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.

Monday, September 16 - Nanaimo to Pender Harbour - 3 hours 32.6 miles

The last couple of days have been very foggy, all day.  Today looks a good day to cross the Strait of Georgia to get over to the mainland.  We checked and “Whiskey Gulf” is not active and we can transit on a direct line to our destination.  Whiskey Gulf is a military test range and they sometimes use live ammunition.  Not a place one wants to be  by accident.  When we got out into the strait without the protection of islands we have 4' to 5' seas.  We had to tack to cruise comfortably.  This boat is big enough to handle rough seas (within reason) quite well.  We also have the option to increase our RPM and get there quicker.  We did this.  Fred had the RPM up to 2000 and we traveled at 13 kts.  We anchored in front of Madeira Park Marina.  There was only one other boat there.  It was rainy so we didn't even put the dinghy down.  We didn’t need anything from the market here.

Saturday, September 14 Galiano Island to Nanaimo 2 ¾ hours 27.1 miles

Visibility due to fog is about ¼ mile when we pull anchor and head north to Dodd Narrows.  Gradually the fog lifted so we could see any other traffic. Slack water at the Narrows is 12:40 PM today.  As we got closer to the Narrows we could see a number of boats ready to go through.  We enter the Narrows at 12:35 PM and had no turbulence at all.  Our experience tells us that good seamanship includes “hailing” on Channel 16 to warn oncoming traffic that you will be in the Narrows at a certain time.  The narrowest part of Dodd has room for one boat at a time.  Today, of all the boats going through both north and south are not hailing and making their presence known.  Therefore, as we entered the narrowest part of Dodd we met another
power boat traveling again at us.  We both managed to slip by and not hit the rocks but it was very unsafe.  Fred got on the radio and reminded folks that proper boating etiquette dictates hailing when traveling through any 'narrows” or “rapids”.  Fred wanted to anchor out but I have laundry to do so we docked on the end of “S” dock on Cameron Island.  We have a beautiful view of the harbour.  Fred wrestled with the 50 amp cord so that I can do laundry aboard (I love my washer & dryer aboard).  I am so glad I don't have to run off to the local laundromat and wait for a machine.  It also is costly.  It costs $4 for washer & $4 for dryer.

Friday, September 13 Galiano Island

It is a beautiful day and we take the kayaks down.  Great plan.  I usually get in the kayak first so that Fred can assist his clumsy wife and to be able to hand Merlin down to me.  Merlin loves to ride in the kayak with me (he told me so).  Well, my usual plan went a little awry.  I have my camera is a zip-lock bag for safety.  As I was putting my feet in the kayak my left foot got stuck on the seat and I hesitated to long to place my butt down. The result was the kayak sliding away from the swim platform and me entering the water butt first.  I think I was so surprised that I didn't note the temperature of the water (pretty cold) but the fact that I was under it.  My life vest did it's job and popped me right back up to the surface.  I got right back up on the swim platform and assessed the situation.  My watch was fine but some water got into the camera bag and I'm not sure it will survive.  I'm sure glad my glasses stayed on!  The kayak overturned but floated.  After bailing out my kayak I tried again and successfully entered my kayak.  I was soaking wet but the sun is out and it will dry be off. Nope, camera is dead...

Thursday, September 12 - Poet's Cove to Montague Harbour - 1 ½ hours 15.4 miles

There are mild winds today as we leave Poet's Cove and head up to Galiano Island.  We see a lot of  sailboats actually sailing. It looks  perfect weather fort it.  We usually anchor in Montague Harbour her but decide to try something new.  We passed the harbour and around Gray Peninsula to anchor off the beach there.  The winds are calm and the weather is beautiful.  We can watch the parade of boats heading to and from Dodd Narrows.  In the past we have only seen one or two boats anchored here but today we are up to nine boats.  However, the anchorage is huge.

Tuesday, September 10 - Poet's Cove

We had planned to leave the marina today but there are stiff winds in the channel and for the price, we opted to stay another two days.

Sunday, September 8 - Roche Harbor, USA to Poet's Cove Marina, BC, 1 hour 10 miles

Welcome back to British Columbia, Canada.  Haro Strait is calm until be pass by the north side of Stuart Island.  The water got pretty choppy there. Fred called up Canadian Customs to request clearance to enter Canada.  We are heading to Bedwell Harbour on South Pender Island.  They have a large Customs dock.  We are hoping to get clearance without to go right to our slip at the marina. Thanks to our Nexus cards we get clearance via the phone to go right to our slip.  We usually anchor in the bay here but Fred did some internet sleuthing and found that Poet's Cove is running a mid-week special of $46 for 2 nights, including power.  They usually charge $1.25 to $1.50 per foot!  We got a nice 60' slip that we entered bow-in
starboard-tie.  This gave us a beautiful view of the bay and sunsets.  The resort here is lovely.  The have a beautiful spa, nice restaurants and a coffee shop that makes good lattes.  They have guest WiFi but we can't get on.  There is a guest computer in the hotel lobby that we use.

Friday, September 5 Friday Harbor

We were going to head over to Roche Harbor but decided to stay put because we are warm & safe here and don't want to go out into a storm. I still hear occasional thunder but I don't see the lightening.

Tuesday, September 3 Skyline Marina to Friday Harbor 1 ½ hours 17 miles

Fred ran Emerald Star at 2200 rpm (13 knots) to try and knock off some of the “grass” that has grown on the bottom since we left. We had planned to anchor out by Brown Island, which is fortunate because the place is hopping. We thought things would be quiet after Labor Day but I guess it is a 4 day work-week so folks are still out. We saw a fellow walking a Cavalier King Charles and he recognized Merlin. We had to wedge ourselves into the dinghy dock. That is unusual. We walked the dock over to breakwater D. The people who own the ruby Cavalier came out and we had a lovely conversation. We also saw “Duchess”. This is a 50' boat that was docked on the next finger at Marina Village in Alameda when we were there. We looked at her stern for years.  What a surprise. They keep Duchess up here now too. I was still up reading (Fred had gone to bed) when the salon filled with light and the most horrible booming started. Merlin & I both hate thunderstorms! The heavens opened up with pouring rain and we were so glad we were warm and dry where we are.

Saturday, August 31 Sutherlin, OR to Anacortes, WA all day, again...

The good news is that Fred likes to drive. The bad news is that today is a college football day and we are stuck in heavy traffic from Sutherlin to past Seattle. We are all beat to s_ _ t. We are so glad to get back to Emerald Star. The batteries have remained charged and there is plenty of food in the freezer. We can go shopping tomorrow for a few things and then get off the dock ASAP.

Friday, August 30 Walnut Creek, CA to Sutherlan, OR all day...

An uneventful drive today. The weather was clear enough that the view of Mt. Shasta

was gorgeous. The usual Best Western where we stay on our travels north and south had no vacancy so we were directed 12 miles north of Roseburg, OR to Sutherlin. OR. This was the Best Western Plus Heritage Inn. It is way better than the one on Roseburg. We had the most comfortable bed ever and the breakfast included a chef to fix pancakes or omelets. It had an indoor pool and hot tub too.

Tuesday, August 13 - Jason and Kelli's Wedding

The wedding was perfect. It was held at 5:30 PM on Shipwreck Beach. The officiant gave us all our directions and there was a photographer and a videographer there too. The weather was perfect and we had a lovely sunset. We walked up the beach to the Hyatt where we had a fantastic dinner. The family was here but no other friends of Jason's or Kelli's could make it. It did not dim the joy.

Friday, August 9 to Sunday, August 25 Poipu Beach, Kauai

It is hot and humid (of course, we are in Hawaii). Heather, Jason, Kelli & Aryle want to go to the beach every day. The surf is a little to strong for my comfort so Fred & I are doing a lot of reading and sitting by the edge of the water looking at sea turtles. The catamaran trip up the Napali Coast was like a wet roller-coaster. The sea was about 6' . The captain made the wise decision to turn around and head back instead of beating us all to death.

Friday, July 26 Skyline Marina to Roseburg, OR.

We just endure these long car rides between CA and WA. Merlin loves it though.

Wednersday, July 24 Friday Harbor to Skyline Marina 1 ½ hours 16 miles

We checked the prices of local marinas to keep Emerald Star on the dock for 3-5 weeks. We actually wound up renting the same slip that we were in when we bought the boat in 2010. Lots of boat traffic in this area of the San Juan Islands. We encountered heavy fog and 2-3' chop crossing Rosario Strait. We stopped at the Skyline Fuel dock before heading to our slip. FUEL; 400 GALLONS AT $4.60/GALLON. Tomorrow we will pick up the car from the storage unit and fill it for our trip home to California. Our son, Jason, is getting married on Shipwreck Beach in Kauai on August 13. We will go home, repack and leave for Kauai on Friday, Aug.9.

Bedwell Harbour to Friday Harbor 1 ¾ hours 18 miles

Back into the USA 

 

Fred called American customs before we crossed the border into the US. We received clearance by phone and did not have to report to a Customs Dock. 

 

We had a reservation for a side-tie on the inside of D Breakwater. This is our preferred location. We enjoy being able to wander the docks and Friday Harbor without having to dinghy in.

Thursday, July 18 Sandy Is. Marine Park to Nanaimo 5 hours 52.2 miles

We had a very smooth ride down the edge of the Strait of Georgia. It is a bright, hot, sunny day and it couldn’t be more beautiful. We have reservations for Cameron Island dock in Nanaimo. This dock is just beyond the breakwater but away from the inner harbour where there is constant traffic. Thank goodness we got here by 1 PM. By 4 PM the dock was full. We have a great slip on the end of the dock where we can look out at Nanaimo Harbour and all the boats and planes coming and going. We went over the the city front for a latte. Merlin loves it because everyone wants to pet him. At 9:30 PM we went for a walk to get Merlin off the boat again and to look at the variety of boats here. We were talking to a fellow about his amazing catamaran when we heard this funny chirping sound. We turned around and saw a river otter on the dock a little way from us. I think he was cursing at us because after dark the dock belongs to the otters. I picked up Merlin and waited for the otter to go back into the water again. Merlin is so funny. He keeps wanting to go to the edge of the dock and look for the otter.

This isn't the actual otter we saw, but it must be his twin brother!

 

Wednesday, July 17 Campbell River to Sandy Is. Marine Park, Comox, 3 hours, 33.2 miles

We had a 4 knot push much of the way down Strait of Georgia.  Wow, what a ride.  We had to cross over the Comox bar  into a very quiet bay.  Denman Island is just inside the bay and they have lovely anchorage off of Sandy Island Marine Park.  We didn't even get off of the boat, just enjoyed the warm weather.  

Monday, July 15 Cameleon Harbour to Campbell River, 2 ½ hours, 26 ½ miles

We are traveling down the east side of Vancouver Island to get home.  The trip is quite beautiful.  We had to time our passage through Seymour Narrows.  And made it accurately.  We had a 1-2 knot push though the narrows and headed for Campbell River Discovery Marina.  We were assigned the first slip in G Dock (all side ties).  This sounded fine until we got a good look at the dock.  It is full except for our slot way up toward the shore.  We always do a starboard tie so Fred had to rotate the boat 180 degrees and slip into this space which only has room for us.  Fred did it perfectly.  There are young people on the dock to help and even they were impressed.  The service is great here.  As soon as we were tied up they asked if there was any garbage they could take for us.  Well, yes, we had two bags and were glad to be rid of them.  We asked at the dock office where the best fish n' chips could be found around here (there are several restaurants nearby).  We were told that the best could be found at  Seabreeze.  This is a take-out but they have picnic tables in the shade.  The fish n' chips are good but we have had much better.  It is so hot that I gave Merlin a cool shower (he needed it anyway).  He was not pleased but I think he was more comfortable.

Pretty good fish n' chips

Sunday, July 14 Lagoon Cove to Cameleon Harbour, 6 hours 62 miles

We had a 2 kt push for most of our trip today.  We went through Chatham Channel which is very narrow and one is guided by range markers to keep off of the sand bars.  We have heard that people have seen grizzly bears here, but no, luck for us.  We saw dolphins in Current Passage but they did not come to play in our wake.  We have a following sea in Johnstone Strait and Fred is hand steering since our auto-pilot does not handle this well.  We are going to try an anchorage that we haven't been to before.  We anchored in Thurston Bay just off of Nodales Channel.  Well, it is much more exposed than we thought it would be and we have 2 ft. chop coming off the channel.  It is very uncomfortable.  We decided at about 5:30 PM to move to a more protected anchorage before dark.  Cameleon Harbour is near and is land locked.  The wind is still here but the water is calm. This is a much better for the night.

Saturday, July 13 Lagoon Cove

We are on the dock with about 10 ft. of the bow sticking over the edge.  We are secure and out of the way.  Apparently Saturday night is “Pot Luck” dinner instead of Happy Hour.  Works for us. There are so many boats here that they have started  doing Mediterranean ties (stern to the dock and rafted together).  We went up to dinner early so we could get a good place to sit in the shade.  It is really warm these last few days and Fred & I are working on our tans (but trying to avoid sunburn).  

Bill and Jeanne's house in the background

Amazing old workshop