2006-01-08T07:09:00.000-08:00

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HERSELF: "Chinook of Canada"

Chinook is an 11 metre cutter-rigged sloop designed by Robert Perry and built by the Young Sun Boat Corporation in Taiwan in 1979. Known as Westwind 35’s in Europe and Young Sun 35’s in North America, she was just what we were looking for. So her name came quite naturally - the chinook is the warm west wind that blows over the Rockies and melts the snows on the eastern side and means eater of snow in the Inuit (First Nations) language. And we have not seen snow since we left...

In fact we were not really looking for herself in particular, just a beautiful, strongly built, well designed, full keeled, sea-kindly, easily handled, fully equipped, maintenance-free sailboat we could live aboard comfortably and take anywhere safely, and oh, the price had to be affordable. Didn’t really want too much. Every boat is a compromise, just like a woman (and a man, the admiral says), and you never really know what they are really like until you have lived with them for a while.

After seven years we still love her. She is smaller compared to today’s live-aboard cruisers, but has plenty of space for the two of us and occasional guests. Chinook is beautiful downstairs with solid teak everywhere – like living inside furniture, says Deborah – with brass "stuff" to complement. A huge butterfly hatch and side ports allow her to be well ventilated in the hot climates and a diesel drip heater keep us toasty in cooler weather. Heaps of cupboards and lockers give us many storage spaces we seem to fill.

We found her in our home town , freshly returned from a trip to the Bahamas and a previous one to Venezuela, so she was well proven. She needed a makeover cosmetically and we of course had the (continually) growing list of equipment we wanted aboard before we took her on a serious ocean trip.

Over the first year we had her, we purchased radar (for the east coast fogs), a life raft for the Atlantic crossing (which was not to happen for 3 years), a drogue for those fierce ocean storms (we have not yet met), a GPS, wind vane self steering (Canadian-made Voyager) to augment the Autohelm 3000 and spell off the crew, a second-hand inflatable dinghy, a new outboard (3hp Mercury) and of course, tools for everything. We took out the stainless water tanks and had them re-welded (big job - done by Fred Northcotte, an avid cruiser), replaced the cushion foam, mounted a 55 watt solar panel on an arch. Sails were repaired and a heavy-duty mainsail made for us – recut from a used sail. There were a myriad of smaller jobs that sapped much time, money and a great deal of energy. Research on the internet was a nightly event and we found some good bargains at the Toronto Boat Show.

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Later additions and replacements whilst cruising over the last 5 years have been: an added solar panel (now with up to10Amps per hour), a wind generator (Air-X), new stove, new fridge, new dinghy (sailable Walker-Bay 8), pressure water (but no hot water yet) replacement house batteries (2 100AH gel-cells), a ham radio with full SSB frequencies, and probably the most important and practical of all: a new dodger (spray hood) and bimini. The windlass and anchor chain were recently replaced as were the wheel and cockpit table. Two new "new generation" anchors, a Bulwagga and a Rocna have been put on the bowsprit. We did resist a TV and DVD, but finally got one for the winters. Among the indispensable pieces of equipment we have on board are our bicycles – we would not be without them as they enable us to see so much more of places we stop at.

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Chinook’s auxilliary (engine) is a 40 hp Volvo-Penta diesel, installed in 1999 to relace the original 30 hp Watamoto. Apart from a small transmission problem and a rebuild of the exhaust system she has given very little trouble to us after six years. We are almost fanatical about doing oil and filter changes on time.

It is inevitable that many items have to be replaced. Regular maintenance and inspections are important and ongoing. It is preventative too – equipment failure can be disasterous. Sheets and halyards, rigging, pumps and hoses, lights, engine parts, filters, calking, bottom paint, fittings of all types not to mention the varnishing. We budget that into our cruising costs, and we do all the work ourselves.

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Revamping “stuff” after having gleaned ideas from other cruisers is part if it all. We took our jib track off the deck and placed it on the caprail after seeing other Westwinds of later years with that configuration. Works as well with no leaks. We redesigned the dodger and bimini frames to get what we wanted from the new covers we had made in Grenada.

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AND THE CREW...

A motley crew; Brian is a Kiwi – lived in New Zealand for 28 years, Canada for 28 years, Scotland for one year and has been cruising for the rest. Deborah was born in Vancouver, is an “army brat” - her family moved around North America as her father was in the Canadian Armed Forces. She also spent a high school year in Belgium.

We are retired elementary school teachers. Deborah taught French Language in Ontario and Brian taught in a program for gifted students - although a “generalist" for most of his career teaching in NZ, Canada, Australia and Scotland. We both eat healthily and exercise daily and expect to live to a ripe old age due to huge daily doses of salty air...

Sailing experience – well, some, and still growing. Brian’s first love was flying and he held a commercial pilot licence (in NZ, years ago), and there is a great deal of crossover to sailing (navigation and meteorology). He learned to sail dinghies at 35 and bought the first “larger” boat at 45 and had to re-learn. Brian is a HAM (radio licence is KC8 YKF) and has a SCUBA licence. Deborah has learned sailing skills fast over the 15 years they have been together. Her parents lived aboard and crossed the Atlantic - Europe to North America in a Rival 34 in the 80’s – could say it’s in her blood. Deborah´s language skills come in very handy - her French is excellent, Spanish is muy bueno and she gets by well in Portugese. Italian lessons in Sardinia make her a great companion,

We have four boys between us: Bradley (33) and his wife Michelle are teachers in Ontario, David (31) is working in the greenhouse computer-controlled industry - married to Felicia; Andrew (31) is a ranger in the Bc forests; Paul(29) is currently working in northern Ontario for GeoTech flying in helicopters and working equipment which maps/searches for minerals . He is learning to fly (fixed wing) and is interested in avionics as a possible future career. All four boys make us very proud.

We both love the life cruising gives us: challenge, excitement, travel, the outdoor life, and meeting new people. If we ever go back to being landubbers it will be with much loud protesting.

Click here for more blogging on what the The Cruising Life is really like - especially designed for landlubbers...

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The Wanderings of Chinook of Canada - Chinook and Her Crew