British Columbia
The Central Coast
Bottleneck Inlet, Finlayson Channel
Tuesday, August 07, 2012TheCambrians
Bottleneck Inlet.
The problem with the windless still exists so we decided to stay in Windy Bay yesterday so David could take another look at it, cleaning the contacts and changing out the connectors in the process. It performed well for the first ten out of forty metres this morning as we were upping anchor, but then it was back to business as usual. It seems we have a real problem on our hands. In its current condition, if we need to leave an anchorage in a hurry due to weather, it’s not possible.
In hindsight, the issue first appeared a year ago in the Copeland Islands near Desolation Sound. The breaker on the windlass kept tripping out and there seemed to be a lot of strain as if we were fouled on something (not unusual in areas where logging has occurred). When the anchor came up clean, we assumed the chain was getting caught in the rocks. It’s happened a couple times since then, but over the past week has proved to be a real problem. One that could mean a new windlass in the very near future – assuming we can make it through the season with this one. Until then, the rode is standing by in case we have to switch from chain because we’ll never be able to haul it by hand if the windlass fails completely – David’s strong, but not that strong. This is turning out to be an expensive year, but Cambria’s at that age (13) where things are beginning to wear out and need to be replaced (i.e. the through-hull and valves). I just hate to consider what’s next.
It would have been nice to spend more time in Fiordland to enjoy the scenery (rather than work), but we need to move on so we left Windy Bay this morning and made our way down Sheep Passage to Finlayson Channel and our next anchorage, Bottleneck Inlet. Once again, the landscape is much lower than that along the Coast Range, the highest summit being 450 metres (1,400 feet), but it’s a well-protected anchorage and a cozy spot to spend a day or two while we wait for the next weather system to move through the area.
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