August 21: Destinations are not always where you intended…

they are where you end up :-) Yesterday, when we headed out of Lund, we headed for the nearby Copeland islands. We’ve been wanting to stop there but circumstances usually prevent us from doing so. Yesterday was no different with boats in every conceivable anchoring spot and shallows everywhere else :-(. Sucking it up, we carried on, not really sure where we were heading. With our limited time, Gorge Harbour and Read Island were no longer on the planning board. One thing we did notice was the increased number of boats heading south. 😁 which meant usually busy anchorages might not be full to overflowing. We poked our noses into a couple of possibilities and/but settled on an anchorage we hadn’t even considered until we arrived. Prideaux Haven is not normally on our list of places to visit because it’s usually chocker block full of big boats. Yesterday was different. We were able to anchor well and swing (which is lovely as it means we don t need to shore tie with all the complications that entails). The water was warm for swimming and, when we woke up this morning, half the nearby boats had left (heading south, I presume). We’ll stay here today and, sometime during the afternoon, we’ll figure out where we ‘think’ we’re going tomorrow. Many of you who know us well will recognize this is not our usual MO (modus operandi) so you will understand when I say “we are stepping out of our comfort zone with our fingers and toes crossed that all will unfold without too many more surprises. This is CJ signing off for now and wishing you all a good day with only pleasant surprises that keep you smiling. 😊

Our journey through life continues

 We are not just lucky… we are blessed Blessed to have been born to boating parents ; blessed with the courage and drive, inherited from our parents, to reach out and sample as much as life has to offer…as often as we can, and blessed to be surrounded by supportive siblings and friends who stand by us no matter how whacky we sometimes appear to be. All that to say, thank-you all for your care, your love and your support…which means so much, particularly when the day to day stuff can become somewhat challenging. Thanks too for the complete strangers we meet, like George, our go to guy up here, who helped us through a challenging time with our galley plumbing last year and our cranky windlass this year. It seems the damp atmosphere surrounding the windlass as well as salt water, overly-tight bits and pieces and other parts that were cracked, seized or corroded just couldn’t do the job anymore; so they just quit. All fixed already and we’re prepping to go. Fact is, today, right now, we are packed, healed and chomping at the bit to get going again. Lund has been a pleasure to visit but it really is time to move on. Unfortunately, due to the time delays, we will be reducing our original itinerary as necessary. As always we must allow extra days for foul weather and unruly sea conditions and the ‘cast in stone’ date we must be home by. It’s all good. We are happy, Maddie is having fun and SSpirit (the boat) is in the best shape ever 🤞. This is CJ signing off for now… it’s time for Maddie to practice fetching floaty things at the wee beach nearby. TTFN. Tatafornow. CJ > >  >

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Sometimes bad things happen… for good reasons

Good morning from the good ship Shannon’s Spirit. We are finally on our 2026 Summer Cruise. You haven’t heard much from us as we were rushing to prep, pack and get moving after a lengthy stay in the boat yard. As you may recall, our two week booking for annual maintenance on June 1st became a marathon of an overhaul, delaying all our plans for six weeks. To finally get away and begin our long awaited vacation was a huge relief and we looked forward to fair winds, sunny skies… and a perfect performance from our dear old boat. 

 We began with a stop-over in Pirates Cove and then moved to New Castle before crossing the Straits on August 6th. Our first stop was in a small bay on the south end of Texada Island. From there we continued up to Sturt Bay and on to Powell River where we enjoyed a marvellous visit with dear friends. The plan moving forward was to stop in the Copeland Islands for one night on our way to Gorge Harbour where we had reservations and a date with some old friends. 

We had a comfortable run up to the Copeland’s, including the sighting of two Humpback whales who popped up not too far from us. We were heading north and they were heading south. Our intended anchorage had already acquired two boats at anchor but there was still room for little old us, so we moved slowly shoreward and even executed the ‘lower and set anchor while moving slowly forward’ maneuver friends had shown us years ago but we’d never tried with Spirit. It worked very well, except that Kathy sensed something different when lowering the windlass. Thank goodness she did because when she double-checked she determined the windlass was indeed not doing well.

 For you land lubbers, the windlass is the very expensive, very heavy and very necessary hunk of metal that most of us use to lower and raise the other chunk of important metal on a boat… the anchor. What to do??? Without too many options, Kathy single handedly hauled in the 75’ of anchor chain and the 35lb. anchor from the deep and back on board while CJ maintained the boat’s position with gentle adjustments from the helm. Thankfully all went well and we headed to nearby Lund Harbour. 

We are very lucky for so many things. They include; the anchor didn’t get stuck on the bottom, Kathy didn’t hurt herself hauling it all in, the day was sunny and warm without significant wind, Lund had room for us on their dock and with friendly staff, we like Lund, and George, the wonderful fellow who helped us out last year, was available and ready to check out our windlass for us. We are also lucky that the windlass didn’t fail us in some remote anchorage…miles away from anywhere with a mechanic.

 It’s now late morning and George has been, inspected and diagnosed our problem. The windlass is one problem and he thinks he can get it repaired well enough to continue. The platform the windlass is mounted on (created in Mexico when we bought the boat) is another and will need to be re-created when we get home. The good news is, we should be able to carry on in a few days. We will find out this afternoon…stay tuned. 

 I just want to take a moment to say thank you to YOU. I keep this blog going because I enjoy sharing our adventures with family and friends and anyone else who enjoys the ‘read’. So, thanks for coming along and sharing our good and not so good times with us. I hope you enjoy the pics as well. Always CJ > >  >

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Seal feeding on anchovies

Look what we discovered as we were walking down the dock last night in Lund!

This seal was happily feeding on a large school of anchovies. We stood on the dock and watched it for 20 minutes.  This truly was a rare opportunity to see how gracefully they swim …

There’s nothing like the slap of water…

… on the hull of a sailboat beating its way through what ever the tides churned up. And so it was when we finally broke free from the land-based challenges and worry. We weren’t exactly sailing; the winds met us head on as we crossed from Nanaimo, heading for Jedidiah and then settling for a quiet anchorage on the south end of Texada Island. With time to catch our breath, we paid homage to those who had gone before us; remembering the lessons learned from the knee of a sailing father (my dad) along , with his equally competent mate, my mom… and the other senior boaters in our lives, like Kathy’s mom and dad who led us into and around the Broughton's and shared several anchorages with us and then, in 2011, (along with my dad) supported our biggest adventures (even the one down the west cost to Mexico on the good ship Shannon). Yesterday marked the start of our 2026 summer cruise. It is safe to say we resurrected our summer plans after many setbacks and here we are. Our course takes us to visit dear friends in Powell River and then on to Cortez Island to rendezvous with other dear friends from a different time of life. It feels so good to be, finally, out here, under our own steam, with a somewhat relaxed plan. I hope each of you have developed summer plans that meet your needs and find the strength to adapt as needed in order to see them through. Adios for now…. CJ, K and Maddie > > 

PIrates cove

Was relatively calm last night, particularly considering the forecast of 25 knot winds. No excitement except for the fellow who backed over his dinghy painter. He was lucky. HIs neighbouring vessel had a young fellow who dove down and freed the line. Smiles all around. We’re here for a few more nights. It’s a great place to hangout, help folks, care for the marine park and decompress after a busy spring. Hope you are all decompressed and enjoying where ever you are. Always.. CJ

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Shannon’s Spirit is on the move….finally

 to hopefully warmer days dripping in sunshine. After almost two months receiving updates, upgrades, repairs and TLC, SSpirit is loaded up and on the move. Today we braced ourselves for a cold and somewhat lumpy motor boat ride…into the face of a Nor’wester and joined numerous other boats in Pirates Cove. Our Club members volunteer to serve as park hosts and have the use of a small dock to tie up to while serving. Given the forecast of the upcoming weather that includes gusty and strong winds, we have opted to ‘host’ for three days in the hopes the NW will have calmed down before we leave and cross the Straits (a petulant body of water that cares little for creature comforts, warm and dry conditions, or smooth and gentle breezes). Best part? At long last our repairs are completed and we are free to begin our summer cruise. The not so good news? The time left for this year’s cruise is half what we had hoped for and the challenging weather isn’t helping. getting on with it? We’ll do as much as we can as long as it feels safe and is enjoyable. We’ll also do more sailing this fall…as much as we can in our beautiful Gulf Islands. As far as challenging weather goes… my dad always said “while you can’t do anything about the wind… you can always adjust your sails”. Here’s hoping you have your sails aligned with your dreams and you days go well. Adios for now. CJ

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