Here Comes the Sun: Day 2 - Sunday

After a great Good Friday sail with David the time was long overdue to turn my attention to the home front.  Brenda had generously arranged her weekend to accommodate my Friday trip and in return the rest of the weekend belonged to her.  We spent a nice afternoon walking in the Easter sunshine and made an Italian meal for ourselves that evening.  Across that day we speculated about how to spend Easter Sunday.  To my surprise, Brenda wanted to go sailing.

On Sunday morning before leaving we considered the question of lunch.  (I'm a bit like a Hobbit - issues of food are of paramount concern.)  After my gushing description of the bacon cheeseburger at Bowen Island Pub, Brenda was anxious to try one.  Given her tiny appetite and the fact I'd just had one two days before, we agreed to split one.  Thinking further, I remembered how packed Snug Cove was on Friday and suggested we bring some buns and lunch meat just in case.

The wind had been blowing nicely the weekend and the forecast called for winds potentially over 20 knots.  David suggested we put in a reef before we left the dock and after mulling it over I decided he was right.  In the calm of Coal Harbour Marina the reefing procedure went smoothly and quickly, to my immense satisfaction.  I imagined that the man and woman sitting on the seawall nearby were impressed with my expertise.  Fortunately they weren't around when later in the day I tried to raise the main fully without releasing the reefing lines.

Leaving the dock that day, the sun was warmer than even Friday, with the forecast for 20 degrees.  We agreed this was more like the May long weekend than Easter.  With only a t-shirt on we rounded Burnaby Shoal and let the ebbing tide pull us out into English Bay at over 8 knots.  To our surprise and delight we found wind right away and as soon as we were at a safe distance from Stanley Park the sails were up and we were on a comfortable close reach across the bay, pointed for Jericho.

This was one of the few times I've been able to sail all the way out of English Bay from Stanley Park.  The wind was perfect so we didn't really need the reef but it was nice to know, for Brenda's sake, that we were prepared for stronger winds should we encounter them.  Besides, even with the reef we were consistently making 5 knots and occasionally 6.

A couple of hours later we motored into Snug Cove, hungry for lunch.  A quick scan of the government dock revealed not a single empty slip.  Sheepishly I hailed the marina on the radio, knowing full well they were booked this weekend.  Having received the answer I expected, we motored out of Snug Cove en route to our alternate.

Seymour Bay is a small cove at the South end of Bowen Island that offers protection from all but East winds.  We were visiting here for the first time on the suggestion of a friend and I'm glad we did.  This was my first time anchoring this boat outside of practice and it went very well.  Brenda and I had done this before on a charter boat so there was no drama at all.  Once securely anchored we enjoyed bunwiches packed with fresh ham, tomato and cheese, along with a bowl of chicken soup.  While we were lunching a couple of other boats anchored nearby.  One was a small but very well equipped ocean going sailboat, complete with a wind vane setup for long voyages.  As he passed close to us on the way to his anchorage I greeted him with hopes of pummelling him with questions about his boat and experiences.  Perhaps he sensed the onslaught because as soon as he was securely anchored he went below and stayed there.

Being anchored on a nice day in a secluded cove is a purely wonderful experience.  In truth, moments like this on rented boats are a large part of what prompted me to buy one of my own.  We hung around for a while, soaking up the beauty of the area and the unusual warmth of this early spring day.  A look at my watch broke the spell and soon Brenda was tidying up below and I was shaking the reef out of the mainsail.

Out of the bay we had a brief period of wind that shot us across the outside of English Bay on a beam reach at 7.5 knots - our top speed.  Unfortunately after a few exhilarating minutes of this the wind died. We turned downwind and tried in vain for a while but it was clear that the sailing part of our day was over. Reluctantly we started the engine and the long motor home. 

As we puttered along at 5 kts Brenda noticed another boat to starboard flying a colourful spinnaker.  As we watched it soon became apparent this vessel would overtake us even though we were motoring.  I was having none of that and in short order the sails were out again and we attempted to fly wing-on wing - the closest we could get to a spinnaker configuration without having one.  For a while it looked like we might put up a fight but in the end the little boat beside us left us astern on her way to wherever she was headed. 

A spinnaker beats no spinnaker every time.

With this minor humiliation finished we received a text with a late invitation for a barbecue at a friends place.  Once again we brought in the sails and motored home, looking forward to a sunset barbecue to end a terrific weekend.