Fireworks!

Friends, flabongos, and fireworks.  Good times.

English Bay, ready for Fireworks tomorrow!!

'Twas a beautiful day at sea.  On a beam reach the jib unfurled to pull us along, and give us an additional knot of speed while we continued to motor.  2 hours from Sandheads Weather Station to English Bay; we're now anchored in the north bay of Kits Point, off the Heritage Dock at the Maritime Museum.  Fireworks tomorrow night!

Coal Harbour to Ladner.

We had a beautiful weekend for Adam to put on a new propeller (the scuba guys never did find the one that we lost in Coal Harbour) and for us to bring the boat back around to the south arm of the Fraser River where she usually lives. We passed underneath the Lion's Gate Bridge, cut across English Bay and out of Burrard Inlet, headed south in the Georgia Strait beside Sturgeon Banks until we reached Sandheads weather station, then headed east up the Fraser, passing Steveston on the way. We reached Captain's Cove Marina just as the final rays of sun skipped across the water. The journey began at 10:45am, and we were tied back up again at 4:30 pm.

Ladner to Coal Harbour

We haven’t untied the cat since last September! It was time to take her out again, and test our own fortitude with some January sailing. Already mentally prepared for the possibility that we might have to turn around and go back to Captain’s Cove if the water was too choppy, we got ourselves physically prepared by layering up and warming our bellies with a traditional round of rum shots. Our brave crew this trip – the 2 of us plus our trustee veterans Shannon and Shawn, and newbie Nadine! Yarr!

The river was smooth and calm, but the saltier waters of Steveston were doing quite a churn. We crossed waves coming from the south as we headed west beyond Sandheads weather station in the Georgia Strait. It made for a bit of a bumpy ride. When we finally started heading north we were picked up and carried along with the waves, a gentler ride but still not smooth for those with sensitive stomachs. This would have been the perfect winds for using our beloved pink and blue genniker; however it (as well as our furling jib) is in the shop having some repairs done.

We were graced with some seriously appreciated rays of sun as we approached English Bay. Once there we weaved through the half-dozen or so anchored freighters, rounded Stanley Park, then headed under the Lion’s Gate Bridge and into Burrard Inlet. We tucked into Coal Harbour, and as the sun got low in the sky and the waters became glassy calm, we tied up to our temporary moorage. Then had some more rum shots.

Thanks crew for making my birthday boating trip extra fun! It might have been a little cold and a little bumpy, but at least it was dry!