Day 31 to Day 37 - Walsh Cove to Ladner (via Cortes Bay, Garden Bay, Secret Cove, Silva Bay, & Ruxton Island)

And now we are back into familiar waters. After leaving Walsh Cove on Redonda we stopped at Refuge Cove, a neat co-op community which serves as the main pit-stop for folks boating in Desolation Sound. Somehow in all of our boating journeys over the last several years we have never stopped here, but now we know it’s a great place with a lot of charm and ample provisions. As we were getting diesel, a local man approached us and told us he had spent several evenings on the boat down in Mexico. Turns out he knew the previous owners, Gary & Judy. This is the first time someone recognized the boat from its previous life, and we all got a kick out of it!

From Refuge Cove we over-nighted in Cortes Bay. Two nights, actually. The next day we headed south and tied up overnight to a dock in Garden Bay, a small bay in Pender Harbour on the Sunshine Coast. From there we headed south and tied up at Secret Cove, also on the Sunshine Coast.

The next morning we headed out west over the Georgia Strait. Knowing there was a strong wind warning, we were excited to get both the geniker and the mainsail (reefed in a bit so it wouldn’t steal all of the wind) up. Unfortunately, with the good winds came some choppy water, and I had my first bout of sea-sickness this whole trip. Not much I could do except lie down and wait until our journey was complete. Thankfully the dried ginger we have on board did take the edge off. Argh, just when I thought I had the whole sea-sickness thing beat!

Our destination had been Ruxton Island, but Cap’n Adam realized as he fired up the motors that during our sail we lost use of one of the motors. Somehow a port-side cable, which enables the motor to go into forward, neutral, or reverse, had stopped engaging. We needed both motors to be able to comfortably get through Gabriola Pass, so we threw down the anchor in Silva Bay to see if it could be fixed. About 6 hours later, after a trip to the local boat yard for a quick welding job and plenty of cursing & head-scratching about how to get the damn thing working, Cap’n Adam jerry-rigged a broom handle to the gear box, and the problem was (sort-of) solved. To be fixed proper at a later date.

The next morning we headed to Ruxton Island, and spent the day relaxing, and dingying, and just enjoying our last day before heading home. And this morning (actually, as I write this) we are headed back across the Georgia Strait to Ladner and our home moorage.

This year’s trip was different from last year’s. The pace was much more laid-back, and we put far less hours on the motors, and we sailed more. Which means we also used way less diesel, and didn’t spend as much $$. We caught up on a lot of sleep, ate a lot of seafood, soaked up a lot of rays, met some other cruisers, and realized how very little we have actually seen of this magnificent coastline.

My highlights this year were:

1) The first 5 days with Shannon, Shawn & Marla – I’ve come to a place where I feel like I actually understand sailing somewhat. As always, it was great to have you guys onboard! Thanks for the laughs and the memories!

2) Our first salmon meal with Mike & Jeannette – ranks in the top 5 meals I’ve had in my entire life

3) Mound and Village Island – what an amazing place, what an amazing couple of days, what a trip.

4) The dancing at Alert Bay – we were invited to dance around the fire with them at the end, and while it may have been the smoke, it was also the emotion of it which made my tears stream and stream and stream...

5) Mondae – little bird, you touched my heart. Bless you.

6) The pink & blue geniker – what a fabulous sail, and a great way to travel!

7) The pod of orcas in Blackfish Sound, the dolphins in Broughton Lagoon, the otters in Pender Harbour, the seal nursery at Polkinghorne Islands, and the momma seal nursing her baby in Blind Channel. Marine mammals pretty much rule.

Now to think about next year’s trip. Back to the Broughtons to see some parts we missed? Go past Cape Caution and hit the mid-coast near Bella Bella? Focus on Desolation Sound and the Discovery Islands? Jervis Inlet & Princess Louisa Inlet? Not sure yet, time will tell.

Thanks for reading the Thunderblog, hope you enjoyed it. Have a safe, happy, healthy Autumn!!

day 37 - Silva Bay to Ladner (Lo49°06.8N’L123°04.4’W)

And then it was almost over. Sniff. We woke up this morning and enjoyed our last breakfast with coffee and Bailey's, cleaned up a bit, took Louie Bert to shore, then up came the anchor and we were on our way. Before this trip, crossing the Georgia Strait seemed like a pretty major undertaking to me. But now, it seems like one of our much, much easier days. With a wind at our backs we were able to put the main sail up for a while, but the wind died down again so we motored the rest of the way in. Once we got to Sandheads weather station near YVR, and amongst the MASSIVE amount of weekend fisher-folk out with their boats, we could see salmon jumping out of the water. Then up the south arm of the Fraser River past Steveston to Captain's Cove Marina, and back into her home berth. Sniff. I'll admit I was crying a little when we did our final rum jiggers before we locked her all up - I was not ready to be done yet. But, in reality this isn't the end. It is just the beginning.

This was, no question, one of the greatest trips I've ever done. The coastline of British Columbia is spectacular. A friend asked me, "so, what was the most beautiful place you saw?" That is very hard to answer, it was all gorgeous and all a little bit different. The landscape of the gulf islands, which prior to this trip was my only real frame of reference for the BC coastline, is beautiful. But now I realize it is a beauty that is particular to the gulf islands. Cordero Channel is stunning. The Broken Island Group islands are almost surreal. Hot Springs Cove? My god, possibily my new favourite place on earth, but because of the perfect water, not just the beauty. Meares Island was mystical. Rugged Point rivals Long Beach in its white sandiness. Bull Harbour on Hope Island was where I could sense the spirit of the land itself the most, but Nootka Island was a close second. I could go on and on, and the thing is we barely scratched the surface. Our 5 week circumnavigation of Vancouver Island could have easily been 3 months, and we still would not have seen it all.

There are places now that have intrigued us enough to go back and see more - the Broughton Archipelago is a trip onto itself, perhaps next year we'll spend 5-6 weeks up there. Because we spent more time than we planned in Quatsino Sound (but still didn't see very much, Port Alice could have been another day's trip), we didn't get a chance to see much of Kyoquot Sound. And while we did get to see a fair bit of Esperanza Inlet, getting all the way up to Gold River would have been good to see also. And Barkley Sound is another area we didn't get to explore as much as we'd like, Port Alberni included.

TOTAL NAUTICAL MILES - 794
# OF DAYS TO CIRCUMNAVIGATE - 37
# DAYS THE MAINSAIL WENT UP - 4
# OF SHEER PINS BROKEN - 4
# OF FISH CAUGHT AND ATE - 5
# OF CRABS CAUGHT AND ATE - 3
# OF PRAWNS CAUGHT AND ATE - 20
# OF PEOPLE WHO SLEPT ON THE BOAT THIS TRIP - 10
# OF BEERS CONSUMED - too many to count
# OF RUM JIGGERS - at least one each per day, sometimes a few more
AVERAGE DEPTH WE ANCHORED IN - 20 feet
# OF NIGHTS WE PAID FOR DOCK SPACE - 4
AMOUNT ERIN LIKES CAP'N ADAM'S 37-DAY SALTY BEARD - so, so much
COST IN DIESEL - about One Grand
COST IN FOOD - respectable
COST IN ALCOHOL - less respectable
VALUE OF MEMORIES AND TRAINING FOR FUTURE - priceless

day 35 & 36 – Ruxton Island to Gabriola Island (Lo49°09.0N’L123°41.5’W)

Our 35th day on the boat was a bit of a day for rest. Now that we have a Salty Dog onboard again, we needed to resume our “to land twice a day” duty. We headed over to the cabin after breakfast, and Cap’n Adam decided to stay there and do some light cabin chores while I headed back to the boat to nap, read, and edit videos. But mostly just to be back on the boat. We haven’t spent much time on land for the last few weeks, and now the rocking of the sea seems comfortable to me, rather than nauseating.

We had intended to stay a few days at Ruxton, enjoying the cabin and getting reacquainted with Cap’n Adam’s folks. But, the wind blew up very strong during the night, and Cap’n Adam had to do his first “anchor watch” overnight. We were concerned again about whether the sudden wind might cause the anchor to drag, causing us to smash into the rocks nearby. So, Cap’n Adam kept a watch, constantly assessing whether our position had changed and whether we would need to spring into action, firing up the motors and getting the anchor raised so we could relocate somewhere safer.

Our anchor didn’t drag overnight, but the weather forecast predicted that the wind would be strong for another day and night. Our anchorage in Herring Bay was fairly unprotected from a wind of that direction, and so we decided to move on a bit and head for Silva Bay.

After motoring across Pylades Channel, we passed through Gabriola Passage and then into Silva Bay on Gabriola Island. Silva Bay was, in a nutshell, completely packed with boats. This is a very popular bay for boaters, as it is the first protected bay on the west side of the Georgia Strait (if you leave from Vancouver). Boats were rafted up together 2-3 deep on the dock, so we opted to anchor again, and hoped that the wind would not be as fierce here in Silva Bay as it was last night. If we swung too much on our anchor line, there were all sorts of boats and docks that might get in our way.

Once the anchor was down we had lunch at the pub, spent the rest day wandering around and checking out the weird sandstone formations on the beach, and updating our boat log. But we didn’t want to talk about the fact that tonight was most likely our last night to sleep on the boat this trip. While our Vancouver Island circumnavigation has been a “vacation” of sorts for us, it has also been a test for a potential future lifestyle. And I think we can both see ourselves sleeping many, many more nights onboard down the line…