August 4, 2014 - Home Again .....

August 4, 2014 - Home Again .....

Hard to believe how quickly 5 weeks flies by,  but we are back  ... safe and sound.

The trip home was RELATIVELY uneventful -

(other than an overheated cutlass bearing which quickly got sorted out ....).  

The weather was SPECTACULAR .... and we were able to drive from up top, pretty much the entire way home.  Here's Lori "steering" from the flybridge !!!

The boat traffic coming into the city was UNBELIEVABLE compared to what we had gotten used to over the previous 5 weeks ...

Here's a screenshot of our trip up Johnstone Strait (the wiggly bit is where we saw the whales !!)  .... 

NO orange dots on the water means NO other boats ....

 

Here's coming into the harbor ...  every one of those orange marks and green triangles is either a boat 

or a freighter !! 

(But on a sunny holiday Monday ... what would one expect !?!?! )

We saw more boats in the last hour of our trip than we had during the entire 5 week holiday !!!

 

We arrived back to Coal Harbor around 5pm on Monday .... 

time to pack up and head home and work on getting our "land legs" back.  

Its been an amazing trip ....

 lots of fun sharing our travels with family and friends !!!

Nice to get away ....

Nice to be home .....

August 3, 2014 - Return to Garden Bay, Pender Harbor

August 3, 2014 - Return to Garden Bay, Pender Harbor

Working our way home, we overnited back at RVYC's outstation, Garden Bay, at Pender Harbor.  Surprisingly, there was LOTS of room at the docks although the harbor was very busy with boats anchored.

The tender was dropped so we could all do some exploring ....

 

"Look mom... I can fly ...."  !!!

 

It was HOT outside so a swim / kayak was in order....

 

Lori made a wonderful steak and lobster birthday dinner for the "August Birthdays" 

(Cameron, Kim, Adan and Ruby) ....

 

 

 

Hard to believe our holiday is coming to an end .....

August 2, 2014 - Gorge Harbor via Campbell River

August 2, 2014 – Gorge Harbor via Campbell River

A very pleasant 14’ and sunny skies as we head down Discovery Passage to hit slack at Seymour Narrows at 10:30 am … from there its into Campbell River to reprovision and pick up Lori and the kids … our new crew for the balance of our trip home !!

EXCELLENT provisioning (Great Canadian Superstore) and a quick swishing of the salt off the boat was done at Fisherman’s Wharf in Campbell River … Lori, Adan and Ruby arrived in good time and we headed to Gorge Harbor Marina for the balance of the afternoon and night. 

Gorge Harbor is a new spot for us and it is BEAUTIFUL … the resort has a pool, beautiful cabins, nice grassy slopes (where they had live music playing in the evening), beautiful gardens AND a great restaurant, at which we enjoyed a fabulous dinner …. Miso Alaskan Black Cod, Thai Coconut Seafood Chowder, Halibut in Creamy Chili sauce …. All Delicious ….. !!! 

Ruby and Adan befriended some kids on an adjacent boat and spent the evening catching jellyfish and small crabs …  (catch and release of course !!)

We did a little kayaking around harbor … a GREAT evening !!!

Lori and I were intrigued with this "local" boat .... A permanent fixture in the harbor ....

Gorge Harbor Marina at night is beautiful ....

August 1, 2014 - "Thurston and Lovie" head to Thurston Bay

August 1, 2014 – “Thurston and Lovie” head to Thurston Bay

AUGUST … already !!!  YIKES ….

A 5 am departure meant that we, again, had a beautiful calm start to our very long day ….

10 + hours running down Johnstone Strait. 

We managed a few hours on the fly bridge before the winds picked up ….

It can get snarly in the Strait and with winds were forecast to be upwards of 25-30 kn by late afternoon, so we hoped to be tucked safely in Thurston Bay by mid afternoon.

Just around Fanny Island (a weather station), winds picked up to 20-23 knots right on our stern (nothing major).  The current however, was working against us, so by noon, we had slowed to just over 5 knots …

Just past Humpback Bay and Bear Bight (both sounded promising for nature sightings don’t you think?) our trip was highlighted by ORCA sightings !!!

FINALLY …..

We had one big orca come right up on our port side and go under the bow of the boat …. Very exciting.  This photo was not zoomed in on or cropped .... that's how close this orca was ....

The weather down Johnstone Strait was benign …. A waste of scopolamine patches actually !! 

But that’s the way we prefer it !!

Thurston Bay is a well - protected, good sized anchorage. 

A perfect spot to overnite before we head through Seymour Narrows in the morning ….

July 31, 2014 - Echo Bay via Sullivan Bay

July 31, 2014 – Echo Bay via Sullivan Bay

 HAPPY BIRTHDAY wishes to Eleanor !!!

A reasonable 9:30am departure from Blunden Harbor in the fog initially, broke to beautiful sunshine and we travelled most of the way on the fly bridge.  Winds were insignificant or light from behind, so the run was glorious and warm.

The entrance to Wells Passage ....

Talbots had suggested we stop in Sullivan Bay as WE hadn’t seen it before … 

and I’m glad we did (they would continue to motor along) .

   

Sullivan Bay is a charming little storybook community on the water.  Adorable floating homes line the dock, as do hanging baskets and tubs of flowers.  Each of the docks are named, like streets ….

How is this for a fun mailbox ???  

Now this is MY kind of low tech weather reporting system ....

We enjoyed lunch, then headed off ....

... and continued on to Pierre’s Marina at Echo Bay …. Another new place for us …. 

And it is beyond fun.   

The owners, Pierre and Tove (pronounced Tova), are CHARACTERS. 

  Multiple times during the week, they put on a big “family style dinners” and we hit 

Prime Rib Night. 

  Dinner was fantastic ….

Tove (who HAS to be a retired school teacher) gets the groups attention by clapping a pattern, which we are all to repeat.  She continues until she has everyone’s attention, then she announces significant events from the “family” … birthdays … anniversaries …. 

Then she says GRACE ... after which dinner is served ……

It is a delightful and very social evening …..

We sat nearby a Seattle couple who were talking about some new folding electric bikes they had recently purchased .... and they took us to their boat to show us how they work.

They unfold from this ....

... to this .... the pack on the front holds the battery pack with room for groceries !!

BRAMPTON BIKES ... would make an excellent "retirement gift" I think !!!

After dinner we sadly said our goodbyes to Penny and Lawrence as we will be parting ways early in the morning ....

We have had a FABULOUS trip with our boating partners with plans to do many more !!