Tuesday, 7August, 2012: Lund to Smuggler's Cove

Weather:  Sunny becoming Thunderstorms.  Winds:  N 0-5 becoming SW20.  Seas:  Calm to 2ft.

The day held a mix for us!  Uneventful departure from Lund.  Initial winds were N and attempted to fly the spinnaker.  Ended up motoring past Powell River and into Malaspina Strait.  Then the winds picked up and we sailed.  Unfortunately, the winds were on the bow and we beat.  We made good speed, sailing 8-9kts with 6kts VMG.

About 3nm from our destination, the water began to get rough, we tacked to the west and something on our starboard side went CRACK.  We were sailing along just fine and did not see anything obvious.  We continued on.  The winds suddenly slacked and died.  We dropped the sails, fired up the engine and turned south towards Smugglers.  Then, right overhead, lightening like I'd never seen.  A flash in the cloud, then sparks falling like a fireworks display and then a shot of lightening, in the cloud headed east.  Wind died?  Lightening overhead?  The storm was directly over us.  We bumped up the trottle.

The entrance to Smuggler's is interesting.  From outside, only big rocks are visible.  Is there really and entrance there?  Closer, I think I see and entrance.  Closer.  Going between a couple big boulders, dogleg to the left and then a channel.  Bay opens to the left, lots of boats, but no RT.  Continue on to the right, past more boats and shallow areas.  Another dogleg channel and another bay and there is C-Mast, far end, stern against the shore.  There is a small opening between him and the next boat to his port.  Going to be tricky, limited space and gusts.  Strider prop walks to port.  Crossing C-Mast's bow and nearly beak to beak with the other boat, I slow Strider and swing the helm to starboard and drop it into reverse idle.  Strider pivots beautifully.  Increase reverse, gain momentum, Strider completes the pivot and backs down right into place beside C-Mast!  Beautiful!

Moving around between the boats, prepping for dinner, I noticed something odd on the starboard side.  It took a moment to figure it out.  The support strut to prevent the ama from folding was missing!  Must have been that loud CRACK we heard earlier.  I found the inboard piece of the fitting broken off in its attach point on the vaka.  I must released the outboard end of the strut when I adjusted it to prevent it rattling/vibrating while we motored.  The rough waves must have shaken it loose and when the end hit the water, it pulled aft, breaking the inboard end off with a CRACK.

Stormy, nasty night, but we were safe and sound.