Homeward Bound

The journey home

Jeff at the helm

Ian with a treat

Nanaimo Harbor

Look what we found on our anchor (a hound of hell?)

Passage out of Gorge Harbor

Another Moon Snail find

Sunset at Gorge Harbor

A view of Gorge Harbor from Government Dock

Ian cruising around in the tender

We decided that it was time to head southward and home. There was not enough time left to head into the Broughton’s. We got up at 5:00 am checked the weather forecast and decided things looks good to head towards Nanaimo. We pulled anchor at 6:00 am and slide out the narrow passage at the head of the harbor and headed south into the Strait of Georgia. The weather was good (sunny and winds of 5 to 15 knots with the current moving with us). We made excellent time and were in Nanaimo Harbor by 3:00 pm. We were a bit nervous about them having room for us. We called the harbor right after we left Gorge Harbor, but were told we needed to reserve a space 24hrs ahead (but we had no cell phone coverage at that point). They said it was first come first serve and to call when we got there. Once we arrive we made the call at the outside of the harbor. They said they did not have room at that time, but they would call us when they did (but not to hold our breaths). Within 5 minutes they called and had a slip, but we were going to have to negotiate the inner harbor to get to it. That made us a bit uncomfortable since we remembered the inner harbor as a labyrinth of narrow causeways and slips and boats tucked into every available space. We decided to go for it. The slip was located at the end of a dock, but still took some careful docking skills.  On a side note, many of the harbors have staff that will take your lines as you come in. We have noticed that these young kids (teenagers and 20 something’s) have not been trained to handle very heavy wooden boats such as ours. They take the line and think they can just pull it towards the dock as you can with a fiberglass boat, but our boat weighs 55 tons and that is not an option. We always mention they want to get the line secure quickly so the cleat can take the weight of the boat, but they usually just try to pull it in and we worry we will be pulling some unsuspecting soul into the drink? (anyone know how to handle this issue without undue yelling?)

We had a very nice evening relaxing in Nanaimo (no taxi rides to the vets this time). We got take out from a fish and chip joint just down the dock from us and had a very nice dinner on the boat enjoying the cityscape.

At 5:00 am the next morning we disturbed the peace and quiet of the harbor and fired up the engines and got ready to head home. The first item of business was getting the boat out of the very tight slip in the inner Harbor at Nanaimo. We had a sea wall behind us and boats on all sides. Jeff did a good job of backing the boat out of the slip, around the sea wall corner and out into the clear. After that we were headed right out the Strait of Georgia. The forcast was for mild wind in the morning, but it was supposed to pick up later in the day. That was fine, but the wind direction was going to be opposite the currents later in the day and remembering our past experience out of Blaine Harbor with similar conditions we decided we better get moving. The going was good most of the day, but once we reached Tsawwassen/Pt. Roberts the water was getting very lumpy and Vikki was getting less comfortable. The waves were getting bigger as we moved south and all Vikki could think about was how close to home we were. That was all fine, but as we turned towards Blaine on our final approach we noticed a float for a crab pot near us. We swung wide, but not wide enough. The pot had floating line (you are supposed to have sinking line on crab pots so you do not catch boats instead of crabs) and it caught us. Jeff saw the line at the last minute and made an incredible lunge for the helm controls and threw the boat into neutral (stopping the rotating of the propellers). The line still got us, but we kept from fouling our props and being dead in the water. The line caught on our rudder. We were stuck in rolling seas and no way to control the boat. Ian held the helm while Vikki and Jeff worked at the back of the boat. Jeff used Ian’s prize grabbling hook to catch the line to the crab pot bring it to the surface and then cut the line. The whole time the boat is being thrown about in the waves and things are crashing around inside the boat. As soon as the line was cut we were free. Jeff tested out the props and all was well. Relieved we headed into Blaine harbor and made our careful way between all the other crab pots. Just a bit out of the harbor entrance we were moving along the right side of the channel as we should and we noticed a sailboat (under power, not sail) headed our way. We figured they would correct their course and move to out left and pass port to port, but they kept coming and at a coarse that crossed ours (and we were as far to the side of the channel as we dared to go). Just before they would have intersected us Jeff stopped our boat and they crossed right in front of us. Jeff yelled out to them to see what they were thinking, but they said we should just hold our coarse. We really don’t know what they were up to, but if we had not stopped our boat I am sure there would have been a mess. That shook us up a bit. We finally headed into the harbor and found it was a really low tide. Given we were rattled we decided to slide into the visitor docks until high tide and we could get into our slip. We docked and breathed a sigh of relief. After the tide went back in the evening we moved back over to our slip and were greeted by all our wonderful neighbors to take our lines and greet us home. It is nice to be home.

It was a great trip. We learned an incredible amount about our boat, piloting, anchoring, docking and crab pots (we learned that one once before). Desolation Sound is a wonderful destination, but lacking in wildlife (at least this time of year) and fairly crowded. We look forward to next boating season to head north again and investigate more places. 

Gorge Harbor - Cortes Island

Flora and Fauna in a Manson tidepool

Ian with Moon Snail at Manson's Landing

Tide pool channels at Manson's Landing

The Government Warf at Whale Town

The library (blue building) at Whale Town

The little church a the walk to Whale Town

Ian at the docks at Gorge Harbor Marina

The Gorge entrance at Gorge Harbor

Gorge Harbor

We had intended to head to Campbell River to re-provision the boat with water, food and do the long overdue laundry, but none of the marinas had room. We quickly starting looking at the alternatives near by and settled on Gorge Harbor on Cortes Island. This bay is known for a lot of traffic and is tucked away in a totally enclosed bay.  The entrance is a narrow channel through steep cliffs. We called into the Gorge Harbor Marina to check to see if they had room at their docks and were told come on ahead. We got into the harbor and made a perfect docking at the marina. The docks and resort had been very recently redone (this spring) and it was a great place. The food at the store was pricey, but all organic and worth stopping over for. We passed on the pool and hot tub but enjoyed the free jazz and people watching. A few very large yachts were moored at the docks that dwarfed the Patriot and were certainly the definition of doing the Yachting Scene.

Jeff managed to have an adventure while helping a sailboat turn around on the dock.  They needed a strong push on the bow with a boat hook to turn the boat around to set up for heading out.  It was a nice boat and had a classic old brass boat hook without a rubber pad on the end.  He gave a hard strong push on the cleat (so he wouldn’t mar any finish) and unsurprisingly the hook slipped off the cleat and an embarrassed Jeff ended up in the harbor – the first time he had fallen off a dock in his life!  The floats were brand new with very high bull rails and the heavy steel emergency ladders were neatly stacked by the main ramp waiting to be bolted on.  After a futile attempt to mantle up the high rail, he was about to swim for shore when a neighboring boat set up a ladder so he could climb out.  The episode goes to show that no good deed goes unpunished.  Sorry – no photos.  I was laughing too hard.

The harbor offered a lot of points of interest, so we decided to stay over but anchor out in the harbor (the cheapskates that we are). We started the day with a 3 mile r.t. walk to Whale Town. It consisted of a Government Warf, a general store, post office and the tiniest library I had ever seen. We made stop at a small café on the way back, bought some less than wonderful muffins and headed back to the boat to settle in for the evening.

After a sleepless night we still made the most of the day. We headed out in the tender to Manson’s Landing (about 3 miles over water). Manson’s Landing has a government dock and a public shellfish gathering area. We made it at low tide and wandered across the tideflats, gathered some clams and did a lot of poking in the channels. There was lots of intertidal life to see with sponges, various species of algae (seaweed), several sea star species and such. We enjoyed the beach combing and then headed back to the boat. The rest of the day was naps, kayaking, a bit of walking and reading.

Van Donop Inlet

Jellies!!

Boat baked cookies and mint tea (wild caught). 

Rapids between inlets at Van Donop (Vikki and Ian choose not to run them with the kayaks - chickens that we are)

Ian and Jeff investigating the wreck at Squirrel Cove

Skipper on Gumweed

The hamlet of Squirrel Cove

Ian and Vikki on the bridge of Patriot

Patriot settled into the cove at the end of Van Donop Inlet

Patriot working through Hole in the Wall narrows. 

Hole in the Wall and Van Donop Inlet

We headed out of Wyaitt Bay on the 14^th timed with the slack tide to get through “Hole in the Wall” just across the next channel. Hole in the Wall is another of the narrow passages that is notorious for strong eddies and fast currents. We dutifully waited to enter the passage until just a bit before the recorded slack and had an uneventful trip through and enjoyed the steep side slopes and forest on the side. We headed south from there down Calm Channel (which was not with the outgoing currents). We followed our charts to the entrance to Van Donop Inlet on Cortes Island. The Inlet is 3 miles long and full of nooks and crannies. We nestled down at the very end within a quiet cove.  Once we got settled we noticed the bay was full of jellyfish! There were millions ranging from 50 cent sized to cantaloupe sized. We tried to look them up and the closest we could come was common water jelly. Once the sun set the all moved to the surface and it looked the world like it was raining. The jellies were bumping the surface and making dents on the top of the water that looked like rain. Once it was dark we discovered that if you bump them they glow in the dark (along with the normal phosphorescent diatoms). It made for a great light show!

Today we headed out for a 3 km hike across the island to Squirrel Cove. We must have missed a turn because it was a good 6 km to get there. We found a little general store and government dock. We had a snack, went through a local gallery, investigated a ship wreck. It was a fun place. Then we made the long trek back to the boat. We’ll probably stay here a couple more days and then move on to Campbell River for supplies. 

Waiatt Bay and Octopus Islands

Shallows at Octopus Island (lots of big snakes on shore)

Octopus Islands from Vikki's kayak

Ian and Jeff heading to Little Bay (very nice forest)

Vikki and Lily waiting out the rain

A day of rain in Waiatt Bay

Waiatt Bay and Octopus Islands

We raised the anchor early the next morning and headed westerly to catch the slack current at Surge Narrows. First we needed to get across the northern part of the Strait of Georgia in reportedly some stiff wind. Once we got out there it was not nearly as bad as we imagined. We made good time and were early for the slack at the narrows. We had expected many boats lined up to pass through at slack, but there was only one and he headed straight up them as soon as he got there (about a half hour before the actual slack). So we decided if he could do it so could we (they had a sail boat). We headed in and found out the current was still running and the pass was very narrow, but we made it! On the other side was the armada. About 25 boats were waiting for the slack. It must have been the weekend crowd heading back south. We were glad we did not meet that crowd in the narrow pass.

We moved north up the Okisollo Channel towards the Waiatt Bay and the Octopus Islands. They are located in a beautiful channel and the entry to the bay was a bit intimidating with a very tiny channel for our large boat. We followed the charts very carefully working around the rocks and emerged into a large bay. We hunkered down at the west end of the bay and the rain and wind moved in. The next day it rained and blew most of the day, but we were happy inside with books, cards and naps. We did take a small hike over to an inlet that extended across from the west side of Quadra Island. The forest was lush and we found a really nice freshwater spring. We passed on the walk to a lake, as the weather was turning bad again. We did find a patch of wild peppermint and pick a bunch for some wonderful tea.

We decided to make it one more day in the Octopus Islands to allow for more poking around. Ian and I started the day with some nice kayaking along south shore of the bay. Not much intertidal stuff, but great scenery. Later in the day I headed out north and east to the actual Octopus Islands in my kayak and spent a couple hours of just checking out the shore and all the nooks and crannies. For all the "plant heads" reading this I have noticed there is a lot of pickelweed that grows at the high water mark up here. Lyngby’s sedge, Baltic rush and tufted hairgrass are also very common in every bay we have been to. Doug fir, western red cedar and hemlock dominate the shoreline. There are lots of balds dominated by mosses this time of year. I have not seen evidence of many spring flowers except nodding onion to date. 

Another Day At Grace Harbor

The boys are happy with their new find

Freshwater mussel at Lake

Very cool lake at Grace Bay

The Blackberry Pie- Yum!

Last at Day Grace Bay

We decided to spend a third day at Grace Bay. We had to see the salvage team bring up the boat and we decided we were so relaxed there was no need to move on. We spent an amazingly more relaxed day reading books, painting, baking and eating a pie and just having a great relaxing day. We made a hike to a nice lake about a half mile away. If it had been a bit warmer it would have made for a great swim. Before we knew it, the day was past and we made plans for the next destination. By the way, they did get most of the sunken boat up before we left.

North of Naniamo- Grace Harbor

Is this wolf poop?

The boat salvage operation

The Shack at the clam garden

The Clam Garden. Lots of calms here. 

The boat salvage operation

The remains of Ian's Fish Fry

Ian on the bow through the Copeland Island Channel

Sunrise out of Naniamo

We headed out of Naniamo on Thursday at 6:00 PM to get across the Whiskey Golf torpedo range in the Straits before it opened for business. The Whiskey Golf area is out of bounds for non-military craft between 8:00 PM and 6:00 PM, so we were happen to clear the far side boundary at 7:50. The crossing over the Straits of Georgia was rolly, but it was a fine ride. Once we got across and headed up past Pender Harbor things got much smoother and much more interesting. As we have been crossing the Straits there has been very little to look at other than waves, now we had some nice scenery with the norther portions of the Sunshine Coast and the Malaspina Strait. We really started to relax once we got past Lund (a tiny harbor) and moved down the Copeland Channel which is a narrow channel between the tiny Copeland Island and the mainland. It would be a great place to have a smaller boat or Kayaks to explore.

As we passed through the Copeland Channel we were hailed by Analiese, Duncan and Cora. They have been traveling on their 26' boat (Aquanaught) for the past week and a half in Desolation Sound and the Broughton Islands. We arranged to meet at the end of the day. We then made our way up to the southern end of Desolation Sound and tucked into Grace Harbor at 3:00 pm. We made great time. The tides and winds worked with us and we cruised at 9 knots much of the way, mostly due to a back eddy up Texada Island. We had a fun evening with Analiese, Duncan and Cora as they shared their wealth of knowledge about the area. Duncan shared his fishing skills with Ian. Ian managed to catch two small flounders and he had them fried up for dinner to go with our homemade pizza. 

Grace Harbor has been our home for the past few days. A wonderful little spot that extends a mile from the Malaspina inlet. It is totally protected from the weather and nestled in a very nice forest of Doug firs and Madrone. When we arrived at the harbor we noticed a sign that said "Danger Oil Spill" written on some plywood, but gave it little notice. It turns out a 50 foot boat burned and sank in the middle of the harbor a few days before. The morning after we arrived the salvage team moved in with two large barges, tugs and a excavator. They entertained the whole bay for the bay. People just hung out in the dingys and kayaks watching from the side lines. It took all day to get most of the boat up and they are working on it still as I type. 

We explored the surroundings by kayak and tender and found an old abandoned shack. Next to the shack was a big flat tidepool area that was exposed at low tide. The flats were filled with clam shells and tiny crabs. Talking with another visitor (who's son worked is an archeologist that worked at the site last year), it turns out the area is a cultural site and is the location of an old native clam bed. The native people modified certain areas along the coast to raise clams. This one was an important site as was the location of many regular gatherings. There were also lots of ripe blackberries within the site and Jeff and Ian stayed busy picking berries for a pie, while Vikki painted. 

The bay is so nice, we are going to spend another day and walk some of the trails, bake a pie and relax a bit more before we head out to the next destination. 

Nanaimo Harbor

The taxi riding cat!

The big catch that got to return to the sea.

Ian the fisherboy

View of Harbor from boat - very busy

Day 1 and 2

We made Nanaimo Harbor in 8 hours with choppy seas. We were a bit surprised by the traffic and small size of the harbor on arrival, but secured a nice spot on the large vessel dock. We quickly headed out to provision the boat. We got back to watch a 130' yacht squeeze in front of us. Caterers were waiting for them with enough stuff for the "Golden Boy II" to party hard all night long. We hoped to take off first thing in the morning, but found I was way too sleepy and Potter (cat) was too sick. Once I shook the sleep from my eyes I spent half the day finding a vet and taking the cat in a taxi to be looked over. We came back with a dazed cat and a packet of antibiotics. What a start to our adventure. 

Meanwhile Ian has been fishing and I have attached a picture of his first catch. We hope to head across the Straits tomorrow and get to the south end of Desolation Sound. Not sure whether we will have internet for a while, so keep checking. 

Up North

Tomorrow we head north. Our goal is the Broughton Group Islands. They are located north of Vancouver Island. We will be keeping the blog updated as we travel north. 

Sucia At Last!

Ian at the Helm

On our way home. 

Vikki snoring at Snoring Bay

Vikki in the great circle

Ian on the rocks

Patriot at rest

Jeff and Ian at the point near Snoring Bay

We spent three very nice days in Echo Bay at Sucia Island. We hiked the trails and poked around with the tender along the shore. Great time. Here are some photos to enjoy.