Sail to Ganges Harbour

I had been sitting for 3 days of my “week off” of work, and had decided that it is time to get the f*ck out of here and do some sailing. I departed the marina at 7 or so in the morning and set a course for the east side of Coal Island. I knew I was leaving against the tide, but even if I stood still in the ocean, I would be standing still with sails full :-). I battled light winds for an hour getting to the top end of Sidney Spit, and got to the edge of the “Coal Hole” where I ran up my Asymmetrical for the first time. It was an awesome feeling to have that sail up. I flew it wing-on-wing (as you can see below) and it really performed well.

The tide wasn’t turning until lunch so I had a hard beat through the current around Coal island, but I eventually broke free and passed Canoe Rock between Morseby and Portland Island. I broke out into Swanson Channel and the wind picked up and I set a course ENE and proceeded to have some lunch at 5 knots.

Wing On Wing with the Gennaker

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After lunch I changed tacks and headed for Captains passage. I had a hair raising moment as I was in a pretty good swell, and the chop was about 2 feet when I blew out the clew of the headsail with a Seaspan ferry on my ass. I had to work quickly to get up on the foredeck, drop the sail, reset the clew and get it up again. I also had an accidental gybe and lost my awesome orange toque in the process. I did manage to keep my head though so I am not complaining about it.

I eventually made it to Captains passage where I hove-to for a much needed break and took a picture or two. You can see the lighthouse in the photos above. It was 3 or so when I got to the corner of Saltspring and the wind died shortly thereafter. At 5pm I was headed for Ganges for the first time.

I figured I would drop the hook in the harbour, but wasn’t counting on the other 4 billion boats in the ocean beating me to the harbour :(. I arrived and found a mess. The radio was crackling about a boat currently dragging anchor in Ganges and the wind (you know, the one I couldn’t find an hour earlier?) was all bottled up at the harbour.

I motored around but there was not lots of room anywhere close to anchor, and after the seaplanes chased me around for a bit, I pointed the boat south and headed for home. I got to see an awesome sunset and got in after dark around 10:30pm, where my neighbors cheered me on for a fantastic docking procedure.

In the morning I saw a half a bottle of Rum on the dock, and that is when I realized they would have been congratulating me for a nice docking even if I had just bounced in to my berth like a pinball. :-)

I made 40+nm and had a great time on a 14 hour trip. I learned that my running lights all work, and overall I had a really enjoyable trip.