Back to Hidden Harbour

I really enjoyed sailing out of Oak Bay. I met a number of friendly, interesting and active sailors; the area is great for sailing in—except for the currents and all the reefs, which can be learned; and the marina facilities are good. I'm not keen on Starbucks coffee, but the café is a good place to meet up, and the food is good. 

But I found I just wasn't getting to the boat as often as I wanted to, because it required driving through town and was a bit far to cycle. I found myself not going because I knew I'd be coming back through rush hour traffic. Mind you, it was still not a bad situation; mostly it's about me wanting not to drive as much as possible, or cycle in traffic at night.

So I checked back with Jim at Hidden Harbour in case he had a slip available. He did, so I took it. Now my boat is a twenty minute walk from home.

Here we are leaving Oak Bay:

 

The following video was taken as we passed the Robson Reef marker opposite the Oak Bay Beach Hotel. The wind was 10-15 knots from the North and the tide was falling, so we had both wind and a good bit of current going our way. That marker just flew by. The water looks a lot calmer than it was.

The next video is for Robin, the designer and builder of the boat, who still likes to sail her, but now from his chair. :-) All the best to you, Robin! Firefly was just screaming along under main and jib only, and coming into a lot of chop from the currents. It's actually the tail of the video above, so in the same area. Again, things look calmer than they really were. The noises of the waves slapping the hull are accentuated, though, so it sounds like there was a lot of banging.

I find that the mizzen complicates things on a run in a fresh breeze, and can make steering too exciting for me, so I de-power it by lifting the boom up to the mast with the topping lift.

After we gybed around Gonzales Point (where the golf course is), the wind started to settle down, so I set the mizzen. The following photo is looking back at Harling Point:

The next video is not too much farther along; approaching Clover Point:

Near the end, looking to port, the Olympic Mountains in Washinton State are in the far left background. The Sooke Hills start rising up from Race Rocks and we can see some of Metchosin. Race Rocks are where you turn the corner around the bottom of Vancouver Island to head out to the ocean.

Something I noticed on this trip is that I have a hard time seeing the luff of the jib, which is usually what I sail by, heading down when it starts luffing. I think part of the problem is that I'm so far back of the mast that the luff of the jib is almost in line with it. Sailing from the leeward side, the belly of the main gets in the way. Maybe if the boom were higher it would be better. Something to think about as far as a possible new sail is to make sure the boom is higher up.

I ended up firing up the engine at McLoughlin Point, as the wind was right on the nose and the Victoria Clipper was coming out, thus ending a very satisfying sail of about two hours. We were able to find our new slip fine on our first water entry to Hidden Harbour marina, where Firefly spent a couple months in the parking lot last winter. 

This trip was a historical event for me, as it was the first voyage in Firefly in which I didn't come back to the starting point! A real voyage through unknown waters—yahoo! 

I'm still learning how to sail Firefly, and I expect it'll take awhile. I'm in no rush, but it would be nice to have enough familiarity with and confidence in her to do a little cruise in the summer! Then there's all the anchoring part to figure out...

The new berth:

Notice we're close to the ramp (upper right):

This is what the weather looked like the next day at Oak Bay:

Goodnight, little Firefly!