Second Season's Trip North

8-17-09

2009-08-17T17:15:00.000-07:00

So I have been home for a week trying to catch up on life: bills, dogs, friends and of course Erin. Had some difficulties speaking more than 10 words in a sentance and walking on land. But other than that everything is ok.

Pulled the boat out last Sunday night and drove all the way from Bellingham to Vancouver in one big push. No problems at all exepct for all the boat fixes that need to be done now now that I added 1400 miles of wear and tear.

What did I learn on this trip?

1- it would have been much more fun to have done it with Erin.
2-it would have been much more fun to keep going and not come back.
3-though I love my boat it would not be the boat I go north in again. Bigger is better.ay
4-old cruiser saying they are going to lay up for a couple of days before they make the big crossing might just be worth listening to.
5-the huge currents the old cruisers told me about are REALLY that huge. 28 knots cut down to 11 knots is a respectable current.
6-no mater how big the boat or how rich someone is it is funny how we are all just boat lovers enjoying an incredible experience in the same area at the same time.
7-visiting large cities should be a must by boat. what a great vantage point and what a great mode of transportation in the city
8-47 nights on the boat is long enough to figure out that the V-birth sucks in the comfortable department
9-running the boat that many days in a row allowed me to really tweak everything just right so it was running the best it could.
10-EVERYONE SHOULD HAVE THIS AMOUNT OF TIME OFF IN DURING THEIR WORK LIFE. I HAVE NEVER BEEN MORE RELAXED, DE-STRESSED AND READY TO GO THAN I AM NOW.

Thank you to all that clicked on the post and followed the big trip north check in from time to time as I will be posting some of the first and last tuna days in Sept before bird hunting season, honey due season and oh yeah a new line of work kick in.

Captain T

July 31st through Aug 3rd

2009-08-04T19:38:00.000-07:00

Walking down to catch Seabus and a quick ride accross Vancouver Harbor couldn't have been more easy. The seabus holds around 200 or so folks and each time I rode on it nearly 200 were on board.

I had some time to kill before Erin's flight arrived so I took advantage of it by doing some power walkin around the city. My legs haven't had the pleasure of too much blood flow during this trip so power walked I did. From the Water front station to China town and back to the Gas Light district. Tons of people around town running around with green badges loops all here from around the world for the "World Games". Police and Fire fighters from around the world compete in sports against eachother. As far as I can tell from my not scientific survey the firefighters are taking it on the chin and the tazzer zappers seem to be winning this competition. Though we will have to wait to find out what the final score is when it is over. From what I have learned this event is larger the the Olympic games and that is why Vancouver is doing a dry run as know one but cops and firefighters know about this event but most folks have heard of the the Olympics games.
http://picasaweb.google.com/snowandriver/July31?authkey=Gv1sRgCKzqhMzl082cFw#
Erin's flight was very late so I had the bar tender pour me some of the good ol'Canuk beer made at Steamers and managed to catch a light buzz before she let me know she was in the Couv.

By now it is almost 11 so we head back to the seabus for a ride back to the boat and plans to run around on saterday doing the tourist thing before the wedding.
http://picasaweb.google.com/snowandriver/Aug1st?authkey=Gv1sRgCM7W49vjrIeAAQ#

After running around town and on the SeaBus we head back to the boat to get ready for her friends wedding - getting ready on the boat while it is 90+ degrees was a bit of a challange. Then add the long walk to their house enough to become a bit uncomfortable in the heat. Did I mention that this is the first time I had to wear pants and shoes? Forgot what shoes felt like and I don't like it. The wedding was fun and in a real nice park up right on Deep Cove more saltwater deep inland.

After the wedding we had dinner at a nice little hole in the wall where the drinking and crazyness started. After the dinner we headed back to their place to continue on with the drinking.

Sunday our plans were going to include biking in Vancouver only to find out it was 10 am when we woke up. Hard to fit alot into the day after you sleep most of it away.

Erin had to head to the airport by 5pm so the solo part goes on.

Monday is still the friggin BC holiday so I drive the boat back over to False River and grab a slip at the government dock and finish up the tourist routine in the public market.

http://picasaweb.google.com/snowandriver/Aug3?authkey=Gv1sRgCKq58b_uqaa1YA#

Fuel up the boat around 2 and get ready to head over to Tombo Island accross Gorgia Strait. On the way there I see a very busy beach right under UBC - University of BC which I figure is Wreck Beack. Head in and drop the hook drop my shorts and jump over board into some "George Costanza" water. Swim around and then head back to the boat this beach had to have had 3-4000 people on it 80% without bathing suits. It was terriable and now I have some serious eye strain. No pictures as that would be bad form and I don't have a long range lense for the Nikon SLR.

After warming up I pull the hook and turn the boat away from the nice beach and head for Tumbo.

Arrive there about 8 pm and cook up some mussles, elk and sockeye for dinner and hit the bed as the swim took a bit more out of me than I thougth swiming against the rip tide back to the boat.

Today I am back in Ganges looking for a piece of art that I should have purchased when we were here a little more than a month ago but it was not to be.

In the morning I will check in with US Customes at Friday Harbor and head to west marine so I can purchase a new gas cap as I plan to leave mine in Ganges near the gas dock. shit.

Good ol' US of A here I come.

to be continued but not much longer.........

July 31st

2009-07-31T16:57:00.000-07:00

Vancouver not where I started but getting closer. I am in Vancouver BC via boat. This is an experience in and of itself for sure. Everyone should visit each city via boat it is quite the different perspecitve. After a long run yesterday I pushed another 25 miles south east to the city and arrived to a very busy port. Ships and pleasure craft of all sizes were running around trying to beat the heat wave that has set in here as well.

Last night I managed to find a slip at False Creek Yacht Club as there are many NO anchor zones and not wanting to hassel with the RCMP or anyone else I slipped up for the night. This morning I walked around town on the side I was on and then motored over to the huge public market and ended up buying some blueberrys, cherrys and some more coffee as I just ran out. This was a great stop many different cultures in this city and you can see that influence in the market as well. Pulled out of the public dock and ran around Stanley Park [Hmmmm I wonder if it was named after the same Stanley of the Stanley Cup?] can you say Google?

Now I am over at Mosquito Creek Marina tucked in between two large boat houses as they didn't quite have their ducks in a row here. After getting the royal run around - take this slip, take that slip..... each had a boat tied up already. Hot and getting pissed off I grabbed a slip and marched to the office to sort this out. She told me where to put the boat paid for it and then went to grab that slip and a beer followed up with some clothes cleaning. Would you guess there was a boat in that slip? Back to the office only to find they left for their long weekend called BC day. Wanting to be like Mike they couldn't have come up with a better name or one with better meaning.

So here I am set up way off in the back 40 cleaned up and ready to take the water bus to downtown to meet up with Erin when she gets here.

In town for the next 2 days then off for the good Ol USA.

to be continued.....

July 30th

2009-07-30T21:35:00.000-07:00

Ok so I am tired and I think the pictures may do this more justice than I could. If you do not believe in a god or a higher order well you need to visit this area of the world. I do believe I slept through all of this last time I was here [sailing with 5 knot Bob] so this was all new for me. Wow is all I could say. Music off and just soak it all in. Got to the dock and headed up to the trappers cabin during the heat of the day.

Back at the boat I jumped into the water and swam for hours as the water was 75 degrees at the dock. Warmest water north of Swine Flu Mexico.

http://picasaweb.google.com/snowandriver/PenderIslandToPrincessLouisaInlet?authkey=Gv1sRgCL7UjtS1qNrAiQE#

too be continued.

July 29th

2009-07-30T21:32:00.000-07:00

Short post for this day. Trying to bank some Karma points I tied up to a couple from Vancouver Washington who was having some transmission issues with their sailboat. So I towed them from Refuge cove to Pender Island. Long day at 5 knots reminds me of sailing with my father last time I was up here. You see a lot of stuff it just takes tons of time to get to what you see.

http://picasaweb.google.com/snowandriver/RefugeCoveToPenderIslandSailboatTow?authkey=Gv1sRgCJuZy-6Y3sH84AE#

to be continued

July 28th

2009-07-28T06:53:00.000-07:00

Greetings from Refuge Cove, BC.

Made it here yesterday after spending a HOT day and night on the hook in Von Donop Inlet. It is a very different experience here in the Desolation Sound area from where I was a little over a week ago.

Exchanged much of the wildlife for amazing views and tons of boats. Desolation Sound is very reachable with a hard days push from Vancouver or the US border so this is about as far as dreamers can can make with a long vacation and still be able to make it home for WORK.

Though it isn't Mexico hot spending the day on the hook with NO wind sure heats up fast. One can only swim around the boat a couple of times with the brush cleaning the month of shmoo off the side before the dingy motor has to come out and be used.

So making wind in the dingy was the rule of the afternoon, swim here and there and run to another place. One part of Von Donop Inlet has one of those tidal over flows where water flows in on a high tide and out on a low. When I pulled up and saw the 10 foot drop or so to where I was I knew what my next hour or so would be used up. Out of the dingy and pulled it up and walked through the most sea animis [no idea how to spell those] and star fish, jelly fish if only there were peanut butter fish a meal could be had.

Ran around the lagoon at the top and then shot the rapids class 1.4 down with the oars of the boat. Yeee Haaa

Got up yesterday morning and pulled 4 prawn pots only to find DINNER inside. 67 to be exact, ummmmm I love prawns.

Motored over to refuge cove and relaxed most of the day in the blazzing heat. Again no wind it had to be about 90ish or so. So again off in the dingy to explore only to find some oysters for dinner. Got to love living of the land Oysters on the half shell for apps and dirty rice and shrimp for dinner. Gott run...... http://picasaweb.google.com/snowandriver/VondonopInletToRefugeCove?authkey=Gv1sRgCL7V_-3P0aqcVQ#

to be continued further south....

July 23

2009-07-25T10:24:00.000-07:00

Left late from Lagoon Cove as the huge tides have left me unable to go and pick up my crab traps that are in then next cove. I have to wait till 10:30 before I can get through to get my traps. Pick them and giggle at my limit is in the first traps. In 2 days of crabbing here my traps welcomed 47 crabs inside leaving me with my limit both days.

Back at the dock I boil up my keeps and then untie and head out. No real plans on where I want to end up tonight I make my way out through the blow hole and down an inlet to Johnstone and right into 30-45 mph wind. Not finding it real fun I duck into Port NeVille and call it a day with only 18 miles logged. Got the tour of the old building and met Lorna who is the 4th generaton to own and run this place. Tough people in these parts for sure. Cool old building and very cool tree house built out of drift wood in 2 types of trees growing for the last 60 years or so.

July 22 Booker Lagoon to Lagoon Cove

2009-07-25T10:19:00.000-07:00

Nothing eventfull today except for the grey whale and the stern riding dolphin I lured in with a sweet SeaSport created wave.

I will let the pictures speak for me on what I saw as my fingers are a bit tired from all the salt and anchor pulling."

Tonight I will stay at Lagoon Cove as the Wagoner Guide says it is a place "summer camp for adults" How could you not want to stay there with that quote?

Had a great time and slayed the crabs in the cove next door

http://picasaweb.google.com/snowandriver/BookerLagoonToLagoonCoveViaKnightInlet02?authkey=Gv1sRgCOu2rb6l6NiovgE#

July 21

2009-07-25T10:04:00.000-07:00

This day was on of the best days so far on this trip. After a run accross QCS in the fog very exciting I pulled up in front of Wells Passage and put out the salmon lines ready to catch some dinner and bait.

10 minutes into the troll fish on: a nice silver hits the net and into the cooler. As the fog sets in thicker I hear other boat running around and many of these idiots up here don't have radar. I pull my gear and get the hell out of there and head for crabville. Along the way I run into some dolphins play with them a bit and then continue on to drop my 3 prawn traps and 2 crab traps. Then drop my hook and start makeing breakfast until I see a black bear on shore moving rocks and looking for food. So into the dingy and off to shore to get REAl close.

http://picasaweb.google.com/snowandriver/DolphinAndBlackBear?authkey=Gv1sRgCJSp2Ob88MfuNQ#

As you can see in the pictures I got real close. He didn't even care at all down wind or up wind he only cared about dinner under the rocks. I spent nearly an hour with him before I went back to make some crab and eggs and coffee.

Pulled the pots all of them, 2 crab and 3 prawn traps. 2 crabs and 32 prawns later I head back out Wells Passage and duck through the islands on the outside heading to Booker Lagoon. Booker is a super cool place with a tight slot entrance which I ran the boat through. Found the deep hole that Nicky suggested I place some pots and then find a nice place to drop the hook up one of the fingers. Make a drink and pull the dingy from the roof and head to shore to look for dinner tid-bits to add to my Ti-Pasta.

Wrapped up the day and called it and hit the hay with a new book.

to be continued......

July 20 Port McNeil

2009-07-25T09:56:00.000-07:00

Time for fuel and some basic food and supplies and back over to the other side for some shrimping and salmon fishing.

While fueling I learned some shrimp tips from a commercial fisherman and learned why I might not be doing as well as I was before. Tucked those tips away and headed over to a slip so I could hook up to power and head for a much needed shower.

July 20th

2009-07-25T09:54:00.000-07:00

After my late meal late yesterday it was getting late and the fog and wind were building on the QCS so I bugged out and dropped the hook behind Tracy Island. Read and went to bed as I wanted to get going early in the morning.

July 19th

2009-07-25T09:32:00.000-07:00

Catch up time today with internet avaiable now I will back date the post to catch everyone up with the trip so far.

After rowing back to the boat last night with a bit of a buzz from after pig booze on the Arista [80' boat] I pulled up to my home for the last month. Make the rounds and notice that the anchor line is straight up and down due to the huge tide 15.5 high at 11:30 pm. I let out a bit of line to keep the chain on the bottom so the hook stays hooked up over night which in turn changes my swing with the extra line out. Out comes the new anchor and line for a stern hook to keep me from swinging. Of course it is dark by this time and I do have a bit of a buzz; out I row with the anchor in the dingy drop the hook and set it. Tie it off and then hit the rack only to wake a couple of hours later to the sound of water trickling [not a normal sound on my boat]. I notice on the way to the head that I am walking up hill as the outdrive is stuck in the muck and the ass end of the boat is about a foot higher allowing water through the scuppers filling my storage space and back filling the motor well [the trickling]. Lowered the out drive stopping the inflow by this time the tide was already on its way in and still early so all boats were not able to witness this.

Pulled out of Echo Bay and headed over to Shoal Harbor to drop a hook and slip back in to bed for a wee little nap and reading.

Got up made some JO and then headed over to Billys musuem to check it out. He has been in these parts his entire life [77 years] scratching out a living fishing, logging, running a sawmill and being the mayor of his island.

Late in the day I took a trip with a Nicky who spent 600 days living out and off the land the way the First Nations did. She was dropped off with just a couple of pans, the clothes on her and in her day pack, and a row boat. After the first month of starving she was able to turn things around and really start to live off the land. So now she takes folks out on nature tours and depending on what your intrest are she caters the trip to your likes. I wanted to learn what what could be eaten and how to collect these tid bits for meals.

This trip was great and after collecting tid bits she showed me how to start a fire with a bow and then cooked up a great meal. You can see pictures of the day on the link below.

http://picasaweb.google.com/snowandriver/July19th?authkey=Gv1sRgCNa654irvOnEVQ#

to be continued

July 18th

2009-07-18T14:51:00.001-07:00

On anchor in Echo Bay in place for the BC famous pig roast. I could use a good meal, wait I could use another one. Last night I met some great folks on a small boat like mine when I pulled into port for a shower an a load of laundry. I figure it was time to clean up a bit after a week straight of early to rise fishing, and late to bed drinking with a friend from Spokane. After putting the laundry in and a quick shower they invited me up to the 3rd deck for dinner. I looked at my boat and then back at theirs and said sure. Stepped onto their boat and it didn't even lean when I did. This boat was amazing 80 feet long and a back deck bigger than mine at home. Dinner was great and some new friends made. Cruising with this crowd can be real nice.

The salmon bite has slowed down quite a bit making my search for that dream King or Spring salmon harder and harder to find. Each morning the fog has been so thick that even running with my radar keeping a straight line has been tough. Also watching out for the ding dong pacific boats without radar just running fast and blind has been real tough.

I am not sure where the days are going but they have been fun none the less fishing has been a bit of a mixed bag due timing and my intrest in exploring this great area. The next few days will be the start of my northward push after a quick store visit and refueling at Port McNeil my plans are to push up to Rivers Inlet and explore everything in between and try to put one of those large salmon in the boat. I have been living on crab, shrimp, salmon and cocktail sauce for most of my trip and I can say that it has been great. On sunday my plans are to spend some time running around with a local woman who spent a year and a half living off the land. She runs a little tour and can make the tour fit everyone's needs. Most of the cruisers seem to like the wildlife tours with some plant life tours my plans are for a more survival twist. It is funny her trigger to do what she did was from a book that she read as a child "My Side of the Mountain" that book has been in my head for many years as well. More on this after the tour.

Shrimping has been a miss for sure as the commercial season just ended and they don't seem to like my traps yet. So far the count has been 60 huge prawns. I hope to do better with that.

If you would like to see the most recent pictures please click on the link below and check them out.

to be continued.....

http://picasaweb.google.com/snowandriver/July15th?authkey=Gv1sRgCPnO8MvJrbyTyQE#

July 14th

2009-07-14T22:18:00.000-07:00

Today was an early day. Up at 4:30 at Echo bay so we could back track and pull our shrimp pots we dropped overnight.

It seems that we were a bit tired from the long day before and forgot to reload the traps with fresh bait. Thus we only got on lucky jumbo prawn which we pitched back. Spent some time getting all the traps up into the dingy and putting the line away before we would run back to Malcome island to salmon fish.

After arriving at the salmon area we got our lines in the water and started the troll. It turned out to be a long day only picking up 1 12-14 lb silver and a springer that almost didn't make the cut. We let 10 or 12 more silvers go due to their small sizes and ended up with just 2 fish. All in all it was a great day after the 12 pounder hit the deck I brought up my gear in time to have a pod of Orcas swim right by us. I was able to get my SLR out in time to catch some great pics of the little tike and the rest of its family. Click on the link to see some of the whales: http://picasaweb.google.com/snowandriver/July14th?authkey=Gv1sRgCPLa7ODb8auwXw#

After the salmon fishing got a little long in the tooth we put the hammer down and ran cross sound to meet up with Brian for some flat fish fun. We finished out the day with 2 chickens on jigs and had a great time while doing it. Another early am for us to put the hurt on some salmon and try to weed through for a large halibut.

to be continued.....

July 10-13th

2009-07-13T21:48:00.000-07:00

Wow where do the days go? Steve drove into town and it has been not stop fishing since he arrived. First day was a bit slow on the salmon, but day 2 opened up for us. 3 keepers and 8 we had to set free.

Over at a place called echo bay and just finished cleaning up from dinner a crab and a half each plus 25 prawns each..... mummmmm full .

will post more later as it is time to hit the shower and then get back into the Vbirth. Then it is up early to pull our shrimp pots and head back over towards Malcome Island to rip some lips.

here are some pics from today enjoy the link.
http://picasaweb.google.com/snowandriver/TodaysPics?authkey=Gv1sRgCLTZwJrI45evcA#

July 9th

2009-07-09T22:06:00.000-07:00

Ok so this post will be short as I am tired from too many naps. I never thought that I would say anything like that. I left Campbell river on Tuesday in a steady down pour. I would bet that rain hasn't fallen since the ark was built it was really wet. Did I mention it was raining and that I wasn't keen on trolling for salmon? I must have a fever or something that is for sure. After giving up on the fishing in the rain I found a nice little cove to drop the hook somewhere around 3 pm where I jumped under the covers to get warm and read. That was about all I remember till about 8 when nature called. I took the call in the phone booth [head] and then went back to bed to wake up somewhere around 8:45 am.

I decided to spend sometime just exploring these great inlets rather than fight the currents fishing and save the real fishing for the Queen Charlotte strait and Blackfish sound.

Some thoughts that crossed my mind while passing time behind the helm.

1 - The logging that is done up here seems to be much better for the enviroment and for the business of logging. I haven't seen one clear cut that remained un planted, or cut from the top of the mountain to the bottom. Their cuts seem to have more buffer zones that look like they help stabilize the mountain side.

2 - When the cruising guide suggest that you wait till slack to pass through: Hole in the Wall, Dent Rapids or other areas you should take head. When running Hole in the Wall I ran it at 3700 rpms and only milked out 11 knots when the boat would normaly move around 28 knots. The currents are very impressive and I can say that I am glad that I didn't have to navigate Dent Rapids before they removed the rocks in 1958.

3 - Marinas offices close at 5 pm during the busy season. If I wasn't raised right I would swing in after 5 and get a free slip with power.

4 - Have you ever woundered what the Looney Anthem's words were during hockey games? I have and today I learned the words.

O Canada! Our home and native land!
True patriot love in all thy sons command.
With glowing hearts we see thee rise,
The True North strong and free!
From far and wide, O Canada,
We stand on gaurd for thee
God keep our land glorious and free!
O Canada, we stand on guard for the.
O Canada, we stand on guard for the.

Now that I know the words I can only say what?

5 - Ok so the other day I blogged about the copter and fast boat attack on my last day with Erin. No tickets were issued just for the record that is how it all went down. Go figure.

Picture links will be up loaded when I get a better internet connection.

to be continued.....

July 6th Naniamo to Campbell River

2009-07-06T23:10:00.000-07:00

Wow and I thought we had the market on rough water. Boy was I wrong the Strait of Georgia is a close second only it goes on for hours instead of a couple of miles.

I woke up this morning around 5:45 to dark clouds and pouring rain and some wind. Not what I was hoping for on this stretch of the trip the longest and most exposed. Chatted with a number of long range cruisers that were heading North about their plans and their experiences and thoughts. The best I could figure out was that the older one gets and when traveling with the same aged wife you stay in port for a better weather window.

Solo and young I unhook the boat and head out of the harbor around Protection Island and hang a left to run on the outside of Newcastle Island before I settle into a steady rocking of quarting waves on my right side. "maybe this wasn't the best choice" When I pass Hudson Rock in Horswell channel the waves seem to settle down now that they are being blocked down. Speeding up to 23 knots I think that things are getting better. About an hour out I get a call on VHF 16 from the folks on Noon Ballon to find out what the straits are like. I am not sure what he chose to do as I was just out of range to for my boat. Pressing on listening to Willys Place on XM the day was passing by mile after mile. The view wasn't so good as the rain storms were passing through and showed up real well on my radar. Felt a bit weird not having my salty brothers on VHF or MMSI around in case something happened, but I pressed on. I kept Ruth Island on my port and Ada islands on my right and the water smoothed out some more. Though it was still not very smooth. This leg was almost long enough to start talking to myself but I managed to keep it togethor.

Hours mow by and I think that Comox will be my destination for the day as the weather is starting to get a little worse. As I start to approach the bottom of Denman island and Hornby island I decide to split the two and head into Comox when the Canuk CG put out a call to boats in the area of Mapleguard Point to a vessel adrift. Always looking for extra points to put in my book for later on I call the CG at Comox and let them know I am just a mile away and will call in. As I approach the vessel I think to myself that they might have their hands full with what appears to be a tow rope caught in his shaft drive. He isn't that concerned about his current state but sure wants to get his POS dingy back under his control. I slip up with my bow to pick him up and drop him off on his POS and he holds on to my side as I drive him back to his boat. When he could reach his boat I kick him free and let him know the CG is on the way This Canadian wood tick didn't like the sound of that but they were pulling up about that time. No radio, no pfd, no power, and a POS boat. Crazy. After that side track I head up Baynes sound towards Comox when I decide to push on to Campbell river as it is only 30 miles more for a total of 78 miles in one day. 5 miles into the Comox to CR push the weather gets worse and now I wish I would have pulled into Comox. Keeping a strait line is hard enough but add a wall of low clouds it makes it a radar/AIS/chart plotter and windshield day. To finish the day off as I shot my approach into Discovery Passage my timing of tides and wave direction gave me 5-6 foot standing slop for almost a mile. This water had to have been running at least 6 knotts maybe even 8 as it took some power to get through to the other side. Finished the last 2 days out with a 179 mile trip on 68 gallons of fuel. Topped off with some canuck fuel and found a slip for the night. I am tired for sure.

fishing in the morning.

July 4th and 5th

2009-07-05T10:42:00.001-07:00

After spending a great weekend with Erin and the Striper Convention in Ganges we pulled the plug, and headed through Active Pass with Tumbo Island as our final destination. Last year I spent the night there solo and really wanted erin to enjoy it as well. On the way down we ran out into the western straights of Georgia down to Tumbo. As we pulled into the bouy area several boats untied and headed out. Knowing I just had a shower that couldn't be their reason for pulling out. So I switched the VHF radio to the weather only to hear that a strong NW wind was going to blow all night long. Not really wanting to take swells all night long we untied and ran around the lower end of Saturna Island and found a great cove called Narvaez Bay.

Dropped the hook, unloaded the dingy to set some crab traps for the romantic dinner with my sweety. It turns out this area is closed to fishing to protect the rockfish stocks but crabs were open.

Not having much luck we load the motor on the dingy and run 2 pots over to the far side of the bay where some canucks were having some luck and ran back to the boat for or'dervs, wine and a game of crib.

Really wanting to have fresh crab for our last dinner I jump in the dingy and race over to pull the crab pots. One keeper and one REAL CLOSE. Dinner is on I reset the pots and run back to the mother ship. Put both of them in the pot they will die in and get in the boat, pour some more wine. Just after the dingy wake had settled down and I mean JUST, over the trees flys a RCMP chopper followed by a RCMP pattrol boat flying at top speed with their lights a blazzing. Being the Kool Cat that I am: I freak out and dump the fresh crab over the side when the chopper was on our blind side. Then the chopper starts to do small circles above us at 500 feet, until the patrol boat pulls up along side us. The following is what was said as I couldn't make this up.

patrol boat: "evening"
me: "hello"

Patrol boat: " you having any problems with the people on shore?"
me: "ummmm, No!"

Patrol boat: "it is fire season and we patrol to make sure everything is undercontrol"
me: "ooook"

Patrol boat: "where you from"
me: "US" [flying the stars and bars might have gave that away]

Patrol boat: "You sure everything is fine"
me: "yep"

Patrol boat: "ok you have a great weekend"

boating with my sweety: 500 dollars
on anchor in a romantic bay: 500 dollars
fresh crab for dinner: 500 dollars

Liberated RCMP crab: Priceless

Today we got up to some wind thinking it might be rough pulled out early and headed to Roach Harbor for customs and to drop Erin off at the taxi stand. Now the solo part of my trip starts.

Heading North.....

to be continued

July 2nd Sucia Island to South Pender Island ,

2009-07-03T16:17:00.001-07:00

July 1st

2009-07-03T16:03:00.000-07:00

2:30 am

20 mph winds are moving the boat around; if this keeps up I should try to push around 6 am as it may be a long rough run.

5:45 15 minutes before the alarm was to go off Tim H knoocks on my window to wake me up. Make a quick cup of JO and push off.

I round the point and the beating begins: "I am glad I used rain-x glass cleaner on the outside window. The water beaded and ran off real well. The run took almost 45 minutes just to Friday Harbor but wasn't too bad compared to what we run in fishing for tuna and halibut. Other than the wind from last night the weather has been great in fact almost too hot.

After Erin made it to downtown we walked back to the boat loaded up and pushed off to hit the fuel dock, and then the push back to Sucia Island. By the time we hit the section that was lumpy on the way in the tide had come up and the wind had died down enough to smooth the ride out. Back on Giligan's island the gang was just stiring from their deep slumber except for Tim who never sleeps. Tied back up and spent the day and evening walking the island, laughing it up, having fun thinking about the next port of call. We .will head out in the morning for BC

July 1st

2009-07-03T15:56:00.000-07:00

Today is the day - haul out and re launch all in the same day. 95 cent part to fix the leak plus 95 bucks per hour and the lift too.

5pm back in the water thought I might not make it back in as a nice sail boat with a deep draft was lowerd right into the mud almost getting stuck. They made it out so I called up the Gang to find out where they were layed up for the night. Sucia island is where they are so I put the hammer down run the ol girl at 4800 rpms and pull into the bay 40 minutes later.

Erin is due in the morning so I will be pushing off to head back down the sound to Friday Harbor for the pick up as well as a bit of shopping at Kings Market.

June 30

2009-06-30T11:47:00.000-07:00

After the best night of sleep so far I pull the hook and run the short distance over to Ocean Sport land [aka Roamer my next boat: please send donations to me small checks as well as large checks]

Checked in with the service dept at IMC it looks like they will pull me either late tonight or in the morning and have me back in the water by noon on the 1st. 19 cent part and at least a couple of hours of shop time... gotta love owning a boat.

Today is Log and Blog day tied up plugged in and getting things set up.

June 29

2009-06-30T11:44:00.000-07:00

Not much to report other than I am very relaxed and service is closed today. Plan to stay on the hook and enjoy the day.

Read, sleep, read, etc.

June 28

2009-06-30T11:20:00.000-07:00

Again Erin takes the helm and takes us out of Fishermans Bay through Upright Channel past Brown Island to Friday Harbor our second favorite stop in the islands. This town is on the west side of San Juan Island and is the county seat which brings more people and a much different pace from any of the other islands. Even though we prefer the slower life when on the boat up here it is fun to walk the docks: watch people, kick fenders and walk through the different shops. After a nice lunch at Pazzo Vivo we hit Kings Marine for some shrip pot parts, and Ace for a line spool. I cannot wait for the first pull of prawns for a fresh dinner ummmm. Headed back to the boat to relax in the sun in full sight of the Ferry system and the inbound flights of Kenmore Air until it was time to shove off. I untie and she points us down Upright Channel through Peavine Pass back accross Rosario Strait to Bellingham Bay. She then takes the Truck back down the 5 to Vancouver and I head out not sure where to hook up for the night. While running around the South side of Lummi Island I head North with thoughts of Sucia or Matia before I decide to not run as far as I would like to be ready to pull out back at IMC on Lopez. So I drop into Clark Island with no other boat in sight and a wounderful sunset on Mt. Baker. Right before dark I do a little reading about the island in my Wagoner Cruising Guide. "Visitor report:" "Correspondents Bruce and Margaret Evertz spent a night on a bouy on the east side of Clark Island, " woke up three times in the middle of the night hanging onto the mattress as we rolled in the wake of something big. Next time we'll try one of th bouys on the west side."

Thoughts to go to sleep by: 4:43 am I wake to hanging onto the mattress as the waves from some friggin vessel rock my world and smash onto shore and bounce back and re-rock my world. Again at 5 am another set of waves just after I fell asleep and again at 5:30 before I just got up made a cup of JO and pulled the hook. Headed out down Rosario through Obstruction Pass back to Lopez.

June 27

2009-06-30T11:07:00.000-07:00

After a slow wake up Erin takes the helm and off we go. With a side trip to Anacortes for the first fuel up and a little breakfast and a quick stop at West Marine. Picked up 2009 Ports and Passes tide book for my trip and back to the boat. Cap Sante marina is a very nice marina but not in our plans on this trip so we continue. Erin at the helm again we head out into Rosario strait to run around the south side of Lopez Island. A great day sunny but cool we round Cattle Pass on our way to Fishermans Bay the home port of the our boat. We head into port and drop the anchor and settle in for the afternoon and the Saterday Farmer's Market. We check in at Island Marine Center to have some service done to my Volvo Penta outdrive but too late to get on the books. We head back out to the boat for drinks and dinner it is too bad that crabbing isn't open as we sure wanted to eat some fresh caught crab. A game of Crib and an early snooze ended the day in our favorite spot.

June 26th

2009-06-30T10:43:00.000-07:00

Splashed the boat in Bellingham after the long tow North. Very excited as now it seems that it will happen after all. No real plan other than the first 2 weekends with Erin in the San Juan Islands.

After loading the boat, parking the trailer at a mini storage place in town a quick run the store for ice and drinks we push off. Not sure where we are going to go until Erin says "lets go around the outside of Lopez Is. It is one of the last islands we need to circumnavigate" So we have a plan: along the way we stop at Cyprus Is. and hook up to a bouy for the night. A real nice place and a short run from Bellingham Bay.