Hardy Island to Squirrel Cove

The morning started off “right” when Jim spotted a black bear on shore. We didn’t move fast enough to catch it with the camera. Pulling anchor before 8am, we headed north in calm waters. Now determined to be our designated wildlife spotter, Jim soon spied a pod of 5-6 orcas. We slowed our speed to watch for awhile.

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As in previous days, the waters and VHF were busy with traffic. This tug was pulling 3 barges, but we weren’t far enough away to catch it all in one photo.

At noon we pulled into the tiny village of Lund, sited at the “end of the road”, according to the cruising guides. After this point, there’s only gravel road, if any, along the coastline.

There’s not much in Lund, but everything there is nice: the hotel, pub, bakery, gallery, sweater shop, and kayak rental shop.

All had top-notch products on offer, including free wi-fi, so we very briefly caught up on email . . . .

. . . and bought lunch at the bakery, eaten on the outside patio.

The courtesy dock for boats not staying overnight was an off-shore float, so we had to dinghy into shore and then back to the boat.

At 3pm we pulled into Squirrel Cove off Cortes Island, a place we first visited when traveling as guests on a 60-foot pilothouse trawler Gold Rush from Port Angeles to Ketchikan up the Inside Passage in 2009. Squirrel Cove is a favorite spot among visitors to Desolation Sound, and Wednesday night we counted 51 boats anchored throughout the area. Our son Ryan used to come here every summer as a child, and until recently there was a “floating bakery” that took orders the night before, then churned out fresh-baked bread, cinnamon buns and more for pick-up in the morning. Sadly, the structure is still here, but not the business.

Wonders of modern technology mean Jan was able to use her iPhone and Skype to call her 90-year-old Mum in Australia. We have a cell signal here for voice or text, but no Canadian data plan for email or internet.

Late in the afternoon Cathryn was rooting around in the pantry above and behind the refrigerator. She isn’t tall enough to reach items in the back, so dragged a chair over. After retrieving an item, she stepped off the chair and her foot landed on the handle of the fire extinguisher. Sadly, the cotter pin that holds the handle in place had fallen out, so a loud popping noise followed, along with a good quantity of fire extinguishing material. Fortunately this was an ABC-type extinguisher, so it was powder, not foam, but it made a huge mess and startled all of us. Bob kindly assisted with the clean up while Jim and Jan prudently stayed out of the way.

Bob and Jim had fun checking out nearby boats and their residents while grilling dinner. We’re told one of them spotted some topless sunbathing women.

We’re anchored in 30 feet of water and conditions were calm all night.

Nanaimo to Hardy Island, entrance to Jervis Inlet

Monday afternoon at 4:10 a seaplane landed in Nanaimo and off-loaded Jim and Jan, Canadian friends we met our first winter RV-ing on the Baja Peninsula in Mexico. We traveled together much of that early 2009 winter and have seen each other regularly in Canada, Olalla where we live, or on road trips since then. They own a small boat, live on a big lake, and have chartered large sail and motor vessels for a week or two at a time on a number of occasions. We last saw them a year ago, and they’re joining us aboard “Next To Me’ for 5 days.

We stayed in the Nanaimo marina that night and took off early Tuesday morning to cross the Strait of Georgia before the anticipated higher afternoon winds. Conditions started off calm, and Jan enjoyed a “Titanic” (Kate Winslett) moment on the bowsprit, feeling exuberant in the beautiful scenery and weather.

Seals, eagles, mountains and tall bluffs or cliffs dominated the scenery all day.

The wind rose early, and eventually we were in 4-foot swells topped by 1-2 foot waves, not dangerous or scary, but not terribly comfortable for moving around the boat either. We eventually moved off the flybridge to the lower helm to reduce the rocking and rolling.

Lots of busy boat traffic on the water and on the VHF radio.

Early afternoon, after leaving the main Strait of Georgia and continuing up the Malaspina Inlet, we pulled into a beautiful anchorage near the mouth of Jervis Inlet (the route leading up to Princess Louisa Inlet) and dropped the anchor just off Hardy Island. By nightfall a dozen boats, all sailboats except two, were anchored in the vicinity.

 

Bob and Jim dropped both kayaks in the water, and we took turns exploring the area.

Most of the boats, including ours, stern tied to the shore to keep from swinging into one another. Deep water (we were only in 27 feet, but others were anchored up to 72 feet deep) requires long anchor rode and lots of swing room if not tied to shore. We have 600 feet of purple polyester line on a spool for this purpose.

 

We’ve always used a snubber on the anchor chain, but before beginning this trip were convinced by another boat captain we needed a bridle instead, to reduce the scope needed and increase the stability of the boat in wind or waves while anchoring.

We actually tied our stern line to a snag attached to shore.

 

A tiny island in the anchorage contained a basic, off-grid vacation home which is currently for sale. It has a large propane tank, satellite TV dish, and a solar panel. We didn’t spot an out-house and don’t know what sort of bathroom arrangements exist. It looked charming but way too remote and inaccessible for our tastes.

Grilled ahi tuna, steamed kale and wild rice made for a good dinner before a glass of wine and early to bed.

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Our First “Narrows”, and Nanaimo

OK, it wasn’t really our first; we went through Dodd Narrows 3 years ago when we went to Nanaimo on the way to Princess Louisa Inlet where we traveled through our second tidal narrows at Malibu Rapids. But it was our first tidal narrows of this trip, and the first in our own slow, single engine boat. This trip will soon involve going though a number of “gateways” on the way to Alaska: a set of tidal narrows that includes rapids and currents up to 15 knots at max flood, and which keep many boaters from making the trip at all. But, regardless of these facts, we still regarded going through Dodd Narrows as a “milestone” for this trip. By the time we got close, we were part of a convoy of a dozen boats, all headed north for the same narrow passage at the same slack tide.

We actually arrived an hour early, but proceeded through anyway as the current was only running 1 knot, and in our favor, so we had plenty of  control over our boat’s steering.

While not shown in this photo, we had boats coming southbound as well as our convoy headed north bound. This wouldn’t matter except that in the rip tides produced by the currents, slow single-engine boats like ours have a hard time controlling direction as we get tossed around.

Some of the more powerful boats, like the southbound boat shown above, decided the faster they went, and thus the more wake they produced, the better.  The slow boats, like us, thought their decision-making was flawed.  We heard one boat on the VHF radio talking to this boat, saying “your ignorance is only exceeded by your speed”.

 

Once through the narrows, we found ourselves coming into Nanaimo Harbor in 3-4 foot seas as we were exposed for the first time to the winds of the Georgia Strait. Above is the Emerald Lady which we’d met the night before at Thetis Island.

Nanaimo is a very attractive and pleasant city with great pedestrian amenities and all the stores you need before heading for parts North: grocery, drug store, chandlery and hardware.

And for those who like crabs (including you, Justin), they have that too!

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Thetis Island Reprise

One of our perennial favorite stops during the years we’ve come to the Canadian Gulf Islands is Thetis Island. With an afternoon forecast of high winds (which never materialized), we pulled out of Poet’s Cove on South Pender Island  at 8am sharp, waiting for breakfast and showers underway. Right off, our AIS (Automatic Identification System) started squawking at us to beware the huge BC Ferry coming our way. AS IF we could miss it in this sunshine, but nice to have the AIS working properly.

Boat traffic was heavy all morning, and voice traffic on the VHF radio was non-stop, nothing like our quiet winter and spring cruising trips. We heard the Canadian Coast Guard following the rescue of a kayaker in the water near Nanaimo.

 

Most of the homes visible on the shoreline in the Gulf Islands are much more modest, and this one stood out as almost castle-like in proportion and a couple of details.

We passed (or were passed by) so many beautiful boats that we won’t post all the photos.

One fast little fishing boat accompanying two jet-skis buzzed close by.

This is Thetis Island Marina, a small place in small Telegraph Harbor.

It was so hot in the afternoon we dropped the dinghy to explore The Cut, a narrow, very shallow passage which separates Thetis Island from Kuper Island, too shallow to travel in “Next To Me”.

Using our portable depth sounder, we had no trouble, but there was only 2 feet of water in places, and this was at a +7 tide, so the channel dries out completely at really low tides. On the other side of The Cut we discovered a huge, beautiful anchorage holding 25 boats. We checked the depth in various places so we can remember to come back here to anchor out on our way south.

Another gorgeous boat, anchored beyond The Cut.

Five minutes after we arrived at the Thetis marina, a boat pulled in behind us, and out spilled two men, a father and son both named Bob. The son is a former co-worker of Cathryn’s, so we enjoyed Happy Hour among Cathryn and the Three Bobs after our dinghy exploration. Small world! Both boats are headed tomorrow through Dodd Narrows, a short but exciting stretch just before Nanaimo, so we discussed what time to leave in the morning to catch slack tide to avoid rapids that run faster than either of our boats operate.

Maximum of One Each Day, Two Per Week

Last night’s anchorage in Fisherman’s Bay on Lopez Island was the first time we’ve anchored overnight since we bought this boat in September, despite anchoring out more than 100 nights while on our 7,000-mile Great Loop journey. There are a variety of reasons for this, too boring to list. There were dozens of boats, a gorgeous moon, and conditions were so calm we slept like logs without a single worry about storms or dragging anchor. Perfect!

This morning we dinghied to shore and met up with 30+-year friends Mary and Agnes, who live in Seattle but have a vacation home on Lopez. Mary was Cathryn’s boss at Metro for a few years, and Agnes was one of Bob’s department directors at one time. We see them on Lopez Island at least as often as we see them in Seattle. We had breakfast and 2 hours of catch-up conversation while they took a break from their week-long, 40-member annual family reunion. What a treat to have them fit us in to their busy schedule.

“Next To Me” is outfitted for this trip in two ways that are not usual. She’s hauling two kayaks because we’re told the wildlife in the Broughton Islands, our furthest north destination, will be frightened off by the noise of our 18hp dinghy motor, so if we want to observe and photograph wildlife, we need to travel by quiet kayak. Additionally, we’re carrying two crab pots and will buy a Canadian shellfish license when we reach Nanaimo.

So why is this blogpost titled as it is? Here’s the story. We have two heads (toilets, or bathrooms, depending on the context) on board. When we used the master stateroom’s head this morning, it struggled mightily to flush, though the motor was working properly. Not good, even though we have a second head in the bow of the boat. After more flushing attempts, and Bob’s foray into the engine room to check the sanitation hoses, Cathryn called our trusty all-around boat mechanic back home to discuss our theories on what was wrong. He confirmed our theory, and treatment later in the day seems to be producing the desired outcome of a “head” that flushes properly. Whew!  

However, shortly after this episode, we returned to the boat from breakfast with Agnes and Mary to pull the anchor and depart Lopez Island. Guess what? The windlass (electrical device that raises the heavy chain and anchor) didn’t work.  Argghhhh! We know everything on a boat will break, any chance it gets, but really? Two problems in one day??? So Bob pulled the heavy anchor chain by hand, not too awful since we were only in 15 feet of water (so 50+ feet of chain), and off we went. While Cathryn drove toward Canada, Bob sat on the bow of the deck for an hour to service the windlass. (Note: this is Cathryn writing this paragraph). Bob thinks he doesn’t know how to fix much on a boat. Cathryn thinks this is a crock, as he does ALL KINDS of things that need doing, and that she can’t do. Fixing electrical problems on an anchor windlass being a great example. So while “Next To Me’' rocked and rolled through moderately rough water, Bob sat on the deck at the bow and took apart the windlass, sanded off the corrosion on the electrical connections, put everything back together, and . . . . . lo and behold . . . . it worked again! So the title of this blogpost is because we had a stern talk with “Next To Me’' and informed her that never again is she allowed to have two crucial components break down in one day. From now on, the standard is:  “maximum one per day, two per week”, and NO MORE THAN THAT!

Mid-afternoon we crossed the international border into Canada, called ahead to Canada Border Services on our cell phone, and were not required to report to the Customs Dock in person because we’re NEXUS card holders and are in their computers as having made this crossing at least a dozen times without incident. That saved several hours, as the backlog of boats waiting to clear Customs on a busy Friday afternoon at Bedwell Harbor was long. So we pulled into a slip at Poet’s Cove and settled in for the night. The marina is crowded because we’re told it’s a “long weekend” in Canada. We don’t know why.

We have nice neighbors on both sides of us (an older couple from Seattle in a 63’ motor vessel, and 3 young couples on a 40’ Beneteau sailboat, chartering for their first trip). Grilled salmon on the BBQ for dinner, and live music ashore for Friday night. What’s not to like?

Check-in/OK message from Bedwell Harbor

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Bob and Cathryn

Out of Our Zone

Today we left our “zone”, the portions of central Puget Sound in which we feel intimately familiar with every town, marina, and anchorage. We arrived in the San Juan islands, and while we’ve been here by boat almost a dozen times (and many other times by car), there are still lots of places in the islands we’ve never been. So now we feel like we’re “on vacation.  We know:  how do people who haven’t worked for 7+ years distinguish between “vacation” and “not vacation”?  But we can, and do!

We left Keyport at 8am and went under the Agate Pass bridge at slack tide, then passed Kingston (above) where the combination of ferry traffic and lots of fisher-folks made for a very active passage.  We used it as an opportunity to test our new radar and AIS.  We were pleased our radar interpretation skills, which we hadn’t used for 18 months, were still pretty sharp.  This made us feel better about heading toward the Broughton Islands where they talk about August being “Fogust”.

Mt. Baker towered over Whidbey Island.

“War Ship 68”  AKA the USS Nimitz, above.  This mile-long ship spent more time than you’d think necessary calling on channel 16 on the VHF radio, trying to hail “the motor vessel off my starboard bow” trying to get them to get the hell out of the way! We never did hear the vessel respond and don’t know what happened in the end. We just know that ships like that move fast, stop and turn slowly, and we do everything we can to stay out of their way!

After 3-4’ seas all morning, just north of Port Townsend we entered the Strait of Juan de Fuca, a 21-mile crossing, to smooth seas all the way into Lopez Island and Fisherman’s Bay. Crossing the Strait is spectacular and anti-climactic in these conditions, and not at all fun in bad conditions, which we’ve only done twice.

 

The anchorage in Fisherman’s Bay has almost 50 boats in it, both sail and power, small and large, though none too large as the water in the entry channel is so shallow that deep-draft boats stay away. We saw 2.5 feet under our hull on the depth sounder at one point! The anchorage is also shared with seaplanes landing and taking off.

The view from on top of the aft cabin during cocktail hour was pretty unbeatable.

Lopez Island is dotted with some very attractive old buildings like the barn above. We grilled dinner aboard, showered while we still hat hot water from running all day, and look forward to sleeping well in this tranquil place.

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GPS location Date/Time:07/31/2014 16:15:41 PDT

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Off for a Summer Adventure

Travel time: 2 hrs, 15 mins

Distance: 15 miles

We decided to get a jump on the long journey from Bremerton Yacht Club (BYC) to the San Juan Islands and our late summer cruise to the Broughton Islands by leaving late Wednesday afternoon to get a couple hours under the keel before nightfall.

At 5:30 we pulled into the Port of Keyport’s marina, just inside the mouth of Liberty Bay (Poulsbo) where there are two spots on a face dock for cruising boats our size.  These slips are first-come first-served, and only $15 for boats over 25’ with electricity included.  There are no shore-side facilities except a Sani-can, but two good restaurants within walking distance, and the Navy’s Undersea Warfare Museum.  A hidden gem and a steal of a deal during a week when all the marinas are full or filling fast with Seafair Weekend and the Blue Angels coming.

Dinner on board and followed by a glass of wine with sunset on the flybridge, and we began to feel like our six-week cruise has really begun!

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