Home

Okay, okay.  We are home.  I just got lazy and stopped blogging when the going got to be easy.  At the end of the trip we joined our friends the Deibel's and their family for two days at Port Browning on Pender Island.  Great times, beautiful weather.
From here we head back into US waters.  With a stop in Oak Harbor for fuel, we next head to Port Ludlow where we spend two relaxing days waiting for the tides make it possible to enter Lagoon Point on the west side of Whidbey Island.  We finally dock on July 3rd at 3 pm. 
We have been away almost 9 weeks and it is nice to be home.  

Lay Day June 27

We spend the day at anchor in Poets Cove.  I am desperately trying to put together the quarterly magazine for our local Classic Car Club.  I have been doing this for years but having been away from from home for almost two months, I have really need a day to work on content and layout.
https://home.ccca-pnr.org/events/the-latest-and-greatest/

Finally head to shore for dinner at the seaside pub.  Make an appointment at the spa for tomorrow morning.

The sun is out and all is good.

Gulf Island Tour

We are up to catch slack tide (5:46) at Gabriola Pass.  The first challenge is getting out of the Silva Bay Marina (no wonder we like to anchor out).  The wind is blowing and the fairway is very narrow.  We try twice to make the corner but can't get the bow to clear and still miss hitting the dock behind.  A lovely gentleman walking the dock offers to hold the bow line and help pull the bow around.  That little bit of help does the trick.  We are soon working our way out of Silva Bay and arrive at Gabriola Pass perfectly timed to pass at slack water.

Our distance to travel today is short.  I have drawn a scenic route to Telegraph Harbor (the narrow inlet on the map).

We nose our way into this shallow cove that has two marinas.  We are not yet a low water and in places we are down to 11 feet.  There is a small passage that would allow a kayak into Clam Cove to the east - and I think that might be fun.  We take a tour of the cove and decide that we would rather continue on our journey before low tide makes it too difficult to navigate.  We consider our options and decide to head to Ganges on Salt Spring Island for lunch.

We anchor in the harbor with dozens of boats and deploy the dinghy to go to shore.  This is a busy harbor.  Small seaplanes are continuously landing and pleasure craft seem to continuously come and go.  In Ganges we take a stroll through town and then find a sign about free admission to the museum.  Two small issues.  Neither of us reads the part of the sign that says the museum is only open Wednesday thru Friday -  and it is a kilometer out of town.  The good news is that we get in a nice walk and find fresh local strawberries at a roadside stand.

Salt Spring

Poets Cove

We have lunch in the pub, dining on a local lamb burger and local brew.  A short stop at the grocery store finishes our on-land activities.  Back at the boat, we consider again our options.  Staying at anchor in Ganges Harbor is a reasonable choice but the commotion is almost overwhelming for two people who have been boating in the remote reaches of Alaska.  We pull the anchor and head to Poets Cove for a beautiful setting and a quiet night on the hook.

Chug to the Rescue June 25

Sunrise at Henry Bay

We are awake to watch the sun rise over the Strait of Georgia.  Winds are still calm but clouds are forming in all directions.  We follow the shore of Denman Island south for several miles before turning into the Strait.  This morning we have NW winds and a flood tide.  With a following sea, we make 8 knots for most of the morning.  Barrie cranks up the water maker and I do a load of laundry.

Just after 1 pm, we hear a call on the VHF that attracts our attention.  A 36 foot Trawler is disabled (he ran over the line to the dinghy he was towing and it is wrapped around the propeller -- and the dinghy is adrift.  He provides the Coast Guard with incomplete location information and cannot provide correct Lat & Long.  A nearby boater calls on Channel 16 to say that Winchelsea Control knows their location (we are in the Whiskey Golf range).

Fresh Shrimp Salad for lunch

Less than half an hour ago, we were in Ballenas Channel.  With binoculars, we are able to see the disabled boat and let the Coast Guard know we are in the area.  We agree to head in the direction of the disabled boat and render assistance.  As we start our trek, a tugboat calls in to say that he is an hour away and can provide a tow.  Our job now is to rescue the dinghy and return it to the disabled boat.  We can see the tug in the distance and know that he is better equipped to tow a vessel in the Strait of Georgia than we are.  While we are in the area, another small pleasure craft arrives and somehow they rig a tow rope.  In our minds, this looks like an accident waiting to happen.

The tug changes course to continue on his original path.  The Coast Guard asks Pegasus to check-in when they are safely docked.  As the afternoon progresses, we hear the Coast Guard trying to reach Pegasus.  We assume they made it to a safe harbor but will likely never know.

We continue on our way and tie-up in Silva Bay.  We have a beer at the pub and walk the local trails before heading back to the boat for the night.  Tomorrow we will be in the southern Gulf Islands.

Large Tides June 24

Strait of Georgia - Perfect Day

After a lovely dinner at Blind Channel Resort, we depart from the dock and move across the channel to Charles Cove to anchor for the night.  The current is so swift in Blind Channel that the middle of the channel appears to have rapids.  Fortunately for us, there is a back eddy by the resort which makes it possible to get the boat off the dock without great peril.  The cove across the channel is also out of the current. 

After a great deal of calculations, we determine that our morning departure will be 8 am.  We need to be at Seymour Narrows at noon.  First we ride the ebb out of Blind Channel and are quickly up to 10 knots (remember this is a 7 knot boat!).  We turn the corner into the east end of Johnstone Strait and find ourselves against a stronger ebb than we had planned.  Barrie revs up the engine and the best we can do is 3.5 knots.  As the ebb abates, our speed increased but we are working against the clock.  Today the current at Seymour Narrows will reach a maximum of 15.7 knots and the safe window of transiting at slack in just 15 minutes on each side.  We have 15 miles to travel up Johnstone before we reach the Narrows.  We are watching the clock and pushing the engine to arrive on time.  If we miss the window, we must wait 6 hours for the next opportunity.

We arrive just west of the narrows with just minutes to spare.  But now, we are boxed in by tug traffic moving in both directions.  We finally decide to tuck in behind a tug towing a load of wood chips.  The challenge is that he is waiting for the tug to come through before he starts his transit.  So, we sit and wait.  Finally, we start the short trip through the Narrows and pass without incident.

For the next several hours, we are riding the Flood tide on a perfectly calm Strait of Georgia.  We agree to aim for Comox.  Just north of Comox, the direction of the flood changes from North to South, so for the last few miles we are once again fighting the current.

We try hailing the Comox Harbor Master but get no response.  We poke our nose into the harbor and find a spot at the dock.  A lovely older wooden boat from Seattle is moored across the dock.  They help with the lines and tell us about the shrimp boat that is due into the harbor at 6.  This is news to us, but it is a well-known secret in the harbor.  By the time I head to the end of the dock, there is a large line waiting to buy prawns at $7/lb.  By the time I reach the front of the line, Ocean Rancher has run out of prawns.  The owner offers me smaller fresh shrimp ($1/lb) and I buy 5 pounds.   

Sunset at Henry Bay

We decide the dock is too busy and too hot.  So, after cooking the shrimp, we untie our lines and move 5 miles away to Henry Cove.  From here we enjoy the solitude, watch a stunning sunset and dine on fresh shrimp.  Life is good.

Close Encounters with a Whale

As is often the case, we are up early and pull the anchor before 5 am.  We want to take advantage of the ebb tide to work our way back to Johnstone Strait and then catch the flood tide to transit east in Johnstone.  The forecast is for NW 15 knot winds this morning rising to NW 25 this afternoon.

Mornings are usually the calmest time to travel and it is certainly true this morning.  We watch the sun rise and make over 8 knots of speed for most of the first two hours.  At the top of Blackley Pass, I see a Humpback whale rise just off our port bow.  I catch Barrie's attention and we watch for the whale to surface again.  We are stunned when it comes up just in front of our bow (10 feet?) and continues under the boat.  We have never been this close to a humpback! 

We continue into Blackley Pass where we find incredible tide rips.  At times our speed is reduced to just over 1 knot (1.13 was the lowest I saw) and we are crabbing 20 or even 30 degrees.  Just as all this is happening, we are hailed by a small cruise ship that is rounding the point and will be entering the channel.  We agree to pass "red to red".  I hug the starboard shore but not too close since we have limited control of the boat in these waters at this speed. 

Suddenly, we hear Chug called on the VHF again.  It is our friends Brian & Elizabeth Miller on their boat Intrepid.  They heard the cruise ship hail us and called to say hello.  They are headed north to Sitka and we are headed south.  Ten minutes later we pass Intrepid in Johnstone Strait.  This is the Miller's first trip to Alaska on their boat and Johnstone is completely flat.  We wonder if they think it is like this all of the time!

We end the day in Mayne Passage.  We stop at Blind Channel Resort for dinner ashore in their lovely restaurant and will anchor out in Charles Bay this evening.  It the weather forecast holds, we will finish our run up Johnstone Strait tomorrow and go through Seymour Narrows around noon.  Next up, the Strait of Georgia.

The Broughton's

Queen Charlotte Sound and Queen Charlotte Strait and both behind us.  Beautiful day of cruising in the sun!  We are in the Broughton's and looking for a good forecast to continue down Johnstone Strait.  More later.

Today has been one of the best weather days of the trip and Queen Charlotte Strait has laid down making our travels today much calmer than yesterday.  We turn into the Broughton's from Johnstone Strait and debate where we stop this evening.  Billy Proctor is a well-known homesteader in this area and 8 years ago he opened a museum on his homestead property that contains relics from logging and fishing in days past.  We have a couple of books that Bill authored (or co-authored) and think it would be fun to see his collection.

We decide to tie up at Echo Bay and take the trail to Proctor Bay and the museum.  We are surprised to find just two boats at Echo Bay which is a well-known "resort" in the Broughton's.  We tie-up the boat, pay for two hours of dock time, and learn that not only is Bill still alive (he is 82) but he still lives on the property and greets museum guests.  Bill is there when we arrive and shares a number of stories including "if one stick of dynamite is good - two must be better."  He also agrees to autograph our books.  It is an interesting  afternoon and a pleasant walk. 

We return to the boat, cast-off our lines and head three miles south where we anchor for the evening in Shoal Cove.  We share the harbor with several boats but perhaps most interesting is Deerleap from Longbeach CA.  Designed by Hoffar and launched in 1929 at Hoffar-Beeching boatyard in Vancouver, B.C. Deerleap is 85' long. She is powered by two Gardner diesels (Barrie's favorite diesel engine!).