This was the first year the r2ak was able to race since 2019, and in the witty commentary they said with three years to prepare, you’d think there wouldn’t be any last minute projects on the dock in Point Hudson Port Townsend WA the eve of the race. But there was. We had a good laugh and agreed with the writer. But then after our boat being at Philbrooks since November for maintenance, we found ourselves in the same predicament.
We picked up m/v Docktails beginning of June to be able to be in Victoria BC for the r2ak festivities before the real start of the race, not just the proving grounds from Port Townsend WA to Victoria BC. Our good friend was racing in the r2ak for a second time, and we were here for him and his team and in any support they needed; whether it be a warm bunk for him, a happy hour aboard m/v Docktails for the team, or a trickle charger for their boat’s batteries.
It was a good thing we did a shakedown cruise, as two of our major upgrades were not working properly. We upgraded our Naiad 254s for following seas, and in calm water when we crossed paths with a boat wake, we rocked. As we have had stabilizers for four years, we have become spoiled, and didn’t want to go without them around Cape Caution BC (we’ve seen what it can do), or even Strait of Georgia for that matter (also some not so comfortable experiences).
The second major upgrade we did was convert all our engine gauges to digital, and now have a nifty window on our Simrad screens with the digital gauges. Well, they pulled the data from the analog gauges that did not work (and we told them they were inoperable and to use the other gauges) and thus our digital gauges did not work. Since we have a second set of operational analog gauges in the pilothouse, this wasn’t too big of an issue, however our analog rudder indicator was a casualty of this project. And we like to know our rudder positions when we dock, as it makes it a heck of a lot easier if they are straight (also speaking from experience, when trying to dock in a 25kt wind blowing us off the dock in the Berry Islands Bahamas).
The last time we were in Victoria BC was four years ago to take delivery of m/v Docktails off a freighter from Ft Lauderdale. We’ve always had great times here, and it was fun to be back. We typically (or always) miss Victoria BC as we moor our boat in Anacortes WA and then make a beeline North. For 2022 Nexus is still understaffed and not accepting boater phone calls, so crossing the border was just like a non-Nexus member: complete the ArriveCAN app and once you are tied to the customs dock, phone in.
With having no set-in-stone agenda, we were able to stop in at Philbrooks for them to take a look at our stabilizers and correct our analog-digital gauges, and do multiple sea trials at $6.38/g for diesel. When we cruised in the Bahamas in 2018, we thought $4.50/g was expensive, we never thought we’d see, or blow out of the water, $4.50/g in the PNW.
Our upgraded Naiads didn’t throw any flags to the installers, and with calm seas it was hard to create the rocking motion of the ocean. We tried to use our wake, however the Naiad representative said this wouldn’t suffice with the way the fins sense movement. With diesel prices through the roof, we are continuing to cruise at 1200rpm/10kts – we slowed down last year just South of Prince Rupert and watched our diesel consumption drop significantly. When the Naiad representative asked what speed we cruised at, he told us to speed up and that would solve our issue.
Speed up, eh? When our original Naiad 254s worked just fine at 1200rpm/10kts. Well, coming South around Cape Caution we got into 8-10ft seas on the beam, which became following seas as we rounded Cape Caution. Our upgraded Naiads didn’t do a darn thing. And no, when we sped up to 1500rpm, they still didn’t do a damn thing.
To be continued, as a Naiad representative has agreed to fly out and look at our stabilizers. It just took being in the exact scenario we upgraded for, and not have the stabilizers work properly, to make it happen.