SHAKE-DOWN CRUISE

After 3 years of living and working aboard, sailing Gargoyle whenever work and weather would allow and of course planning, planning, planning, we were anxious to cast off the lines. But was Gargoyle’s crew truly ready? We decided we would cruise “close to home” to see how we handled the Bluewater cruising lifestyle while ensuring there were no surprises lurking in Gargoyle’s systems. Worse case, we could return to Vancouver to do any required repairs. So, with all the spare parts we could think of stowed below, we set off to follow the Inside Passage from Vancouver to Juneau, Alaska. Departing on May 31st, we passed through Desolation Sound, the Broughton Archipelago then through the Inside Passage to arrive in Alaska on July 4th. After checking in at Ketchikan, we headed north, anchoring in many deserted bays between visits to Wrangell and Petersburg. Our original plan was to sail up to the Tracey Arm Glacier and then top out at Juneau however, we ran out of patience with the cold dreary weather and turned south to meet friends in Haida Gwaii. After a quick sail to Prince Rupert to check back into Canada, we were off to the island archipelago to host several groups of friends in Gwaii Haanas National Park. This time passed quickly, and we bid farewell to our friends and headed south to catch a weather window for our first major offshore leg, the sail down to California. It was now mid-August and our plan was to leave Canada the first week of September. A quick overnight sail from Haida Gwaii to Vancouver Island and we then had two weeks to explore the west coast of Vancouver Island before we depart. After exploring the many sounds on the rugged west coast of the Island our last stop was Barkley Sound to anchor and wait for the weather window provided by a high-pressure system to help push Gargoyle south. Over three months Gargoyle had sailed over 1,500 nautical miles with only minimal needed repairs. While Gargoyle was ready to head south to warmer waters the crew felt anxious but ready for what the upcoming 5 to 7-day voyage would bring. One thing we learned from this shake down cruise is that there is always something needing repair and it is almost always the item for which you have no spare in stock. Every day sailing is a learning experience for crew and a different adventure!