Pierless Sailing Adventures

 Pierless Adventures - Vancouver Island 2025 I bought Pierless in Mazatlan, MX.  In 2023, I sailed north from Mazatlan, leaving the boat in Ventura California.  Last year I finished the trip north, bringing Pierless home to Washington after 3,000 miles of solo sailing. This year I will enjoy taking trips that I want to do versus trips I have to do - starting with a circumnavigation of Vancouver Island during the month of June.  This is a good month for the trip as fog won't be as prevalent, days will be longer and the coastal winds have made their shift to the NW, allowing for better sailing home on the outer coast.  The plan is to circle the island counter-clockwise to make the best use of these winds.. I will have company on this trip in the person of Dave.  He will meet me in Anacortes where I keep the boat.  We plan to move north on the east coast of the island quickly.  Once in the vicinity of the Broughton Marine Provincial Park, we will slo...

 I will not have wifi access for most of the rest of the trip home.  I will post text messages on my InReach site at the link below if you want to keep current on my progress: https://share.garmin.com/SED8C

Thursday I changed the engine oil and filter.  It took a while to pump the oil out, but it went well otherwise. I did some adjustments on my jacklines (safety lines), worked on my sun tarps and checked out the anchor and windlass to make sure they were ready to go, even though I probably won't need them on the trip. Friday I did a thorough deck gear check, worked out the tie-downs for the deck jerry cans of diesel.  I did some more packing to make sure everything is secure.  My inspection by immigration will be tomorrow at 9:00 Saturday I was up and going early.  I hosed down the deck (so dirty here), took a shower, ate and was ready for my inspection.  The inspector showed up just after 9.  He never came onboard.  I showed him my paperwork and he seemed satisfied.  Then he explained that I needed to pay 1,000 pesos for the exit fee.  I was never told anything about a fee before this.  I had already liquidated most of my pesos but I had ...

 Monday I did some more shopping.  After getting back I realized I needed to get my food storage organized before buying any more.  I figured out where items could go, then started a list so I could keep track of each item and where it was stored. I used the pilot berths on each side of the cabin for storage.  Some was food and some equipment I wanted to have handy.  Both berths have lee cloths, so it was an easy way to secure items so they don't go tumbling around when the boat heels over. At the end of the day, I applied teak oil to the stern locker hatch.  It is in pretty bad shape, but will make it home where I can build a new one at my leisure.   Tuesday morning Harry helped me put the genoa sail back on and raise it.  This went smoothly and the repaired sail is not hoisted, furled away and ready to go. I unpacked the fridge, cleaned it out and repacked it in prep for more food storage.  I also repaired a nice insulated mug whose ha...

Friday I made my first serious provisioning run.  I focused on non-perishables and things I could carry on the bus.  After getting back to Pierless, I began modifying my provisioning spreadsheet to tally up how many calories per day.  For long-term provisioning, you need to have a method to ensure you amass enough for your trip, but not too much, always allowing for some percentage of surplus in case you need it.  When I was hiking and climbing, I found weight to be a very good system to use.  Depending on the type of trip, I would carry 1.8 to 2.2 pounds of food per day.  This always worked well for me up to 5-10 day trips.  Unfortunately, I have no way to weigh food on Pierless, so I decided to go with calories. I set it up for each item of a specific size.  I put in the total calories in the package, multiplied by the number of packages and I had the total calories.  I added up all the totals and divided by the number of days to get the da...

Tuesday was a busy day.  I prepped the boat for sailing, then Peter and I went out for another practice sail.  It went very well.  Peter is there in case I need any help, but things were smooth.  I am pleased that sailing Pierless alone has been very manageable.  I have to slow down and do things in a more deliberate sequence, but it works. My repaired genoa sail was returned today.  It looks fine.  I'll have to make a run to the cash machine to pay Ruben. One of the cruising couples here is from England.  They are leaving their boat and flying home for the summer.  This is pretty common for Mexico cruisers.  It gets very hot and muggy here in the summer.  Several of us joined them for dinner at a local restaurant.  The food was very good and they made fresh salsa right at the table.  Everyone had a nice evening. Dinner out Wednesday I picked up a spare oil filter and bought some sun protection tarp.  It is a woven pr...

Saturday I cleaned out the locker that holds all the equipment manuals.  Not too exciting, but good to have it done.  I took off the kayak racks since I sold the kayak...  We had a little sprinkle of rain - I think the second time since I have been here.  Later in the day I went shopping for food. Sunday was hot.  The heat really knocks me out.  I did odd jobs around the cabin and later had Harry and his dog Elmer over for dinner - burritos of course! Dinner! Monday was more productive.  I installed the lee cloths on both sides of the cockpit.  These are fabric which is attached to the railings and protects me from some of the wind, sun and spray.  They make the cockpit cozy... Cockpit lee cloth I attach them at the top with bungie cord and at the bottom with light cord.  I want them to be able to give if a large wave hits them.  This may prevent damage to the railings. I have had some difficulty getting my new radar reflector insta...

Thursday I started on the second portlight that was leaking a little.  Again, it had been caulked with adhesive, so it was a bit of work getting it out.  A couple of the fasteners also need replacement, but that can wait.  This time, I borrowed a belt sander so I could modify the new portlight I had for a replacement.  That worked well, so I was able to install the new (and clear) portlight.  I polished up the frame as well.  It should be good to go now.  It is nice to see out clearly.  I'll have to replace the other ones when I get home. New portlight for Pierless We have a very convenient mini-grocery store at the marina.  Run by a nice couple with a teenage boy and a baby.  The store is small and mostly packed with convenience foods/snacks/drinks.  They do have a limited amount of "real" food and can usually get you items on request.  Their stock is always up to date as well.   Local Store Since they are at the mar...

Today I decided to clean up a bit.  I took my laundry to the marina laundry service.  They do a really nice job.  If you drop your items in the morning, they are ready in the afternoon.  After laundry, I headed out to buy groceries.  I was low on veggies and a few other items, so walked over to Sam's Club and Walmart to resupply.  I rode the bus back.  I have the bus routes more or less figured out - at least the ones that go to the places I frequent.   I finally ran out of water in the larger starboard tank, so filled it up again.  It holds about 65 gallons, so takes a little while to fill.  While filling, I dose it with Clorox to sterilize the tank.  I have two water tanks on the boat.  One holds 65 gallons and the other 30.  When one runs out, I switch a valve and start on the other tank.  It is a pretty good system and is easy to use.  There is an electric pump which keeps the system presurized, so no ha...

Tuesday was a productive day.  I started by checking out my sextant.  Mine is a Davis Mark-15.  It is an older model and came with the boat.  A sextant is used in navigation to find latitude and longitude by the position of the sun, moon or stars at a particular time.  It is a somewhat archaic instrument in today's world of GPS satellite networks, but is a fun skill to master in and of itself as well as being a good backup in case the electronics fail.  I have not done any celestial navigation since I took a class in my college days, so am anxious to give it a go. Davis Mark-15 Sextant I picked the sextant up out of its box and began cleaning off the mirrors, filters and lenses.  The main lens seemed cloudy, so I tried a little alcohol on a Q-tip.  Unfortunately, the cloudiness did not go away.  I think I can still use it, but will want to get a new eyepiece when I get home.  I may try a little oil or vaseline to see if that helps... I h...