August 15 Ganges B.C.

By early July, we had made it to Port McNeill along the northern west coast of Vancouver Island. The broken alternator issue was still in limbo, but a new one awaited us. I installed it, only to "burn" the connection to the "house bank" of batteries. I was told that the cable must have been lose, and to replace the cable....it worked perfectly.

At the Harbor, we saw many old friends and made many new ones. A "real" boat was docked across from us...


We ran most mornings around the town and wanted to plant some of these trees!



The detail in this fence was amazing:

The crabbing remained good, and Christy insisted on photographing all of our meals:


I have wanted a fish-cleaning platform on the swim step, and we were directed to Frankie Dormier as a master stainless steel builder and fabricator. He looked ta the boat, and designed the perfect platform. He came to the boat to customize it, and install it:


We decided to head further into the "Broughtons" and found our favorite spot yet...Kwatsi Bay. We have friends who have said that they would like to spend the entire summer there, and now we know why. Anka and Max, with their two kids, Russell and Marika live there and what hosts they are. The setting is in a huge cove with steep side walls surrounding. There is snow above, a huge water fall on one side, and the crabbing and prawning is great! My first big "pot" of prawns was photographed as I came to shore, and I found out that it was by the editor of the cruising bible, Waggoners. He actually put our picture and story on his web-site the next day.


At Kwatsi, every other day is pot-luck dinner (mandatory) and everyother day is cocktail hour (also mandatory). What fun to sit on the dock every afternoon and rehash stories and learn from fellow boaters.


In the Bay, the kayaking was great..



The water fall next to the dock at Kwatsi..


Here is Dave, Carol, and Jasper. Dave is a professional Tug captain, cruising from Anchorage to Seattle on his 100' Tug. Their pleasure boat is the one behind them, the Navigator. It is a 42' Norhavn purchased a year ago. He will leave his boat while he returns to work for 6 weeks....6 on and 6 off.




Our next stop was at Pierre's at Echo Bay. This is a very popular stop, mostly because of the pig roast every Saturday. Chris is here on the dock,


and here on our walk to Billy Proctor's museum..


Billy Proctor has collected artifacts for 50 years and has put them all on display in a museum. It is an incredible collection of great stuff....he also has written a book.."Full Moon-Flood Tide" which is a must read. Christy has an autographed copy!


Overlooking the dock at Pierre's...


We headed home after July 4th to see the kids but mostly to see grand-kids...

Isla's grin is infectious...


Addison, Ethan, and Harrison in the backyard..


And William IV enjoying company and food

Then we headed in our plane back toward the boat, but we detoured to the Oshkosh fly-in first. We took the bikes to get around at OSH, but they will come in handy again on the boat, as we get closer to Anacortes..

Chris biking around the runway at OSH


An electric fan to propell the willing into the air....what a device!


We landed at the Boeing Field in Seattle, left our plane, and flew on Kenmore Air Floats back to Greenway Sound (where we left our boat)




Back at Greenway, this is a hike to 2 lakes above the marina


The proprietor advised me about where to put out the prawn pots, and we had another "haul"..


The crabs that are this big have about 2 pounds of meat each! The picture below is the meat from just these two crabs...





Last year we travelled for weeks with two great friends, Ron and Kap Ferguson. Their boat last year was Cosmo Place. They sold it during the winter and bought a brand new Flemming shown here, named Flying Colours....we have comunicated with them often about trying to hook up this summer, but it didn't happen until last week. While we are underway, I have called to them on the VHF frequency often just in case they were nearby. While we were in Johnstone Strait, I heard them call for us. We were headed toward Campbell River, but diverted toward them at Blind Channel. What a reunion we had! Touring their boat was a treat in itself! It is fabulous! We cruised by dinghy to dinner about 5 miles away, and had to have a designated driver (Kap) to get home




Then it was off to Vancouver. This is the city off our bow as we headed in. We would bear right into False Creek and dock in downtown...




This is False Creek looking toward the entrance from our moorage. The 1,000 acrea park is in the city to the far right with over 50 miles of trails! Keep in mind that Central Park in NYC is only 900 acreas. (Ruffner Mountain in Birmingham is 1,100 acreas!!!)


Here is Undoc'd viewed from the bridge over False Creek..



We left Vancouver to go to Ganges, BC. This is a small village on the island of Saltspring. Everyone loves their market on Saturday's, so we had to be there. Below is the view of the marina from a popular hotel, Hastings...



Hastings gardens are terrific




There is a park in downtown Ganges called Muoat's. We ran there in the mornings...



And now it is Sunday morning, August 16th and we are loading up to cruise toward Brentwood Bay, Sidney, and/or the Butchart Garden bay. Last year we saw the gardens from the Victoria side, and can't wait to see them again this year. Craig and Millie are joining us this Friday in Victoria for some cruising and we will definitely see the gardens with them....

Tuesday, June 16th in Port McNeill

Thursday, June 11, 2009
We took a different route this trip from last year, and we were visited by whales all along the Finlayson Channel. We covered the 50 miles easily, and played with the radar alarms, and sea bottom data. It was mostly overcast until noon when it cleared up again. We arrived in Shearwater at 3:00 or so, and they had a spot at the dock for us. It was a 50 foot gap between two large boats, and we slipped her in there just like pros (our stern thruster is still out, until I can get her hauled out for a repair). This is an interesting town, Indian (First Nation by their description) populated, and an important stopover for boaters traveling north or south. Unfortunately, there is no cell coverage, but there is a weak internet connection. My U/N and P/W from last year was still good, so we posted the pictures from the past few days. We will start early to get as close as we can to the last major “crossing”, that of Queen Charlotte Sound, also called Cape Caution. This one makes us both nervous!

Friday, June 12, 2009
We are up early, and underway. First, we needed to depart the dock without bumping any other boats. There is a strategy to leave the bow tied tightly, push the stern away briskly, and then when clear, use reverse to get away. It worked well, and we were headed toward Cape Caution by 7:00 AM. Our plan was to get to a secure waiting cove north of the passage, and then cross early on Saturday. We had covered 60 miles by 2:00 and were at a decision point….either duck into cover for the night, or proceed with the crossing which would take another 2 hours with the winds having increased from 5 kt to 15 kts during the past hour. We decided to give it a try, and see how it felt. We were in the lee of several islands which helped greatly, and we proceeded across the Queen Charlotte Sound and around Cape Caution. We had the winds, waves, and the weather at our backs, so the ride was not too rough, and we turned the corner to a cloud-free sky and beautiful weather. Since we had not planned to make the crossing today, we had not researched an anchorage. Chris got the maps out and began studying…she suggested Skull Cove, which is described as “one of the prettiest anchorages you will find”. It tucks around an unnamed island into a cove with rocks, islands, and scenery all 360 degrees! Many use this as an overnight before the crossing heading north. The winds had picked up by this time (4:00) but the bottom was great holding mud. Since we were a day ahead of schedule, we decided that we would spend a couple of days at this site. Tomorrow shall be a crabbing day!

Today marks a month in Alaska on the boat. We have spent more days at anchor than at dock, and we have only eaten 4 times off the boat. One of those was with Niki and Bud in Ketchikan (thanks, Niki and Bud), and one was with Paula and Randy (what great friends). Christy says that she is now, and only now, truly on vacation. She has worried about the two crossings since last year, and now they are both behind us. The boat is in fine shape, the new alternator awaits us at Port McNeil, and our comfort level with the boat grows. We are making more water than we can use, the icemaker is keeping up with our needs, and the washer and dryer have us clean. The house battery-bank is strong, and we have enough food to last...”about 2 weeks” according to Chris. Our refrig and freezer is stuffed, and 2 ice chests are full as well. What a life this could be. This is why we have decided to leave the boat in the PNW another year or two. Tomorrow is haircut day (on the bow by Christy), crab-pots down, and I will install a depth finder on the dinghy.

Saturday, June 13th
This was a great day of recovery, relaxation, and chores. I launched the dinghy first thing and wired the depth finder to the battery. It required splicing 4 lengths of 16g wire to include a fuse in-line, and battery connectors at the ends. It works great, but I will wait until we are at dock to drill the holes in the transom for permanent mounting. For now, I can hold the transducer in my hand and get depth readings fine. I then headed out in the cove to launch 2 crab pots. Then Chris and I found a great place for my kayak, on the outside of the upper deck railing, very secure and out of the way. Much better! Chris’ kayak is secure under the cover on the fly-bridge.

Christy shelled the last 4 crabs from the harvest of a few days ago, and prepared another crab feast on salad…about 2 lbs each. I then headed to the 2 pots, not expecting much, and we had 5 huge Dungeness of about 2 lbs each. As I cleaned them, Chris had the water boiling, they were cooked, and we cleaned the meat out and are set for crab-cakes tomorrow. But first, she made our salads with them... All of this took about 1 hour from pulling them out of the water, to having the meat ready to go. We will head to Port McNeil tomorrow and be at a dock waiting for a new alternator. This little cove has been beautiful and well protected from the winds. The weather was again great, with the sun coming out to a cloudless sky by noon, and the winds only about 10 kt.

We loaded the dinghy, and checked everything for the crossing of Queen Charlotte Strait, and were ready. The departure is through a very narrow entrance, and caution is the word of the morning... Early on Sunday morning, June 13th, we pulled anchor and headed across the Strait. This is one of the rare places where the high and low tides do not time with slack currents. Normally, as the tide maxes out (or minimizes out) the currents also come to slack water. Crossing the Strait, high tide may be at 8:00 (for instance today) while slack water occurs at 9:30. As we left the cove, we were face to face with swells from the NW as we headed West toward Port McNeill. It was much rougher than we anticipated, but it looked calmer further out. We pushed on, and it became glassy smooth at the middle. What a pleasant surprise! We pulled into Port McNeill feeling great, and immediately headed out for an exploratory run of the town. It is small, quaint, and beautiful. We found the grocery store, the marine supply store, and Progressive Diesel where my new alternator will be shipped.

The houses are terrific, with views over the strait from high above...

We saw a Norhdavn on the dock that looked exactly like our friend's boat from last summer, Scott and Teri Strickland. I went to introduce myself, and it was the same boat...Scott sold it about 2 months ago. I immediately called Scott (now in Ft. Lauderdale) and we laughed and laughed. He is anxious to get another boat (after he works awhile to recoup and restore finances) and rejoin us next year. What a small world.

Then we met our dock-mates, John and Margie on a Symbol 55' and joined them for cocktails and fun. He is 82, and she is 54...both are full of life and enjoy living aboard from May thru October every year. During the winter, home is Tuscon, AZ. On Tuesday, Chris and I rode the bus north to Pt. Hardy to look around, shop, and have lunch. What a day. We heard that the alternator will not arrive until Friday afternoon, so we may cruise to Sointula and Alert Bay tomorrow....we'll see.

Other wildlife in the harbor...

And this tug moored across from us...

See you tomorrow!