All dressed up and no where to go!

Well the world has changed so quickly in only a few months… and world events have altered many plans for all of us. This includes SV Cariba and her crew.

As most of you know we were planning our ‘big Left Turn’ this year. This is the term sailors in the PNW refer to heading around out the Strait of Juan de Fuca and turning south for Mexico and lands beyond.

That was our plan until a tiny virus caused chaos around the world. Original sail plan was to leave in August and head for Ensenada. We had hoped to cruise Mexico, Central America and then through the Panama Canal. With borders closed and the socioeconomic stressors in our destination countries, we have decided to postpone till the 2021 cruising season.

When we got really serious last year about leaving, we made a list of things to buy and install before the dock lines would be cut on August 1st. Staying home doesn’t mean the list of preparations, installations and purchases has stopped. We will just be the “best dressed” local cruising boat this year in our local waters.

A big job that we just checked off the list today was the Hydrovane Self Steering system installation. For the non sailors, a Hydrovane is an independent mechanical system that steers the boat once you set the course. The bright red vane responds to the wind direction and turns the rudder below to keep you on course. This system will be so important when we do long passages with just the two of us. The Hydrovane is like having a third person on board to help with steering.

The installation requires careful calculations and measurements because you need to drill holes in the boat! Drilling holes in a boat can be very stressful, but Brian did an excellent job. It was very challenging to ensure the mounting brackets were level, straight and had a even surface to be bonded/bolted to. You can see the white mounting plates in the pictures and these are literally the “tip of the iceberg”. Many hours of shaping, beveling and some cursing was involved along with fiberglass filler to even out the hull surface. The brackets require a completely flat surface so there is no stress on the cast aluminum components .

Another big purchase for SV Cariba was our new dinghy and outboard. At the end of last season we sold the Portland Pudgy. We needed a dinghy that would be a bit faster and easier for those tropical beach surf landings. We now have Reeba, our new Highfield aluminum RIB. RIB stands for rigid inflatable boat. Her bottom is solid aluminum with big inflatable tubes. We have a new 6hp outboard, so we will be able to zip around in style and faster than our old 2.5hp!

The steering system reconstruction is ongoing. We have all the parts now. Broadway Welding has come through for us again. Chico their best fabricator was able to make us a new bracket (see our last post for the rusted before picture). Once the bracket is installed Brian will put the new cables in and we will be mobile again.

We are doing our best to stay active during this period of social isolation. We find the seawall an exercise in frustration (pun intended) as it remains crowded and the runners still pass within what feels like inches at times. We walked some of the quieter neighbourhoods up the hill above Broadway. The streets there had very few pedestrians and we felt more comfortable. It was nice to see some of the tributes to front line workers as well. Many of our friends know that I have come out of retirement to practice. I am proud to be a nurse practitioner and do my part.

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Another way we decided to get some much needed exercise was to inflate our kayaks. We had a great time paddling around False Creek and out to the Maritime Museum. We need to do more of this, my arms sure felt it the next day!

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So while we wait for the world to decide what the new normal is, we will continue with several smaller projects. We hope to do some summer cruising in BC so stay tuned for that. We hope everyone is safe and well. Take care of each other! And as our dear Dr. Bonnie Henry says.. BE CALM, BE KIND, BE SAFE & STAY HOME.