Off the Boat in Tod Inlet

After two nights and one VERY rainy day on the boat, when the sun came out after lunch today, we got down the dinghy and went exploring!

Al checking out items plucked from what appears to be a junk pile uphill.

The boat is approximately where the anchor shows on the map.  We dinghied across to the  north shore and hiked the red line east to the Wallace Drive Access, and back on the blue line.

This 'hairy' tree made me think of Sasquatch.

'The Old Chimney' -- between us and Butchart Gardens

Cedar bark has been harvested.  

Adjusting SeaClear for Canadian NAD27 charts

As Kristi noted in the prior post, when entering Canada all of a sudden our chart plotter was off.  Even

Hey, I can assure you we were NOT in the land!

having us Plow the Ground while making our way down Tod inlet.

The cause of this is a difference between Datums used to create each chart.  Most modern charts use NAD84, or an equivalent   However, the ECharts we have for Canada are based on NAD27.  (This is easily seen by looking at the notes on the charts, they will always state what Datum was used for drafting the charts).

It seems SeaClear is clever enough to make adjustment for datum sources, providing it gets the correct information    As each electronic chart includes its datum in a machine readable format, most the hard work is done for us.  But still we were doing the Farmer John thing the other day.

Well, turns out there are several NAD27's...   In the file datums2.ini  4 are listed:

    North American 1927=E5,-8,160,176,5,5,6,405
    North American 1927, Alaska=E5,-5,135,172,5,9,5,47
    North American 1927, Bahamas=E5,-4,154,178,5,3,5,11
    North American 1927, Canada=E5,-10,158,187,15,11,6,112


I can not figure out how SeaClear decides which one to use, so what I did was simply make the choice easy - by commenting out the 3 I did not want, placing a semicolon in front of them,  SeaClear was forced to use the Canadian variant of NAD27.

    ;North American 1927=E5,-8,160,176,5,5,6,405
    ;North American 1927, Alaska=E5,-5,135,172,5,9,5,47
    ;North American 1927, Bahamas=E5,-4,154,178,5,3,5,11
    North American 1927, Canada=E5,-10,158,187,15,11,6,112


With this edit, and restarting SeaClear, charts are now displayed correctly.  Yee Haw, will not have to dig out that John Deere Hat after all.


Note:  The file  datums2.ini  is located on my system at:
     C:\Program Files\SeaClear\datums2.ini

Entering Canada

On the morning of Saturday April 6, I discovered we had had company on the boat, once again.  Here is the evidence:

We believe that the intruder boarded Viking Star from the dock in Reid Harbor.  We HOPE that he ate his fill and then stumbled back to HIS home.  We baited and set the rat trap we purchased the last time this happened, but we have seen no further evidence.

We departed Reid Harbor bound for Sidney, BC, crossing the border (we couldn't find the line in the water) just after 1PM.  We pulled up to the customs dock in the Port of Sidney Marina about an hour later.

Clearing customs was very quick and painless.  A few questions were asked and answered, and we received a clearance number to display in our dockside window while in Canada.  And we raised our Canadian courtesy flag.

We were very impressed with Sidney!  Everything appears very clean and new.  There were colorful flowers planted everywhere.  A grocery store was only 2 blocks away, and a STARBUCKS 4 blocks away.  There are a few other coffee shops, and numerous bookstores.  There are a couple of banks with easy-access ATM's where we able to get Canadian cash.  (I like the new 50's -- they have a clear plastic window and holograms!)  Al found a hardware store and a marine second-hand store. We found a liquor store and were happy that Jameson is actually cheaper here than in Washington!  The clerk also recommended a Canadian vodka that both Al and I found very acceptable.  However, wine is not available in grocery stores, only at the liquor store, and it is VERY expensive!

We recommend the 3rd Street Cafe to anyone and everyone who has reason to pass through Sidney!  Unusual for us, we were showered and off the boat by around 7:30 AM.  I think we were the first customers in the door, and entire staff was fabulous!  The food was also wonderful -- I can personally recommend the Brie and roasted pear omelet.

We heard another storm was coming, and we are too cheap to stay in the marina any more at this time, so today we decided to round the peninsula into Saanich Inlet, anchoring in Tod Inlet, near to Butchart Gardens!

As we were motoring today, we noticed that the chartplotter indicated we were ON LAND a few times that we were NOT!  This can be quite dangerous when you are relying on the chart to tell you how close you are getting to things you don't want to hit.  Al says, this is why it is important to take Power Squadron classes, so you can learn what datum is, determine what your chart datum is, and to alter your equipment to get an accurate reading.

The pink circle is where the chartplotter SAYS we were, the black arrow is where we ACTUALLY  were.

 We will be anchored in Tod Inlet for a few days, floating among the jellies, seals, and Barrow's Goldeneyes.

Something New

Yesterday we did something new!

Well, the first new thing we did was take Viking Star away from Friday Harbor!  We have called the past week 'The Long Goodbye'!  We anchored in Parks Bay the night before, and then went to the Port to pick up that last package, and we ran into a couple of our friends.  Jim and Caris have recently moved onto their sailboat, and we have enjoyed visiting with NEIGHBORS, trading stories and laughs.

And just as we turned to head back to Viking Star, our dog friend Ted ran up for a last pat, along with his person Rick.

Then we made for Reid Harbor on Stuart Island.  Even though it was cloudy, it was a gorgeous crossing with glossy water, my favorite next to glassy.

Most of the year, Speiden is very brown, but she was a beautiful green this Spring day.  Many of her exotic residents were basking and grazing on the south side, as we passed between Speiden and Sentinel Island.  THAT is the new thing we did.  We had never been through that particular passage before.

Sentinel Island was homesteaded by June Burn and her husband.  I have a copy of her book "Living High", about their life in the San Juan Islands.  She was instrumental in making Jones Island a marine park.  And Sentinel Island now has a NWR designation.

We haven't cried THIS for quite some time....Jesus Birds!!!

Sentinel on the left, Speiden on the right, Canada beyond!

Spring Green!

The pink circle is the boat, and the pink line is our projected path.

Speiden is known for its exotic animals.

Cost to Cruise: March 2013

Am a little late posting March's cost due to my computer packing it in late Friday - LATE Friday, past when I could do anything about it.  But Ebay found me a replacement, I  just swapped out the HDD and am back up running today.  So, here are the costs:

Click on image for  a larger version.

Notable:  We took on fuel, and were surprised to say it looks like we used less than we expected this winter!  Last year we 'burned through' around 85 Gals/month, while this winter comes out to more like 25.

Wow, the reason?

We used the Dickinson much less this year, relying on the Hurricane hydronic heater to warm things up in the morning and the electrics to carry us through the day.  This worked well, and you can see the savings in fuel costs!    We did light the Dickinson on those really cold and wet days - and it still is sooooo nice to come to a warm and dry boat.

 Solar continued to do well, bringing in 79Ah/day on average vs. the modeled 66.

Medical was high this month, but that is largely because we did a yearly payment for our new IMG policies.   Almost the EXACT coverage as the old Life-wise, and about 20% the costs.  But it does require we leave the USA for 6 months or more out of a year.  Hence - Canada!  And Personal included stocking up on a years worth of 'supplies'.  (Well worth it I will say).

Friday Harbor Lights

Our perspective for the last three nights:

We tried to save some money by leaving the dock for a few days while we wait for Al's new (to him) computer to arrive.

Unfortunately, the electronics gremlins STILL have a hold on Viking Star, and we had to add another package to wait for.  The delivery is now 3 hours late...

There are a couple of weather systems coming through, with increased winds, so we will probably head for Parks Bay if we need to wait another day for delivery.  We may get lucky and be able to get to Roche Harbor tonight yet afterall.

Why 'Plans' do not work...

If one is a careful reader, and/or really does follow us that close, you might guess we are not in Anacortes.  (After all, our simple camera is not THAT good to be able to capture float planes in and out of Friday Harbor from there...).

Whats up?  Despite our 'Planned Departure' as told here: http://mvvikingstar.blogspot.com/2013/03/short-timer.html  something changed.  As a result, we did not depart for Anacortes.  Planed or not.  My computer packed it in late Friday, too late to do anything about until Monday.  On Monday we ordered a replacement - and it will arrive Thursday.

We DID depart on April 1st, but not for Anacortes.  Instead we moved a couple of hundred yards and are anchored in cove between the Port of Friday Harbor, and the WSU station.

Still looking to get into Canada soon, our current 'intention' is to head over Friday.  But that might change from Weather.

Yes, Plans do not work.  Or, perhaps it is just better to be flexible and be thankful we are in a position to do so.