Portland Island Getaway - Oct. 25-26

SV INTREPID II left the dock last Saturday for a short trip to Portland Island, an hour's motoring away. We unfurled the jib, but the winds were shifty and made for some tricky sail handling until it seemed best to furl up and motor northward.

Our friends on SV Libertina had decided the unexpected northerly winds had made Royal Cove anchorage unsuitable and were anchored in Princess Bay on the south side. They had set both bow and stern anchors and their buddy boat, SV Captain Morgan II had anchored as well, before rafting up. Many hands were on deck to take our lines and make fast INTREPID II and we were soon enjoying a pleasant happy hour. An extravagant potluck dinner followed. Good food, good conversation and we were content. At evening's end, the sky was clear and filled with stars and the Milky Way.

Overnight was fairly smooth and quiet and we awoke to a cool, but sunny day. Always "intrepid" we joined our friends for a brisk hike around the island, which is a marine park. As the dinghy dock had been raised out of the water for the winter season, we had to scramble up from the beach through the trees to locate the path. A very enjoyable way to spend the morning, although we did just the 1/2 island hike counter clockwise, to save the First Mate's knees; the Captain then went on to meet up with everyone else near Shell Beach.

After another shared meal, INTREPID II cast off for home. This time, there was no wind to fill the sails. The day was clear, the water sparkled, and we were glad we'd chosen to get away for one last sunny rendezvous.

Photos: San Francisco Bay Activities

Optimist prams out for a race 

Millenium Falcon under sail

Millenium Falcon (world's largest sailboat at 287') under sail. The boats around it are actual full-sized boats, not the Optimist prams.

Sails furled into masts

Photos: San Francisco highlights - Sept. 25-28

Sausalito Yacht Club - welcoming anchorage

Alcatraz Island

San Francisco cityscape - Ferry Bldg. and Financial District

Coit Tower and surroundings

Photos: Golden Gate Bridge - Sept. 25

So foggy - how disappointing

Yes - fog is actually lifting 

Blue skies for our arrival after all

Golden Gate Bridge - a milestone of this voyage

SV Dolphin Tales close astern as SV Kalagan arrives in San Francisco Bay

Photos: Bodega Bay to Drakes Bay - Sept. 22-25

Pelican on channel marker, Bodega Bay

Heading towards Point Reyes with Drakes Bay around the corner

Drakes Bay anchorage (with Millenium Falcon at anchor)

Leaving Drakes Bay for San Francisco (into the fog once again)

Photos: Newport to Brookings - Whales! Sept.18

Various shots of Humpback Whales - a real treat - almost too close for comfort!

Photos: Gray's Harbor and Newport - Sept. 11-17

U.S. Coast Guard - a tow into Westport (Gray's Harbor)

Coast Guard vessel stationed at Westport

Yaquina Bay bridge from Newport Marina

Foggy Newport 

Photos: Victoria to Cape Flattery - Sept. 8-10

Heading to Port Angeles from Victoria

Sunrise - heading out of Port Angeles into Strait of Juan de Fuca

Into the westerly swells in Strait of Juan de Fuca

Leaving Cape Flattery and Tatoosh Island astern 

Fog - very limited visibility

The Captain is Home from the Sea

Kelly arrived home on September 29th without experiencing too much ado in the San Francisco and Seattle airports.  He did have quite the trek with all his gear via the local transportation to reach the San Francisco airport but all went well.  He had an excellent adventure aboard SV Kalagan, as a prelude to our own upcoming cruising journey.  This trip provided food for thought as to planning and carrying out INTREPID II's initial trip down the west coast. We're still thinking "offshore, non-stop", but now we have first hand information about various harbours and bar crossings, contacting U.S. Customs, port authorities, etc., which is extremely useful.

We wish the crews of SVs Kalagan and Dolphin Tales a safe and enjoyable continuation of their cruising journey.

Kelly with SV Kalagan crew - Rick and Dawn

The City by the Bay - Sept. 25

Kelly called at 11 am Thursday, September 25th, to say "find a web cam focused under the Golden Gate Bridge and we'll wave as we sail through". Exciting event for both of us, but the only web cam I could locate in a hurry did not give a close enough view to distinguish vessels. The cruisers had some fog leaving Drakes Bay, but entered San Francisco Bay in clear skies.  They picked up moorings at the Sausalito Yacht Club, where Kalagan and Dolphin Tales have reciprocal privileges (I understand those privileges include fairly rolly nights, but free ones). Sausalito is at the north end of the Golden Gate Bridge.

Location:  37 degrees - 51' - 24" N and 122 degrees - 28' - 41" W

Kelly is spending a few days in the Bay area seeing some of the sights, while we try from both Victoria and San Francisco to arrange an economical way home. On short notice, fares are quite high, including extra charges for a 2nd bag. Kelly has all his foul weather gear, sailing boots and other cruising equipment, as well as a duffel bag of clothes to contend with.  Stay tuned for his version of the journey, once he's home and settled back in.

SV Kalagan Anchored in Drakes Bay - Sept. 24

Today I received a "SPOT" update from SV Kalagan. The dauntless crew have arrived at Drakes Bay from Bodega Bay, which is a relatively short jaunt compared to the previous legs. This is a protected anchorage about 30 land miles north of San Francisco and gives the two boat crews a chance to plan their passage under the Golden Gate Bridge, possibly tomorrow, September 25th.

Drakes Bay - last anchorage before the Golden Gate and San Francisco

The stop at Bodega Bay, staying at Spud Point Marina, sounds like it provided a calm, relatively restful spot to rest up after the bouncy ride down from Brookings, OR. There was no stop at Eureka as planned due to timing and weather.  The buddy boats kept on going, rounded Cape Mendocino fairly uneventfully and continued on in very mixed seas for two nights at sea.  A bus trip into Santa Rosa gave everyone a chance to stretch their legs after the long overnight passages. Once the boats reach San Francisco, they'll likely turn left into Sausalito to find a spot to moor or anchor in Richardson Bay to make further plans. Kelly now needs to think about how to find a way home - plane? train? We'll work out the logistics and the timing. He's hoping to spend a few hours sightseeing at least, to wrap up his "unanticipated adventure".

Newport to Brookings - Experiences of the Whale Kind

Kelly called home to say that both SVs Kalagan and Dolphin Tales arrived safely about noon in Brookings, Oregon, just north of the California border, after almost 27 hours of motoring from Newport Oregon. They had foggy, cool days in port, did shopping, laundry, toured a brewery and a distillery. First Mate Dawn caught up with Kalagan in Newport, but asked Kelly to stay on board while she gets her "sea legs" once again.  He's pleased to continue with them as far as San Francisco as the sailing experience will be very useful.

Westport, WA - Newport, OR - Brookings, OR

The trip hasn't allowed for much quality sleep, but there are things that make up for it, like sighting two different pods of humpback whales and some very exciting times when they were around, in front and under the boat! There were also bottle nose dolphins swimming by, but obviously on a schedule, as they didn't stop to entertain the crew.  Brookings was described as a a good place to stop over, being warmer, with everything within walking distance, a good place to wait out weather, but none of the crew sounds too impressed. As of this evening, they plan to leave mid-day Saturday (20th) for Eureka, CA, to arrive late afternoon when the tides are optimum for entering the harbour.

Meantime the Captain is crewing aboard SV Kalagan

While INTREPID II remains tied to the dock here on Vancouver Island, her Captain is having some sailing adventures. Kelly is crewing on board SV Kalagan (a Maple Leaf 42) on short notice for a journey down the Washington and Oregon coasts.  He packed his gear, went onboard at the guest dock at the Royal Victoria Yacht Club and soon both Kalagan and buddy boat Dolphin Tales were headed south for Port Angeles, to check into the USA.

The leg from Neah Bay, WA to Westport in Gray's Harbor, WA, provided Captain Rick and Kelly with dense fog and an encounter with a crab trap after midnight, which they were able to partially remove.  The adventures had started.  They determined that US Coast Guard assistance was prudent to tow SV Kalagan into the nearest harbour, as they could not run the engine with line still entangled in the propeller. A diver removed the offending remains and the propeller and shaft appeared fine.
After a fairly restful night in Westport, the boats left Friday (September 12th) for an even longer leg and planned to go out further (20 miles) to minimize the chance of further encounters of the crab pot kind. As of noon (September 13th) they've arrived safely at Newport, Oregon and look forward to stretching their sea legs, and seeing the aquarium, museum and local sites.

SV Kalagan is travelling in company with SV Dolphin Tales (a Beneteau 361) and their plans are to reach San Francisco, by harbour hopping along the coast.

Welcome - Join us and INTREPID II on our long anticipated adventures

Welcome!

The timing is right to start to share some of our "behind the scenes" boating activities which have been keeping us busy these past few years. Stay tuned for some background information about our very special magic carpet SV INTREPID II which is being set up to sail us away sometime soon. Creating and maintaining a journal online should be an excellent way to keep you aware of how our plans are progressing, show you the places we visit and share our challenges and adventures.

Here are a series of photos showing  INTREPID (as she has been known at home in Blue Hill Maine) looking immaculate and ready for new owners.

INTREPID on the hard in Blue Hill, Maine

Cockpit 

The Helm

The Galley

Navigation Station with under-seat storage

Looking forward inside cabin

V-berth with lockers 

Sea trials

The logistics of searching for a suitable offshore vessel, discovering and purchasing SV INTREPID, deciding the best option was to have her trucked across the northern United States to Anacortes, Washington, arranging all the details and agonizing over various delays was challenging. Once Kelly had completed all the arrangements he could in Maine, he flew home and kept his fingers crossed. We finally received a call from the delivery company that she would be arriving in Anacortes asap (lack of notice was a whole other issue) so Kelly dropped everything and hurried off.  He took delivery of our new sailboat, not without some issues, as the mast had some damage which occurred during the trip and set about to re-commissioning INTREPID in the works yard at Cap Sante Marina.

A week or so of hard effort on her new Captain's part and it was time to sail home to Victoria.  Carol 'sailed' to Anacortes via the U.S. ferry from Sidney and was introduced in person while INTREPID was still on the hard.  Our journey back went smoothly as we oriented ourselves to this impressive sailing vessel which would be our focus for many years ahead.  Once home in Canada, she became SV INTREPID II and settled in at North Sidney Marina.

Captain Kelly sailing INTREPID II to her new home 

Proud new Owners

Here's to our Cruising Plans

Here's to making those plans a reality!