This morning feels a bit like deja vu. Didn’t we wake up before the sun yesterday to cruise 80-odd miles? Such is life when transiting BC during COVID. If the weather is safe, we go. The trip around Cape Caution is all about the weather. It’s one of only two places we’re exposed to the full effects of the Pacific Ocean, so even on a calm day we feel some … Read more
With Seymour Narrows behind us, the timing of our trip up Johnstone Strait was primarily about maximizing favorable current and miles covered. Thankfully the beginning of the ebb—which runs northwest in Johnstone Strait—was about 5:00 a.m., about the same time it’s light enough to spot logs in the water. Complicating matters was the forecast, which called for winds building to 25-35 knots in the afternoon. Both Environment Canada and the … Read more
Today was all about timing our arrival at Seymour Narrows. Seymour Narrows is one of the fastest flowing tidal rapids in the world, with current that can exceed 16 knots, so we definitely don’t want to cruise through at the wrong time. We got to sleep in this morning, and didn’t leave False Bay until just after 9:00 a.m. The sun was out and the sky was blue and it … Read more
We’ve been unusually quiet for the last year. Cancelling trips, refunding money, doing circles around the San Juan Islands while waiting for the COVID crisis to blow over had us a bit down. But we’re finally underway again, and it feels great! A few months ago, several things became clear: any American who wanted to be vaccinated could be fully vaccinated by the end of May, travel and socializing is … Read more
During the extended COVID quarantine this year, we took the opportunity to do a number of upgrades to Airship. We discussed a lot of them in this article, but we have gotten enough questions on the power system in particular that it merits its own discussion. This article will be closed-captioned for nerds, with a few extra-detail sections for those who want to dive into the kilowatts, amps, and volts. … Read more
As the upgrades on Airship get closer and closer to being finished (I know, very funny), we’re getting antsier and antsier to be out on the water. Summer’s over and we’ve only spent about 3 days aboard, which in a normal year would be closer to 7 months aboard, so this is quite a change. But this year is different than most, by far. The new Victron lithium batteries and … Read more
Kevin and I finally got to get aboard Airship again last week! Before we talk about our quick cruise, let’s do a little catch-up: With the Alaska and Vancouver Island flotillas cancelled this season, Airship has been having another major round of maintenance and upgrades. You can see the initial round of upgrades from 2018 (when we bought the boat) HERE. This year’s upgrades started back in October at the … Read more
First of all, apologies for the looooong delay in posting. Much has happened since my last update here. After six years and more than 3500 hours on Safe Harbour, my Nordic Tug 37, I traded her for Akeeva, a Nordhavn 50. As that was happening, the coronavirus situation was rapidly deteriorating. Within days of buying Akeeva, and on the eve of Washington’s stay-at-home order, Anna (my fiancée) and I practically … Read more