July 29-August 1, 2025 (story by Chris)
It was an eventful year for Penelope, our 1981 Hunter 30 cruising boat. After much maintenance and some sailing, she sprang a prop shaft leak late last summer. A September haulout fixed that and got her cleaned up, but then the ultimate setback: her motor died on a Co-op cruise to North Pender Island. After much discussion, polling and voting, we took the plunge and bought a brand-new Beta 16 diesel motor, installed in June. It is glorious: reliable, powerful, efficient and shiny fire-truck red. I had the privilege of taking rejuvenated Penelope on her first cruise over the BC Day long weekend.
We started late on Thursday to catch the flood tide and a 20-knot tailwind to Sidney Spit. The wind died off D’Arcy Island, and the Beta easily took over. We picked our way through the shallows, found a spot near the mooring balls and dropped anchor, then dinghied in for a walk in the forest. It was a peaceful, somewhat wavy night, and the boat stayed put. Having an anchor alarm app on my phone helped me sleep. In the morning, the windlass effortlessly pulled up the anchor on its new, properly sized rode, with nary a jam or slip.
We motored north and caught another good tailwind off Portland Island, dodged ferries across Swanson Channel, and sailed around the west side of Prevost Island to James Bay. This is a lovely little anchorage as long as there aren’t north winds in the forecast. We shared it with maybe six other boats and enjoyed a hike to the north point. Another successful night at anchor. All systems were working great, including the propane stove and the dinghy outboard.
On Saturday, we motored down Trincomali Channel, dodging more ferries. We raised sails in Navy Channel and lost a sporty upwind race to Saturna Island against a J-boat - a sad result but I still find Penelope to be an excellent sailor. There was an impromptu, ultimately unsuccessful man-overboard drill for a lost hat. We got out of the strong wind in Winter Cove, a wonderful, popular anchorage. It has strong tidal currents, and we had some strange moments of swinging against a 10-knot breeze. The anchor held flawlessly again. It’s a solid 10-kg genuine Bruce but I might sleep even better on a 15.
On Sunday, we had a short sail down Plumper Sound, switching to motor as we rounded Teece Point. We got fuel, water, lunch and showers at Poets Cove Marina, then anchored near the mooring field in Bedwell Harbour. Lots of boats there, and I settled for a 4:1 anchor rode scope, but again it set and held fine. There was a wedding at the resort and at one point, every boat in the bay honked their horns to toast the happy couple. The night was quieter than expected. Next time, I want to try Medicine Beach, which supposedly has a good coffee shop nearby.
Monday morning, we were on the move by 6am to catch an ebb tide. It paid off as we made fantastic speed southward. We picked up 10-knot east wind off D’Arcy and rode it all the way to Baynes Passage, where conditions surprisingly calmed. We motored through the incipient flood tide, north round Jemmy Jones, past the anchored super-yacht, and had the boat home and cleaned up by lunchtime.
All in all, it was an outstanding cruise. The weather was fabulous, and there was wind every day. The boat worked great, and I think we have finally turned the corner on Penelope maintenance; she is on her way to being the pride of our fleet. There will be more work opportunities soon, but first let’s all enjoy some sailing in prime season.
Chris