Spent three days on Keats, as our heat wave continues. Spent some time trying out a new camera, and Olympus TG4, it’s waterproof and shoots RAW, which is why I picked it for the boat. One way to make Madsu look like a big boat – shoot low!
Woke up Sunday morning to a red sky and the boat covered in ash – all from a forest fire north of the anchorage. Dousing with sea water helped a bit, but it took me hours once I was back in Vancouver to get the boat clean. Nasty stuff.
MV Noordam making her way into the Straight of Georgia.
All sorts of temperature records broken today. No better air conditioning than a day on the water. Thanks Madsu.
I spent a great day on the water, doing a mini tour around Bowen and Keats Islands.
Heading out from Fisherman’s Cove in West Vancouver, out into the Strait of Georgia, up Shoal Channel to Gibsons, then into Howe Sound and back to Fisherman’s Cove. In the process I did a big circle around Bowen and Keats Islands.
I left at 10:30 and was home by 7:o0 pm. During the course of the day I must have done 7 sail changes and sailed on every point of sail at least once. Fun.
Top photo: looking southwest up Collingwood Channel – in the foreground from left to right – Bowen Island, Hutt Island, and Keats Island. In the background you can see Vancouver Island across the Strait of Georgia.
For a couple more photos, see this set at Flickr.
A perfect day in lower Georgia Strait and Howe Sound today. With a nice breeze and barely any chop, Madsu seemed happy to drive herself to weather as we headed out.
I didn’t manage to get a very good shot off, but a pair of dolphins played just astern of me as I sailed out of Howe Sound today. Magic.
Spent a lovely 4 days at Plumper Cove, reading and generally relaxing. There was a stiff breeze each afternoon blowing through the anchorage, but the up-side is it kept the mosquitoes away.
This sunset was on my last night there.
It’s been a few years since I’ve actually gone into Gibsons by boat. I was anchored out at Plumper Cove on Keats Island (the island on the left of the the frame) and ran out of propane. So I took the dinghy over to Gibsons to get a refill and snuck into a cafe to get a decaf. Heaven.
Back in January I bought this new boom tent for Madsu. It looks like a custom job, but in fact it’s stock from Blue Performance. Their ‘small’ size fit Madsu perfectly. Except, they don’t call it a boom tent – it’s a Sunshade De Luxe.
Call it what you will, it really makes a big difference on a small boat like Madsu. I’ve always use a cheap plastic tarp for a book tent, but this awning covers a larger area because it’s got 4 battens. It had a good test this week, as it was windy in the anchorage. With tie downs at each batten, it was rock solid even in the gusts. Set up and take down takes about 15 minutes. A major improvement, and well worth the cost.
A nicely trimmed C&C 27 “Con Amore” ghosts by my bow with a small cruising chute up.
Light wind and overcast, but still a great day on the water. June has brought some warm temperatures, so it’s t-shirt and shorts weather, even with the sun hiding being the overcast.