This was our first shake-down cruise with Kuredu IV with the dinghy in place and all electronics installed and tested. Since the company was closed for the Easter Weekend we decided to cruise over to the relatively protected Mark Bay, Newcastle Island. We always enjoy Mark Bay - there are so many things to do and Nanaimo is a short dinghy ride away for supplies.
We left Horseshoe Bay around 4:30 pm on Thursday, not yet knowing is we would be crossing the Strait of Georgia or wait for morning. As we cruised into the Sound the Coastal Renaissance came past Bowen Island, headed towards Horseshoe Bay from Nanaimo. I radioed the Ferry and asked for a weather report in the Strait. They reported a 3-4 ft chop and high winds, so we changed course towards Plumper Cove on Keats Island for the night. Anneline remembered that we had forgotten some stuff at home which we needed, including the camera. I called my folks and asked if they could drop it off at Sewells Marina and we would make a plan to get it from there. The next morning Philip and I dinghy'd back to Sewells to get the stuff - a 25 mile round trip. Except for it being cold, the trip was fun and I can see us using the dinghy a lot during summer cruising.
We headed into the Strait around 11:00 am Friday morning and the crossing was smooth and uneventful. We dropped the hook in Mark Bay early afternoon. It was overcast but not unpleasant and Philip and Megan went exploring with the dink. Megan has taken to driving the dink so all our children have now been able to handle boats way before they could drive a car - pretty awesome! There were very few other pleasure boats in Mark Bay but unfortunately it seems to have become the dumping ground of all sorts of derelicts - what a pity. We had dinner at the Dinghy Dock Pub.
Saturday started nice and sunny. Anneline and Megan dinked over to Nanaimo for supplies and Philip and I started adding the bridge to cockpit door, which had arrived last week, but there were no screws in the kit so we just packed everything up neatly again. When Anneline and Megan returned from shopping we BBQ'd some burgers and early evening we went to the Dinghy Dock Pub for dessert (you should really try some "Sex In The Dinghy" - it's wonderfully decadent).
A Strom was predicted for Saturday night and the wind did kick up around 3:00 am but it was not too bad and after a quick check that we were still in place, everyone slept well. If only we knew what lay ahead ....
Sunday morning Started much as Saturday, clear and sunny, but by mid afternoon it turned really ugly. The wind was howling and there was not much we could do so we watch a Russel Peters DVD. About an hour into teh DVD, Anneline decided she wanted to watch the storm from the bridge and I went up to join her. It turned out that this was probably the best decision we had even made on a boat - the storm was not in full swing and we were dragging anchor. We were already in only 8' of water and no more than 80' from the rocks. Anneline ran down to switch on the motors while I started with the anchor. From here things just got worse - The port motor would not start and the anchor chain got snagged in the roller and would not come up. I used the starboard motor to back us a little away from shore against the storm, careful not to go over the rode and get that caught in the prop. After several tries the port engine fired up and I could control the boat properly. I was about to drop the anchor and chain completely and cut the line but Anneline and Philip said they would go check it first. They did manage to untangle it and guided me to steer the boat to the chain would remain straight in front and would retrieve properly, but they both got absolutely drenched in the process. We decided not to try anchor again since we didn't want a repeat of the afternoon, so we tied to the docks at Newcastle Island.
The marine forecast for Monday did not seem too rosy and was going to get worse, so we left Mark bay around 11:00 am to cruise back. The 25-35kn SE wind was opposing an ebb flow and caused really uncomfortable 5-6 footers mid-Strait. We had to steer from inside as the bridge windows were soon covered in Salt. Philip took over from below and just kept piloting till we got home. We got our butts kicks quite a bit coming home - there was often water over the bow and the wipers were going full speed most of the time. Kuredu behaved very well though.
All-in a nice shake-down cruise. We need better ground tackle, more chain and I need to have the anchor roller fixed so it cannot snag. The 411 also has a tendency to sway from side to side in the wind - up to 120 degrees. This is very annoying. I tried adding a line tied to a side bow cleat and shackled to the chain but that didn't help much. I will make a proper briddle that would take all the pressure off the chain and tie to both front cleats.
