August
11th enroute south: We have listened to the weather report and decide
to take off south along the mainland BC coast today. We soon encounter a
deadhead which has significantly different meaning than most of us
remember from the 1960’s!! A deadhead is a log that is standing up but
mostly underwater. This one has about 6 inches showing above the water.
Pam dutifully calls it into the Comox Coast Guard who then puts a
bulletin out to all so that the hazard is more easily avoided. The
Coast Guard says that they will have someone come and mark the deadhead.
We finally figured out that they are marked with a short bright orange
stick having come close enough to one yesterday to figure out what all
those orange sticks are . We continue south soon realizing that the
seas are rougher than we want to endure given that the southwest wind is
hitting an outgoing tide. It is déjà vu to our trip up the coast.
Needless to say we decide to seek shelter and duck into Secret Cove for
a nice afternoon of anchoring and sitting. We put up our rain cover
(an Oregonian’s blue sky aka an 8 by 10 blue tarp) and settle in for
sandwiches, books and hot tea. Carl cozies up in front of the propane
heater; it will sure be nice when the heater is hooked up LOL. After
the storm we take ET and row our way around Secret Cove for a nice tour
of the various small marinas and wonderful homes. We are just returning
when we see an eighty foot OLD wooden passenger ferry (we think). We
anchored near a smaller one yesterday that was built in 1922. They are
beautiful. There must be a gathering of such boats as we have seen many
heading to Pender Harbour today. Off to bed. We will leave early
tomorrow so we can have a better tide current running WITH the wind
instead of against it!
August
12th enroute east coast of Vancouver Island: This morning we depart
Secret Cove with the plan being to cross the Strait of Georgia. The
Strait is a large body of water and very subject to wind, wave and
current! Given the wind we stay close to the BC shore for awhile then
head out with our main sail reefed (reduced in size) and begin an eight
hour sail across the Strait. The sail across did not take long but to
get further south we tacked back and forth then slid into Silva Bay to
anchor for the night. We are getting the anchor drill down as we get
lots of practice. It took us another three tries before we found good
holding ground. Silva Bay is large with quite a variety of boats
anchored. We see folks harvesting crab from their pots and just
enjoying the quiet well protected anchorage. The radio chatter
indicates that it is still quite bumpy outside in the Strait.
August 13th unexpected stop at
Herring Bay: Today we head for Gabriola Passage at the slack tide so we
can get out of the Strait and into more protected waters. We take off
and soon see what appears to be smoke or at least more exhaust than
normal coming out of the engine outtake. We anchor in Degnen Bay half
way through the Passage and unclog the fresh water intake. We check
this filter about every other day. This was the “other day.” Diesel
engines require lots of fresh water to flow freely through them.
Thinking that this has fixed the we motor on through the passage but
the water is still not flowing right. We set anchor in a nice little
inlet, Herring Bay on the south end of Ruxton Island. Carl thinks it
through and we decide that we should change the raw water pump and
impeller. Thankfully we have a spare pump on board We take the rest
of the day off and read and watch the seals and the birds. We are
anchored just across the way from where we anchored when Barb and Craig
were with us. Another day……
August
14th enroute Prevost Island: Today is an easy mosey to Prevost Island
in the Gulf Islands. We fish on a ‘rock pile’ which is about 50 feet
underneath us and each catch some nice rock fish for the larder. We
will not starve this week! We anchor in one of the nice north end
inlets of Prevost and take ET ashore. This island has been owned and
farmed by the same family since the 1920’s. They donated the north end
for a park and continue to farm the remainder of the island. We take a
nice hike through the old orchard and enjoy an apple while we wander.
The trail to the light at the point is an old sheep trail and it
definitely meanders….up the hill down the hill over the rocks and high
along the shore. It is a nice hike and we enjoy our snack while sitting
on the point. We have a few neighbors here including kayakers who are
camping ashore. We check the crab pot and see that it has been taken
over by a star fish this one is more like the whole galaxy it is so
large!
August 15th enroute to the USA:
It is nice to see the shore campers enjoying their morning coffee on
the beach. The older crowd looks dry while the younger crowd looks
soggy but content. Dad and son exploring the tide pools make me miss
the grandkids more! We check our crab pot one more time. No more
Galaxy Fish but we do have one legal red rock crab. We have “customs
hash” for breakfast using up all our eggs and we will have “customs
salad” for lunch to use up all our fresh veges and fruit. That way we
have nothing to declare when we come back into the US. We then troll
for fish as we leave Prevost. We begin to encounter one more item that
we knew we would see….fog! Slowing down we venture into the light fog
and decide to troll for fish since we are going slow enough and there
are other folks fishing as well. We do not get fish but the fog clears
and we have an easy motor across Haro Strait at a slack tide and back
into US waters. We take down the Canadian flag for this trip and clear
customs by telephone when we are close enough to Friday Harbor in the
San Juans. Customs is fairly easy since we applied in person for the
pass that allows you to call in instead of having them come to the boat.
We decide that we will take a slip at the Friday Harbour Marina for
the evening. We walk the docks and see quite a variety of boats
including the lovely “Sophie.” Then it is off to restock the fresh
food, enjoy a local brew and some great bbq And….and a nice hot shower
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