New Places and Solo Exploring

Our time on Tumbo was spectacular and I definitely want to go back! We did a lot of walking and still have areas we want to further explore. After a short jaunt in the morning, we set sail for our next destination: Russell Island. We had a super upwind sail, tacking on a close-reach until we entered Active Pass. Having the opportunity to tack upwind was a great learning experience and really helped us get increasingly familiar with Splash. We experimented changing tacks solo, and then messed around with the self-tacking feature on our auto-helm. Our cockpit has a full enclosure so it was nice to open the downwind sides to let some air in and close the upwind side to prevent things from getting too chilly. By the time we reached the pass we were not only managing the sails efficiently but also zipping in and zipping out the enclosure panels just as efficiently. Ha. 

Transiting Active Pass was less exciting than our first trip through and I felt much less concerned knowing there is in fact room for our sailboat amidst the ferry traffic. Mid-way through we tried our hand at using our VHF to radio the oncoming ferry and let them know we intended to wait for them to pass before proceeding, and I will admit that it was even worse than having to make a phone call to order pizza. Does anyone else hate talking on the phone? Well, the radio is even worse. Eric and Cheryl heard our transmission and we felt famous. Ha. 

Unfortunately, once we were through the pass our winds totally died and we had to motor sail a good chunk of our remaining miles. Of course, the winds picked up just as we arrived at Russell Island and it took a few attempts dropping the hook before we were happy with where it set and Splash settled. Russell is a neat little island just off Salt Spring but doesn’t have a ton of room for anchoring. Similarly, it is pretty exposed so we decided to hang out on Russell for a walk and then anchor for the night in Fulford Harbor, an anchorage off Salt Spring that would be a significantly more protected anchorage from the forecasted overnight wind warning. 

If I had all the money in the world, I would use it to buy Russell Island. It’s small enough that there is only one homestead on it, but big enough for multiple beach access points and ample room for all of the animals I could dream of. It was settled many years ago by a Hawaiian gal with something silly like 13 kids, and her family maintains it now. It is breathtaking! All of the trees were in bloom and not only did it look beautiful, it smelled amazing too. I could have stayed there for days!

Once we settled in Fulford for the night we enjoyed our last evening with our buddy boat, Ocean Spirit. We had dinner and some drinkies on Splash and played a game of Hell and Back to break in our new games notebook. I don’t remember who won but I do remember it was not me. Ha. 

The next morning was a bit slower so we paddled over to Salt Spring to get a coffee and cinnamon bun from a local cafe before going for a walk in the neighborhood. Salt Spring is teeming with hippies and I LOVE IT THERE. Life seemed slow and relaxed, especially for a Friday morning. When we returned to the boats, Eric and Cheryl prepared to head back to Maple Bay while Brad and I planned our route to Tod Inlet for our final night of the week. During this time, I stepped off the dinghy with Cinna in my arms, and Brad followed promptly behind me. Too promptly. In slow motion, we both realized he’d stepped off Splash and instead of hooking the painter (another silly niche sailing word that translates to, ‘the rope tied to the dinghy’) to Splash, Brad hooked the painter to itself. A CLASSIC Chad move (Sailing 2019). Off and away floated Patch the dinghy on the wind and current, too fast to jump in and go after her (note: we would’ve jumped in if we didn’t have Ocean Spirit to save us). We radioed Eric and Cheryl, and they made prompt plans to sail past Patch and return her (note: on second thought,  maybe we would’ve let ol’ ugly Patch float away so we could have justified buying a sweet new dinghy).  Their rescue mission was a smashing success and just like that, Eric and Cheryl were off, leaving Brad and I to really figure shit out on our own. Ha.

We pulled the hook not long after Ocean Spirit’s departure and set sail south towards Tod Inlet, an anchorage tucked away beyond Brentwood Bay, nestled into the edge of Butchart Gardens. We had a spectacular initial sail with the sun beating down on our hottest day yet. We embraced the slow pace (barely 2 knots, LOL) but it was pretty marvelous to just listen to music and enjoy the sun. Eventually, winds petered down to nothing and the jib started to flail lifelessly. We furled it up and started the engine with hopes of making it to Tod Inlet before 2026. Haha. 

In true Brad fashion, he grew restless quickly and before I could interject with my vast knowledge and understanding of engines and mechanical systems (LOL), he was playing around with our engine revs and cruising speeds. Not much after that, we looked at each other and said in unison, “what is that smell?” Brad bolted below into the engine room while I cut the motor. White smoke and steam came pouring out, and the smell intensified. Holy crap! Our hearts were racing but a quick assessment of the situation revealed our safe position far from any hazards, and we were able to take a minute to investigate and troubleshoot. It didn’t take Brad long to spot the problem -- our entire coolant hose had come loose, causing coolant to spew everywhere and all over the engine. The fix: 10 minutes. The clean up: over an hour. While Brad set to work down below, I hoisted the sails and did my very best to keep some amount of steerage in less than 3 knots of wind. At one point, I was holding the jib sheet out as far as I could, acting as a human whisker pole in a futile attempt to keep the sail full. 

Once things were cleaned up we hesitantly turned on the motor again and breathed a sigh of relief when it started up right away and ran without smoking. Personally, these two things are my favorite traits in an engine.

We motored the rest of the way into Brentwood Bay and took a tour around the densely packed marina. The highlight of our self-guided tour was not just the derelict boats left to rot on mooring balls, but the two otters getting down and dirty on one of the aforementioned derelict boats. It was better than an episode of Planet Earth! After, we cruised into Tod Inlet and immediately added it to our list of places we’d visit again. Surrounded by steep cliffs, this secluded spot was beautiful and serene, and completely sheltered from the wind. We spent the afternoon sunbathing on deck and decompressing from our eventful day, rehashing how we might’ve reacted differently. It felt good to experience something going wrong and be able to handle it. As new sailors, we are constantly talking through what-ifs. What if the engine failed right now? What if we lost steerage here? What if we accidentally gybed under strong winds? The list of potential disasters is endless (sorry, Mum) and the consequences of any mishap aren’t to be taken lightly. Not only do we have our entire life’s savings wrapped up in Splash, there are also always the looming risks around life and limb. This incident felt like a great learning experience and from it,  we were able to glean new understandings and increased confidence in our skills and teamwork. 

Fun yard decor at Russell Island

Me and my bestie

Parlay Revival night on anchor

The aftermath of our coolant catastrophe

Safe at Tod Inlet, we could finally relax!

Wing on wing!