After yesterday’s fun and intense inbound trip, our trip home was at the other end of the spectrum.
We left the dock on Keats Island around 8, and ended up motorsailing all the way back to Horseshoe Bay, with barely a ripple on the water the entire trip.
Hard to complain when it’s so darned beautiful.
One of the search terms I’m seeing here pretty regularly is ‘when to reef Catalina 22’.
There’s really no magic answer to this, but the boat will give you clear signals if you know how to read them.
The most obvious is excessive heel. Madsu seems to have a sweet spot at around 20° of heel. Up until that point, the boat is running efficiently. Once she starts to heel more than that, potential speed decreases, even though it doesn’t always feel like it. Keep in mind that Madsu is an older model Catalina 22 – narrower in the beam than MKII models. She’s also a swing keel.
If you have a knot meter or GPS on the boat, you can easily see the results of reefing. Putting that reef in the main decreases heel and weather helm, and the boat actually goes faster than when it was on its ear.
Just when you’ll hit that spot on your Catalina 22 depends on your sail inventory, condition of your sails, and your trim. Flattening the main and moving the centre of effort forward as the wind pipes up is the first thing to do.
Since I sail alone a lot, I tend to reef early, particularly when it comes to deciding whether to change head sails.
Reefing the main should be easy. Heave to and practice it.
There’s nothing more satisfying than popping a reef in, flattening out the boat, then sailing past someone who’s heeled over like crazy. Not that I’m competitive or anything.
The ramp down to the docks at Plumper Cove Provincial Marine Park
I’m settled in on the port side settee reading Taras Bulba on my eBook. I look up and am reminded why I love everything about cruising.
There’s the sailing of course; the exhilaration, challenge, even fear. And then there’s the feeling you get after tucking in a nice meal at the end of a good day’s sail.
As the boat rocks gently on a mooring bouy, the sound of the water lapping on the hull is accented by eagle cries and the occasional screech of a blue heron.
Madsu is far from luxurious, but sitting there, looking out through the companionway hatch, it sure feels like a million dollar view.
Saturday morning squalls quickly blew through Howe Sound.
You’d never know it from this shot taken at 8:30 am, but the afternoon was mostly sunny.
Gambier Island is on the left in this shot.
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.
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.
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.