Wednesday, September 25 Squirrel Cove to Comox 3 ¼ hours 37.4 miles

We have to start heading home...  We made the decision to head south along Vancouver Island instead of re-tracing of out trip thus far.   We were going to go to Campbell River but decided to make a diagonal trip from Cortes Island to Comox.   There isn't a cloud in the sky and the winds are mild.  The trip through Desolation Sound and Baker Passage to the Strait of Georgia was lovely.  In the Strait the winds were only 5-10 mph but we had a 2'-4' following sea the whole time.  Our auto-pilot has real trouble keeping up with this kind of sea.  Fred had to hand-drive for a couple of hours.  The is really tiring.  We were glad to get to the Comox Bar without any other boat traffic.  Once through the Bar we anchored at Henry Bay off of Denman Island.

Tuesday, September 24 Squirrel Cove

We were witness to another thunderstorm passing over this morning.  It rained off and on all day.  No more dinghy rides for us but lots of reading.

Monday, September 23 Refuge Cove to Squirrel Cove ½ hour 4.1 miles

The day started out crystal clear and warm sun.  We had a beautiful, if brief, ride over to the Squirrel Cove anchorage.   We were shocked to find only one power boat in the anchorage.  We have never been here with this few of boats.  We put the dinghy down and made a run to the grocery store here.  While Fred went up to the laundry room for the free WiFi they have.  He was able to make sure the bills are getting paid. I let Merlin play on the beach  We then did our shopping.  Of course dogs aren't allowed in the store.  We tied Merlin up for about 15 minutes and he barked and cried as if we were never coming back.  Poor baby.  The store is well stocked and even has ice cream.  When we came out of the store the clouds had come in and they look scary.  We just made it back to Emerald Star when the heavens opened up.  Great timing.

Sunday, September 22 Prudeaux Haven to Refuge Cove 1 hour 8.4 miles

We haven't been to Refuge Cove for a number of years.  The wind it up to 30 mph in the anchorage.  We are ready to move on so we take a very short trip over to Refuge Cove.  They have a market and simple restaurant there.  There never was any power or water on the dock.  We were surprised to see power columns on the dock.  The sign says $0.70/foot and $7 for 15 amp power.  After Fred got the power cord flaked out someone on one of the nearby houses said the power is turned off for the winter.  We are alone here and now understand why.  We are glad to be in a protected harbor for the night.  The grocery store is only open on M-W F from 1-3 pm.   Well darn!  Fortunately we are not desperate for supplies.  At least Merlin was able to run around on firm ground for awhile.  We stayed warm and dry from the storm here for the night.

Friday, September 20 Prudeaux Haven

Wow, the winds continue and it is pouring rain.  This is a spectacular spot even in the rain.  We stayed inside and did “rain day” chores.  Fred and I have begun our Gin Rummy marathon.  We just keep the score but won't tally it until the end of the trip.

Thursday, September 19 - Grace Harbour to Prudeaux Haven - 1.5 hours 11.2 miles

It is a very short trip out around Gifford Island.  The entrance to this anchorage is a blind dog-leg.  It is worth it once one is in here.  Prudeaux Haven is a very large anchorage with many big rocks/small islands around the edges and a beautiful view of towering mountains.  We anchored in the eastern cove.  The kayaks went down and we have a lovely trip touring around the edges of the bay.  No drama getting into mine today.  Fred likes to bring his peanuts with him.  Every now and then he sends some over on the end of his paddle to Merlin.  Merlin is such a good boy in the kayak.  He holds quite still and does not bark to scare off any wildlife.  We left the kayaks in the water when we were done so we could use them again tomorrow. Around 5 PM the wind came up with gusts about 23 mph.  Our deck umbrella flew out of the base and into the water.  Fred was able to retrieve it with the boat hook.  Then Fred looked into the water and saw his work gloves floating away.  They were too far away for the boat hook so he jumped (not really) into his kayak and retrieved them.  We decided that it would be a good idea to stack the kayaks up on the swim platform.  We did this without any trouble.  Of course after we had tidied up the wind went down to 3-5 mph.

Tuesday, September 17 - Pender Harbour to Grace Harbour, Desolation Sound - 5 hours 49.7 miles

Relatively smooth trip up Malaspina Strait to Desolation Sound.  The wind was up to 10-20 kts and we had 1'-2' chop.  We peeked in at Lund and the docks were full so we kept heading north.  Grace Harbour is large, well protected and has easy anchoring.