Ganges to Lyall Harbor, Saturna Island, B.C.

Almost home now.  We like this harbor because everybody else goes to Winter Cove -- So we usually have it mostly to ourselves.  Seems like the word is getting around since this year we are sharing it with  several others.

The boat in the distance has been underway for 2 years-- they came from New Zealand by way of Fiji.

We like to walk on Saturna.  This year it was just a stroll up the hill from the ferry dock.  Here's a photo of the sign Mary thinks should be standard on Lopez.

And here is the sign on the general store.  In this case "general" really applies.

It is difficult to read in the photo -- the text reads:

"Saturna General Store -- Groceries, Liquor, Hardware, Mail, Freight & Feed". 

And they actually left out "Cafe".

It is suppose to rain for several days starting tomorrow so we have decided to punt and head for home.

Working our way south

We have been looking for new place to visit and got a tip for a small community Marina on Texada -- Van Anada -- Sturt Bay.  Texada has very few anchorages. The last one I tried 30 years ago had an active open pit mine with the result that my boat was buried in dust about an inch thick.  So I've been less than excited about trying again.  In Lund we got a friendly tip so dcided to give it a go.

Turned out great.  Basic but with some nice touches.

Only $.60/ foot. Great store a short walk away -  they had fresh beef from New Zealand -  How is that even possible - and the price was about what we pay on Lopez.   We did a 3 mile hike to a lake.  It was great.

From there we went to Lasquiti -- Sorry, no photos of the nudist couple in our anchorage. 

Then a nice crossing of the Georgia Straits to Nanaimo and a couple days enjoying civilization again.

Friday we went through Dodd Narrows along with 20 other boats heading South . . .

And headed off to see if we could find Bruce and Mindy's house on DeCourcy.

Is this it??

As luck would have it, the wind gods were with us and we could sail.  

Here's Mary at the helm ( Lovin' it!)

I, on the other hand, have a more casual style

We are in Ganges now -- It is raining -- we are eating Steelhead for dinner.

Finally - reliable connectivity

Wow - who'd a thought it would this long to get good WiFi again(!). Sadly, this post will have to be a quick survey of the last 10 days.

From Nanaimo we went to Hornby ( no pics available). Good walk - discovered a decent anchorage ( as long as the wind is from the North.

Then on to Comox.  Mary immediately engaged in the "laundry wars" and scored a perfect 10 by dominating all the machines for 2 hours.  We ate Fish and Chips and left the next day for Rebecca Spit and Harriet Bay.

We love this spot because the anchorage is easy, the grocery store is well stocked, 

And the staff at the hotel are easy going so we can tie up and walk to the store without hassle.

Then on to Von Dolop inlet. anchored in 50 and did not get off the boat.  No pictures -- you may be getting the flavor of the trip -- just pushing North constantly.

Anyway the Yukulta raids were next.  

We landed in Bixley Bay -- spent two days at anchor and decided we needed to revaluation our plan. Remember the "Plan B" email

So, once again we only made it as far as Blind Channel.

 Bought some ice and started heading back.  This involved a 2 hour stretch in Johnstone Straits. It was predicted to be blowing 20 - 30 knots but this did not materialize.  So we had a nice time passing Chatham Point and winding our way into the Octopus Islands for a breather.

Sorry, we just were not taking many pictures.  Anyway -- the next night we were in Manson's Landing. The night was uneventful but the next morning we could not raise the anchor.  The chain was stuck on something -- seriously stuck.  The windless was useless and even when I used the wench handle and torqued it as much as I could it simply would not budge.

So I tied it off to a cleat and ran the boat forward towards the anchor's location.  It took several tries but I finally got the chain dislodged from whatever it was down there.

So then we went to "Gorge Harbor". We'd heard about this resort from several people but had always assumed it was too "foo-foo" for us.  Even as we approached and saw a 130 foot monster boat (his daily morage fee was $478!) we wondered if we had the right clothes.

It turned out to be the highlight of the trip so far.

That's the 130 footer in the background.

Everything spotless -  staff were happy to be there and the owner was a character.

Lunch was spectacular.   It was a very nice experience.

We also were treated to a full moon 

For the wooden boat crowd -- take a look at this boat we saw the next day

I think it might be Red Jacket

So, now we are back in Lund.  Have access to WiFi and of course Nancy's Bakery.

And my favorite -- cinnamon buns.

Cabbage Island --> Nanaimo

Sometimes the weather gods are with you.  We left our anchorage with a strong tide against us.  Fortunately the wind was nicely on our aft-beam and we could fly our head sail to great advantage.

We manged about 6 knots over the ground which, given the adverse current must have been hull speed for our little craft.  It was certainly "rockin' & roll'n"!

 

But the crew's smiling face made it clear that "all was well"

The chief navigator was "on patrol"

 So I could relax for most of the 8 hour trip

We planned to stop at Silva Bay but since we made such good time decided to push on to Nanaimo -- about 43 nautical miles ( the whole length of the Gulf Islands ) in 7.5 hours.  5.7 knots is "flying" for our little boat.

Blind Bay and Jones Island Marine State Park

We still have some connectivity so a blog post is in order.  Yesterday we got away from the dock and used our usual strategy to motor just a couple miles and anchor in Blind Bay, Shaw Island. It just feels good to get underway after all the planning and preparation.

Today we moved a bit further West and got a buoy at Jones Island.

Nice walk ( 8000 steps on my fitbit) and  picnic

I'm playing around with some of the options for the Ham Radio link and have added a Tab at the top of the Blog called "Reported Positions".  If you click on this tab the browser will open a new window showing all of "our" reported positions.  Right now it shows somebody else's because we don't have anything yet -- but soon I will change it to show our positions.  Give it a try right now and "Stay Tuned" for future developments.

Just getting back from Chelan -- and beginning to pull the pieces together -- Charts, tide and current tables, tools, spare parts, . . .

As usual, we don't really know where we will end up.  Here's a "big picture" view of the options:



Last year it was the "Gulf Islands".  The previous two years we were in "Desolation Sound."  

When asked we usually just say "North".  Traveling by boat is a series of surprises so we expect any plans we make will need adjustment.   That said, we are at least considering going into the Broughtons this year.  It's a long ways to go at 5 knots (e.g 6 miles / hour ) so we will have to see how things turn out