We are leaving today....yes TODAY!!!....for San Francisco. We are totally pumped and mostly ready. It is crystal clear to us after three years of preparation that you are NEVER "ready" so mostly ready is just fine.
Nancy and Gary Davis are coming with us which eases our stress hugely. Gary is a very experienced sailor and has done this trip several times before. He will boost our confidence for sure by sharing his knowledge. They are also lots of fun and ready to help so we should all have a great trip together.
You can follow us on http://www.pangolin.co.nz/yotreps/reporter_list.php just look for VA7MMD.
So, all for now....next post will be from the other side of the Golden Gate Bridge!
What started out to be the solution to the problem "what will we do when we retire" became a plan to circumnavigate, then a plan to sail only to nice places and is now more like let's leave and see where we go. So come along, sail away with us!
28 August 2011
18 July 2011
I'll be back soon!
Just to let you know that we are fine and now safely tied up in Victoria. I know there is a large gap in our story but we had very few internet connections and little time. I will catch you up as soon as a I can!
22 June 2011
A more comfortable ride
The next day we set to work on numerous projects some we want to have ready before we head offshore, others have been waiting for a good moment. With Mel somewhat slowed down by his bandaged thumb we spent time picking up the parts and bits and pieces we were going to need while having a look around PR. We also decided to move out to anchor across the harbour as our spot at the PRRYC was pretty rocky on the outside of D dock with no breakwater protection. At the last minute, we got a call back from another marina with space available. Rushbrook Floast is not far down the shore and is mostly full of fishing boats. It's quiet, inexpensive and a much more comfortable ride at a more reasonable price. It means a longer walk to town but we don't mind as the exercise is certainly not a bad thing. The trick here though is to get to the dock. The 20 ft tides create a very strong current making it all quite the challenge. It was good that we got settled in at a dock though as unfortunately Mel ended up in surgery two days later. His wound developed an abcess under the stitches (nothing to do with my stitching!) but he's fine now, finished his antibiotics and back to work.
21 June 2011
An Accident at Sea
As I was saying we started to do jobs as we motored our way north. On the way to Baker's Inlet where I left you off Mel was cutting a tubular piece of stainless steel when it slipped. He hacksawed his thumb. Needless to say it was a bit of a shock. I knew it was possible for the doctor to get the injury but it certainly wasn't in the plan. He compressed the wound for a good long time and finally had to admit that he needed some stitches. Hmmm.....guess that meant I was now the stitcher! We drapped the cockpit table and got to work. It helped Mel's pain (and likely shock) to instruct me through the process. It all went very well and I even took a photo. I had planned to include it here but on second thought you might not want to see it! We decided to continue on as far as we could that day in order to make the next day a short one into Prince Rupert. We anchored in Kumealon Inlet, a lovely little spot with lots of rocks and islets to manoevre around. We both crashed early exhausted after our traumatic day! In the morning the water was covered in foam chunks from the waterfalls. We headed off in totally calm conditions and motored our way up to Prince Rupert. We moored at the Prince Rupert Rowing and Yacht Club which was very near Breaker's Pub where we planned to watch Game 6. Enough said.
16 June 2011
Following the Canucks!
4 Jun 11 - Now although in retrospect it seems a little strange to have worked so hard to see the next three hockey games....we did it and it was fun! So....after anchoring we now needed to find a place with a TV so we could catch Game 2. And did we ever! The pub at Shearwater was a happening place. Great service and just a wonderful crowd. Fascinating mix of people locals, orientals, lumberjacks, coast guard crew, natives from Bella Bella across the way, the very rich , the very poor, Americans, Canadians.... all cheering together. What a great night! We couldn't remember when we'd ever paid for food that bad but it just didn't matter.
5 Jun 11 - The next morning I spent a couple hours in the laundromat with other cruisers chatting about the game, various marinas and the weather forecast. We were dithering as to whether we'd stay or go. The general concensus was to stay put but we were convinced that the gale warnings were not going to touch us on the inside channels. And so just after noon we left. It was a gorgeous sunny day with no wind for hours. We motored through Gunboat Pass which was just beautiful. When we got to Fisher Channel the wind came up and we were able to sail for a bit but it didn't last. We passed our first cruise ship in this lovely channel with numerous waterfalls. As we approached Ocean Falls a beautiful big wind came up behind us and we were able to sail wing-on-wing right up the channel. It was also actually hot so we changed into summer clothes for the first time. Ocean Falls is a "busy ghost town" according to the guide book. It still has a lovely big falls which used to run a sawmill and pulp and paper mill but all that has closed. Some of the old buildings are still there but most have been demolished. Still there is lots of enthusiasm amongst it's 30 remaining citizens. When I went into "The Shack" to register I was met by a group of four from a power boat having drinks and appies with a local who's known as "Nearly Normal Norman Brown". I recognized him from his photo in the guide book. What an interesting man with a heart of gold. He evidently meets all the cruisers, chats with them, takes them on a tour of the town and then I think gets paid with a beer or two. Wonderful entertainment to be sure.
6 Jun 11 - The next day we did boat work and then wondered through the old town and up to the waterfalls. Later we walked into the town where the remaining locals live to Salo's Saloon which opens once a week and this particular week it was for.....you got it....Game 3. Fun but very small crowd. Terrible game....who was that team?
7 Jun 11 - The next day dawned sunny with the calm broken only by our engine as we motored out at 6:10 a.m.. I always feel guilty about waking everyone but have learned that if not us, some other cruiser would be the rooster. We usually fall back to sleep anyway when someone else turns the key. It's the only way to get a lot of miles in or arrive at slack to get through a tricky narrows etc. On days like this we have breakfast in the cockpit enroute. Although most mornings are calm they are often cold but with our new enclosure it's just fabulous. Definitely our best addition! Back to Jun 7th. After breakfast we had a few rollers and then the wind picked up as we got to the mouth of Seaforth Channel. We turned and were able once again to sail wing-on-wing (thank you Lisa for talking us into our amazing, wonderful pole) at 6.5 to 7.0 kts. Just a great sail but then the wind just died. We left the sails up hoping for more while we had lunch but that was it for today folks. Or was it? Maybe we didn't have any more wind but we did have glorious sunshine and then.....a sound.....what was that? A whale! Our first grey whale! We'd seen killer whales/orcas in Georgia Strait a couple of times but this time we finally heard the blowing and then saw the fin and then the whole real whale tail! Yahoo! And then....we heard and saw him again! We ended this great day at Klemtu, a very friendly native village. We walked up to the Band Store and met a few people while we bought a few staples and tried to find someone to pay for moorage. We ended up calling for anyone in the town on the VHF radio. Got a response and were told they're not charging yet. Now that was a pretty perfect day!
8 Jun 11 - The next day was again sunny and calm as we motored down yet another narrow deep channel this time with waterfall after waterfall. Initially I took pictures of them but soon realized that there were thousands up here! As we turned into Mackay Reach the wind picked up and we tacked back and forth in 16-18 glorious knots. And then....another sound! This time it was the dolphins. Four of them playing in the bow wave for a good 20 minutes. Mel and I each had a really good long time with them out on the bow. They are so fast you can't help but laugh. We've seen them many times but I just adore them. Or is it the seals big eyes that are my favourite....oh but the eagles piping and soaring....aw but then the otters are sooooo cute and goofy....hmmmm. And then we arrived at Hartley Bay. A very friendly "modern" native village (as the guide book says). The streets are really sidewalks and are wooden. They have 12 quads in town that they all share. It's a very clean, organized functioning town. I asked if there was a community centre or somewhere maybe to watch the game and was told "oh yes everyone's welcome over at the gym where they'll be showing it on the big screen, just bring a snack". So with homemade pizza in hand off we went. It turned out that someone had gone by boat to pick up Chinese food in Kitimat so with my pizza we all had dinner! We were most welcome and had a lovely evening watching a terrible game. Yikes Canucks!
9 Jun 11 - Off to Bishop's Bay. It was drizzling and foggy so a perfect day to head to the hot springs. After a dull day motoring we snagged our first mooring buoy, grabbed our towels and headed ashore. What a great spot! Members of the Kitimat Yacht Club had built two concrete hot tubs one with a roof over it and one without. A pipe pours continuous hot, colourless, non-smelling water into the tub. Wow! Later we fell asleep to the sound of a nearby waterfall.
10 Jun 11 - Well although we'd snagged our first mooring ball easily in dead calm conditions it wasn't that easy a deal when it came to freeing it the next morning. Another lesson learned. Then we motored until we reached the Kitimat arm (can't think of the name of it right now) when we had a following wind and once again sailed wing-on-wing all the way up to town. We moored at the MK Marina and then took a long taxi ride to town to watch game 5.
11 Jun 11 - Today we had wind on the nose all day but had self imosed time constraints so motored the whole way back down from Kitimat into Stewart Channel where we moored behind Brody Pt. It was sunny and windy gusting to 20 kts with 3 ft waves and in retrospect we should have said to hell with the schedule and sailed. Hindsight....
12 Jun 11 - Going on a bear hunt. On and off all day long I search the shores for bears. We eat in the cockpit as often as we can while I search for bears. I think it's all a big story. BC doesn't have bears. I've seen bears in Ontario and I've seen them in Alberta but never in BC. All this wilderness. Miles and miles of trees, islands, granite, waterfalls, seals, eagles, dolphins, whales and NO BEARS!! There are no people up here for miles and miles.....and no bears. Maybe tomorrow........back to the story. We were prepping to pull up the anchor and head out by going quickly through our checklists. As I raced past "adequate fuel" a very small voice said "maybe not" at which point we prepared a nice big breakfast, relaxed, wished we'd taken our time and sailed yesterday because.....we'd have to fuel up just around the corner at Hartley Bay which was not supposed to be open on Sun. The thing is you see that there is no fuel between Hartley Bay and Prince Rupert. Lucky for us, the fuel dock at Hartley Bay had just opened when we called at 0900, so all was not lost. While Mel fueled up I talked with the the fuel dock attendant about the whole bear issue. He said that they had actually been very fortunate and hadn't had a bear in the village for some time. (see...told you there weren't any bears). Then he directed me to the owner of another boat moored in front of us and told me to ask him about the bears. I noticed that his boat was called "Great Bear". He was an adventure guide taking people fishing and to see bears! Aha! I learned that Lowe Inlet was probably the best spot on our route. So off we went. It was cloudy and calm so we motored to Lowe Inlet. It was too early in the day to stop but we went in and looked around. No bears or at least not when we were there. Oh well. On to Baker Inlet where the guide book said the furry beasts like to hang. As we motored along we decided to do jobs to try to get things done.
5 Jun 11 - The next morning I spent a couple hours in the laundromat with other cruisers chatting about the game, various marinas and the weather forecast. We were dithering as to whether we'd stay or go. The general concensus was to stay put but we were convinced that the gale warnings were not going to touch us on the inside channels. And so just after noon we left. It was a gorgeous sunny day with no wind for hours. We motored through Gunboat Pass which was just beautiful. When we got to Fisher Channel the wind came up and we were able to sail for a bit but it didn't last. We passed our first cruise ship in this lovely channel with numerous waterfalls. As we approached Ocean Falls a beautiful big wind came up behind us and we were able to sail wing-on-wing right up the channel. It was also actually hot so we changed into summer clothes for the first time. Ocean Falls is a "busy ghost town" according to the guide book. It still has a lovely big falls which used to run a sawmill and pulp and paper mill but all that has closed. Some of the old buildings are still there but most have been demolished. Still there is lots of enthusiasm amongst it's 30 remaining citizens. When I went into "The Shack" to register I was met by a group of four from a power boat having drinks and appies with a local who's known as "Nearly Normal Norman Brown". I recognized him from his photo in the guide book. What an interesting man with a heart of gold. He evidently meets all the cruisers, chats with them, takes them on a tour of the town and then I think gets paid with a beer or two. Wonderful entertainment to be sure.
6 Jun 11 - The next day we did boat work and then wondered through the old town and up to the waterfalls. Later we walked into the town where the remaining locals live to Salo's Saloon which opens once a week and this particular week it was for.....you got it....Game 3. Fun but very small crowd. Terrible game....who was that team?
7 Jun 11 - The next day dawned sunny with the calm broken only by our engine as we motored out at 6:10 a.m.. I always feel guilty about waking everyone but have learned that if not us, some other cruiser would be the rooster. We usually fall back to sleep anyway when someone else turns the key. It's the only way to get a lot of miles in or arrive at slack to get through a tricky narrows etc. On days like this we have breakfast in the cockpit enroute. Although most mornings are calm they are often cold but with our new enclosure it's just fabulous. Definitely our best addition! Back to Jun 7th. After breakfast we had a few rollers and then the wind picked up as we got to the mouth of Seaforth Channel. We turned and were able once again to sail wing-on-wing (thank you Lisa for talking us into our amazing, wonderful pole) at 6.5 to 7.0 kts. Just a great sail but then the wind just died. We left the sails up hoping for more while we had lunch but that was it for today folks. Or was it? Maybe we didn't have any more wind but we did have glorious sunshine and then.....a sound.....what was that? A whale! Our first grey whale! We'd seen killer whales/orcas in Georgia Strait a couple of times but this time we finally heard the blowing and then saw the fin and then the whole real whale tail! Yahoo! And then....we heard and saw him again! We ended this great day at Klemtu, a very friendly native village. We walked up to the Band Store and met a few people while we bought a few staples and tried to find someone to pay for moorage. We ended up calling for anyone in the town on the VHF radio. Got a response and were told they're not charging yet. Now that was a pretty perfect day!
8 Jun 11 - The next day was again sunny and calm as we motored down yet another narrow deep channel this time with waterfall after waterfall. Initially I took pictures of them but soon realized that there were thousands up here! As we turned into Mackay Reach the wind picked up and we tacked back and forth in 16-18 glorious knots. And then....another sound! This time it was the dolphins. Four of them playing in the bow wave for a good 20 minutes. Mel and I each had a really good long time with them out on the bow. They are so fast you can't help but laugh. We've seen them many times but I just adore them. Or is it the seals big eyes that are my favourite....oh but the eagles piping and soaring....aw but then the otters are sooooo cute and goofy....hmmmm. And then we arrived at Hartley Bay. A very friendly "modern" native village (as the guide book says). The streets are really sidewalks and are wooden. They have 12 quads in town that they all share. It's a very clean, organized functioning town. I asked if there was a community centre or somewhere maybe to watch the game and was told "oh yes everyone's welcome over at the gym where they'll be showing it on the big screen, just bring a snack". So with homemade pizza in hand off we went. It turned out that someone had gone by boat to pick up Chinese food in Kitimat so with my pizza we all had dinner! We were most welcome and had a lovely evening watching a terrible game. Yikes Canucks!
9 Jun 11 - Off to Bishop's Bay. It was drizzling and foggy so a perfect day to head to the hot springs. After a dull day motoring we snagged our first mooring buoy, grabbed our towels and headed ashore. What a great spot! Members of the Kitimat Yacht Club had built two concrete hot tubs one with a roof over it and one without. A pipe pours continuous hot, colourless, non-smelling water into the tub. Wow! Later we fell asleep to the sound of a nearby waterfall.
10 Jun 11 - Well although we'd snagged our first mooring ball easily in dead calm conditions it wasn't that easy a deal when it came to freeing it the next morning. Another lesson learned. Then we motored until we reached the Kitimat arm (can't think of the name of it right now) when we had a following wind and once again sailed wing-on-wing all the way up to town. We moored at the MK Marina and then took a long taxi ride to town to watch game 5.
11 Jun 11 - Today we had wind on the nose all day but had self imosed time constraints so motored the whole way back down from Kitimat into Stewart Channel where we moored behind Brody Pt. It was sunny and windy gusting to 20 kts with 3 ft waves and in retrospect we should have said to hell with the schedule and sailed. Hindsight....
12 Jun 11 - Going on a bear hunt. On and off all day long I search the shores for bears. We eat in the cockpit as often as we can while I search for bears. I think it's all a big story. BC doesn't have bears. I've seen bears in Ontario and I've seen them in Alberta but never in BC. All this wilderness. Miles and miles of trees, islands, granite, waterfalls, seals, eagles, dolphins, whales and NO BEARS!! There are no people up here for miles and miles.....and no bears. Maybe tomorrow........back to the story. We were prepping to pull up the anchor and head out by going quickly through our checklists. As I raced past "adequate fuel" a very small voice said "maybe not" at which point we prepared a nice big breakfast, relaxed, wished we'd taken our time and sailed yesterday because.....we'd have to fuel up just around the corner at Hartley Bay which was not supposed to be open on Sun. The thing is you see that there is no fuel between Hartley Bay and Prince Rupert. Lucky for us, the fuel dock at Hartley Bay had just opened when we called at 0900, so all was not lost. While Mel fueled up I talked with the the fuel dock attendant about the whole bear issue. He said that they had actually been very fortunate and hadn't had a bear in the village for some time. (see...told you there weren't any bears). Then he directed me to the owner of another boat moored in front of us and told me to ask him about the bears. I noticed that his boat was called "Great Bear". He was an adventure guide taking people fishing and to see bears! Aha! I learned that Lowe Inlet was probably the best spot on our route. So off we went. It was cloudy and calm so we motored to Lowe Inlet. It was too early in the day to stop but we went in and looked around. No bears or at least not when we were there. Oh well. On to Baker Inlet where the guide book said the furry beasts like to hang. As we motored along we decided to do jobs to try to get things done.
Queen Charlotte Strait and Cape Caution
Dead calm. Seriously.....dead calm! We crossed the fabled Queen Charlotte Strait in waterski perfect water. Floating logs were our only concern. This continued the whole way to Port McNeill which we had chosen as our place to prepare for the next big step....Cape Caution. We also had to catch a hockey game, buy parts, charts, mail things etc. A great spot with everything we needed. We stayed three nights and then got up at 3:45 a.m. Jun 3rd (did I say relaxing retirement?....not!) and wished we had the waterskis as we headed out towards Cape Caution. Now Cape Caution is as the name conjurs up is a much feared and dangerous piece of water. Rounding it is a sailor's coming of age. Well Mel already came of age and I'm about to follow but our experience at Cape Caution was totally benign. We had ripples and 2 ft rollers. We played Scrabble. I have photos of the famous Cape that day but have not figured out how to post them here yet. I'm sure it's very simple and promise to add them later. Later we raised sails and were able to sail up Fitz Hugh Sound to our chosen anchorage at Kwakume Inlet. A lovely little bay which according to the guide book might have bears and even the lonely howl of the wolf. Alas, nothing.
Heading North
This next section will be a whole lot of places all in one long story as I try to catch you up to where we are now on Jun 16th!
We left Campbell River and headed up Discovery Passage into new territory. We had no problem going through fabled Seymour Narrows. At this point the wind picked up and we set sails to fly wing-on-wing up to Johnstone Strait where we ducked in behind Turn Island to anchor overnight. Early the next morning we raised anchor and motored to Port Neville where we looked but decided to press on. We downwind sailed along Johnstone Strait into Lagoon Cove where we again anchored. In the morning we rowed over in the dinghy to the marina to check it out. The guide books described it as a lot of fun and it looked like it had lots of character. The owner was a little unreceptive as we hadn't paid and moored with him but we promised to do so on our return visit (what return visit?) which warmed him up. On May 28th (thought it was time to throw in a date) we mostly motored on to Echo Bay. This is another place that has a lot of spirit in the summer when the cruisers converge for big suppers and the Sat night pig roast. In May however, it's pretty quiet. But not for long! Just so happened that the guy who came down the dock to catch our lines was.....you got it...another pilot from our days in Bagotville, Mike McKay. He and his wife Jeanie had stopped at Echo Bay several times over the years and now spend half their year there helping out. Pierre the owner came down too and soon we had gathered the cruisers from the other boats and had the first appetizer/drinks party of summer 2011 on the dock in the sunshine! I might be missing the pig roast but I'm not going to miss the party!
We left Campbell River and headed up Discovery Passage into new territory. We had no problem going through fabled Seymour Narrows. At this point the wind picked up and we set sails to fly wing-on-wing up to Johnstone Strait where we ducked in behind Turn Island to anchor overnight. Early the next morning we raised anchor and motored to Port Neville where we looked but decided to press on. We downwind sailed along Johnstone Strait into Lagoon Cove where we again anchored. In the morning we rowed over in the dinghy to the marina to check it out. The guide books described it as a lot of fun and it looked like it had lots of character. The owner was a little unreceptive as we hadn't paid and moored with him but we promised to do so on our return visit (what return visit?) which warmed him up. On May 28th (thought it was time to throw in a date) we mostly motored on to Echo Bay. This is another place that has a lot of spirit in the summer when the cruisers converge for big suppers and the Sat night pig roast. In May however, it's pretty quiet. But not for long! Just so happened that the guy who came down the dock to catch our lines was.....you got it...another pilot from our days in Bagotville, Mike McKay. He and his wife Jeanie had stopped at Echo Bay several times over the years and now spend half their year there helping out. Pierre the owner came down too and soon we had gathered the cruisers from the other boats and had the first appetizer/drinks party of summer 2011 on the dock in the sunshine! I might be missing the pig roast but I'm not going to miss the party!
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