejacket pocket.

I had thought about adding a bungee strip to hold my cell phone, but mostly I turn it off once I leave the dock 😉

Categories
Madsu

Blue Sky For Days

20090613_roundbowen

Another picture perfect weather day in Howe Sound, and great sailing too.

In the distance you can see the race fleet from the annual  Round Bowen Island race.

Categories
Madsu

CAN266

20090614_j22ca266

This J22 is looking good, working to weather on her way out of Howe Sound and heading toward Vancouver.

Categories
Madsu

Leeside

20090612_jib_leeside

A brand new North Sails jib – one of two new foresails that arrived today.

Sweet.

Categories
Madsu

Working It

20090612_madsu_weather

Madsu, cutting through the chop, working to weather.

Lots of spray on the foredeck and the occasional face full.  Nice when the sun’s shining.

It’s alwaysa bit risky holding the D70 over the side, but love that autofocus.

You can see BC Ferries “Queen of Capilano” heading into Snug Cove on Bowen Island ahead to starboard.

BTW: there’s something very wrong with the running rigging.  Can you spot the problem?  My Bad !

(I had just done a sail change and after snapping this tacked over and fixed my error)

Categories
Madsu

Sublime / Ridiculous

20090611_archimedes_starboard

Archimedes off my starboard bow. One of the 100 largest motor yachts in the world, she’s at anchor in Mannion Bay, Bowen Island BC.

Madsu and I sailed by and took a couple of quick shots, but didn’t want to be rubber-necking-tourists.

We’re far too classy for that.

A few quick comparisons:

  • LOA:  Madsu, 22 feet.  Archimedes, 222.3 feet
  • Power: Madsu, one, 9.9 horsepower gas engine   Archimedes, two, 2,000 horse power diesel engines
  • Fuel tank: Madsu, 22 litres.  Archimedes, 171,000 litres.
  • Crew: Madsu, 1.  Archimedes, 16

Also see this shot

Categories
Madsu

One of World’s Largest Yachts off Bowen Island

archimedes_bowen-tight
Archimedes is apparently one of the 100 largest motor yachts in the world, # 75 according to this website.

She was anchored in Mannion Bay, on Bowen Island, late this afternoon. I saw her pull in so I sailed over to get a couple of shots. Note the swimming pool on the upper aft deck. Nice touch.

The yacht has beautiful lines; she looks like a proper ship.

And she’s big alright. Over 222 feet, and sports two, 2-thousand horsepower Caterpillar engines.

I wonder if they were heading over to the Eco-Shed ?

Have a look at this quick comparison with Madsu.

Categories
Madsu

Ideal Conditions, Again

20090610_beating

Another brilliant day in Howe Sound.

I got down to the boat a bit late in the morning, and the southerly inflow was already well established.

A reef in the main and the #3 jib were in order – as the puffs were fairly strong and Madsu, like most sailboats, prefers not to be on her ear.  Skipper too.

It was another hot day and working our way to weather at 4.5 knots felt pretty good.  This may be the last time I use the old #3. Marcia at  North Sails called today to say my 2 new jibs have arrived.   Perfect, since we’ve been getting lots of  katabatics in Howe Sound with all this heat.

I’m sure the 100% will get used tons, and the storm jib will be a welcome over the next few weeks.