This past summer..

[78puget-trawler]

We didn't get out as often as I would like but life does get in the way of fun sometimes. We did manage a few trips to the San Juans though. On this trip we started at Clark Is, just across Rosario Straits, spent the night there then went on to Matia Is just a few miles northwest. We anchored in a little unnamed cove big enough for only one or two boats, just around the corner from Rolfe Cove. I took the dog ashore for a stroll while I went up the hill to take pix. He didn't want to follow so I left him on the beach. Well he wasn't having any of that and proceeded to swim back to the boat! So I ran down the way I came, hopped into the dink and powered back out and got there just as he was failing miserably to get aboard the swim step! So between the Admiral and me pushing from the dink, we managed to get the now well saturated 100 pound lab back on the boat! Next morning I woke up with noticeable motion in the little bay that wasn't there when I racked out. Got up, wife was already up feeling a bit queasy. It was a very odd swell rolling right into the bay. No wind, just wave after wave rolling in, and increasing in size. I had planned to stay there all day and night again, but it was getting just rough enough to be a PITA and no end in sight. So we pulled the pick, left there and went back down to Clark Is, snagged a buoy, had breakfast and then headed across Rosario and home. On the buoy at Clark Is. outbound, Matia Is in the distance from Clark. "Shearwater" at anchor in the un-named Matia cove.

 

[RT Firefly]

VERY nice-Thanks.

 

[Alaskan Sea-Duction]

Nice. In the second pic it that Sucia Is in the background?

 

[78puget-trawler]

Matia from Clark looking north.

 

[JohnEasley]

Swells happen. The rest of the trip sounds and looks like fun.

 

[78puget-trawler]

Yes, they do, but the Admiral doesn't take kindly to them, and I was getting hungry! It was just sort of odd, as I said no wind, no large ships around. I can only gather that there had been a blow to the north of us out in the Gulf of Georgia overnight that created this lump which was rather surprising in the size they were rolling into this little bay.

 

[dhays]

It is also possible that the swells were from some of the large ferries and ships that cross the straight to the North. Those swells can be large and travel a long way.

 

[78puget-trawler]

No, I think my idea is what happened. It went on too long and they were increasing in size. It had been flat calm in there all the previous day before that morning, and there had been some wind in the forecast as well.

 

[AusCan]

Swell is part of boating once you get into open water. Be thankful that you boat in an area where it is largely protected from swell. For some of us a 3+ foot swell is the norm. Sometimes the origin is more than a thousand kilometres (600 miles) away.

Anchoring in a swell can be relatively comfortable if the wind and/or current are aligned with the swell. If its off by 90 degrees the rocking can get ugly, especially if the swell interval is in time with your boats roll period.

Using a stern anchor to point the bow into the swell can help if the wind/current are fairly constant. A set of flopper stoppers also helps immensely.

 

[78puget-trawler]

Guys, I aint complaining about the swell! As someone who has spent a good many years going to sea on tugs and fishboats, and on my own boats, I am well aware of the existence of waves and swells, believe me. I didn't just start doing this last summer. The point albeit a small one was that it was rolling into this nice little protected cove at a sort of add angle, and tossing us around quite a bit, wherein the Admiral who gets queasy rather easily wanted to hasten our departure. BTW, you cant see it there but in that small anchorage I did have a stern anchor out as swinging room was scarce. As to boating in largely protected areas, HA! Some of the roughest rides I have taken were just a couple of hours south of where this was, at the junction of Puget Sound and the Straits of Juan de Fuca. A place called Pt. Wilson is notorious for sinking big boats. My dad once years ago spent months there helping a diver friend raise a fish boat that sank there and there are many that have. A big ebb tide and westerly coming in the straits makes it a really rough place at times. Its the only place I was ever at where I watched freight get lost off the barge we towed to Alaska a couple times a month. And its all inside protected waters!

 

[Jay N]

Over the years, I've seen current driven swells (no wind) get into the bays of Patos, Sucia and Matia. The swells tend to be larger and last longer during large tidal exchanges. Of course, a little wind a ways off will magnify the effect.

 

[ctjstr]

Funny, but I've run into the same thing on Matia. I had anchored in what I think is the cove you're referring to and the next day, when the swells started, we pulled up and went around to the southeast part of the island, where there is another cove to anchor in. Great spot if you like being more or less by yourself.

toni

 

[dave907]

Thanks for sharing this. Brings back memories.

I owned a 34' CHB tri-cabin for almost 10 years. Best boat I've owned in many ways. I miss her.

Enjoy.

Dave

 

[78puget-trawler]

Funny, but I've run into the same thing on Matia. I had anchored in what I think is the cove you're referring to and the next day, when the swells started, we pulled up and went around to the southeast part of the island, where there is another cove to anchor in. Great spot if you like being more or less by yourself.

toni

Yes, its odd isn't it? The bay is just to the south of Rolfe Cove. Only two bays on that end of the island. And yes, I do prefer the privacy of the smaller anchorages.

 

[78puget-trawler]

Thanks for sharing this. Brings back memories.

I owned a 34' CHB tri-cabin for almost 10 years. Best boat I've owned in many ways. I miss her.

Enjoy.

Dave

They do sort of have a certain charm especially if you like slow clumsy tubs like I do, LOL. The aft cabin is what made the difference for me over other boats, its a really nice feature, though there is a sacrifice in deck space.

 

[dave907]

They do sort of have a certain charm especially if you like slow clumsy tubs like I do, LOL. The aft cabin is what made the difference for me over other boats, its a really nice feature, though there is a sacrifice in deck space.

But they're as reliable as a hammer, and have more freeboard than most 50' boats. I never felt like I was putting my family at risk on that boat even when we were really far out in Prince William Sound, Alaska.

On the aft cabin: Agreed. My small family of 3 (me, the admiral and the kid) slept in the aft stateroom. We had the twin bed to starboard and single berth to port model. The fo'c'sle was for storage and it had some leak issues for the first couple of years.

Don't know how you've addressed the leak issue with the teak decks, but I fixed mine definitively with truck bed liner. I sanded down the teak and let it dry out for a long time (kept in a warehouse for the winter) then coated with a Rhino Liner clone. It stopped all the leaks for all the previous years I owned it (7ish). Just thought I'd share because I know of a lot of other CHB owners that spent a ton of time/money on ripping up the teak and fiberglassing the decks.

Enjoy!

Dave

 

[78puget-trawler]

I have been thinking of similar things to do with the decks, I had not thought of Rhino Liner though! There are other products, Gluvit, GacoFlex and no doubt others that accomplish the same thing. I dealt with it by being in covered moorage for the first couple years but am out in the rain now! I moved it to Shelter Bay where I live for several reasons.
They are dredging the marina in town where I was covered, and so we are all being pushed out into the weather while the slowly dredge the fairways and slips. I thought well what the hell, if I gotta go out in the rain I may as well do it where its not in the wide open space on the channels so I just moved it over to a new dock in SB. But I am out in the rain now. I did discover a drip the other day in the aft cabin, of course its over the Admirals bunk so it must be dealt with immediately if not sooner!
I peeled the corner trim on that side outside and am going to clean it all up, soak the area with penetrating epoxy then rebed the corner trim pc in lots of goop and see what happens. But I do have in mind some sort of coating for the decks at some point. The boat had been covered for many years before I got it so the decks are in pretty good shape and even on rainy cruising days we didn't have any deck leaks. I did have to rebed the rail pads on that same side last year when it started leaking thru on the way home one trip in a downpour.
It was mostly a fastener hole that had been drilled too deep and the old bedding quit doing its job and it just starting pouring thru that hole right onto the Admirals bunk!
I had no intentions of going with the rip and tear off, reglass the deck thing.

 

[dave907]

In case you don't know this trick for finding the source of a tracking leak:

1: Shut all hatches and portals tight.
2: Open the deck hatch in the fo'c'sle.
3: Cut a piece of plywood to make a temporary hatch cover for that hatch.
4: In the plywood cut a long oval slot that mirrors the output of one of those big floor-drying fans you can rent.
5: Stick the fan into the slot and turn it on, which will create positive air pressure in your cabin.
6: Slop pails of soapy water all over the boat.
7: The source of your leaks is where you see the bubbles growing.

 

[Mkaiser]

Looks like Google Maps shows someone moored in your spot.

https://goo.gl/maps/jP6mMhxiLA42