When it time to go......

This morning we watched the sunrise during a quick trip over to Anacortes from Friday Harbor.

Nearly the only boat we crossed paths with was the early morning ferry.

Though it was nice and calm in the morning when we crossed Rosario Strait, there was going to be a Small Craft Advisory after 2 PM and as I write this snugged safely in Cap Sante Marina it is blowing and raining out there like a stink.

We had planned a couple more days in the Gulf Islands but the impending weather put us on the move. After Nanaimo we spent the night in Conover Cove Wallace Island. We spent the day hiking in beautiful weather out to the northern tip.

                                 
 There are few old buildings still there one of which has turned into a shrine for visiting boaters. Driftwood with boat names (and a few other things) have been attached to the whole outside of the decrepit building.                       

               
             Even the inside was filled, bordering on the bizarre.       
                                         

                                        

 Conover Cove is small and shallow and typically this time of year as few visitors except on the weekend for day trips. We did have this beauty for a dockmate though.

Even though much of there area here has seen a lack of rain recently, one can just look at the mossy hillsides (which are solid rock underneath) to see the kind of climate.

There were numerous picnic setting provided.

After Conover we had planned a stay at Poet's Cove in Bedwell Harbor but weather reports were coming in that did not look good for crossing Haro Strait the next day so in the morning we went all the way to Friday Harbor and checked back into the US. 

That has been the great thing about "Wild Blue", when it was time to "git" you cover some miles quickly.

Finally some wildlife

Fall is not the best time for viewing wildlife up here, and often at it's best Desolation Sound is not abundant with sea life but the last few days have had some.

From the dock at Homfray Lodge I was able to catch some bird life.

This Bonaparte Gull was almost too fast for me

these Mergansers were slightly more cooperative.

And then there was this guy who was downright posing

Our real surprise was yesterday morning when rounding the southern end of West Redonda Island we had a Blue Heron start to go I guess for a fish in the water in front of us when all of a sudden a Sea Lion came shooting up out of the water to get the Heron! Fortunately for the Heron the Sea Lion could only get half its length out of the water which was just not quite enough. This episode was way beyond any chance of catching on the camera.

We ended up staying in Refuge Cove again with limited service as after the 15th they are only around for three half days a week. We did get a great sunset though free of charge.

We had one more very impressive surprise this morning when we went to leave Refuge Cove in the early morning. At a low tide and just after we cleared the docks and were pulling fenders in, a pod of half a dozen Orcas decided to enter the cove and swim around the little island out in front. There was no getting away from them as there was little room in the entrance so we just cut the engine and watched them swim by.

Well that certainly made our day. And to think if we had been 10 minutes later leaving the dock we probably wouldn't have even noticed them out there.

Though we had originally planned on staying tonight at Lasqueti or Jedidiah Island, a front that wasn't supposed to kick winds until Monday was moving faster than anticipated so we decided to make the crossing of the Georgia Strait today. It was a good day for sailing.

It doesn't get much better than this

I am making this post from Homfray Lodge, Homfray Channel deep in Desolation sound.

This is our first time here as this is only their second season open, and this is off season for them they will close up for the winter at the end of the month. But the three Macey brothers are doing a bang up job of making a go of this out here in Desolation's furthest reaches.  Though no power at the dock there is water for the tanks, a wonderful hot shower and Internet! The lodge itself is also being developed as an event center (weddings and the like) as well as a jumping off point for wilderness and fishing adventures.

The cruise over from Pendrell this morning was as still as could be. We spent the last few days at Pendrell Sound as it is one of our favorite places. So I will backtrack here and post something I wrote up while there.

 From Refuge Cove we went around the bottom of West Redonda Island into Waddington Channel past Roscoe Bay  and then into Pendrell Sound.  Pendrell splits West Redonda Island almost into two.

Extremely deep with little if any current the water in Pendrell tends to warm, up to 78* in the summer. This creates a perfect environment for raising Pacific oyster spat (seed). It also creates a popular destination for cruisers, as the water is warm enough to swim in. That became real clear as we reached the top third of the sound and found quite a few boats. Anchorages in Pendrell are few because the the steepness of the sides with only a couple considered good. Stern ties are a must which made we real glad I brought 6oo' on a reel.

The first about 3/4 the way up Pendrell, the one we stayed in last time had 4 boats rafted together in there already and was likely to be less than secluded spot. We went on to the head of the sound to find a half a dozen boats already at anchor there. We tried a couple of tiny coves back down the sound, but because our depth sounder had decided to blink out on us we found it difficult to gain a secure holding. Added to that fact most were fairly exposed to the open Sound, we decided to squeeze back into the spot we had been in last time up here, where I was familiar with the bottom.

Though we found a good spot behind the islet to anchor and tie to shore, it became obvious while we were doing it that the atmosphere was going to be less than ideal. What we had for cove mates were some spoiled 20 somethings that were out to party, and did everything they could to be obnoxious and discourage us from staying. But since there was little or no other choices, and it being early in the day (we could hope that because it was Sunday they might have to leave to go to work the next day) we were not going anywhere. What we also did not realize that there was fifth boat hiding behind the four others that was a very loud jet boat. Shortly after few settled in the five males in the group piled into the jet boat and headed out of the cove at about 55 mph! Now all of Pendrell is a no wake zone to protect the oyster spat nurseries which when on plane the boat did not create, but when getting off plane which they did INSIDE our little cove they pushed quite a bit of water.

Fortunately their initial forage was to, I am guessing, Refuge or Squirrel Cove to get more alcohol judging by the amount they were consuming, so they were gone for awhile in the afternoon quieting things down quite a bit. Of course that only increased the fear of a monumental screw-up when they returned. The rest of the afternoon was spent watching them take the jet boat up the end of Pendrell to harass the other boats and do loops around our little islet. It became clear that this group either did not have jobs or all called in sick because they did stay the night. We were pretty sure that we were not going to get any sleep, but as it turned out they must have passed out early as things did quiet down. We both had to admit that though not the ideal peaceful day we had planned, it certainly was entertaining.

The next morning things were decidedly more mellow (read hung-over) at the party next door. They ultimately all pulled out by noon leaving the anchorage to us which we continued to have to ourselves the rest of the day. The privacy enabled swims with  swim step showers afterwards.  (Photo deleted)

They day was capped off by a dinner with Coltrane and Esperanza Spaulding in the background and dessert on deck with Greg Brown. Just another perfect day in Pendrell. We ended up with nobody else in the cove the next night, and it was such a perfect place we stayed one more. Four sailboats came in late on the last night, but were farirly quiet and we pulled out this morning. I have to add here that when we went to pull in our doubled stern line the new line started twisting around it's return necessitating the First Mate's unscheduled swim out to untangle it, as the dinghy had been put back on top already.  Fortunately the captain did not have to threaten to hang from the yardarm if she was not willing to dive in. ;)

An early start out of Nanaimo to take advantage of the morning calmness.

As it turned out the wind and waves never did pick up so once again we had a very smooth 12 knot cruise. In fact it was such a comfortable ride we went all the way up to Desolation Sound, time on the water 5 hours.

Though we saw zero marine life on this run there were some sailboats out in front of Powell River.

And a typical cruiser for these parts

And so once again we round Sarah Point and enter Desolation Sound

This will probably be the last entry for awhile as tomorrow we head into Teakerne Arm, Van Dunop, and other WiFi free zones.

Gorgeous passage up from Otter Bay to Nanaimo today. Slick ride at 12 knots on glassy surface all the way up Trincomali Channell (boy I could get use to this ;) )We purposely zipped up even though we knew we would have to wait for the tide change to insure calm conditions.

We waited for the change anchored below De Coursy Island in Ruxton Pass. It was a beautiful sunny morning and it was perfect for a knap.

It was good that we got the rest because when we went to make Dodd Narrows at slack things got a little interesting. We could see a sailboat that had just gone in northbound around what appeared to be a log boom that had come through southbound and was tied to the side of the south bay. Well......no.....it was headed north and proceeded to plug the opening just as I came up on it. Fortunately the C-Dory was up to the task as I slowly spun doughnuts just above the narrows for 10 minutes while two tugs bashed the logs through the opening.

We had made the appropriate "Securite" announcement of our intention to follow the boom through and were in the narrowest part when a call comes through on 16 that a 50 footer was about to start southbound through the pass. Well it wasn't about to come in, it was well in the now narrow channel left by the log booms on the other side as I came thriough. Fortunately again the nimbleness of the C-Dory was able to handle the bad situation and make it easy. We scooted along side the boom to the open channel in front.

Things were a little windier with substantial chop once we were exposed to the Georgia Strait and going into the gas dock at Nanaimo was tricky with both tide and wind trying to blow me off, but without any real embarrassment I was able to fill up for the journey northward. Looks like an early morning departure across the Strait should keep us out of the heavier wind, but we may stay an extra night here in Nanaimo if it looks Sunday will be better, after all we are just "cruising"

Getting underway in "Wild Blue" in grand style.

Well, our heads are coming out of the clouds and I have Wifi, so I thought I should post something.

No there hasn't been low overcast, in fact it has been sunny most of everyday, but the whole experience of picking up the boat has been so intense, but delightful that we just now shaking our heads and saying it is "real".

Currently at Otter Bay marina at the north end of North Pender Island, we spent the last three days on Sucia Island.

Initially we had planned one day, but it was so beautiful and there where so many wonderful hikes, we decided to decompress another day. When on the third day we woke up to a bit of wind (actually Small Craft Advisory in Haro Strait) we decided, "hey we a cruising with no time table let's stay another night!"

Here are a few shots from Sucia;
In the first photo "Wild Blue" is at the end of the dock with a Ranger Tug 31 immediately behind us so you can see we were the little fish in the big sea.

One of the hikes took us out to Ewing Cove where we found the yoga studio ;)
The second shot is looking back into Echo Bay.

This morning we had an easy 6 kph run to Bedwell Harbor for an easy check in at Canadian Customs and then on up to Otter Bay.

Well here we go!  After a couple of busy days of packing and getting excellent instruction from Jim and Joan, we are throwing off the dock lines of "Wild Blue" and heading north.

Tomorrow morning we head out.

Our very loose plan is to head into the Gulf Islands of Canada after unwinding at Sucia Island.

Well that went by too quick. We are home after a great visit to a favorite place. Saturday we took a Hobie peddleyak (?) (kayak with peddles) out to Turn Island a wildlife refuge just outside of Friday Harbor.

Although the Hobie made for a easy delightful trip, the 30 mile bike ride the day before was equaled by it.  The walk around the island and the nap that followed made for a worthwhile day. Oh yes, it was scenic also.

Sunday we had an uneventful flight home with spectacular views of the Cascades, here is a shot of Rainier.

Our expeditions on San Juan Island were punctuated by epicurean delights.

It is only fitting that I fire up this blog again after visiting with our friends Jim and Joan in Friday Harbor.  Jim is a diligent blogger, Jim's Blog and so is inspiring me to give it another try. 

We have been up here for a few days in Friday Harbor enjoying some exquisite weather.

On Wednesday we flew in from Seattle with Kenmore Air

Yesterday we spent part of the day running down to Cattle Pass on Jim's boat

We unexpectedly saw a Minke whale swim in front of with no chance to get a photo, but a beautiful calm day out there.

Today we rented road bikes to ride back down to Cattle Pass, here is a shot of the lighthouse at the bottom of San Juan Island.

On the return we detoured off to False Bay for the requisite "selfie"

Some very picturesque country out there

Tomorrow we will take a kayak out from Friday Harbor down to Turn Island, a small preserve just to the south, expecting the same glorious weather that we had today.