Past Events
Our 2020 Saturday Boat Work Parties and Co-op Sails (after each work party):
#69 Jan 18, #70 Feb 15, March to July cancelled, #71 Aug 15, #72 Sep 19, #73 Oct 17, Nov and Dec cancelled
A trip with Felix Aug 29-Sep 1, 2020
(story by Guillaume):
It was late August and another hot summer was starting to wind down on Vancouver Island. Once again, our trusty Felix and his acolyte, Pigledy the dinghy were requested to isolate in the Gulf Islands for a couple of days. With the current and under minimal wind, we left Oak Bay Marina around noon that day. A gentle breeze greeted us as we got into the straight of Haro and carried us over to Pender Island where we decided we were going to spend our first night. Dinner in Bedwell Harbour was peaceful, and the clear skies of the day set the stage for a postcard sunset.
Clouds rolled in overnight but the sun took back the center stage when it was time for us to leave our cozy cove around noon the next day. Once again a calm wind brought us to our second island, Sidney and made for a very relaxing sail. Our sunset dinner by the Spit was equally memorable as the previous one with Mount Baker thundering in the distance.
The next morning was our last day at sea, so we tried to make the most of it by exploring Sidney Island a little while waiting for the tide to turn in our favour. We walked to the end of the spit which is almost 2 km long and ventured through the park area afterward. Biodiversity was abundant everywhere we went, from crabs to otters and tall lush trees despite the lack of rain for the past several weeks.
We started heading back towards our home port late that afternoon and arrived just before sunset.
Thank you again Felix for another great sail.
Sailing Course for co-op members... was planned but cancelled due to COVID.
AGM was held online on June 23, 2020 (Jim McLauchlan's birthday!).
General Meeting was held online on April 21, 2020 - a general meeting with just one topic... how to get by this year??
General Meeting was held on March 12, 2020 (our last in-person event for quite a while).
Our 2019 Saturday Boat Work Parties and Co-op Sails (after each work party):
#57: Jan 19, #58 Feb 16, #59 Mar 16, #60 Apr 20, #61 May 18, #62 June 15, #63 July 20, #64 Aug 17, #65 Sep 21, #66 Oct 19, #67 Nov 16, #68 Dec 21
AGM 2019:
This was held on June 26. We have 5 instead of 4 directors now. We talked about recent repairs on Felix, finances, the budget, maintenance and improvements for Phoebe, possible "casual" racing and possiblechanges to our SOP.
World Oceans Week 2019:
June 2 to 9 was World Oceans Week, with World Oceans Day on Saturday June 8, 2019.
Here is a link to the main website: https://www.worldoceansday.org
There were lots of events worldwide.
This links to an e-newsletter: https://mailchi.mp/b4c8df5073bd/events-news-and-views-for-the-ocean-mind...
Co-op General Meeting:
on Saturday, May 18, 2019
This was a short General Meeting were we decided to remove some of the boat booking restrictions and to clarify/adjust our rules regarding guests on the boats.
Celebration of Life for Jim McLauchlan:
on Saturday, May 4, 2019
Jim McLauchlan, Chief Instructor of the "Oak Bay Sailing School", Mentor and Friend of the Victoria Sailing Co-op, and Victoria Harbour Ferry Captain, had died on May 7, 2018. In the morning of May 4, 2019, five Harbour Ferries and "Felix", one of Jim's favourite boats, motored out of the harbour for the scattering of ashes. In the afternoon people gathered at “The Bent Mast" for food and songs and stories and fun memories. It was a great event.
Co-op General Meeting on Tuesday, March 19, 2019:
- a time to talk, meet, make some plans (what co-op sailing trips? Swiftsure planning update? any other events? who will be attending the sailing course? who would like to go cruising in the summer? …. as far as people know this at the early time in the year), and to renew memberships.
Our 2018 Saturday Boat Work Parties and Co-op Sails (after each work party):
#45: Jan 20, #46 Feb 17, #47 Mar 17, #48 Apr 21, #49 May 19, #50 June 16, #51 July 21, #52 August 18, #53 Sep. 15, #54 Oct. 20, #55 Nov. 17, #56 Dec.15.
Christmas Party December 8, 2018
Another fun event, although only sparsely attended. We had a "new" room - up on the 12th floor with views of Victoria, very nice!
On Friday, October 19, 2018 we had a meeting about ownership of "Felix".
We passed several motions, and one was to introduce an overnight fee. To make keeping track of this easier we decided to make this a fee when boats are reserved ahead for a full day.
More importantly, though, the co-op is now ready to accept loans from all members - with interest!! Please contact Doug Prescott if you can help out in this way. (BTW these loans will be used for the sole purpose of paying for Felix.)
Our Sep. 9 Co-op Day sail did not have the right weather, or the right date..... only two of us showed up.
Felix went on a trip:
(story by Uschi)
Aug 26 to Sep 2 2018: Uschi, Barry and our daughter Helen went sailing.... to Sidney Spit, then Genoa Bay, Clam Bay (north of Thetis Island), Conover Bay, Divers Bay, Bedwell Harbour, Sidney Spit and then back to Oak Bay. It was a week where the smoke diminished to "hardly noticeable", and the temperature dropped a bit. But we still went swimming, and I slept outside a few times. Helen went back home a few days early, and we dropped her off at Otter Bay. Otter Bay has a really nice marina, and it is a great place to switch boat crews since it is close to the ferry terminal.
Co-op trip to Maple Bay:
June 29-July 2 2018. This was a one-boat trip with only two people! (It was nice, though, and we renewed our friendship with VanIsle Sailing Co-op.) And we tried out Piggeldy's motor.
This year's AGM was on Thursday, June 21, 2018.
World Oceans Day was on Friday, June 8, 2018
We had planned a sail in the afternoon but it was pouring rain and unpleasant. So we just sat on Felix and enjoyed life in the harbour. :-))
More info about World Oceans Day:
Swiftsure Race on May 26, 2018
Felix participated in the Inshore Classic and did very well!! (Report by Roland)
Yesterday, May 26, Max, Doug, Chris Lentz, Michael Clavelle and Graham and I raced the 75th Swiftsure Inshore Cruising Non Flying sails race. It was my second race, my first being last Wednesday, and my first as skipper. Chris & Doug also had some racing experience.
We motored to the start at Clover Point. We had a poor start, mainly because I hung too far back from the start line. He headed upwind to the first mark, one tack and we were around and then a long downwind run past trial island. We made good time downwind, closing some of the gap to the other boats, but it wasn't enough. We headed up Mayor Channel to the finish at RVYC, finishing just over 1 minute ahead of a Catalina 27 named Paradise and 5 minutes behind another Catalina named Journey.
It was a good event, next year lets get both boats in the race. And maybe go downtown as well for the festivities.
I highly recommend racing to the other coop members, it really makes you work on your sail trimming. If anybody wants to race, show up at RVYC at 5:30 and hang out by the docks, you'll usually get on a boat.
Pedder Bay
We went to Pedder Bay on May 19 and back to Oak Bay on May 21.
General Meeting on Saturday, May 19
At the Oak Bay Marina Coffee Shop we held a short General Meeting. The only topic at this meeting was a special resolution to change our SOP:
Resolution:
To change Section 6, #3 of our SOP from
"Co-op boats may not to be used for organized racing.”
to
"Co-op boats may not to be used for organized racing without prior written approval of the directors.”
The resolution was approved by all present.
Day Sail.... on May 6.
General Meeting
was held on Monday, March 5, 2018 at 7 pm, at Unit D, 830 Pembroke St., Victoria.
Our 2017 Saturday Boat Work Parties and Co-op Sails (after each work party):
work party # 33: January 21, #34 Feb 18, #35 Mar 18, #36 Apr 15, #37 May 20, #38 June 17, #39 July 15, #40 Aug 19, #41 Sep 17 (Felix only, with sailing on the days before and after), #42 Oct 21, #43 Nov. 18 (went out sailing in both boats), #44 Dec. 16
Our Christmas Party was on Friday, December 15, 2017, with lots of godd food and drinks, a sailing slideshow, and Presents for the Boats - they got flashlights, pillowcases, an iPad, new flares, material for another reefing line....
Pub Night on Sunday November 19th at the Bent Mast in James Bay, 512 Simcoe St, Victoria
This was a fun evening! Matthew Parsons joined us for a beer, some pub food and a chat. He is planning a solo trip around the world after initially buying a boat just to live on it. You can read his blog here <http://www.gudgeonblog.ca/about/> . We are looking forward to dropping in and having a tour of his boat.
Felix Haul-out 2017 postscript
A week later Guillaume got a power washer and cleaned Felix's decks. Felix loooked GREAT after that!
Felix Haul-out 2017
- a 6-day affair - (posted by Uschi)
On Saturday September 16 Felix sailed from Oak Bay to Sidney, with Doug Prescott as the skipper, and was left at North Saanich Marina overnight.
The next morning, September 17, Felix came out of the water. 9 of us worked on the boat, and one supplied beer!
The boat bottom looked quite good; after the power washing (done by the Westport people) there was no growth anywhere, except a bit on the propeller (beginning barnacles?).
Work done:
- sanded the bottom (except where the boat supports were)
- painted the bottom blue (except where the boat supports were)
- scrubbed and sanded the propeller
- dealt with rain and set up tarps to prevent water dripping onto the new paint
- put 2 new Zn anodes on the propeller shaft
- tried to clean the white hull part above the waterline: a big challenge – we tried with different cleaners and even rented a buffer, but without much success
In the early evening 4 of us had dinner at the Stonehouse Pub.
Next day, Monday September 18, we had the boat supports moved in the morning, and Doug and Uschi returned to cleaning the while hull, this time with a different cleaner (something meant to clean and wax at the same time). It still did not work perfectly - it looks like next time we have to use yet a different cleaner - one that apparently WILL take all the stains off, but it will also remove all the wax. However we certainly treated and polished the entire white part of the hull, and while is still is not snowy white, a lot of small marks did disappear. - We then applied the second coat of paint.
On Tuesday September 19 we finally finished - Uschi had the support pads moved once more and applied the second coat of paint to the areas when the supports had been, plus a third coat to the rudder and the front of the keel. In the afternoon Doug and Barry moved Felix back to North Saanich Marina.
Roland skippered Felix back to Oak Bay on Thursday the 21st.
Co-op Sail on September 10, 2017:
(Story by Uschi)
This was meant to be a "fleet sail" with both boats, but we ended up being just 3 people - Uschi, Barry, and Brian M. So we just took Felix, and because there was very little wind we went for a slow, with-the-tides trip towards Esquimalt Lagoon and then back. We motor-sailed part of the way back because we had not realized how late it was.
This was no speedy or exciting sailing, but the weather was summery, we had lovely views, and it was really nice!
Co-op Trip to Maple Bay, Canada Day Long Weekend 2017:
(Story by Uschi)
We went to Maple Bay again and met up with the VanIsle Sailing Co-op from Nanaimo. Since not too many people had signed up (especially for the trip coming back from Maple Bay) we just took Felix, and left Phoebe at Oak Bay.
Starting out on Friday, June 30, were Guillaume, Uschi, Barry and Julie (visiting). We sailed most of the way and only had to motor towards the end of the trip. It was getting quite late, and we had booked a slip at Westport Marina (not Port Sidney, unfortunately), but we stopped at the customs dock of Port Sidney Marina where Guillaume and Julie hopped off. They were able to connect with Bill and Teri, watch the fireworks, and then drive back together to Victoria. Barry and I continued to Westport Marina in the twilight, arrived safely, and took a bit too long before we walked to a look-out point near the marina. This way we managed to watch just the last 15 seconds of the half-hour fireworks. Oh well, better than nothing, and lots of people told us that the fireworks had been great!
Saturday, July 1, was quite a fun day. Isaak arrived in the morning with a big heavy bag containing a collapsible double kayak. We sailed to Portland Island and anchored in Princess Cove. Isaak, the kayak bag and I rowed ashore in Piggeldy, and Isaak put the kayak together. I went back to Felix, and we took off back to Sidney, picking Bill and Teri up at Port Sidney Marina. It was windy and wavy, and a high-speed sail. The way back to Portland Island was similar, and it was especially fun to pass another sailboat which was motoring.
Isaak had been paddling around the area and then had collapsed the kayak and done some hiking. Bill and Teri rowed ashore to pick him up, but they and Isaak had never met, so they missed each other (we tried to phone them, but first Bill's and then Teri's phone started ringing somewhere on Felix....). It ended up with Bill and Teri going for a walk on the island while Isaak came back to Felix by himself.
Next, Barry rowed over to pick up Teri and Bill, but they had already gotten a ride - they arrived in a dinghy not much bigger than Piggeldy, carrying them and two more adults plus a dog. :-))
We sat around and relaxed with food and coffee before heading back to Westport Marina.
In the evening we heard some kind of beeping from one of the other boats. An alarm re. bilge water, or propane? It took quite a while to find someone who could contact the owners, who reacted with "again...??!!" before coming down to the boat and switching off their faulty alarm.
On Sunday, July 2, it was just Barry and me sailing to Maple Bay. We started a bit late and therefore motored through the little channels by Canoe Cove instead of sailing around Coal Island, but after that it was all sailing with the wind and the tide, gybing x times, sailing through Sansum Narrows at exactly slack water, and arriving at Maple Bay even before the Van Isle boats. We had time to sit and read a bit, and I went for a row and a lovely swim in the sheltered bay just beyond the marina.
Van Isle arrived with 4 boats and a total of about 15-20 people (some came by car), while we had 1 boat and 4 people (Teri and Bill came by car for the evening). Like last year we had a nice dinner together, played some games and got re-aquainted. It was fun.
Next day everyone went back home. Van Isle took off before us since they had to catch the tide change at Dodd Narrows. Bruce came out by bus, and the three of us sailed back just to Sidney. Since it was flooding in the morning we went north for a while (looking for wind, too), and since there was no wind we tried to re-set the autopilot. For that, we had to drive in slow circles - our track, as recorded by Navionics, looks quite funny!!
Eventually we turned south, sailed through the Narrows and all the way (at good speed, too) to the ferry terminals in Sidney where we did some heaving-to and a circle to let a ferry leave before crossing its path. Motoring back through the channels we got to North Saanich Marina at about 6:30 pm and then took the city bus home.
AGM:
Our 4th AGM was on Wednesday, June 28, 2017, at 7 pm
Some of the decisions: Election of 3 directors (Patrick O'Hara, Bill Adair, Uschi Leslie), Revision of SOP, Fee structure change as of April 2018
World Oceans Day Co-op Sail on June 4, 2017:
World Oceans Day was on Thursday, June 8. Since we had already planned another day-long Co-op sail on Sunday, June 4 - we sailed for World Ocean Day on the 4th! It wasn't a day-long sail, since fairly high winds were forecast, but we did go out and enjoy the water.
Here is some more information:
http://www.worldoceansday.org/below-the-surface/setting-sail-for-world-o...
http://www.sailorsforthesea.org/programs/green-boating-guide
Co-op Trip to Pedder Bay May 20-22, 2017:
Our work party on May 20 was spent preparing for this trip; we left as planned around 12:30 pm. Barry and Uschi sailed Felix, Dorrie and Chris and Brian sailed Phoebe. Phoebe started ahead by half an hour or so since Uschi and Barry were a bit slow to get ready, and then went for a sandwich at the coffee shop.
The wind was blowing nicely at up to 15 kn, although it insisted on coming right from where we wanted to go. So we did our usual zig-zag course; Phoebe did a really long zig down south, way into the strait, and then was almost able to zag right into Pedder Bay. Felix tacked more often and stayed closer to the shore; we got a good look at the ships moored near Esquimalt Harbour.
Arrival at Pedder Bay Marina was about 6 pm. For Felix to get into the slip we had to make a 180 degree turn pretty much in one spot, with the wind blowing. Barry did this beautifully (and then we relaxed too much and (gently) bumped into the dock). We spent some time sitting and talking; then all three Phoebe sailors went back to Victoria; Uschi and Barry stayed on Felix. Emily came down in the evening.
On Sunday, May 21, we were 4 people to go sailing on Felix: Emily, Bill, Uschi, and Barry. There was little wind, but we sailed around Race Rocks and listened to the sea lions barking away. Great sunshine!
Monday, May 22 (Victoria Day), we returned to Oak Bay - Barry and Uschi on Felix, Dorrie and Brian on Phoebe. We motored several stretches since there was so little wind, but even without the motoring we were moving along quite fast since the tide was with us all the way. Felix's speed over the ground south of Trial Island was 7 kn. Arrival at Oak Bay was about 4 pm, and then we all spent a pleasant time on Felix, chatting and finishing up our food and drinks.
No payment was necessary at Pedder Bay Marina since it belongs to the "Oak Bay Group". It was a lovely trip, and we would have had room for way more people - maybe we did not announce this trip early enough, and/or too many of us already had plans for the long May weekend.
"Fleet Sail" on Sunday, May 7, 2017
We started out at about 10:30 am with 4 of us on Felix and 4 on Phoebe. Felix and Phoebe were creeping slowly with very little wind through Baynes Channel and then towards Cordova Bay. By the time we had rafted up and prepared for a leisurely lunch (and had a "bathroom" break for Phoebe's sailors), however, the wind had increased to 10 kn or so, and we ended up having lunch on un-rafted boats and then sailing back with good speed. We got back at 4 pm exactly and then spent some time just sitting around, talking, eating all the leftover food and even having some wine. A great way to spend this beautiful sunny day!
March 7, 2017 at 7 pm we held a General Meeting
to sign up / renew memberships, discuss a special resolution re. boat ownership, discuss plans for the summer, etc.
On Monday March 6th we had a Pub Night at the Penny Farthing Public House in Oak Bay with Special Guest Steve McBride who is the Sailing Program Co-Ordinator at the Royal Victoria Yacht Club, and award.winning coach, AND who coached John McRoberts and Jackie Gay to a Silver Medal at the Rio Paralympics. We were about 15 people, and it was really interesting to hear about Steve's experiences.
Another Directors Meeting was on Monday, January 30, 6:30 pm at Tim Hortons on Gorge Road (456 Gorge Rd E, near Bridge St.).
We talked about:
- the BAC report
- recommendations to the co-op, re. boat acquisition
- schedule a date for a general meeting in February to discuss Phoebe / Felix
- how to vote at that meeting (online, after the meeting?)
- membership in / advice from the BC Co-op Association?
- “honorary” members
One of our directors resigned after this meeting; he thought the co-op was making poor decisions.
Our 2016 Saturday Boat Work Parties and Co-op Sails (after each work party):
work party # 21: January 16, # 22 Feb. 20, # 23 March 19, # 24 April 16, # 25th May 21, # 26 June 18, #27 July 16, #28 August 20, #29 September 17, #30 October 22-23, #31 November 19 (sailing with lots of wind!!), #32 December 17.
Our winter Potluck Dinner Party on Friday, December 16, 2016 with great food and fun company, and a short directors meeting before that.
We had a nice Pub Night at "The Bent Mast" on November 21.
Directors Meeting
We met on October 24 to talk about how to put action to the motion passed on Oct 3 (regarding the prevention of financial loss for Uschi and Barry due to providing the boats for the co-op). There were several ideas, and we plan to bring what we thought was the best idea to the membership at a special general meeting to vote on - probably on November 21. More news to follow!
Here's more news: No special general meeting after all. Our next meeting will be in December, a meeting plus potluck / party, probably on Friday Dec. 16. And even more news: We had a pub night on November 21, and will have no meeting in December either - but a potluck dinner.
Phoebe Haul-out, Oct. 2016
Some of us were at Oak Bay Marina Coffee Shop at 9 am on Saturday, Oct 15, but since the weather was not great we just had coffee and chatted.
We did not have enough people available to sail both boats to Sidney this time; the weather did not co-operate as much as in previous years, plus it was quite noticeable that this haul-out was a month later than last year. James and Uschi sailed Phoebe to Sidney on Friday Oct. 21 (mostly against the current, as usual!), and Marc, Dorrie and Max brought Phoebe back on Oct 28.
Here is a summary of the work done:
Saturday:
- had the boat out and pressure-washed
- found lots of dents and scratches on the keel
- scrubbed and scratched off a layer of old antifouling paint
- found a knotmeter wheel under layers of paint
- had boat supports moved and scrubbbed/scratched where supports had been
- polished the red hull part
- scuffed up the white stripe
- taped above the white stripe
- painted below the waterline (blue now instead of black), including where the white stripe was
.... had lunch at Joe's at Canoe Cove
- waited for paint to dry
- had boat supports moved and painted 1st coat where supports had been, 2nd coat everywhere else
- waited for paint to dry
- had boat supports moved and painted 2nd coat where supports had been
.... had dinner at the Stonehouse Pub
Sunday:
- plugged a small hole in the rudder (in the upper part)
- sat in the boat and sorted through all the screws and tape in the various boxes
- cleaned inside while waiting for the put-back-in-the-water time
- when the supports were taken away and the boat was moved onto a vehicle, several areas of paint came off!! And not just the paint we had put on - in places ALL the paint came off so that we could see the original red bottom of the boat
- annoying as this was we put new blue paint on those spots, and at the next haulout we may have to take ALL the old paint off.
By the time the boat was in the water (almost 2 pm) it was too late to start off for Oak Bay, so we (Doug, Barry, Uschi) went for a sail towards Forrest Island and then to North Saanich Marina. The boat sailed really nicely :-))
We painted over the white stripe because part of it was in the water all the time. Now all the underwater parts of the boat have antifouling paint on them.
Marlene and Dan inspected various parts of the boat. Some things to note:
- the turning valve (toilet inlet) looks ok
- the white paint is coming off the upper deck; this is difficult to repair since the deck is textured, and it is really hard to get all the old paint off. Dan advised to scrub the area with a foam brush to clean it up and make new paint stick, and then paint it over
- there is a thin crack in the gelcoat on the transom; we can't know how deep it is; should it ever cause a "soft spot" in that area (no sign of that yet) some sanding and repair would be needed.
- the lower shrouds don't have to be tight and can stay as they are; they certainly should not be tighter that the upper shrouds
While starting out sailing we noticed that it was really hard to raise the sail. So we put on some lubricant on the sliders, and that made a huge difference. :-)) (It was quick to do this, too.... so if more effort is needed to raise the sail, it may just need lubricant again.)
17 co-op members were involved if I counted correctly - thanks, everyone, for your work and good company.
General Meeting
We had a really loooooooong general meeting on October 3, 2016! But please don't get too worried, the next meetings will not be as long.
We talked about lots of things; one issue was boat ownership. The co-op recognized that Uschi's and Barry's financial outlay (>$26,000) to sail in the co-op was way bigger than anybody else's ($400). So the co-op passed a motion to express its intention to make sure that Uschi and Barry will not be left with a financial loss due to starting the co-op.
Two weeks with Felix and Piggeldy, July 2016 (story by Uschi)
This was our longest sailing trip by far – almost 2 weeks; starting on Monday, July 18 and returning on Saturday, July 30.
With no clear plan in mind (except to be in Ladysmith on Monday, July 25) Barry and I loaded masses of stuff into the boat and took off towards Sidney. Lynne came along, and we meant to anchor near the Sidney pier and drop her off via Piggeldy. But just around Sidney there was quite a lot of wind, and anchoring and rowing did not seem so attractive. So we dithered around, driving in circles, and finally went into Port Sidney Marina where Lynne hopped off at the customs dock. We then went to Sidney Spit and spent the night at a mooring buoy and walked around on the island the next day. There was little wind, so we just motored around some nearby islands. We had noticed what looked like a lighthouse at the western tip of Gooch Island the evening before but could not find it on the chart, so we went and looked at it. It turned out to be a private small tower.
It was great not having to be anywhere in particular, so we stopped at Princess Cove on Portland Island, just off the ferry terminal. The Rocna anchor got its first use and held nicely. In fact the whole little bay was nice, so we decided to stay overnight. It was even warm enough to go swimming, and I also went for an extended evening row in Piggeldy. A number of boats anchored overnight in the bay, and we had fun watching their anchoring techniques. One sailor in particular was impressive, coming in late and getting the anchor down within a minute. One of the boats was called “After Math” – maybe the owners are retired math teachers?
Next day we went to Cowichan Bay and stayed at the public wharf. The propane tank had gotten empty the night before, and we wanted to get it filled. Except…. it was too old to be refilled, and a new one of the same size was not available. A really nice local drove us to Duncan where we bought a new tank; then she took us to a gas station to get it filled, and then she drove us back to Cowichan Bay.
Of course the tank turned out to be slightly too large for its box; we could not close the lid. But otherwise it worked fine.
After looking at Genoa Bay we went through Sansum Narrows and then sailed up Houston Passage towards Clam Bay at the north side of Thetis and Penelakut Islands. The wind got less and less and we finally motored the last bit. Clam Bay was big, with lots of boats but also lots of space. I went rowing again, this time through “The Cut” between the two islands. It felt like going through the Panama Canal, with bends, and with lakes at the sides.
Next day we did something new – we went through Porlier Pass and did our first sailing in the Salish Sea / Strait of Georgia. The wind was just right, and we went along the northeastern side of Valdez and Gabriola Islands, ending up in Pilot Bay on Gabriola. Our guide book had mentioned a great shopping centre within a few minutes walk, but the centre had been closed down. Oh well. But there was great swimming in Taylor Bay nearby. Our anchorage in Pilot Bay was weird, though – there was little wind, but the boat moved around a lot, rolling and pitching without any apparent reason or regularity.
We discussed staying in the Nanaimo area for the day but decided to get through Dodd Narrows instead, and then continue on to Pirate’s Cove. This cove has a shallow entrance, and we waited for the tide to rise before entering… just floating around, I went swimming near the boat… nice! Inside the cove we needed the anchor plus a stern line, another new thing for us. After much discussion we decided how to do this, and it worked pretty well.
The following day (Sunday) we went to Ladysmith. Since we arrived a bit early we anchored in a little bay and went swimming. The water was great. However we noticed two not-so-great things: a) the zincs at the propeller are gone and need to be replaced asap, and b) it is just about impossible to get back on the boat using the plastic ladder we have hanging off the stern. We tried having the ladder on the side, but that is tough as well. So we took it off, and we used the fairly stiff but at least solid ladder out of the cockpit locker.
We stayed at another “Oak Bay” marina. It was a fair ways out of town, but again some friendly people drove us and dropped us off at a grocery store (“49th Parallel Groceries”), and the store delivered both us and the groceries back to the marina – great service.
On Monday Helen and her friend Katrina joined us, along with Katrina’s mom Ute. There was very little wind, so we sailed very slowly and then anchored in the “swimming” bay again. We dropped Ute off at the marina and were on our way to Chemainus. It took a long time, but we got there eventually and stayed at the public wharf.
Next we were off to Wallace Island, and Conover Cove in particular. I had wanted to go there since 2014 when we passed the island on our first sailing trip. Conover Cove is fairly small, and people use stern lines, so we got another chance to do this. Of course we went swimming, and Barry and I walked around on the island. Barry also got out the bosun’s chair and connected it to one of the spare halyards. All four of us practiced climbing up in it, and hanging over the side of the boat. It was fun, and climbing up is actually quite easy.
Wednesday afternoon we sailed on to Montague Harbour. It was really crowded – Barry counted over 130 boats. We motored around, looking for a mooring buoy, but they were all taken. So we anchored near the shore and tied yet another stern line. (We had just finished anchoring when the boat next to us left, and a buoy was available. But by this time Barry didn’t feel like a mooring buoy anymore.)
Katrina and Helen explored the harbour via Piggeldy and brought back ice for our cooler. We all went swimming, and having watched the plankton glow on the previous nights the girls planned to go for a night swim. However in the end it was a bit cool for that, so we went for a night row in Piggeldy instead. It was beautiful, like magic.
We had an abrupt start in the middle of breakfast next morning since the wind suddenly picked up and blew uncomfortably sideways against our boat. We sailed out of Montague Harbour, but when we wanted to cross over the ferry routes into Navy Channel the wind of course stopped again, so we motored across. Then the wind increased again, and we did some speedy sailing through Plumper Sound and into Port Browning. Although as soon as we entered the inlet of Port Browning the wind did the weirdest things, changing speed and direction x times. No wonder other boats just motored! (BTW the same thing happened when we left again. We must have looked funny, almost doing circles as we worked our way out of the bay.)
Helen and Katrina rented a stand-up paddle board and two paddles for an hour and had fun paddling it (usually with one of them paddling, the other being the passenger). Getting the board was a bit of a bother, though. From our mooring location at the end of the dock they walked to the rental place, $20 in hand, since a sign advertised 1 hour rental for $20. But they were told there was tax to pay as well, so they came back to the boat for another $1.40. When they got to the rental place the agent told them someone over 19 had to sign the forms. So they came back to the boat again, and I went with them to the rental place. And once we were there we found out that a credit card was needed as a deposit. Mine was on the boat. Helen was ready to forget about the whole rental by that time, but she prevailed and went back to the boat for the third time. Oh well. The agent was a young guy of 18 or so, and it was probably the first time he was in charge, so he felt he had to do things by the book.
On Friday, weather forecast permitting, we wanted to stay in a little bay between Gooch and Rum Islands. We got there around 4:30 pm and found that anchoring was a bit of a challenge. Ours was the only boat, but the bay was very small, and it was difficult to let out enough anchor rode without having to worry about drifting into the rocks should the wind shift. We anchored outside the bay in about 10 m depth, but we did not feel quite confident to be there the whole night. So we just stayed for a while; Katrina and Helen rowed ashore and went exploring while we lounged on the boat and enjoyed the beautiful scene – Haro Strait, the little islands, various birds, the quiet, the clear blue sky. We had dinner, and then we went on towards Sidney, arriving at Port Sidney Marina just as it was getting dark. We even had the running lights on for the last 10 minutes.
Saturday was our last sailing day. After breakfast in the restaurant on the pier we started out around 12 pm. The forecast was for 10-15 kn winds, increasing to 20 or so in the southern sections. Quite enough wind, but it was a head wind all day. The wind even changed direction when we did! And the current was towards the north most of the time. We sailed at 6 kn for times (heeling up to 20 degrees which Katrina found a bit alarming) but because we zig-zagged our progress between James and Sidney Islands was quite slow. Then the wind almost stopped, and we motored a bit.
Luckily the wind started up again, at about 8-9 kn, and we did one very long tack, from the southern end of Sidney Island all the way past Little Zero Rock. I had locked the steering wheel and could sit back and enjoy going along at 4.5 to 5 kn without doing anything except looking ahead every now and then.
By the time we reached Baynes Channel the wind came from the SW (where we wanted to go), but the current had finally reversed direction, and for the first time that day our speed over ground was larger than the boat speed.
The wind increased to 15 kn or so, and we sailed into Oak Bay in nice form.
On this trip the weather was just great; I think it rained only once (during the night). We had almost all our meals at the little folding table in the cockpit. And when Helen and Katrina had the V-berth, I slept outside in the cockpit under the stars – so nice!!
We used both water tanks on this trip, and we got three practices at emptying the holding tank, including how to unplug the pump. Ask Barry for details!
The wind continued to amaze me. Blow, blow, BLOW…. and stop. Change direction. Blow nice and steady. Stop again. And so on.
I think 9-10 kn is my favourite wind speed. No thoughts about reefing, and the boat is going along at good speed. Interesting, however, how little wind is needed to move the boat – even 4-5 kn of wind will get it going at 2-3 kn through the water.
Another fun trip with Felix and Piggeldy!
Navigation seminar for co-op members, led by Jim McLauchlan:
Monday, July 11, 2016 6:30-9:30 pm
Another informative evening for 10 of us - looking forward to the next one!
Jim encouraged all of us to keep all our navigation equipment together:
Tide and Current tables (good to have your own personal copy), Ruler, Notebook, Soft lead pencil (B or 2B), White eraser, Douglas protractor, handouts and own notes from the seminars, Tide and Current Atlas, etc.
Co-op outing to Maple Bay June 30 - July 3 (story by Uschi)
Our co-op went for its first bigger "whole fleet" (of 2 boats :-)) overnight cruise. Felix and Phoebe left together on Thursday afternoon around 3 pm, with Doug, Lynne and Uschi sailing Phoebe, and with Barry, Bill A., Dorrie and James on Felix. Phoebe got stuck in Baynes Channel - the wind was not very strong and directly from behind, and the tide was against us. We crept through that passage ever so slowly, sailing wing-on-wing. Since we had no whisker pole one of us used the boat hook to hold out the foresail until Lynne cleverly stuck the end of the boat hook into the companionway hatch handle. Both boats sailed most of the way to Sidney and only motored when we realized that it was getting REALLY late. Arrival at North Saanich Marina in Sidney was 9:30 pm or so, just before it got dark. Phoebe got in first, and we managed to land at a slip with the correct number but in the wrong channel of the marina. Felix came into the wrong channel, too, if only so that Barry could call over "you are at the wrong dock!" before Felix did a slow but elegant three-point turn and then headed out of the wrong channel towards the correct slip. Phoebe followed meekly behind. We all had a good time. Barry, James and I slept on Felix that night; everyone else went home.
On Friday we started out around 10:30am. Barry, James and Jennifer sailed Phoebe; Uschi, Doug, Keith and Carol sailed Felix. Since there was little wind and we had to go through the fairly narrow channels near the ferry terminal, we motored almost all the time. Calling Phoebe by direct DSC and also by cell phone, Carol solved the puzzle of why we had been able to call Phoebe ok, but Phoebe calling Felix did not work as well. - Getting near Samsun Narrows we were a bit early for the tide turn, and there was almost no wind, so our two boats rafted up and just drifted along with (mostly) the current while we all sat around on Felix, made coffee and had lunch. North of Samsun Narrows there was enough wind for sailing, so we did that for a while before going in to Maple Bay Marina.
Some of the boats from Van Isle Sailing Co-op were there already, and Keith and Carol had a happy reunion with their Nanaimo friends. In the evening lots of us had dinner in the marina restaurant - very nice. This time Keith, Carol and James stayed on Felix while Barry and I moved to Phoebe.
Saturday we only went sailing for a short time - James, Carol, Keith, Uschi, Barry - short but nice, with a ton of discussions about the best sail trim. It was a short sail because we only had two designated co-op skippers (Barry and I), and both of us wanted to watch the soccer match (Italy-Germany in the quarterfinals of EURO 2016). Later in the day I rowed around in Piggeldy, and I found a nice swimming spot and went in the water off a little island. Just in time, since temperatures dropped after that, and swimming wouldn't have been so much fun later. In the evening we joined the Van Isle Co-op BBQ with lots of excellent food, music and great company.
Sunday was our return day. Isaak, Lynne, Doug and Dorrie arrived by 9 am. I returned to Victoria driving Isaak's car (with an unplanned detour to Genoa Bay); Doug, Lynne and James took care of Phoebe while Barry, Carol, Keith, Dorrie and Isaak were on Felix. This time there was quite enough wind and they sailed most of the time.
At 2:30pm the boats arrived at the public dock in Sidney (just south of the Anacortes ferry dock) for a crew change. Since the dock was very busy, everybody who needed to get off scrambled onto Phoebe. Phoebe then had to raft up to another boat at the dock, with everyone climbing over the other boat to get ashore, and the new people coming on.
From Sidney to Oak Bay Felix sailed with Barry, Dorrie and Isaak, while Phoebe sailed with Patrick, Bill K. and James. There was good wind for most of the way; at bit before Zero Rock however the wind died, and the boats started motoring. But as soon as they had passed Zero Rock the wind increased from zero to around 20 kn, and after some fast sailing everyone had to reef. Both boats arrived at Oak Bay Marina around 7 pm in great style.
This was a fun outing! It was great to spend a longish time on the boats together and get to know each other better (for example, I learned that Doug can do the cryptic crosswords - I usually haven't the faintest idea what the clues might mean). And it was so nice to meet the Van Isle Co-op people and some of their "associates". Hopefully we can do something like this again in the not-too-distant future.
Our event manager Bill A. got this organized, with Keith and Carol also spending lots of thoughts on the trip, and in particular figuring out who would sail when on which leg on which boat, who would drive when and where, .... The emails were just flying, and the boat crews changed until the last morning. But it all worked out well - thanks everyone!!!
AGM:
Our third AGM was on Monday, June 20, 2016 at 7 pm
World Oceans Day - June 8th
World Oceans Day, held every June 8th, is the United Nations-recognized day of ocean celebration and action. People all over our blue planet organize celebrations to support action to protect the ocean. The theme is Healthy oceans, healthy planet, and special efforts to stop plastic pollution. Lots more info here: http://www.worldoceansday.org/
World Oceans Day has been unofficially celebrated every 8 June since its original proposal in 1992 by Canada at the Earth Summit in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. And one of the people who worked on the original proposal, and presented it in Rio, is Carol, who was a member of our Co-op last year.
We thought World Oceans Day while sailing during the week of June 8. And we collected some nice ocean pictures to put up on our site (which will happen soon, I hope!!).
Doug and Lynne hosted our Annual Spring Potluck Garden Party on Saturday, May 28. We were a small group, and the weather did not cooperate, but it was fun. The food was excellent and the company was great. Next time with more sunshine!!
Felix and Piggeldy to Bedwell Harbour
May 14-15, 2016 we took Felix, with Piggeldy in tow, on this year’s first overnight trip. We had thought of going west, to Pedder Bay or Beecher Bay, but there was a gale warning in Juan de Fuca Strait. So we went north instead, pushed along by southerly winds in Haro Strait. Most of the time we sailed “wing-on-wing” which made Barry happy since he got to use the “whisker pole” to hold the foresail out. He also connected a boom preventer. There were no accidental gybes, but having the preventer was very soothing!
The wind was about 5-10 kn for quite a while, and we went along at about 3-4 kn over the ground (but 5-6 or so through the water) until 3 pm when, just as Environment Canada had forecast, the wind increased markedly, and whitecaps appeared everywhere. Knowing about the “strong wind warning in effect” we took down the mainsail and continued with just the genoa just as fast as before. Barry eventually noticed a maximum wind speed of 28 kn.
Our destination was Bedwell Harbour on South Pender Island where we spent a quiet night at a mooring buoy except that Barry got up around 12 am to re-arrange our tie-up to the buoy; it kept bumping into the boat (Uschi slept through it all).
Next morning we left at 9:30 am and arrived back in Oak Bay at 4 pm. This time we went south of Moresby Island towards Sidney and then between Sidney and James Islands. The winds were light some of the time, so we motor-sailed for part of the day. But south of Sidney Island the wind picked up again, and we came through Baynes Channel at good speed, sailed to the marina, and tied up at the dock without problems (except that we knocked over our sandwich board, and it almost fell into the water).
Uschi and Barry Leslie
Navigation Evening
Led by Jim McLauchlan, on January 25.
Meetings and Potluck
We had a general meeting plus potluck
on Friday, December 4, 2015 at 7 pm
in the hall of Good Shepherd Lutheran Church
2815 Cedar Hill Road, Victoria
Like last year, it was a fun event.
We also held a general co-op meeting on Tuesday, March 8, 2016.
Boat Work Party in Sidney
Our 17th Boat Work Party was a weekend affair, Friday September 18 to Monday September 21.
Where: Westport Marina in Sidney
We had Felix at North Saanich Marina in Sidney, REALLY close to Westport Marina, before and after the haul-out.
Felix went back into the water on Monday afternoon, and Barry, Tom and Uschi moved Felix to N. Saanich Marina, with a motoring/sailing detour around the "Little Group" of islands. Everything seemed to be ok, except that the cockpit and the deck were still quite dirty. :-(
Later in the week Mark, Darcy and Ray took Felix back to Oak Bay (and cleaned the cockpit) :-)
Felix now has
1 new through-hull plus valve, replacing the one starboard aft (the outlet for the holding tank)
1 replacement valve at a through-hull (the intake for the toilet)
1 completely new through-hull at the stern (for proper venting of the box for the propane tank)
black instead of blue bottom paint
2 new zinks on the propeller shaft
a really clean knotmeter with the little wheel just whirring along
one missing window (the little sliding one on the starboard side) which is just covered by a taped-on plastic garbage bag (it will take up to 10 days to have the window re-done)
All of the non-sliding windows have been re-caulked, and hopefully none will leak now.
The rudder, which had been a bit loose, is back in place with a piece of a flexible kitchen cutting board (!) wrapped around the lower part of the rudder shaft. It seems to be working fine.... we'll have to see how it holds out. (We checked this idea with Jerry the shipwright, and he said something like "why not, this might work just fine".)
Jerry had noted that the propeller shaft was touching the hull where it comes out of the boat, and we had one of the Delta Marine service people have a look at it. This one said that the shaft might not touch the hull when the boat was in the water (since the boats flex a bit), and that any lifting/re-aligning of the engine should be done with the boat in the water anyway. So this should be something we can check out at Oak Bay.
Last year's Phoebe haul-out was a lot of fun. Lots of us were there, so nobody had to work too terribly hard, which was great. This year we expected more work since the boat is bigger, but cleaning was much faster than expected, and because of issues with the rudder we could not do as much work as expected on the weekend. So again we had a pretty good time without TOO much hard labour!
We went for dinner together at the Stonehouse Pub on Saturday, and for lunch at Canoe Cove Marina on Sunday - both very nice.
September 5-7, 2015 (Saturday to Monday)
Felix was out on another cruise with Uschi and Barry - sailing from Oak Bay to Sidney, then motoring though the little passages near Canoe Cove, and then motoring and motor-sailing (because the wind died and we wanted to arrive) to Cowichan Bay.
Spent the night at Fishermen's Wharf and met our friend Dick who lives nearby.
It rained a lot during the night, and we discovered several more leaks at the windows. Plus, water seeps through the steering column assembly if the canvas cover is not on.
Next day there was very little wind so we motored most of the time; past Saltspring Island, with a stop at Russel Island. We anchored overnight in Annette Inlet on Prevost Island. It was fun to row around in Piggeldy. Piggeldy needs to be re-inflated every now and then, and with 2 adults on board it is quite cramped. But it is great for one person. Uschi went on an extensive explore.
The night was super quiet - no wind, no sound.
On Monday we started late since there was lots of fog around. Eventually the northern half of Prevost Island was out of the fog, and we motored around the northern tip, intending to go clockwise around the island. But the southern part was still in dense fog, so we went slowly and waited, along with a bunch of other boats, until we could see a bit more.
It was eerie being so close to the fog; we had our navionix, stayed close to the land, and definitely did not go anywhere near the ferries. We could hear their foghorns, and every now and then we could see one for a moment.
Luckily the fog lifted, and we spent the rest of the day in bright sunshine and even some wind - enough for slow sailing.
We left Felix at North Saanich Marina, took a taxi to a bus stop, then discovered that we would have a 40 minute wait. So we hitchhiked instead, and we were picked up by a nice lady who drove us all the way to Oak Bay Marina and our van.
World Oceans Day - June 8th
World Oceans Day, held every June 8th, is the United Nations-recognized day of ocean celebration and action. People all over our blue planet organize celebrations to support action to protect the ocean. This year, the theme is Healthy oceans, healthy planet, and we’re making a special effort to stop plastic pollution.
Victoria Sailing Co-op had a small group out sailing the beautiful bue waters on this day.
Our 14th Boat Work Party was Saturday June 20, 2015.
AGM
Our second Victoria Sailing Co-op Annual General Meeting was on Monday June 22, 2015.
12th Boat Work Party was on April 18.
"Fleet" Sail - On Saturday March 28 we were 4 people, and there was little wind. We motored around in Phoebe, checked out the "back way" into the harbour, anchored near Willows Beach and had lunch, then sailed around a bit. A nice way to spend time on a boat!!
11th Boat Work Party was on March 21, with 6 of us sailing Felix in the afternoon. Lots of wind, and an exciting finish to our sail.
General Co-op Meeting March 11 and Start of New Sailing Year April 1
We held a general co-op meeting at a really neat "South Seas" meeting place - thanks, George, for making this available!
Since membership fees for the next sailing year are due on March 15 this was a time to renew and pay!
We also discussed some plans for the summer but found that nobody has fixed dates for sailing yet - so we'll plan some co-op cruises and leave the more detailed decisions for later.
10th Boat Work Party was on February 14, with afternoon sail planned but not done.
9th Boat Work Party was on January 17, with afternoon sail planned but not done due to cool and wet weather.
8th Boat Work Party was on December 13, with afternoon sail.
Friday, November 28, 2014 we had a
General Co-op Meeting.... "State of the Co-op" and Party
a fun event with lots of good food and drink
and lots of sailing discussions
This all happened in September... : Social / Boat Maintenance / Co-op Cruise
- Friday, September 26, 2014 - Sail to West Port Marina in SIDNEY, have Phoebe out of the water, clean Phoebe's hull
- Saturday, September 27, 2014 Fifth Boat Work Party.... apply wax and antifouling paint, talk and enjoy and have lunch at Canoe Cove
- Saturday evening, September 27, 2014 Dinner at Stonehouse Pub
- Sunday, September 28, 2014 Sail back to Oak Bay on a super clean boat
- Yes, and Felix was there as well, spending two nights at slip G04
Sunday, July 6, 2014
Felix is back from his (her? its?) first co-op cruise - to Nanaimo and back. And we have named the dinghy "Piggeldy".
Lots of motoring due to little or no wind, but at one point we were sailing with 28 kn wind!
Monday, June 23, 2014 at 7 pm
We had our first AGM
- reviewed activities so far, elected the first "real" executive, appointed various officers, signed up a new member, decided to have some social meetings, ...