Update 4,372… or thereabouts

 Hi all,

Well, we’ve rounded the corner. After another few, beautiful days in our secret location (where we confirmed it was indeed a young male wolf we had spotted when last we visited) and really enjoying the privilege of walking the island trails (granted to us last year by two and now four of the owners) it was time to turn our nose(s) south towards home.

The only wrinkle we are dealing with is wee Maddie who woke up one morning and said “I’m not sure I like it when the boat’s moving”. We’re working on that but it does have it’s challenges. She and we will persevere. 

We came down as far as Pender Harbour today (for a short grocery shop and shower and then gone again). The NW has been kicking up quite vigorously and we hope it will calm down soon.  Tomorrow morning (early) we hope to make it across to the south end of Texada Island (Anderson Bay) if the winds and seas permit.  We’ll spend either one or two nights there and cross the Straits when it will be the most puppy friendly.

We will likely head into the Gulf Islands for our last few days.  We expect to be home by July 31. 

We’ve met lots of wonderful folks and been, yet again, awed by Mother Nature’s beauty. We are so very glad to call the coast of British Columbia home.

Hope all is well with each of you and your families.  Best  CJ

OOPS: it’s now Monday morning and remember “plans written in sand below high water”?  Well, there’s a little rubber doodad carefully placed in the heads system (read that as toilet system) that has a very important job. This little bit is called a Joker and ours is apparently failing.  We’ll be staying at Pender Harbour for another day while I change it out.  Besides, it’s still blowing pretty hard out there.  Hopefully we’ll get away tomorrow and be back on track.

Catching up on route…

 Here it is Thursday, July 21st already.  It’s 0830 hrs and we’re preparing to leave Beach Garden Marina at Grief Point.  We had a fabulous two days at Tenedos Bay and, before that, a couple nights in Laura Cove.  I must say that Desolation Sound is far more busy in July than in May (our usual month of choice for this cruise). “Yah well Duh” you might say and you’d be right.  Suffice to say in explanation… we were looking forward to warm-water swims as opposed to teeth chattering, mind numbing, cold dips.

In my youth, sailing with my parents I would follow my mom into the water every day in the Gulf Islands and Howe Sound. She wasn’t crazy but she would dive in head first; so of course I did too. Until, one day, when my head it the water and it was so cold I thought my brain was going to explode!  From that day on I would do a lumbering stride jump (I wasn’t all that graceful) as I accompanied mom on her daily swims.

Fast forward to today, just a ‘few’ years later. Unless you can convince me the water is at least 65 degrees for the first two feet, I do the Gulf Island ladder dip. This is the manoeuvre (taught to me by a small dog years ago who didn’t like to swim but needed to be cooled off). Step one: lower a swim ladder of some sort.  Step two: being appropriately attired, slowly work you way down the ladder in stages..stopping to allow your body to cool down, and keep going until your torso is suitably submerged and the temperature is slowly adjusting.  Then, and only then, step free of the ladder and carry on swimming. It may take a little longer but the “Fun to suck” ratio is much improved.

Back to my update.  We leave Beach Gardens this morning and will be ‘off the grid’ in our favourite anchorage south of here for a few days. You know the one so I won’t name it lest the hoards of boats and people, currently advancing on Desolation Sound, think they should stop there.

Our plan after that is a short stop in Pender Harbour for groceries and then to start working our way across the Salish Sea. We hope to stop in either Anderson Bay or Sunset Cove before crossing.  That’s enough for now.  A few photos follow. (Credit to Anne & Dick - SV Full and By)

Laura Cove 

Our anchorage in Tenedos Bay

Lower Unwin Lake - a short walk from Tenedos 

A nice swimming spot on Unwin

A quick stop to check out the creek after our swim

Tenedos Bay

At Deb & Ian’s in Lang Bay - tired out after an afternoon play date,
Maddie shares the couch with her buddy Jerry, 

The cruise continues…and here comes the sun!

Tue July 5: Still revelling in the memories and renewed friendships we headed on our way from Madeira Park; our destination - the anchorage behind Fox Island. Our good luck continued and as we rounded Fox Island we were delighted to see we had the entire anchorage to ourselves (the good luck likely related to our early arrival time). Having the place to ourselves, we opted to anchor and swing.

As more boats joined us they too opted to just anchor and it worked out well for all.  There was a little excitement the next morning as we spotted a black bear working the shoreline not far from us and then a large (like the size of a big dog) coyote on the bluff above the bay. Our visit to this location is usually a very active one (clams, oysters, jigging, hiking, etc.) but as both of us had sore backs we just spent a couple quiet days resting, reading, and relaxing. It was also raining off and on so it was easy to stay home.

Thur July 7th:  Time to go as our next destination was a small bay with a dock we had permission to use. This gave us the opportunity for a visit with old friends who live just south of Powell River. These folks are absolutely delightful and our visit of several days was spent enjoying their company, walking the beach, sharing tall tales, and challenging each other to a daily round or two of JENGA.  If you haven’t played it you may want to give it a try. It’s a blast! We had played it in AZ with our travel companions. This Jenga game is quite a bit larger than the one we were playing in AZ.  Again fun was had by all and between the Margueritas and other exotic refreshments, and the funny stories of our past, the laughter was continuous and raucous (you know, the kind that makes your eyes leak). 

Mon July 11th:  Time to move on as Desolation is waiting for us.  We slipped the little dock at 0715 (had to or we would have been stuck in the mud and leaning on the dock when the tide got to its lowest).

There was no wind to fill our sails so we motored to Sturt Bay on the northern portion of Texada Island. We hadn’t been there since 2010 so we decided to stop by and see what it’s like today.  There’s a tidy little dock in the bay just north of Van Anda and Paul the wharfinger for the Texada Boating Club confirmed there was room for us so in we went. We arrived about 1015 and the dock was about 3/4 full.  By 1700 it was full.  

We’ve met many nice folks and helped boats onto and off of the docks. We decided to stay two nights as the forecast is for NW winds up to 25 Knots this afternoon (July 12). They’re supposed to diminish by tomorrow morning. We shall see. Our plan is to slip tomorrow morning and scoot up to Lund (the doorway to Desolation). While there we will pick up some groceries, do a laundry and visit the bakery. Then it’s on into the anchorages in Desolation Sound and the collection of islands.

Wed. July 13:  It’s a beautiful blue-sky morning and we’re just waiting for the NW wind and seas to calm down a bit and then we’ll be heading off to Lund (the doorway to Desolation). All is well on the good ship Shannon’s Spirit. We hope all is well with each of you. 

TTFN. CJ, K and M

Summer’s here… the cruise is on!

 



Hola

I can hardly hear myself thinking; it’s raining so hard it sounds like the ratatatat of the VPD pipe band drummers. We’re comfortable though, tied to the dock in Madeira Park, Pender Harbour with arrangements to stay another day (until the forecast eases up on the winds and rains). We’re in no rush and enjoying each day for its individual value. Today, being the heaviest rain we’ve seen for some time, seems a perfect day to catch up with the blog post I started but didn t finish a few days ago. So please work with me as I report (a little back to front) how our summer cruise is starting out.  Here goes.  Pretend it’s June 29th.  Thanks…

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Warm weather, fair winds and it’s time to hit the high seas… well at least the Salish Sea(s). But first we must prepare and pack for the journey, ha!

I’ve noticed that as we grow older we seem to think we need to pack more stuff; and by ‘stuff’ I mean all you can possibly cram into a duffel bag and the quickly over-loaded, heavy duty, shopping bags.  You know the ones.  They’re the ones you think of after you’re already in Save-on and have carefully sterilized your shopping cart with the dried out shred of a disinfectant rag kindly left by the shopper in front of you.  They’re the bags you regretfully have to leave in your car because you’re too far into the shopping two-step by the time you remember them, to turn around and go back out. It’s only embarrassing when going through the check-out and having to confess your mistake and suffer the related self-doubt and guilt…sigh.  But I digress - back to packing for a cruise.

It’s not just packing up your clothes and the food…. It’s everything else that leaves you exhausted by the day it’s time to shove off.  By then all tanks have to be topped up - water, diesel, gasoline and propane … (sounds like a blevy about to happen doesn’t it but there are safety features and protocols that keep us safe).  I’m not complaining mind; I’m just mentioning a few of the preparations that are needed before leaving the dock. I’ll stop now and carry on with the good part :-)

We finally did leave the dock about 1215 hrs. on June 29th.  We were clever enough to realize it would be good to be on our way before the festivities of the Canada Day weekend. We also realized we shouldn’t rely on marinas having room for us but have some backup plans as well.

Day 1: We motor sailed to the Ladysmith Yacht Club and enjoyed a night on their reciprocal dock. This is an arrangement between consenting yacht clubs that allows us to enjoy a night at another yacht club for a very reasonable fee and we do the same for others. It was also a chance to catch up with some cruising friends who spoiled us with wine and a visit.

Day 2  June 30th: Up early, we slipped our lines and headed off into a beautiful blue sky and sunshine morning. We were headed to Nanaimo Yacht Club and planned to transit Dodd Narrows during the slack tide at approximately 1130.  While underway we decided we’d rather go to Newcastle Island where we could go for long walks with Maddie and relax in their park lands for the afternoon.  The plan was good; it only got a little hairy when we found out friends were already on the dock at Newcastle and/but would only be there for a few hours.  As it turned out we arrived at Dodd Narrows early and were floating around waiting for the slack so we could go through.  There’s a golden rule for BC passes.  You look up the time the tide will be slack, which is very brief as it changes direction in our narrow passes (let’s say slack tide will be at 1130). Once you know the time, you figure out how long it will take to transit said pass (let’s say it will take 30 minutes).  Finally, you divide the time in half (in this case to 15 minutes) and that’s when you enter the pass… exactly 15 minutes before slack tide.  THAT is the safest time to transit the pass…. It’s the time when you’ll have the least amount of current.  

Soooo, of course we didn’t do that on this day cuz we wanted to see our friends. But, we weren’t totally foolish; at least we waited for the current to slow down to two knots.  Even then there was a significant pushing and pulling going on against our keel which required some pretty fast hands on the steering wheel.  That being said, we made it through in one piece and popped out the other end well ahead of schedule.  We arrived at the Newcastle Island docks in time for a lovely visit and walk before they had to leave.  The only disappointment we had was, being at the dock, left us surrounded on both sides by large motor boats who insisted on running their generators non-stop.

 

It was a quiet night though and …

Day 3, July 1, Canada Day 🍁🇨🇦 was as beautiful a day as one could hope for.  While there wasn’t much wind for sailing there was a gorgeous flat sea, blue sky, sunshine and we had the Salish Sea pretty much to ourselves as we crossed; 

and we made it all the way to Pender Harbour, arriving by 1400 hrs at the Madeira Park Community Dock.  The only excitement I can report involves when we stopped to top up the fuel tank before heading into Madeira Park.  Let me set the scene for you.  Imagine, if you will, a small bay filled mostly with various configurations of docks. At the head of this rather full bay sits a small fuel dock. It s large enough for a couple boats but it is very noticeably close to shore (therefore with unknown depths of water.. and we need at least 7’ and even more if we have to turn around). Sailboats  don‘ t turn very well or fast. There was a mid-size Nordic Tug tied to the deepest end of the fuel dock but I figured we’d have room in front of him so I proceeded in very slowly, basically committing to the approach as there wasn’t room to turn around. Imagine my delight to see the Nordic Tug leave the dock and pull out right in front of me!! Words cannot express my disappointment or my initial reaction and desire to, you know, express my displeasure at such buffoonery! I’m getting mad again just thinking about it.  Anyway, luckily I’ve been helming SSpirit for a few years now and have a fair idea as to her reactions when the engine is slammed into reverse and the RPMs increased at a rather ‘quick’ pace.  She did exactly as I expected and we managed to avoid hitting the tug and the other boats nearby.  We actually made a respectable approach to the dock and tied up.  After fueling we, carefully, left the fuel dock and headed to our slip for the night. Phew!

It is now Sunday, July 3rd and we’ve had a great couple days here.  Spent a wonderful afternoon with old friends who live nearby reminiscing about the good old university days and the welfare of mutual friends over the years. It’s amazing how memories, long forgotten, can come flooding back with just a little prodding.  

Today, as mentioned earlier, it’s pouring and seems a good day to stay put and catch up on projects and writings. I hope you’ve enjoyed this catch up…sorry it’s so long. I ll try to keep them shorter in the future. I hope all is well with each of you and your families.  

TTFN. 

CJ