Christmas Parade

Well we finally managed to get the boat down to Bainbridge and all tied up. We hung out for a couple of weeks working on projects and such. At the end of October we loaded up the truck, cats, and a ton of gear and headed back to Fort Collins.

In November we traveled back east to visit family. Kathy visited her mom in Greensboro and I visited my sister and mother. After that we met some friends in Disneyland for a couple of days.

In December we finally made it back to Bainbridge for some much needed boat visiting. We arrived just in time for the Eagle Harbor parade. Complete with caroling boats, lights and the whole nine yards. We didn't arrive early enough for Kalliope to participate, but we did manage to hang out on Nelli Bly during the evening. The next day Phillipe and I took a sail (mostly motor) around Blake Island. It was really a nice day, pretty warm with no rain at all (of course the next day it blew like stink!).

Going Back South

Sailing South at 6.5 kts in Johnstone

Late night anchoring in Montague Harbor

Alert Bay

Graveyard at Alert Bay

Turnbull Cove

Did I mention that we saw bears again? Crazy but true

Sullivan Bay

Sullivan Bay Sign Post

Shawl Bay

There is a story that takes place here. It involves Capn' Clyde and a host of unsavory characters. Buy me a beer sometime and I will tell you. No way is it getting posted.

Greenway Sound

Corduroy Logging Road Near Greenway Sound

Lagoon Cove

Weighing anchor after a quiet evening and leisurely morning in Matilpi Cove, we headed to Lagoon Cove via Chatham Narrows and the Blow Hole. Lagoon Cove is suppose to have Internet connection. We are trying to stay in touch with our dear friend Lyn Hunt (his love of his life had just passed away) and I am trying to make arrangements to fly back to Colorado to visit with him. While waiting for slack water to get through Chatham Narrows, Andy headed Kalliope up Call Inlet to look for bears. I noticed that we actually had digital cell phone service (we get service in the weirdest areas - we think it has something to do with the logging camps & fish camps). I made some calls while Andy circled around the small hot spot of cell service.
Our window of opportunity for negotiating Chatham Narrows had come and we had to leave or wait for the next low tide. So I said my goodbyes and
we began heading for the exact coordinates to negotiate the channel. The channel is very tight, long and shallow. My job was to keep an astern sight for the range marker and keep Kalliope lined up on the range sighting until it falls away from sight and the forward range marker comes into sight and then keep Kalliope lined up with the forward range marker. We made it through the channel and it was tight, long, and shallow. As we made our way along the upper reaches of Chatham Channel, we spotted a bear on the northern shore turning big rocks over as easily as I might turnover a pillow. He was probably looking for some lunch that might be lurking under the boulders. This is when I wish we would have we have a zoom looms. We did try to take some pictures.

Lagoon Cove

Our destination is moorage at Lagoon Cove Marina. After coming through the Blow Hole, I radioed Lagoon and was confirmed moorage for our sailing vessel. Little did we know how tightly Bill (the proprietor and wharfinger) could pack in the boats. We came in on a port tie. Andy had a tight u-turn to make in between the two dock fingers but he brought her around and Bill and his assistant ________ were there to receive lines.
LAGOON COVE
A quirky, rustic place with a lot of personality. Shore power is available 7 am to 10 am and 4 pm to 10:30 pm. Water, boil before you use. I am glad that we filled our tanks with Blind Channel's sweet water. One shower sharing the room with a flushing toilet - I think the head and shower on Kalliope is bigger - definitely not as rustic. The emporium is filled with heavy fleece sweaters & jackets sized xxl and xxxl, a choice of 2 post cards. The store has some oil (which we should have bought since it turned out to be our last chance to purchase any), baits & lures, cold pop & candy bars. Diesel, gas, & propane are available. Well, well, well. And it was cloudy & trying rain to boot. Internet facilities, I had to laugh (a picture is worth a thousand words in this case).

So after our short and quick walk about we returned to the boat. Bill had told us that happy hour was at 5 pm at the "historic workshop" - bring an appetizer to share. So we were a hanging about the boat when this huge motor boat comes in for moorage. Bill decides to put the Christi Lynn behind us at the dock at a right angle. Well, here she comes with her bowsprit and anchor towering above bimini and she is heading right for our stern. She misses our wind vane by less than an inch. Her bow is touching the dock that we are tied to. Let's hope no one throws a wake, because it would cause quite a tangle of boats, docks and rigging. Billy, the cap'n of the Christi Lynn comes down from his flying bridge to check to see just where everything is laying. I don't think he realized just how close he came to Kalliope until he saw for himself. I took a picture of him resting his hands on our solar panels. (See the photo for proof). We moved Kalliope forward, moved the Christi Lynn back some. We now have a good six inches or so between our boats. Since we are such close neighbors, we thought the best thing to do is to meet for drinks after the happy hour in the crab shed.
Happy Hour at Lagoon Cove
Before Happy Hour we start meeting up with folks that we met at Blind Channel, Cree & Joe from SV MooseNose, Bert and Jan from the MV Berjango, and last but not least Marilyn and Alan and Peppi from the MV Top Dawg.
Andy also figured out how to catch prawns. About damn time!

Johnstone Strait and Matilpi

The day started out a bit foggy and pretty light on the winds. The previous night we picked out a couple of spots to bail just in case the weather got crappy. Mostly we had good luck, and didn't have to use any of them. We hit the rapids at Johnstone just right and managed to make about 10 kts over the bottom for about an hour. We even surfed through some big standing waves as we moved north. It isn't that scary when the wind isn't frothing. That night we anchored at Matilpi (or Indian Islands). We had the place all to ourselves and enjoyed exploring the white shell beach. We were a little bit nervous since our charts and GPS didn't seem to agree well. Just for kicks, I took the GPS to a couple of the exposed rocks and compared them to the chart. Not surprisingly, they were off by about 30' Of course that made me nervous since a rock was supposed to be awash and within our swing if the wind shifted on us. So as an added bonus I took the lead line out and did some impromptu sounding. I never could find the awash rock. So much for charts. It is a wonder that we haven't run into more rocks!

Entering Johnstone

The Anchorage and Beach at Matilpi (Indian Islands)

Andy and Bruno Going for a Row at Matilpi

Blind Channel - take two

We always like Blind Channel. They have a really nice marina and really great food. This year we stayed for three days and just relaxed and enjoyed the surroundings. We me quite a few different folks here. One of the employees had a kayak and let me use it on the reversing rapids. It was good to get out on the water. In the evening, they would have a little jazz combo going and sometime one of the waitresses would belt out a song or two. She was pretty damn good. Blind Channel is also the jumping off point for going north. Beyond it lies the slightly ominous Johnstone Straits. The winds really whip down through these straights from the north. It had been blowing about 40 kts for the previous week, but relief was supposedly in sight. Since this is a big jumping off point, you will meet all kinds of folks sitting about waiting for the weather. Of course everyone tries to talk you in heading north. Originally, Kathy and I planned on staying south and spending more time exploring the Gulf Islands. But the weather gods where extremely cooperative, so we decided to head up north into the Bush.

Kalliope at Blind Channel - Another Rainy Day -)

This woman rowed all of the way from Alaska! Kathy, don't complain about the size of our boat!

Shoal Bay

We kept on thinking that we were just going to cruise for an hour or two and set up anchor, but the weather and the tides favored us so we hauled all of the way up to Shoal Bay. This is a great spot to stop for the views. The pub's menu is pretty basic: Hamburger's and beer. But what else do you need? We ran into one of the dock boys that was working over at Blind Channel from the previous year. It was cool to start seeing some of the same people. The dock was full when we got there so we anchored on the east side of the bay. The wind kicked up that night and scooted us all over the place. I don't think either of us got any sleep.

Toba Inlet

Kalliope Anchoring in Shoal Bay

Pendrell Sound

Monday
Sometimes I think power boaters as a general class are some of the most insensitive and rude people. Now not to offend all of the wonderful power boats that we met this summer, but I imagine the majority of power boaters are just fine, but a couple of slime balls ruin it for everyone. Pendrell Sound is a good example. The head of this bay is incredibly warm and used by oyster growers to produce starter oysters. At the entrance there are incredibly large signs that ask for a 4 kt maximum speed and every guidebook makes mention of it. So what do we have, a couple of the larger power boats have ski boat tenders and end up using the Pendrell Sound as their personal playground. Of course this throws up a tremendous wake and make an incredible amount of noise in an otherwise very peaceful setting.

But ya know, despite this, Pendrell Sound is gorgeous and should not be missed. I ended up having a really nice swim, the water temperature was about 74 degrees. Not too bad for a hot day.

Isabel Bay

After we dropped the parents off, we headed back to Desolation Sound and down to Isabell Cove. It felt weird to backtrack the same section of water for a fourth time in just a couple of weeks (Parent Tour - twice, Desolation Sound Bound). But we managed to get a bit of sailing in and met up again with our friends Bob and Dianne from the White Swan. It was Dianne's birthday and we had a date at the Laughing Oyster near Lund. Now you might think that Isabella cove is a nice place to anchor and that motoring over to the Laughing Oyster might make for a fun evening, and you might even be right if the wind wasn't blowing like a mother kicking up a huge chop. Suffice it to say, everyone was pretty well beat up by the time we hit the restaurant. However, the company and food were good and we had a great time. When we finally headed back from dinner, the wind had died down and we had a nice twilight ride back to the boat.
Isabel Bay is probably one of the nicest anchorages in Desolation Sound. It is relatively uncrowded and slightly off the beaten path -- shhh, don't tell anyone!

Anchorage with a View!

Bob and Dianne at the Laughing Oyster

Parent Tour

My parents came out for a quick sail. We picked them up at Harriot bay, sailed over to Manson bay for the sunsets! The next day we did a quick loop around Despoliation sound. The view was a bit hazy because of forest fires, but the sailing was good. We then hi-tailed it back to Gorge harbor. Gorge and Manson are only a mile apart, but we ended up sailing something like 30 miles that day. Whew! The next morning we work up nice and early and motored them over to the Cortes Island ferry. They had to do a little scrambling to get to the ferry (since the boat docks and the ferry terminal are on the opposite side of the harbor!), but they made it okay and got a nice photo of us taking off.

Manson Sunset

Whaletown Departure - A rare underway photo!

Harriot Bay

We stopped at Surge Narrows on the way south. The wind was really cranking from the North that day. It made for a might fine sail.

Surge Narrows store - Notice the vote turnout (39 total!)

That night we had an adventuresome dock at Harriot Bay marina. It was blowing about 20 kts on the beam and we had to thread our way through a couple of boats. Ye hah. We made it without a scratch, so everything was good. Dave and Lisa left the next day and headed back to Colorado. We then had a scant 24 hours to get ready for my parents.

Octopus Bay

Thursday
Well today is an absolutely gorgeous day, not a cloud in the sky (and not much wind either).
This is a great place to hang out. We hiked up to the lake, and built fun sculptures at the cabin.

Working on the Staysail - Kalliope and White Swan Rafted Up

Bob, Diane, Lisa & Dave working on our art.

Kalliope's Memo (click for Larger)

The White Swan Mermaid on Kalliope's Bench

Shooting the Gorge

Tuesday

Last night the wind kept blowing, so our sleep was kind of crappy, so I decided to head over to Gorge Harbor for a little better protection and a non-stern anchor. We waited for about an hour or two before high tide so that we could get out of the harbor. I think we had about 4' under the keel when we left. Desolation sound was pretty flat and windless but finally we poked our head out into the northern edge of the Georgia straits and we had quite a rousing SE with winds somewhere around 20 kts. We quickly set sail and headed West. The cold front that had been moving through the area could be plainly seen about 10 miles in front of us over Campbell River. It looked like this huge wall of water. We just kept on crossing our fingers hoping that we would be able to anchor before it hit us. As we rounded Sutil point we headed North while the front seemed to be moving mostly South. Somehow we managed to make it into Gorge before the rain hit, and we dropped down a ton of chain in the NW corner of the harbor. The wind was still funneling out of the SE, but I figure that it would change quickly.

We dingied over to the Gorge Harbor marina for a little shopping and to dump garbage (They don't actually do this anymore :-(, but we ended up buying so many groceries and such that they took our 1 bag!).

That night we had dinner at the restraint (pretty darn good!) and saw White Swan anchoring out in the bay. They managed to get caught by the leading edge of the front and got a bit hammered out there in the Straits. That night we dingied Dave and Lisa over to the White Swan for some cocktails ...

Lisa After Finishing the "Frog"

Wednesday

The next morning we headed over to Von Donop Inlet with White Swan. Not much in the way of wind, but we did get to go around Shark Spit point which is always challenging.

Kalliope Rounding Sharkspit Point

That night we rafted up at the very southern end of Von Donop Inlet. Dave and I managed to hike a bit towards Squirrel cove and managed to run into a deer, but luckily no bears. We had been hoping for a swim but the head of the inlet was swimming with Jelly Fish, so we decided to pass.

Desolation Sound Bound

Friday
The next morning we woke up not particularly early and Kathy made a might fine breakfast. After some serious farting around we cast off the dock and started making our way to the Copeland Islands (Nellie Bly had given us good info about this anchorage). But first we headed to the fuel docks over at Hospital bay for a little diesel and to top off the propane tanks (I had filled up here last year). An hour later we were under way and quickly hoisted sail with a smoking 15 kt breeze from the SW. We were making 7-8 kts over the grand and having a grand time until we finally hit the lee of Texada. Soon the winds died almost completely and even came out of the East when we passed in front of Jervis inlet. So it was to be a motor sail after all. We motored for what seemed like ever, passing by Powell River and Lund until finally we were at the Copelands. Well the wind was still fairly brisk out of the SW up there and we looked around for an anchorage without seeing anything we liked. After farting around there way longer than we probably should have we decided to head over to Grace Harbor. It only took us another hour to Grace and we ended up stern tying deep in the harbor.

Tipple Time in Grace Harbor

Kalliope stern tied in Grace Harbor

Saturday

The next morning Dave and I rowed over to the shore to check out the facilities and to check out the freshwater lake. The facilities where excellent while the lake was slimy with plenty of leaches and snakes. We decided to pass on the freshwater swim.

Later that afternoon we pulled anchor and headed over to Tenedos for a proper swim. We ended up having a nice little 6 kt tail wind and set the Genoa. There was a boat behind us with their spinnaker gaining on us, so of course I had to deploy our spinnaker making a nice 4 kts. That spinnaker is just huge.

Flying the Spinnaker in Desolation Sound

Movements later we were in Tenedos Bay and looking for another stern tie. On the northern shore we managed to find a ring bolted into the rocks. We actually had a bit of wind broadside, so setting the stern tie was a royal bitch. After several tries we managed to get it set okay and settled down for a nice refreshing dip off the side of the boat.

Now when we I tied the boat to the stern I just tied it off so that we could get back to the boat quickly since the wind was blowing us off our stern tie. Later that night Dave and I decided that life would be tons easier if we doubled back the line, so we came up with this incredibly complex plan to retie the line without actually disconnecting any of the lines. This plan was hampered by the fact that it was dark, the iron ring was under water, and we where three sheets to the wind. So Dave goes out to tie the crazy knot and comes back not completely sure what he tied. After simulating the whole event with a piece of scrap rope lying about the cockpit we concluded that we probably had it right; however, we would wait for the tied to lower before we fixed it. Of course the tied wouldn't be low enough until 11 PM that night at which point we would likely be four sheets to the wind. Somehow it all worked out and we ended up with a line doubled back through the eye bolt. Seems unlikely that we made life any easier.

Somewhere in all of the adventure, Dave slips and puts a might nasty scrape on his arm.

Sunday

The next day we hike up to Unwin lake for a nice refreshing swim. Alas, the rope swing and the tree that used to hold the swing up is gone. Gone to that great rope swing heaven in the sky. The lake is still there, and we end up having a nice swim and lounging on the rocks.

Dave and Lisa Hanging out at Unwin Lake

Monday

We got up super early and pulled anchor by 0530 so that we could hit high water slack and enter Roscoe Bay. At low water, the entrance is above water so you have to plan it carefully. As an added bonus it was trying to rain a bit and was quite cool. We arrived an hour later after motoring over to Roscoe a little after high tide. We still had 7' under the keel and did a stern tie in the SE corner of the bay. Dave managed to scrape himself up again on the Oyster beds. He was starting to look a little beat up. That afternoon we hiked to black lake and went for another swim. The water was actually warmer than the air temperature and felt great.

Eight Inch Slug on the Way to Black Lake

That afternoon the front really moved in and we started getting 25-30 kt gusts in the bay. It was quite the drag fest with boats going everywhere. I wasn't real happy with our anchor and we ended weighing anchor. Dave was out in the dingy and almost got flipped by a couple of the more powerful gusts. After 20 minutes of motoring around and trying to anchor out in the center, the wind died down enough so that we could get re-anchored

Garden Bay Blues

Wednesday
Our Georgia Straight crossing from Nanamio was pretty uneventful. We managed to sail a bit towards the end but mostly motor-sailed. We entered Pender Harbor and made our way back to Garden bay where we stern tied. It was high tide and we hadn't stern tied in about a year, so when everything was done, we ended up with a little less scope than we should have. A couple of hours later White Swan showed up and rafted up with us. I had them drop their own anchor out a bit farther. It was a good thing, because that afternoon a squall came through first blowing like crazy from the south then switching 180 and blowing like crazy from the north. We had all kinds of boats blowing this way and that. That evening we had a might fine dinner with Bob and Diane aboard Kalliope.

Thursday
The next morning Kathy and I moved the boat over to Sunshine Coast marina in Madeira park (less than a mile away from where we were moored). TheWhite Swanhead off to Princess Louisa Inlet. The Sunshine Coast had really good Internet access and a really nice hot tub. From there it was a short dingy ride to Maderia Park and their excellent Grocery store. We had lunch at their most excellent hamburger stand (located across from the IGA) and spent the rest of the day getting ready for Dave and Lisa (I also squeezed in a little hot tub time).

Later that evening Dave and Lisa arrived from Colorado via a bus from Vancouver. They had cruised with us last summer in the San Juan's and were ready to give it a go again. After we picked them up we went to the pub for dinner and drinks. They even kept it open for us even though we didn't get back until pretty late. When we left the pub it was pretty damn dark. It was quite the challenge to dingy across the harbor and find the boat..

Kalliope at Sunshine Coast Resort

Echo Bay and Pierre's

Lagoon Cove and Pierre's are both excellent examples of why we really like coming up to some of these out of the way marina's. At Lagoon Cove you get free food and get to meet tons of your fellow boaters. Now these boaters also no where you can get free food, so you just keep on going and living off the bounty of the land. In Pierre's case the bounty presented itself in the form of a 100 lb pig and plenty of libations. Now who would have expected to find a pig picker out here in the middle of friggin' nowhere? Not me anyway.

The Main Attraction

Pierre His Self

Don't Forget the Texas Pete

The Bread Lady

Buzz On Inn

Echo Bay

North to Nainaimo

Friday

We get up nice and early so that we can squeak through Dodd Narrows at noon as we head to Nanamio. Mostly an uneventful day. When we get to Nanamio I call UK to see about the sails. It seems that they have sent my old Genoa (Oh yeah, I left it with them) to the Port of Nanamio. I went emailed the wacky sail photos and he concluded that the sail was cut wrong. I ask if he want the local rep to come out and he says no. So BJ comes by again and we pull down the New sail and put up my old sail once again. Jeez. Of course BJ and I start looking at the sail and conclude that real problem is that the luff is STILL to long. The jib halyard is completely topped out. This information I do not relay to UK because I don't want a hacked up sail. I will either use a new Sailmaker or have them re-measure. What a pain in the ass.

That night BJ, Tricia, Kathy and I went to the Acme for some find food and some good jazz. They put us in the VIP room where we managed to indulge in some wine and spirits. They make some might fine martinis!

The next couple of days we hung out. We used the Internet facilities, restocked the Groceries, watched the Dragon boat races, and generally stayed pretty busy. BJ and Tricia headed North for the Copelands and about a day later the White Swan showed up. Of course we had to take them to Acme and listened to jazz at the Katz club (I guess Acme just bought it. Very Cool).

Sydney and Sails

Tuesday
Well last night was interesting. Yesterday, several boats started leaving and we kept on adjusting the raft until we had four boat left. During the night the wind really picked up with a new low coming through and the rafted boats ended up broadside to the wind. Of course everything sounded wrong and about 3 am three sets of heads popped out of three different boats at about the same time. We quickly decided that the raft up needed to be broken up immediately. So under the glare of a half dozen mast spreader light we cast everyone off. Lucky for us we already had our anchor out so we really didn't have to do much besides fend everyone off. Strangely enough, it was quite a festive event and overall pretty low stress considering.
Later the front moved on through and the rain started dumping in earnest.
The next morning I dingied Mike and Diane over to Roche for their early AM Sea Plane flight to Seattle. It had just let up on the rain, but was apparently still dumping in Seattle, so they had to wait a couple of hours for everything to break up. Meanwhile, I dingied over to White Swan and Bob and I went to retrieve my Danforth Anchor along with his rode (the end of which was attached to a fender floating behind us). After we that mess up, we hauled up my Primary Anchor and the hauled up my secondary anchor. The last 50' is chain and we hauled it by hand ... whew. Bob and Diane then headed to the docks while Kathy and I dropped anchor again and promptly went back to sleep.

About noon we woke up and managed to snap a photo of Mike and Diane taking off.

Mike and Diane taking off next to Nelli Bly

After some more serious slaking, we headed off to Sydney to pick up our hopefully shortened Genoa. We had a really nice sail and managed to get some hitchhikers. A pod of about 20 dolphins rode our bow wave for 30 minutes. Kathy and I hung on the foredeck while they surfed our bow below. Very, very cool! Nelli Bly left about half an hour after us and managed to spot some Orcas about a mile North of us.

Since the wind was blowing 15-20 kts, the whole Port of Sidney docking experience was quite a challenge; however, we managed to make it in without too much problem. Earlier, people had been getting pulled into the water because of the strong winds.

BJ & Tricia showed up a bit later and we had a nice Greek dinner downtown (Sidney has a million Greek places).

Wednesday

I called up UK sails bright and early so that they could bring my sails over. Lo and behold they hadn't even started re-working them. That is why I sent them the sails two weeks ago, so that they would be ready when I showed up! They did promise me that the sail would be delivered by 10am the next morning. So we will see.

The rest of the day was spent grocery shopping, booze shopping and doing several boat repairs (like replacing my stern tie that I sold to the White Swan the year before).

Thursday

BJ and the UK sales rep helped my pull the Genoa down again (this is something like the 4th or 5th time we have done this in the last month!). The new sail slid up quickly and looks okay on the dock. We won't really be able to tell until we put some wind on her. BJ & Tricia take off for the Princess Islands while Kathy and I clean up the boat. Meanwhile, we are getting booted out of the Marina. The Seattle Yacht club has reserved damn near the whole marina and the guy that has our space is waiting for us to leave. So under a flurry of activity we cast off and start heading north. We don't actually know where we are going but I guess we will figure it out somehow. I go down below and plot a course to Monteque Harbor. We were there last year and it is an easy Harbor to anchor in, plus there is a really cool pub that we wanted to try out.

But first, it is time to try out the new sail. We are on a broad reach and I unfurl the new sail. Hmm, there is a big pucker that runs from the luff all of the way to the clew. This does not look right. So I spend about 20 minutes farting with it and call UK. They give me suggestions, but no luck. So I snap some photos. (The furled sail on the right is actually the Staysail. Also notice that the draft is way aft.) UK has a rep in Nanamio, so the rep will supposedly look at it. We sailed for a couple of hours and then I went to start the motor. Nothing. I went below and banged the starter with a hammer and she fired right up. Just another day in the life.

That night Kathy and I dingy ashore and wait for the bus to the Hummingbird pub. The bus used to pick people up at the marina, but now picks them up at the main road after a little incident. Seems like the brakes gave way one day and the bus crashed through one of the marina's buildings. Oops. Of course Kathy and I didn't know this, so we waited until we saw the bus pass us by on the hill. Luckily we were able to pick up a ride with someone from the kayak rental place. The Hummingbird pub is really a fine place and we managed to tiredly make it through dinner. As we were finishing dinner, who appeared before us like an apparition, but Saint BJ. I guess Nellie Bly didn't feel like messing with a stern tie so she had anchored in Montague as well. So they joined us while I related the days activities. When I got to the part about the starter, BJ suggested that we take it apart and rebuild it --- "15 minutes," he says. At this point Kathy start laughing uncontrollably (and really hasn't stopped). Afterward there was a lively discussion about starters and spares and all kinds of wild and crazy things.

Roche Harbor Roundup

Ever since last year when we met Nelly Bly at Eagle Harbor for the 4th of July, BJ has been bugging me to meet up with them at Roche Harbor for the 4th in 2004. Well his persistence paid off because we managed to sneak out of Fossil Cove before low tide left us aground (a -3 tide that day). We had a bit of motoring and a bit of sailing as we made our way over to Roche. Supposedly, BJ's mom had a place all picked out and all we had to do was raft up. Of course this was not to be the case and we were the first to arrive.
Dec 17th --- okay, It is unlikely I will write a bunch more. However, I will post some photos.

Daily Planet, White Swan, Nelle Bly, Kalliope, White Swan, Narrow Path

Nine Boats, Count 'me Nine!

After this was taken, the wind started picking up and we had quite the twist up. A couple of the boats left and that left us in an even more twisted state. About 3 am on Monday morning, BJ, Bob and myself all woke up at the same time hearing something slightly goofy. The wind was on our beam and putting a lot of stress on the anchors, so we busted up the raft and everyone went off to their own corner of the harbor to anchor.

Straits of San Juan De Pucca

Wednesday

You think that I would learn to lay low on the booze when we are getting to do some serious sailing. Apparently not.

The previous evening had been blowing might hard in the Straits with a small craft advisory posted. We had to leave at 0730 on the last of the ebb so that we could catch the flood at Cattle Point. So we head out under moderately calm waters with a raging hangover. I think I may still be a little drunk. We motored a bit as Kathy made breakfast, but as soon as we rounded Point Wilson into the Straits the wind and waves really picked up. The waves were colliding with the last of the ebb and stacking up to 5-10' short steep mountain ... of course we were heading strait into to it. I decided to raise the main to stabilize things out just as our bow plowed into a particularly steep and nasty wave. It was interesting to be standing at the mast and to see Mike and Kathy way up in the air over me (they were in the stern). Anyway, we managed to raise the main and get some wind in our sales. That calmed things down considerably. After we rounded the point the waves ended more on our beam, with occasional rollers coming in from random directions. We were on a broad reach and doing 6-8 kts over the ground. The somewhat lightest winds didn't really stabilize the boat like I was hoping and we ended up rolling quite a bit. At this point Mike and I agreed that we had about a 50% chance of losing our breakfast (Kathy, on the other hand, felt fine and was remarking what a fine sail we were having).

We managed to make it to Cattle Point with our breakfast in tack and the waves immediately mellowed out. At this point the wind moved around to our stern and we decided to raise the spinnaker. Since the wind was dead on our tail, we had a hell of a time keeping it filled. We probably should have just dropped the main at this point but didn't. When we rounded Lopez we doused the spinnaker (no easy feat since I forgot to tie off the end of the snubber after I got the spinnaker repaired ... oops. We finally manage to get it stowed and had a nice beam reach into West Sound. We ended up anchoring right in front of Mike's Mother-in-Law's house. Mostly a fine day (37 nm in 6 hours ... 6kts avg!).

That evening Judy treated us to a fine meal in her fine house.

Thursday

This morning I feel exceptionally crappy and having been visiting the head regularly. I guess some random disease finally caught up with me. As an added bonus it is rainy and crappy out. Mike is hell bent on getting under way and we decided sail over to Sucia. It is only about a 3 hour sail and I manage to sleep for an hour of it (with Mike taking the wheel). It was pretty gray out and we had the radar on looking for wayward boats. We didn't hit anything so I assume it was working correctly. When we got into Fossil bay there where two mooring balls left, one at the entrance and one way back in the shallows. After shooing off a small sailboat we took the mooring ball. I was glad I didn't have to mess around with the whole anchoring gig. I promptly went back to sleep for a bit. When I woke, the sun was peeking out and I felt a million times better. Mike and I even managed a dingy ride around the south end of the Island to look at some of the "Fossils".

Back to Bainbridge

We are packed and ready to go, but our house doesn't want to let us go. Turns out that a hive of bees has decided to take residents in between the joists above our kitchen. After multiple calls we found a beekeeper that would remove the bees and any honey and hive that happened to be in the house. As usual this turned out to be more difficult than you might imagine, since the bees decided to take residence between our deck joists which just happened to be blocked in with some seriously thick material. But after several hours of whacking and vacuuming the bees were removed and we were allowed to depart Fort Collins.

Now this summer we don't have anyone staying at our house. We will see how it goes and see how the house holds up over the summer.

The drive out I-80 was nice and we had a nice visit with Tony Mebane in Boise. We always like to be treated to Karen's tasty food. What a nice diversion.

We arrived in Seattle early the next afternoon and caught a ferry to Bainbridge ...

The next couple of days were spent provisioning, doing a ton of maintenance and visiting with our Dock Neighbors. We even managed to get a couple of fine afternoon sails in with the Sorenson's and the Lindheimers.

BJ & Tricia on the Nelle Bly - Kalliope's Sister Ship

Eric Chasing down Nelle Bly

Finally on the eve of our departure, BJ talks me into replacing my packing glands. This decidedly simple job should only take "15 minutes" ... not! The packing was about 8 layers deep and the final two layers of flax were so deep it took me half an hour just to get them out. Meanwhile water is gushing in through the prop like a small fire hose ... too much fun. After all of that, the packing gland I bought was the wrong size! The notes in the log book were wrong! Imagine that. Of course by that time the chanderly is closed, so no departure! The next morning Kathy and I got up and headed to Bremerton to buy some new packing material then stopped into Poulsbo for a nice lunch and a visit to the Garlic store to stock up on some goodies. When we got back I replaced the packing material.

The next morning we did manage to leave and set out for Port Townsend. Not much in the way of wind but it was good to get under way again. I met up with Port Townsend Rigging and picked up a couple of more supplies.

That evening my brother arrived on the ferry from Friday Harbor and we managed to tie one over with Dan and Lisa of Port Townsend rigging at the local Sushi place.