On our way!

Well, we finally got off the dock.
I am surprised that there is any waterline showing at all given the amount of stuff that has been packed aboard. Every nook and cranny is jammed as well as the anchor locker and stern lockers --- I think we will have to store the prawn trap on the aft bunk and just sleep around it.
Things have been a bit windy so we have had a couple of days beating North in 15 - 20 kt winds so while we haven't made great progress everyone has had great fun sailing.
We are currently in Pender Harbour and you can see our course that Spot has tracked.
We are off to Refuge cove today and from there we head through Gillard Passage into Johnstone Strait.
On this leg we have Dmitri, Sergey, and Olga with us and while some are new to sailing, everyone is having a great time.
I am going to work on getting some photos to add for the next post.

Cheers, Turicum

Tracking Turicum using SPOT

Just picked up a SPOT from West Marine Richmond. We will be using SPOT to provide tracking for our trip. You will be able to follow our trip in real time with updates every 10 min.
To see where we are just go to --- Turicum's track

There is also a link on the Sailcraft website www.sailcraft.com

3 days and counting

Well, we are getting close to our departure date and the "list" isn't getting any shorter -- as usual.
Who would have thought it would take so much to convert Turicum back to a cruising boat. We are trying to re-install all the gear and clean up everything that usually gets overlooked when we are racing -- who drags a dinghy when you're racing -- but it is an essential piece of cruising equipment for Abby.

I have added some of the Swiftsure pictures from May.

We will be using SPOT to provide a viewable track of our course and keep us linked to civilization our link to the track will be posted when we get the final details sorted out.

The Beginning pt. 2

At the end of May several of the race crew came down to help clear the racing sails off the boat and start the conversion process over to a cruising boat.
Turicum has a split personality --- She is a TRUE racer cruiser -- last July we won division 2 of the 3000nm Vic-Maui -- missing 1st overall by 5 hours.
Now we are about to be a cruising boat taking 4 to 8 people on an adventure to the Queen Charlotte islands and back. We have broken the trip up into several legs and have a different group with us for each leg.

For every leg we will have my wife June and our trusty "boat bear" Abby aboard and we will introduce our new crew as we go along.

For those who would like to join our adventure you can contact us at www.sailcraft.com.

The Beginning

For the first time in about 15 years my wife June and I are going to actualy do some sailing together. Previously, the majority of my sailing has been focused on teaching sailing aboard Turicum. June mostly did provisioning, cleaning, book keeping and all of the other "romantic" aspects of sailing.
As Sailcraft grew, it got to the point where I could be spending as many as 200 day a year away from home. This had to change.
For this year we have decided to re-invent what we do and head North with our trusty "Boat Bear" Abby to explore the Inside Passage and the Queen Charlotte Islands TOGETHER!