Around the Horn

Well...it sure it hard to work full-time, and do anything else. We both come home zapped at the end of the day. It appears we're a little soft. I guess we need some time to build up our endurance.

While you're waiting for me to get enough energy to write a blog post, you might want to check this out. Our friend John, who we met in Majuro and visited in Alaska, has decided to sail a small, engineless boat around the Horn. You can read about it here: http://ajohnbankstrip.com/ 

Fair winds JOHN!!

Molly II - going around the Horn

What's In Your Ditch Bag??

Like most offshore sailors, we kept a ditch bag full of very important, life-saving necessities near the companionway exit when we were on a long passage. The common thinking is that if the snot really hits the fan, you can grab your ditch bag on your way to the life raft. Uh-huh.

Well, regardless of whether you'll have the time or the where-with-all to grab the bag, it's a good idea. And don't just think this only applies to those of us who live a watery existence. Back when we lived a land based life, we also kept an emergency plastic tub with a few essentials handy, just in case.

Since I’m unpacking the boat, I've brought home our ditch bag. So...here's what we put in our ditch bag. I'm curious to know what you put in yours. What are we missing??

We use a duffle bag with backpack straps to enable an easy exit and keep our hands free. Yep, we still drool over those fancy yellow bags that float and have perfectly sized partitions for all your 'stuff', but this was a better fit for our budget (ie: free). Everything is double-triple bagged in ziplocs.

Here's what's in it:

• Fancy EPIRB (Emergency Beacon with GPS)
• SPOT (another beacon to call for help, or let your friends know where you are)
• binoculars
• first aid kit, gauze, bandaids, slings, splint, tensors, suture kits, and ana pen etc.
• seasickness meds and T3s
• gps with batteries
• signaling devices: strobe light, flash lights, laser light, glow sticks, whistles
• gerber multi-tool
• copies of passports and boat papers
• waterproof notebook and pencil, playing cards
• sunscreen and emergency blanket
• sail repair thread (should have included a needle)
• hazard kit (includes foil water pouches and some type of expired food 'product', toilet paper, garbage bags, and other stuff).

Some stuff that isn't in this picture, that we usually put in the bag for our big passages:

• cash and passports
• satellite phone
• handheld vhf radio
• hard drive with photo backups (yeah, I'm a photo-crazed fool)
• sunglasses
• a book
• chocolate (most of it was eaten on our final days at sea...running out of chocolate is definitely an emergency situation aboard Renova).

We also had a second bag that was tied on that had our supply of flares. We kept a jug of water tied on deck, with a knife nearby to cut it loose. On our North Pacific passage, we put our wetsuits into a dry bag and left that near the exit also.

What We're Up To...

Well, I know what I haven't been up to...this blog. Nor have I sorted out the millions of photos from the last few weeks of our travels. Hmmm...maybe this weekend??  We'll see. But no promises...I know better than that!

What we have been doing - well, John's working. Building a massive addition onto a friend's house, and then reno-ing the original part of the house. Big project and he's so happy to be working.

Me? Not nearly so productive (financially speaking, that is). What I have been doing is a lot of laundry. Everything on the boat (stinky, moldy, yucky) and everything that we pull out of storage (stinky, dusty, yucky). That's been fun, but the weather has been super-fan-tabulous, so at least I can put most stuff outside to dry. Sorta like boat living.

What else? Well, I'm still looking for a job. I'm also trying to catch up with some friends and family. Cleaning the boat and bringing home duffel bag after duffel bag full of boat stuff. Fixing my recovering-from-being-left-in-storage car (with help from fix-it videos on YouTube). But mostly, what I've spent most of my time on is this: www.CapeDory36.com. Still not finished. But to my faithful blog readers...maybe you'd take a look and give me some tips or feedback??

Home Sweet Home

It is good to be home.

The flags of all the places we visited on this voyage.

We're settling in. We're catching up with friends and family. We're learning about current events. We're doing heaps of laundy. We're texting.

It feels good. It feels right. In many ways, it's like we've never left! And yet, in other ways...we can't believe we're stepping away from this wonderful lifestyle...for now.

John starts work tomorrow. I'm still looking. 

Last Night

This could be our last night.

It's weird to be going home. Finally. We're both excited and really looking
forward to being closer to friends and family. We're also really looking
forward to seeing our bank account move in a direction that is not so
depressing. And...oh, how we yearn for a real mattress. And a substantial
shower. And endless fresh veggies.

We've been blessed to be able to travel the Pacific. Meet amazing people.
See phenomenal places. Learn about resilient and wonderful cultures. Dig
deep into ourselves. Read. Swim. Fish. Frolic. Truly blessed. A trip of a
lifetime.

Old Posts...New Pictures

We've made a short stop in beautiful Pruth Bay...with FREE INTERNET!! Wahoo!!

In between walking these amazing beaches, and catching up with our friend Frank, who's working up here, I've updated the following posts with a few pictures. I'm not totally caught up yet. But soon...
Haida Gwaii - North Coast
Haida Gwaii - Skedans
Haida Gwaii - Tanu
Haida Gwaii - Windy Bay
Haida Gwaii - New Crew and Hot Springs

We're getting closer to home. We expect to be back in Campbell River in less than a week. Wow. We're shooting for a Friday or Saturday arrival. We're looking forward to it!

Also - We're almost out of sat phone minutes. So we're not checking emails on a daily basis at the moment. Sorry if we've been slow in responding to recent emails.

Crossing Hecate...again

Aug 24

Here we go again - crossing the notorious Hecate Strait. And once again, it
is glassy calm and we motor the entire way. We leave after dinner, and
decide to push all the way to Shearwater, arriving in early afternoon. We'd
passed by a couple popular fishing spots, and we resolved to return here and
fish in the next couple of days.

Our two days in Shearwater were a blur. I battled with a snail slow internet
connection. John did a few boat projects - changing oil and zincs, and
repairing the autopilot that quit on the way here.

As we were getting ready to head out...a familiar boat pulled into the
dock...the Great Dane! John's uncle!! What a coincidence! We decide to spend
another night on the dock and have a great time catching up over dinner with
George and Rose, who even agreed to suffer through a few of our trip photos.


But the cruising kitty is empty, and we need to get off this dock, so we
took off looking forward to exploring some areas of the central coast that
we didn't get to the last time we were up here in 2008. Only a week till we
need to be back in Campbell River - so we plan to make good use of our time
here and enjoy every last moment!

A Week in Gwaii Haanas

Aug 21

The southern portion of Moresby Island in Haida Gwaii is Gwaii Haanas, a
Haida Heritage Site, National Park Reserve, and National Marine Conservation
Area Reserve. We had a week to explore with my family. Of course, the first
thing we did when they arrived was head to the Hot Springs (Gandll K'in
Gwaay.yaay). We managed to spend most of the day frolicking in the springs,
testing each of the pools, and some of us even jumped between tide pools on
the beach and the adjacent hot pools. What heaven.

A big highlight was visiting SGang Gwaay on Anthony Island - an ancient
Haida village recognized as a UNESCO world heritage site. This site was
amazing with its many long house pits, standing corner posts, poles and
other remains. This site is in much better condition that the others we've
seen, as it was the last village on this island to be occupied on a
full-time basis. All 6 of us were enthralled by the site, snapping away on
our cameras madly, as Elsie toured us through the village and explained this
historic significance of the area. I feel privileged to be able to see this
site, before the landscape takes over and returns the area to it's natural
state.

The remainder of the week was spend fishing, crabbing, and exploring. We
ventured through the exciting Burnaby Narrows, up Louscoone Inlet, down to
Cape St James, into sandy Woodruff Bay, and all around Kunghit Island. We
saw plenty of whales, a few porpoises, and oddly enough, we even saw a
SHARK! We caught a couple salmon, many rock fish, and some crabs along the
way. We ate like kings!

It all went by so quickly and a very short week later we were in Rose
Harbour awaiting the boat that would pick them up and return them to
Sandspit. What a week - full of sun, fish, crab, and lots of laughs!! Now it
really feels good to be coming home!

Snug as a Bug in a Rug

Aug 15

My family arrived for a week with us at Haida Gwaii. My Mum, Dad, sister Amy
and Strahan all showed up alongside Renova ferried to our location by a
local tour company. If only Mike and Tara were here, we would be complete.

If you've been on Renova, or been following the blog for a while, you're
probably scratching your head wondering where everyone would sleep. We too
puzzled over this difficulty. On paper, Renova has space to sleep 6, but we
use one of her bunks as our 'garage'. The "pull out" berth at the table has
food bins stashed behind, and behind the other settee are three large
windsurf sails. Not exactly four star accommodations. But my family are
pretty laid back so they arrived undeterred and toting sleeping bags and a
tent!

It turned out that we all slept very comfortable. Well, at least I didn't
hear any complaints! Amy and Strahan ventured to the beach and slept with
the bears and deer on a couple of nights. The remaining evenings, they made
use of the cockpit and set up a cozy nest outside. We were so lucky with the
weather, it didn't rain once. Amazing.

It's a common cruising adage that the perfect boat will seat 6 for drinks, 4
for dinner, and sleep 2. We've always thought that was a pretty good
description of Renova. But now we know her true capabilities. She can sleep
six snoring family members with no problems, provided that everyone is
offered complimentary earplugs. We've also learned that she can handle 11
good friends squeezed into the cockpit for cocktails. And just once, we had
8 people cuddled into the cockpit for a yummy birthday dinner. It's no
wonder we have a bad case of two-foot-itis!

Haida Gwaii - New Crew and Hot Springs

We were surprised to get a call on the radio one evening, with the news that
our crew was just around the corner! The company they had hired to drop them
off was re-scheduling some of their trips, and brought them a day early. We
had a nice evening catching up and planning where we would go tomorrow!

We spent our first day at Hot Springs Island. Amazing. One of our favourite
hot springs anywhere. There are three beautiful pools overlooking the ocean
- magical!

They Arrive!! HURRAY!

My idea of heaven.