Sampson Boat Co

EP201. Remote and ancient Haida village site.

In this episode we pick up where we left off a few weeks ago as we arrive in the archipelago of Haida Gwaii.

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Music;

Brokeback - Wayward Jane

Jazz Apricot - Joey Pecoraro

An intertidal jungle!

Remembering some of the amazing wildlife that we saw in Haida Gwaii, both large and small... these photos are from a narrow passage named Ḵ'iid Xyangs Ḵ'iidaay, within the Gwaii Haanas Haida Heritige Site. At low tide you can see that the entire area is absolutely covered with Starfish, Crabs, Giant Mussels, Clams, Anemones, Lewis Moon Snails, and all manner of other marine life. We heard that the density of marine life in this area could be the highest in the world!

Shakedown cruise... complete!

Well, we're back in Port Townsend - and what an amazing trip we've had this summer!

Over 1500 Nautical Miles of incredible scenery, sailing, and wildlife. Challenges of many kinds. Wonderful friends made, and many lessons learned.

And throughout all of it, an utterly brilliant crew. Some of them came and went, but Bob, Patrick and Marit were onboard for the entire trip - huge thanks to them for working so hard, for pulling together through every challenge, for gourmet meals in th...

PTWBF

Port Townsend Wooden Boat Festival was a lot of fun! It was really great to meet so many people on the dock, and apologies to anyone missed us.

Now we are lying low and recovering for a little while - all these festivals are exhausting!

200. FULL BOAT TOUR (at sea!)

In this episode we take a break from our big shakedown cruise for a special full-boat tour around Tally Ho, at sea!

What is it like to live on the boat?

Which parts work, which parts don’t work?

Where do we all sleep?

Why don’t we wear shoes!?

We also see the construction of our Saloon bench, which was built out of Cherry in Port Townsend before we left, AND we hoist our jackyard tops’l and see a lot of humpback whales.

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Music;

Say Ye...

Boat Festivals!

We had a really fun time a Victoria Classic Boat Festival, and it was so great to meet lots of people on the dock!

Now we're looking forward to Port Townsend Wooden Boat Festival, which is next weekend, Sept 6 - 8 ...and we hope to see you if you can make it!

I'm afraid that we won't be doing any tours on board, but Tally Ho can be viewed from the dock, and the crew and I will be taking turns to chat and answer questions over the weekend. See you there!

Photo credit: James H...

Strait of Juan de Fuca

An incredible sail in the Strait of Juan de Fuca yesterday - our first sight of the USA for a couple of months, and the first fime flying the jackyard tops'l in open waters.
Victoria Classic Boat Festival, here we come!

EP199. Searching for a metal-lathe! - Repairs and Mods while sailing North BC.

In this video we continue to sail North, doing some metalworking repairs and modifications on the way (after we luckily come across a metal-lathe!)

We visit the huge abandoned cannery at Namu, and discover layers of history under the detritus of industry. Nick shows us how to start the amazing 1941 6-cylinder Gardner diesel engine that powers Argonaut II, before we set sail across the notorious Hecate Strait.

Anchor Roller Modification!

As with any shakedown cruise, there are lots of bits and pieces that we are fixing and improving as we go. For instance, our anchor chain was not fitting into our chain roller properly, which was causing friction and wear. In a real stroke of luck, we found a metal-lathe tucked in the back of an old workshop in the very remote town of Shearwater, BC. The machinist had passed away several years ago but we were told we could use the lathe if we wanted to, and so Bob was able to modify the chain...

Anchored.

We still can't get over the landscape of the West Coast of Haida Gwaii, or the deserted and uncharted anchorages that we are so lucky to experience. No boats or people for miles and miles and miles.

These magical places nourish something deep inside and give a lot of new perspective.

Wooden Boat Festivals coming up!

For a long time I wasn’t sure we’d be able to make it back from our summer cruise in time, but I’m now pretty confident that we will bring TALLY HO to both;

Victoria Wooden Boat Festival (30 Aug - 1 Sept)

Port Townsend Wooden Boat Festival (6 - 8 Sept)

I’m really excited for both festivals! Hope to see some of you there (providing the weather plays along and we get there in time!)

Uncharted waters...

This was our magical, deserted anchorage last night - you can see Tally Ho near the bottom of the frame.

We are now on the West Coast of Moresby Island, having transited the notoriously narrow / shallow "Skidegate Channel" that separates the 2 largest islands of Haida Gwaii.

Thanks to some amazing folks at Starlink who went above and beyond to get us replacement hardware, we are now able to connect to the internet again - although we will be staying disconnected for the vast maj...

EP198. "Look Ma, no hands!" ...Sailing North with self-steering & Jackyard Topsail!

In this video we sail TALLY HO North, all the way up the inside coast of Vancouver Island, BC. We hoist our Jackyard Topsail for the first time (with a small snag!), we test our Autopilot / Self-steering gear, and we transit some crazy rapids. We also run into some dolphins, say goodbye to some friends, and swim in a glorious lake. Oh… and we also find the "largest burl in the world"!

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Music;

Nitpicky Picnic - The Whole Other

Mi Borinquen - Doug Maxwell / Jimmy Fo...

We're back! (....for now)

Having lost our internet connectivity in the Hecate strait, we spent an amazing 2 weeks in the beautiful Gwaii Haanas Haida heritige site, remote and completely disconnected. I'm very excited to share more about that journey, in due time. For now, we are in Daajing Giids, the largest village on the Haida Gwaii islands, and have been able to get online again.

Unfortunately my attempts at organising a replacement Starlink cable to meet us here have been in vain, so it looks like we might...

Going offline...

I'm writing this from a beautiful remote homestead near the Southern tip of Haida Gwaii, where we've been welcomed graciously and I've been able to use WiFi.

Yesterday, we crossed the Hecate Strait and entered the magical waters of Haida Gwaii. On the way, our Starlink internet set-up unexpectedly stopped working.

This means that after we leave here later today, we will be completely offline and unreachable for the next week or two, as there is no infrastructure in the remote area...

Under main' and stays'l...

....and preparing to hoist the jib!

We were lucky to get some good wind in the San Juan islands, despite the reputation that the area has in the summer months.

Sunrise at Sea.

There's something so special about getting underway early in the morning, and then watching the sun rise.

I love to think about how many sunrises have been witnessed from Tally Ho over the decades, in so many different parts of the world - but as far as I know, this is the first time the sun has risen over Tally Ho in Canada 🇨🇦

We really miss all of our build-crew buddies!

Here's Erika bossing the mains'l flake in the San Juans. One of our current projects is to set up LazyJacks to make it a bit easier to drop and stow this huge sail !

EP179. After decades ashore, TALLY HO begins new adventures - with a rowdy crew!

In this video we finally get to enjoy sailing Tally Ho after 7 years of work! We meet the whole crew - familiar faces, and a few new ones. We travel with a historic 1922 motor-yacht, we crash our drone in the woods, we make fresh pasta, and some of us say goodbye - for now.

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Home - JHS Pedals

Da Jazz Blues - Doug Maxwell / Media Right Productions

Juneberry Junction - Chris Haugen

Studying charts and deciding on our next move...

Studying charts and deciding on our next move... part of our evening ritual, best performed with an oil lamp and a glass of scotch.

I know it can be hard to visualise exactly where Tally Ho is, and where we are going. Would there be much interest in seeing our route so far drawn out on a chart?

Is this the Pacific Northwest, or the Caribbean?!

Sailing Tally Ho through this very narrow channel was a real thrill - I was a little bit concerned the we might hit the rock-face with the end of our boom at one point! Locals may recognise this as Spencer Spit, in the San Juan Islands. We've been blessed with amazing weather for most of our trip so far.

EP196. TALLY HO departs - Leaving harbour and heading North!

In this video we finish the work on the capstan, provision the boat for a big trip, and depart Port Townsend heading North to the San Juan Islands - the first stop on our big summer trip.

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Music;

Bitters at the Saloon - Bird Creek

Handprints - John Deley and the 41 Players

Temps - Riot

Blue Creek Trail - Dan Lebowitz

Like Lee - The Mini Vandals

Pasta night aboard Argonaut II!

It feels so good to be with a group of people who are all so happy to pitch in - every day, amazing food appears as if by magic, and then dishes get cleaned and cocktails are made. In the morning the decks are scrubbed, chores are done, and we're ready for whatever the day brings. I love how this crew works hard, works together, and has such a good time doing it.

Also... I think Argonaut II has the best diesel-powered pasta-warmer in the world 😁

Rafted up with our friends in the San Juan Islands!

The first week of our voyage was a "crew trip", with everyone from the build-crew who could make it. After years of working together, it was so amazing to spend a week sailing, swimming, and eating together - in perfect weather.

If you look closely at this photo, you may see something unusual...!

Argonaut II

For this first part of our cruise we are really lucky to be travelling with Argonaut II, a beautiful 73' wooden motor cruiser with a really interesting history. She was built in 1922 as a corporate yacht for the Powell River Company before she was sold to the United Methodist Church in 1937 to operate as a medical missionary boat. For the next 30+ years, she served logging, fishing, and First Nation communities up and down the remote coastline of British Columbia. Marriages and baptisms were...

195. Installing and using the original capstan!

In this video we finish installing Tally Ho’s original capstan, which was on the boat when it first launched in 1910.

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Music;

Cross the Road - Silent Partner

Hip Bone - Quincas Moreira

Reuben’s Train - Nat Keefe with The Bow Ties

Down below.

Getting ready for our trip meant emptying Tally Ho of tools and cleaning the space down below really well. Here's a view of the chart table and galley area before it all got loaded up again with cruising supplies and provisions!

There are a few new features since the last interior tour.. are they noticeable?

We're away!

I'm so grateful and happy to be underway on Tally Ho, with the best crew I could ask for, in an incredibly beautiful part of the world, with a summer of adventure ahead.

I'm also so grateful for all the kind words after the last video. I know it wasn't as action-packed as most of my videos, but as soon as we leave the harbour there are going to be people posting pictures of us in different places - and I just felt that people should hear that we have left Port Townsend directly from me...

EP194. Exciting news - what’s next for Tally Ho!

A short, bonus episode!

This video is a bit different from normal, but I’m excited to give a very quick real-time update to explain what is happening right now, and to talk about what’s going to be next for Tally Ho.

193. Installing the Capstan / hoisting topsails!

In this episode we start installing the Capstan, after sending it off to be coating with zinc and painted. We also take Tally Ho our for another sail, and this time hoist all of our light-weather sails - the topsails!

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Music;

Tiptoe Out the Back - Dan Lebowitz

The Jam - Slynk & Mr Stabalina

Carry On - Barry Phillips

Bed and Breakfast - The 126ers

The Mini Vandals - The Bywater

Quincas Moreira - Lagos

Town of 24 Bars - Unicorn Heads<...