July 17-18 Nanaimo

On July 17, we pretty much hung out around the boat and went for walks around downtown Nanaimo area. We bought a few things for the boat: such as an anchor mount for the second anchor. Marty hung the second anchor at the stern railing and pulled out all the rope and chain (which now sits in our cockpit locker.) Now, the boat's waterline is better balanced and not bow heavy.

We talked to people about our NO TANKERS campaign. We have had lots of thumbs up about our boat banners. Marty said that one lady shouted out, "Way to go!"

We have been having lots of fun looking at other boats around the docks. Marty has never seen so many C & C's of various lengths.

We had a great dinner at the popular fish & chip restaurant called "Trollers." They served until they ran out of fish. When we got there, they had run out of halibut and prawns. Then the lady ahead of us found out they just ran out of salmon. We were the last customer and just squeaked in before they closed the curtains. We went for an evening walk where Marty pulled Mae into a dark alley when he had spotted a pub.

On July 18, Marty did the laundry while Mae did the first update of our blog. We watched the special Regatta where people build floating contraptions, using recyclable materials, in four hours. Then they had races on the water like the "Quick and Daring" for Prince Rupert's Seafest.

The highlight of the day was Edward's arrival (Marty's son). He will be spending a week with us exploring some of the Gulf islands.

On July 19, Marty spent the morning scrubbing and cleaning the boat while Edward and Mae went out provisioning with food and beverages.

In the afternoon, we explored Newcastle Island and ended the evening with dinner at the "Dinghy Dock Pub" on Protection Island. Great Place! Our next blog entry will not be until the end of the week (probably the weekend).

July 15-16 Retreat Cove on Galiano Island

On July 16, we took Susan Lambert and Hugh out sailing. We circumnavigated around Wallace and Secretary Islands, which took about three hours. Susan was quick to learn the tactics around sailing. She was very observant for logs miles away and of the depth of water under us. She definitely felt in control of the boat. When she asked how much we were leaning over, we said 10 degrees. Then she would turn the wheel and said 20 degrees now! We had our best sailing that day! We finished off the trip with turkey salad wraps in the cockpit. Thank you Susan and Hugh for supporting the NO TANKERS Campaign.

July 14-15 Silva Bay Marina & Pirate's Cove

On July 14^th, we went to Pirates' Cove on De Courcy Island south of Gabriola Island. Mae went on the Blattler’s speedy boat, while Marty went on Paul’s sailboat. We switched places on the way back. Mae and the Blattler family tried their luck with a bit of fishing. Mae caught a small fish but it was below the minimum length. Pirates' Cove is a great marine park. The trails around the Cove were refreshing and well maintained. This is a popular destination for boaters. Everyone jumped into the water except Mae and Ginny (sister). We finished off the day with a barbeque on the decks at the Silva Bay Marina. It was great spending some time with Mae’s sister’s family.

On July 15^th, we met Carie McAlister who donated money for one of the NO TANKERS flags. Her husband and his family are well known in the wooden boat building industry. She will be spreading the word about the NO TANKERS campaign and is looking forward to receiving the pdf of the NO TANKERS flags to look into creating more flags for her area.

We left Silva Bay and at first intended to anchor on the other side of Pirates' Cove but had contacted Susan and Hugh at their home on Galiano Island, so we headed to Retreat Cove. After we anchored in the cove, Marty shouted for Mae to come up to see something fascinating. There was a huge school of small fish (millions) swimming about the cove. We have yet to find out what kind of fish they were.

We went over to Susan and Hugh’s home for dinner. What a fabulous place. We always bugged them about making sure they had our bedroom ready. All their windows face the water.

July 11 to 13 Cortes Island to Silva Bay Marina

On July 11, we watched the final FIFA game in Campbell River. Then we sailed off to Cortes Island where we anchored in Mansons Bay. We were well anchored and it was a good thing as the winds picked up during the night. We had an anchor watch because gale force winds swung us about all night.

On July 12, we waited for the whole day for the winds to calm down but they never did. We decided to make the trip to Silva Bay on the 13^th. Instead, we explored Cortes Island, read and rested.

While Marty was napping, Mae noticed the water getting a bit green as she peered over the stern to watch all the jelly fish swimming about. Then she noticed the sand and the small rocks of the shore. She quickly ran to turn on the depth gauge which eventually read 2.9 m, 3.5m etc. We need 2.0 meters and the tide had another hour of dropping. We quickly started the engine and hauled up the anchor! We dropped anchor in a deeper hole.

They have a wonderful community radio station, which was non-commercial, non-corporate and totally community funded. They played a variety of music from the community and abroad. The DJs were local hippies who were easy going, carefree people. This station can be heard by subscribing to it on-line via PAY PAL at www.cortesisland.com

On July 13, we left Cortes Island at 5:10 a.m. Marty had to pull up the anchor from 27 metres plus a 3:1 scope. Exhausting! While pulling up the mainsail, my attention switched to the depth gauge, which read 4.0 metres and dropping. I had to change course to a safe path and went below to check why the depth was so low when we were well off shore. It turned out there was a long shallow spit that went out of the bay (unmarked). When we were sailing for three hours, we heard a PAN PAN as a 60 foot vessel ran aground on the very spot. They had to call a tug to pull it out as local resources were not able to pull such a huge vessel off.

This day started off well with a great sail from 5:30-10:30 a.m. going wing on wing down Georgia Strait. We figured that we would get to Silva Bay in no time. Unfortunately, the wind died and we had to motor the rest of the way. The last three hours was horrible as it was hot in the cockpit with the sun behind us, and any wind was on our nose, so we could not set sail, and the tide was against us to boot. The beautiful sunshine was nice but we knew that we would be coming into Silva Bay when it was dark. It was not easy getting into Silva Bay as we had to avoid “Shipwreck Rock” which was marked. One’s perception of the surroundings is obscured by darkness. Mae had to read out the depth every second…4.5m. 5.1m, 5.4m, 4.8m etc. Marty had a good shot of scotch after that long trip, punctuated by a scary entry into Silva Bay. It took us 17 hours to travel 80 nautical miles (144 km).

July 9 to 10

July 8

We visited old Rupert friends, (The Fletchers), who moved to Port McNeil over four years ago. We saw them last time we were in with our boat. We had a great meal with them and their fabulous water front view. Many residences of Port McNeil have water front views.

July 9

We left Port McNeil at 5:15 a.m. and started to make our way to Campbell River. We figured we would get as far as the tides and wind would take us. We never thought that we would ever stop in Kelsey Bay again after our last experience. We were swinging back and forth in a gale force wind storm blowing into the docks. This time, we were happy, sailing fast down Johnstone Strait, when gale force winds came up behind us very quickly. Mae turned the boat into the wind and floored the rpm to 2800 to maintain control so Marty could down the sails. Once the sails were down and tied, we headed for Kelsey Bay once again.

This time, it was great there as we met several people at the campsite and invited them over to our boat. First a retired American couple came over after we toured their amazing camper. Later a Swiss family of four came over. They had two very polite boys of 11 and 13. The parents spoke English well. They agreed with our banner TANKERS DO NOT BELONG; however, the other Texas couple were not speaking on the issue but we figured out their position when we found out that he had retired from the oil business down in Texas.

July 10

We left Kelsey Bay at 6:00 a.m., as we wanted to use the tides and get down Johnstone Strait. First we had to get through Race Passage which can really rip! At the start, we were only able to move 2 to 3 knots running the motor at 2300 rpm. When the current finally turned in our favour, we were going 5 to 7.8 knots. We especially picked up speed going through Seymour Narrows on our way to Campbell River. Marty clocked the fastest speed of 14.2 knots on the boat. We were flying through to Campbell River. It was very very hot there and the breeze was a good thing.

Knight Inlet to Port McNeil

July 7

We traveled a long, long, long way on this day. We traveled 84 nautical miles (150 km). We were on the water for over 15 hours. We crossed Queen Charlotte Strait. We will add more to this entry later.

July 8

We're in Port McNeil visiting old friends Michelle, Greg, Selena and Andrew Fletcher.

"NO TANKERS" CAMPAIGN ~ Full Strength Ahead!

Here is photo slideshow that will build as we make our trek southward. We have spoken to many people who strongly believe that TANKERS DO NOT BELONG! We have began the distribution of flags. Donations have ranged from $10 to a $100 bill. These funds will go towards producing more flags. Stay tuned for updates for the "NO TANKERS" Campaign slideshow.

Shearwater

July 6

We are enjoying a fabulous day in Shearwater. When the sun is out, it makes any day a fabulous one. We enjoyed watching the semi-final game between Uraguay and the Netherlands at the local pub. It was great watching it on the big screen. We hope to catch the final game somewhere along the coast of Vancouver Island. We don't want to miss this game. We're predicting the Netherlands and Germany. We've posted a sequence of videos from July 2 to July 5. Some parts of the clips still gives me a queasy feeling in Mae's tummy. So, careful friends out there, this might make you feel seasick.

July 2, 2010

After leaving Prince Rupert with a lovely send off from Jennifer and Peter Simon, we quickly stopped at Dodge Cove to pick up some charts from Des and Wendy. Thank you guys as we have already needed those very charts. (It is somewhat disconcerting to have the fancy, expensive electronic program give a, “reduced data for the next chart,” sign and then a big blank spot.)

We stopped to fish at Humpback Bay and caught a lovely coho on the first pass. Then it was on to Totem Harbour for a super fish dinner and a quiet night.

July 3, 2010

Early the next morning we picked up 10 crabs from our trap and kept the four best ones. We had a beautiful sail across Browning Entrance to Principe Channel. Then the weather started to close in and it got pretty ugly. Mae found us an anchorage that worked out nicely. We did not make a lot of distance, but at least we had a chance to drip dry.

July 4, 2010

We got another early start and headed down the channel in good sailing conditions. Wind on the stern quarter, which made the boat slew around a bunch. We had to be alert on the wheel as the auto-pilot could not cope. It was watches of two on and two off the whole way, but we made good distance. Then there was the anchorage Mae picked out. It had a truly terrifying entrance – narrow and surrounded by rocks with shallow water and a two meter swell pushing us through. All I can say is that it is a good thing our boat can turn on a dime and, “No Mae. I cannot just stop the boat. It does not have a brake.” Once inside, there was more than one drink downed and another wonderful dinner to take the strain off.

July 5, 2010

It was a 4:30 start to get out before the wind picked up. We rounded the lite at McInnes with only the Pacific Ocean to our starboard and crossed Millbank Sound under a beautiful sunny sky but light winds. We came down Seaforth Channel and marveled at how many wonderful spots there are; definitely another place to explore. We are now securely tied at Shearwater where we will stay the night and at least until the football matches are over tomorrow. I don’t know who to pull for now???

Our 2010 Adventure Down the B.C. Coast Has Begun

On July 2, we left Prince Rupert at 8:00 a.m. We have a long and exciting journey ahead. We look forward to sharing our adventure with family and friends through our blog.