Sailing to our New Off Grid Home | Living Off Grid on a Sailboat

We are on the move again! Unfortunately the wind was not in our favour for this sail, but the beautiful early morning departure made up for it. We had an eventful trip between spotting porpoises on the horizon, to being pulled over for a police check, to having a malfunction with our gear at the worst time... but at the end of the day we are so excited to be moored at our new spot for living off grid on our sailboat!
This video is a little different than our usual vlog style episodes. Instead we decided to share our footage from our sail then debrief after about the events of the day!
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These videos are made possible by the generosity of viewers like you and we want to thank you so much for being here!
If you are new to the channel, Blue Moon is a 1978 Catalina 30 sailing vessel which we acquired in 2020. One year later we decided it was time for a road trip and built out a 1998 Delica to drive across the country. Now we live aboard the boat full-time, take weekend trips in the van, and explore this beautiful world.
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0:00 - In this episode
0:15 - We’re moving
1:39 - Sailing
4:30 - Waiting for the wind
9:03 - Rocky landing at our new off grid home
10:23 - Debrief (currents, engine, and getting pulled over by the police)

[@narrowescape81]

I'm thankful someone stopped you to bring to your attention how important accessible safety gear is. Sailing 101... good luck out there

[@BlueMoonLife]

Yes we agree safety equipment is so important! It was a good refresher for us, but we make sure we have everything where we need it and accessible :D

[@_Willem_]

I suppose that sometimes enough to know just the breath of beauty which exist in this world, even without understanding the depth of it all. Nice tranguille video o_~

[@tommycheshire5508]

A warm mug of coffee, sunny, a slow motor on a cool day is what owning a sailboat is all about.

[@SteifWood]

motor? ur apparently not a sailor

[@BlueMoonLife]

Yes it is :D

[@tommycheshire5508]

@@BlueMoonLife Late afternoon, no wind, a perfect opportunity.

[@Corkedit]

A little advise. Get hold of some diesel bug agent additive. It cleans fuel system but also breaks down the bug and allows the engine to burn it. I have used it on all my boats and never had and bug growth. Its expensive but once dosed up very little added on each fill. Every one know that has had issues with filters has never used it funny enough.

[@Kathleensailorgirl]

Such a lovely motor sail, beautiful mooring spot and I love you music.💕💕⛵️⛵️⛵️

[@BlueMoonLife]

Thanks Kathleen :D

[@johncrisp6683]

Fun to see you in my home waters. Good for you to get out exploring. We live in a wonderful area of the world.

[@BlueMoonLife]

We really do!

[@keithrowell8895]

Hope you 2 have a nice safe 4th.

[@BlueMoonLife]

Thanks, you too!

[@Janchez]

If it's a little rollie with boat traffic while motoring you can raise the main with a reef in it. The main will help dampen the roll. With no reef the sail will flog so a reef helps take some of the "bag" out the sail so less flogging. As you cruise more you will occasionally see sailboats motoring with the main up, they usually do this to dampen roll.

[@BlueMoonLife]

Interesting, thanks for the tip! We have seen boats do that :D

[@robertsmith4520]

Another fantastic video, you have a truly beautiful country,all the best,Rob from England.

[@BlueMoonLife]

Thank you Rob :D

[@dyrectory_com]

Cool, you're both from the West Coast.... Canada. 👍🏼

[@christianvogl1568]

Interesting encounter with the RCMP. They were doing their job, and its good to see such, way out wherever. I had them come alongside just as I had tied up on Pender last week. They just circled, said hello, eyed up the boat and cockpit carefully, and said have a good day. Then ripped off to the next destination in their super zodiac craft and all the Horsepower. Suggest spending some time placing the safety gear in better, more easily accessible and logical locations. Not because it makes an inspection go easier, but because it make an emergency situation go 'easier'. Have a great summer!

[@BlueMoonLife]

Thanks for sharing your experience! Yes we were happy to have the encounter and know what to expect for next time. And like you said, it reminded us that we need to reacquaint ourselves with our equipment (especially after being at the docks and forgetting about it) :D

[@6800891]

Excellent job at capturing the essence of spending time on a sailboat. Makes me want to go out on mine.

[@BlueMoonLife]

Thank you Troy :D Enjoy your time on the water when you get out there!!

[@moggy9331]

Hello Gillian and Jonas, I came across your channel about a month ago and have been slowly catching up from the beginning. My wife and I spent a short time in Victoria in July 2017 at the start of a Rocky Mountaineer tour, so it has great seeing the harbour and recognising the various locations. Whilst we were in Victoria we also had a horrendously windy day, so most of the planned activities including whale watching, fishing and sea plane tours were cancelled. I am enjoying your story telling and travels. Gary (Australia)

[@BlueMoonLife]

Hey Gary, thank you so much :D Sorry to hear that you ran into some difficult weather (we know those wind storms well), but glad you could tour around and see our side of the world!! Someday we hope to visit Australia as well :D

[@allynonderdonk7577]

Fill the filter with diesel before you put it back on and it helps a lot with re-priming the engine.

[@BlueMoonLife]

Okay thanks!! We'll remember that for next time :D

[@skippyone3085]

I am glad you are using the boat more now the lockdowns and COVID have finally played out. Tip for cleaning the fuel tank, use a 12v pump (Google oil extractor pumps) put the feed line down the diesel filler and pump into clean Jerry cans so you can filter the fuel and put back in the tank later.. next disconnect the fuel line to the engine and clamp or block off. Next fill tank with water and some washing up liquid then using 12v pump circulate by putting the delivery ( the pipe that you used to fill the Jerry can back into the tank. This will help clean a loosen any dirt or bacteria in the tank. The leave to stew an hour. You can either pump the soapy water out into more cans for disposal or slowly release into the bilge and let the bilge pump pump it overboard. Leave tank to dry for a day or two with all the vent open and you can then refill with new diesel or filter the old before it goes back into the tank. Beauty of this method is it's very easy and all you have to do is watch while the pump does the work.

[@BlueMoonLife]

Thanks for this! This will be very useful when we do the tank :D

[@johnross440]

Nice to see you away from the dock... hope to see the sails up one of these days....

[@BlueMoonLife]

Coming soon! We're hoping to sail as much as we can :D

[@niknack666]

Lovely looks like a good spot sunrises should be interesting. You guys should consider throwing in a crab pot or two. Fresh crab for a meal would be a nice way to finish off a day.

[@BlueMoonLife]

Yes we love it here and love the sunsets and sunrises!

[@bertrandcouture7038]

So much good vibes !

[@dashaB-sl4pu]

On a good day here that could very well be Moreton Bay in Brisbane Australia less the cold

[@BlueMoonLife]

Wow, so cool! Haha yes I'm sure it would be much warmer there!

[@Mike-bb1li]

Thank-you! Very nice!!

[@martinrouen]

That looked very relaxed. I'm paranoid about several things, but in this instance it would be having the main uncovered and ready, and not having the outboard on the dinghy. No one else has mentioned these, so I will, and also say that these are MY issues on MY boat. Not meant in any way to be advice. Keep these excellent videos coming.

[@BlueMoonLife]

Yes it was :) Thank you for your comment! We decided to keep the main cover on because we knew we wouldn't have enough wind to sail, but our jib was ready to go at a moments notice!

[@MCallsen]

The seal ♥ Well they are not all so cuddly close up and personal. On the island I grew up on we had cone seals and they are a bit adverse to being visited ;) Sidenote: I watched 42 min of advertising during this video and let it all run through. I hope it pays well :D

[@niborselrahc4651]

Really??? I pay for premium and there was not one ad.

[@BlueMoonLife]

Haha yes, we love them from afar but have seen what they do when people get a little too close! Oh wow, that is so kind of you :)

[@Janchez]

When you were picking up the mooring it sounded like your engine was idling faster than it should. Could have been the audio in the video, but it sounded a little fast. If it's to fast then it puts more wear and tear on the transmission when you shift it into gear.

[@BlueMoonLife]

Good to know, thank you! We'll pay attention to that next time we're out (it may have been the audio... the microphone doesn't appreciate the low vibrations of the engine, but still good for us to look at :D )

[@stevethurlow9059]

universal uses Kubota diesels and they have a bit lower compression than other brands and they like/need a bit of glow plug time...they start easier

[@BlueMoonLife]

Thanks! We've noticed that :D

[@johndavidson6867]

Even if you didn't actually sail, you were sailing on a sail boat lol. It looked like you had a wonderful time. I think the thing we have to remember about the RCMP, is that they didn't make any of the laws or rules, they just enforce those made by some level of government. Looking forward to seeing your summer on the water.

[@BlueMoonLife]

Haha you're right on that one! Yes, and we were very grateful to have the experience and also the push to make sure we're intentional about our safety gear!

[@tomdowney7519]

I noticed that your bright work is starting to show it's age.. Refinishing it is pretty easy, sand and revarnish

[@BlueMoonLife]

Yes we hope to do it soon!

[@JeremyLucey]

Would love to see a review of the mustang pfds you two wear, maybe inflate them and see how they work!

[@BlueMoonLife]

Thanks for the video tip! We'll look into that. The replacement cartridges are a little pricey, but perhaps we could work with Mustang on that :D

[@JeremyLucey]

@@BlueMoonLife would be cool to see!

[@markandreassen4846]

Love Pender and Port Browning Harbour, so fun, relaxing etc... I also got pulled over in Haro Strait, Thought I'd done something wrong but nope, right along the border with The US during the Covid times when the border was closed.... Making 3 kts against that remarkably strong current! 6 hours from Oak Bay to Bedwell Harbour.

[@BlueMoonLife]

Oh wow sounds like quite a trip! Yes just a safety check, which ended up being really good for us!!

[@Stephan_01]

♥️♥️🥰🥰

[@reloadncharge9907]

Traveled from where to where?? Enjoyed, thx, Andrew

[@scable-eq7bp]

Very relaxing video, even though it was a short motor sail you encountered quite a bit of marine life. We love watching the Dolphins play, we have 4 that visit our marina everyday and the water is so clear here in Key Largo they are easy to see. The Marine police encounter sounded like it went pretty good, those guys are out there for every ones safety. Here in Florida we have the Coast Guard, Florida Marine Patrol, and county and city marine patrol units. For the most part they just stop boats for safety inspections, but some of the county and city units can be a bunch of butt heads. They wear gun and carry a badge and think there king shit of turd island....

[@BlueMoonLife]

Wow, that would be incredible! Thank you for sharing what it's like in Florida, it's so interesting to hear what things are like in different places! Yes we were happy to experience that and it was a good push for us to make sure we check that we have everything we need to keep up safe!

[@harveyg845]

That seemed like a nice relaxing motor-sail. I noticed that the mooring field looked a little empty of other boats, are you guys out there early in the season or is everyone just moving around and not really staying in the moorings?

[@BlueMoonLife]

Traffic seems to come and go, and we try to enjoy the peace and quiet while we have it!!

[@ianspencer8771]

Thank you Blue Mooners for another video out at sea. Sorry about the Dad joke, if you ever need more wind...you can always pull Jonas's finger. If you could share with us where you are sailing that would be nice. Beautiful scenery and it looks familiar. A star fish on a mooring ball, how did it get up there?

[@BlueMoonLife]

Haha thank you! I know right, we were surprised how the starfish got up there too!

[@scubaseas1]

Interesting binnacle cover.....Do you have tell tails on your sails? Makes sail trim much easier and much more efficient. Good team work on the mooring pickup

[@BlueMoonLife]

Yes we have tell tales on our jib, but need to put some ticklers on our main! Thank you :D

[@roxanneweeds7775]

Love the videos! Did you guys make a concious decison to not mention any of places that you go by name? I was super interned in the cross Canada trip but did know where you were each episode. Just watching this video and no mention of the island names or Sidney Spit.

[@BlueMoonLife]

Thank you! Yes we it is a decision we have made based on a number of reasons (including filming rules)... I know that it would be nice to know our location, but we hope you can understand why it this is best for us :)

[@jasonncoxx5837]

Hello you two fine folks, Different kind of question but here we go. Lol. What was that spread you put on your toast? It looked like hummus or tahini but you really threw me off with the sriracha!! Hahaha! Take care!

[@BlueMoonLife]

Hello! Haha it was hummus and sriracha! It's one of our favourite combinations for a quick breakfast :D

[@jasonncoxx5837]

@@BlueMoonLife Thank you!! 🙏😊 I'm definitely going to try that combo!!! I love both ingredients but I've never them together!!

[@SteviePeeOutDoorLife]

How much does it cost to run the motor?

[@fxlrcbkr]

Go south get warm.

[@38below39]

Dam lucky the RCMP did not put the two of you in jail ... heheheheheheheh

[@MegaTriumph1]

You didn't film the CP?. That was a fortune of views lost. I am a bit concerned you are not drinking enough coffee maybe a larger coffee pot could help.

[@BlueMoonLife]

Haha yes we love our coffee!!