Drift racing around Saltspring

We took the ‘Mothership’ Asunto across to Saltspring Friday morning along with Ben, Kolby’s fellow racemate. All seemed great as we left the dock…. then just as we were coming under the Granville St Bridge….. Silence.
Kolby ‘we lost the engine. You two unfurl the genoa’
Kristine looks around ‘there isn’t much wind… How about I get the dinghy ready?’
Thinking we may have run out of diesel Kolby tries to solve the problem as we drift though False Creek. The engine would start, but then stall under load. Finally we killed the starter battery and we went to plan B: Otto drives the boat. Ben and Kristine lash Otto to the starboard stern and Kristine drives. We are underway. We make our way to the fuel dock and we nailed the docking. Looked like we had practise this for years!
By the time we had filled the diesel tanks Kolby had solved the problem. The bleed screw on the filter housing was slightly open. Problem solved and the engine ran as per usual and we were off. After we rounded Pt. Grey we had a great sail over to Porlier Pass. Ben hand steered the whole way and learned just how different a 50′ boat handles compared to the J29 he usually sails. Kolby and the rest of the crew reunited in Ganges aboard Rhumb Line, a J29 that Kolby races every Wednesday and Thursday evening in English Bay. With a brand new main and experienced crew, Rhumb Line was ready for a great race.

The Round Saltspring Race 2013 started at 10 am. Boats have to circumnavigate Saltspring in less than 24 hours. Typically this isn’t a problem. And this year looked like it promised to be a good race. There was a perfect 15 knots at the start line and boats quickly made there way out of Ganges Harbour. The wind held all the way up island, and back down to Samson Narrows. By 3pm Rhumb Line was through Samson Narrows and starting the home stretch. Back in Ganges, Kristine was busy perusing the market and ok with not being sailing when random rainstorms came down and she could just duck into shops. At 7:30pm some of the first boats crossed the finish line and Kristine was hopeful that Rhumb Line would make it in before dark. By 9pm there were no more boats in sight; only a dozen or so boats had finished. Kristine went to bed expecting a midnight wake up for a pick up. She woke up in daylight slightly disorientated it was 5:30 am and the fleet of 50 or so boats are on the horizon. By 7am most of the sails seem, if not farther away, then more lateral and no where near closer to the finish line. By 9 am the wind picks up from the NE and Rhumb Line crosses the finish, second boat of the morning.

We finished off the weekend with family on Gabriola Island and came home under sail into English Bay.