Ladysmith to Princess Cove – 20151003 to 20151004

Debbie and I celebrated our maiden voyage on Treylya with an overnight trip to Princess Cove (Wallace Island).  I picked Deb up from work at 15:00 PST and we left Victoria with much anticipation about the weekend ahead.  We picked up a pizza in Ladysmith (Robert’s Street Pizza…  Yum!) and arrived at the marina at 17:00 to load the gear into the boat.  Friday night was spent relaxing, plotting our course, enjoying a drink and chatting about tomorrow’s adventure.  I put the 120v oil heater together so that we would have heat while at the dock and we hit the sack.

Planning tomorrow's maiden voyage to Princess Cove...
Planning tomorrow’s maiden voyage to Princess Cove…

We woke refreshed, mixed a shake, grabbed some ice, untied the deck lines and cast off.  I was feeling a little apprehensive about what lay ahead of us on this voyage but tried to live in the moment and enjoy the sun, fresh air and breeze.

Ladysmith to Princess Cove and back...
Ladysmith to Princess Cove and back…

We motored out of Ladysmith harbour and into Stuart Channel.  It was a nice fresh 20-25 knot northerly breeze.  We sailed east, beam-reached, across the wind towards Thetis Island and ran south, broad-reached, with the wind at our back which was pushing us along nicely.  We averaged 5.5 knots past Thetis and Kuper Island reaching 7.4 knots at one point!  This was perfect sailing.  This is what sailing is all about and we were both so excited.  The swell was kept to a minimum as the wind was somewhat off the land.  What a great introduction to how smooth Treylya handles.  Almost no weather helm and steering with a wheel felt so natural.  She just rolled in the bit of swell we did get.

Debbie's First Turn at the Helm
Debbie’s First Turn at the Helm
The first mate is looking like a natural
The first mate is looking like a natural

We sailed past the light at North Reef and on towards Saltspring Island and tacked about 400 meters from Saltspring.  It appeared close at the time but in hindsight we could have gotten quite a bit closer which probably would have saved us from tacking later.  Oh well, we’re not racing so no added stress needed.

Long may your big jib draw
Long may your big jib draw

We tacked a few times as we headed north between Saltspring and Kuper.  The wind had lightened up quite a bit and we were making slow progress so we just enjoyed the afternoon sun.  We finally made it to Houstoun Passage and the wind seemed to die away so we drifted past Jackscrew Island and started the Volvo and motored for 25 minutes to Princess Cove.

When the still sea conspires an armor
When the still sea conspires an armor

We motored to the end of Princess Cove and I jumped up on the bow to drop the anchor while Deb reversed Treylya to set it.  Lot’s of mud at the end of the cove so the anchor set well.

We kicked off the evening with a drink of Prosecco to celebrate our maiden voyage and I switched over to Jameson Irish Whisky after a few glasses of bubbly…  A beautiful, cool, still evening fell around us and we watched the stars and reminisced about our adventure thus far.

Beautiful night at anchor in Princess Cove, Wallace Island, BC
Beautiful night at anchor in Princess Cove, Wallace Island, BC

I woke a few times during the night to check on things but Treylya was sitting where we left her so I drifted back to sleep.  Next morning we woke around 08:30 to another beautiful sunny day and enjoyed breakfast before leaving at 10:50.  We motored out of the cove and set sail but the winds were light and we had only gone about 0.7 NM in 30 minutes so we took down the jib and motored all the way back to Ladysmith.  It was a relatively quick trip back (3 hours) and we packed up and headed back to Victoria.

Surrounded by a calm, peaceful ocean
Surrounded by a calm, peaceful ocean

Total Distance: 32.9 NM (60.9 km)
Engine Time: 4:36
Sail Time: 4:32

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