It was super chilly in the morning and we could not WAIT to turn on the generator. (reminder, that is the only way that the heaters work). We turned it on, and were about 5 minutes in (not even long enough to get warm) and the generator died. Ruh-roh. What in the world? Raw water intake error. Jim went to investigate, and the sea strainer was clogged with jellies. This bloom of them is nuts. So, this is forcing our hand, if we can’t run the generator, we have to move.
Here is a video Jim took of the jellies:
https://drive.google.com/file/d/1o1cErDNXSdIyzr6h8Vib-BzenzNEEVgB/view?usp=drive_link
The problem is, the wind is supposed to pick up. So, we explored some protected anchorages within a cruising day’s distance. It looked like if we stayed in this Saanich Inlet it would be calmer than outside of it. So, we weighed anchor and headed out to Mill Bay. It was less than an hour cruise.
It was quite nautical out there and when we arrived at Mill Bay, we immediately turned around, nope, not doing this. It would have been a repeat of Washing Machine Beach. No thanks. It was super exposed and had a lot of fetch. Fetch = the distance traveled by wind or waves across open water. On our way out of Tod Inlet we noted that the jellies weren’t as fierce the deeper it got. So, that was plan B if Mill Bay didn’t work out. There was no way that we wanted to run the water maker in Tod Inlet with all those jellies. I drove real slow and Jim cleaned the jellies out of the generator sea strainer so that we could make water while we were out and about.
Pretty nautical outside – driving from the inside. I was showing the water crashing onto the windshield, but it doesn’t translate. What’s in the foreground – kind of like I spy: Printer, Waggoner guide, Bluetti, Binoculars, headset, weather station screen, ryobi battery charger, cups of american and canadian change (separated), basket of charging cords and tchotchkes, starlink router (which I DID remember to turn off today) and a clock.
We drove down Squally Reach (that is the area we showed you further down Saanich Inlet, where the Malahat Skywalk and the waterfall are) for a couple of hours until we had 110 gallons in the tank and filled our drinking water jug. It was so much calmer in the reach than out in the inlet! Also, it is super deep out there, 600 feet. After that, we headed back in. I had an appointment to help Sophie with her taxes, but I had the time change wrong. It happened to be right when we were shutting down and heading in. We did get a bit of them done.
We anchored for the 3rd time ever. We ended up too close to the shore. We weren’t happy with where we ended up. We were probably okay. But, we wanted to know FOR SURE. So we pulled up the anchor and moved. And then we could not get the anchor to set. Super Frustrating. This bottom has such good holding, you should be able to throw the anchor down and walk away and it is set. Nope, it took us a good four tries to get it. FINALLY. Whew. I’m sure we were great entertainment for all the other boats anchored in here.
We came away with a big lesson from the day. You never know when you have to pick up anchor and leave in a hurry. You should have a few ideas tucked in your back pocket where to head to. We will make that our goal from here on out.
I read that a jelly bloom lasts 24-48 hours. I’m curious to get into Don Yonko and head over to where we were and see if that is true. (not that we would move back, we need to get our money’s worth from this anchoring spot 😛
Yesterday was not a complete loss. We did have it on our schedule to fill our water tank, and it was nice to take a little cruise. Oh, I forgot to tell you, it was so chilly outside that we drove from inside. It is pretty rare for us to do that. We kept a sharp eye out for crab pots and logs. It is easier to see them when you are upstairs. It was nice not to be frozen though! We foresee driving from inside a lot more on the inside passage and in Alaska.
Friday! I bet the Captain needs a haircut today and we have some shopping we would like to get done. So, it should be another busy day.
Not too busy on this Good Friday to pause and reflect, fixing our eyes on Jesus, the pioneer and perfecter of faith. For the joy set before Him, He endured the cross, scorning its shame, and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God. (Hebrews 12:2)
Talk Soon.