“Kinship” away again...

My wife and I finally sat down and came up with a tentative itinerary. Of course this could change at any moment.

Wed- Otter Bay. Another place I’ve not been and heard it is nice.

Thur- Prevost Island, thinking Glenthorne Passage or if that is too crowded one of the other bays depending on predicted wind direction. The other option is Wallace Island. I seem to recall that Keith looks across Houstoun Passage that direction from his place on Saltspring Island?

Fri-Sat- Ganges

Sun- Cowichan Bay. Another place I’ve not been before although I was at Genoa Bay last year. Looks interesting.

Mon - Thinking about Tod Inlet/Butchart Cove. Again, somewhere I’ve not been and I think my wife would like the Gardens.

Tue - ???

Wed - Roche Harbor. Need to check back into the US and we haven’t stayed there in a number of years.

Thur - Somewhere in Eastsound most likely.

Fri - La Conner hopefully.

Sat - back to Gig Harbor.

Some of those will depend on whether we can get spots at the Marinas. A lot more marina time than I like, but I need to keep my wife happy.

We were just at Deer, first time in a long time. We used to go there a lot in our prior boats and were talking that it seemed like just yesterday when the new docks and showers went in.

I really like Wallace, I had planned for 2 days there this week, but have been playing Marina monkey after getting sick for most of this trip. Marina just makes it easier to get a good nights rest, though we have had precious little wind this trip. We just did three nights in Ganges instead, heading to Genoa for the food. Cow last year in my mind continued to be a better dingy visit part time from Genoa, than the primary destination. A bit of the derelicts were cleaned up, but still an armpit. JMHOYMMV.

Tod Inlet is a repeat favorite of mine. Have not been to Butchart for years, but doing it from the water is the best way.

Also, we did Otter last year, had not been in there in probably ten years. Things were in decent shape, but pretty quiet and not much going on in comparison to years past. Worth a stop, especially if you have never been. Used to be a good burger joint if you walked up the road to the ferry landing, think it’s still there but we did not stop this last time so my review is about a decade outdated, but they still show good reviews on yelp.

At Deer Harbor, wasn't it the Deer Harbor Inn that is a short walk up the road for a very tasty meal? I think so. One of my favorite meals while up the san juans.

Pics. We need pics!

It would also be cool to see some video of your boat underway...

cardude01 said:

Pics. We need pics!

It would also be cool to see some video of your boat underway...

Click to expand...

I will see what I can do.

Left Deer Harbor a bit ago. Ran into a friend of mine at the dock and he offered to help get us off the dock. This put me out of my normal routine and internal checklist. As such, we were away from the dock and leaving the harbor before I realized that our GPS wasn’t working. I quickly brought out the paper charts and protractor to come up with a course and keep track of where we are. I used to do this all the time in the days before GPS but admit that I was a bit slower off the mark this morning. Time for some more practice.

cardude01 said:

Pics. We need pics!

It would also be cool to see some video of your boat underway...

Click to expand...

Here is an attempt. Not sure if it will work.

https://youtu.be/SjZhiVJDlUg

Leaving Bedwell we turned NW along Oak’s Bluff on the SW side of North Pender Island. Amazing views those homes have up there.

Otter Bay is pretty nice! My wife says she would like to come here by ferry in the winter. Small little place very friendly (of course it is in Canada).

Used to be good burgers at the ferry dock, a short walk away. Also a Legion up the road, with friendly folks, cold beer and a huge snooker table! Rides to places usually easy to find! Nice little Park across the bay.. Your wife looked like she was pretty involved in that book while Otto was working away.

Rebel112r said:

Used to be good burgers at the ferry dock, a short walk away. Also a Legion up the road, with friendly folks, cold beer and a huge snooker table! Rides to places usually easy to find! Nice little Park across the bay.. Your wife looked like she was pretty involved in that book while Otto was working away.

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I just saw your post and my wife already started dinner. However, they open at 7:00 am and I love a decent breakfast. I wonder what they serve in the morning?

Besides, my outdoor thermometer says 88 degrees. Sure, it is in the sun, but a bit warm for a walk at the moment. I’m liking this place more and more.... BTW, it looks like they have some larger rooms for hosting groups.... might be a nice location for a rendezvous.

As to the book, yeah I noticed that a well. Good thing I was keeping an eye out along with the radar alarm.

It’s in a little trailer house, with outside seating, unless things have changed, don’t know about the breakfasts. Rendezvous may be in Anacortes next year! This year we had 16 boats and 42 folks showed up. Turned out to be a good time..

It is called the Stand..........great food.

rochepoint said:

It is called the Stand..........great food.

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Oh that sounds good! Thanks for the info.

Rebel112r said:

It’s in a little trailer house, with outside seating, unless things have changed, don’t know about the breakfasts. Rendezvous may be in Anacortes next year! This year we had 16 boats and 42 folks showed up. Turned out to be a good time..

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Anacortes would be great. I could get thete in one vert long day.

Waiting fir dinner I took the dinghy over to the Roesland National Park Reserve. Nothing to do in the evening but enjoy the scenery, look at the old buildings, and take a short hike out to the end of Roe Islet.

The last is a picture of an old fat guy's shadow.View attachment 80608

dhays said:

Here is an attempt. Not sure if it will work.

https://youtu.be/SjZhiVJDlUg

Click to expand...

Awesome! Thanks for that tour— your boat looks freaking huge. Love the helm. Why didn’t your wife say hello? [emoji23]

Man. Such beautiful scenery. Thanks for sharing.

cardude01 said:

Awesome! Thanks for that tour— your boat looks freaking huge. Love the helm. Why didn’t your wife say hello? [emoji23]

Click to expand...

The boat is reasonably big comoared to mt past sailboats. It is small compared to many here.

As for my wife... If she knew that she was caught on film that others might see, she likely would have toss me overboard. She is an exceedingly private person.

My wife is the same way. She hates when I surprise her with the camera, and has to pre-approve anything I post.

Otter Bay was a really nice stop. Decent showers, friendly folks, very quiet and out of the way. They even sell ice cream!

This morning we walked to The Stand, and it looks just like the picture posted above. We each had different, but equally fabulous breakfast sandwiches after a 10 minute walk to the ferry dock. 7 minutes uphill, then 3 minutes downhill each way.

I topped off my water tanks at the dock before we left after checking with the marina office. They have no problem with filling tanks, just no boat washing. (Who washes a boat on vacation anyway?)

Our holding tank was approximately 3/4 full (I need to do better than that but that is another project) so we went into Ganges and pumped out at the Ganges Public Warf. $10 CDN for the privilege and I first had to round up 4 twoneys and 2 looneys for the coin slot at the dock. In the past Ganges has been super busy. It still was today, but not nearly like it was in August on a weekend.

We left Ganges and headed over the Prevost Island and went into James Bay. Never been here before but it has two pebble beaches and my wife likes to look at little rocks. There were 4 boats at the head of the bay when we arrived so we went right to the head and dropped the anchor is about 13’ of water. Pretty tight and I’m hoping the wind keeps up out of the South so we don’t swing too much. At high tide now I have 18’ under the keel and it will drop 9’ at low tide. Only 60’ of chain out due to the tight quarters but the weather should be calm tonight. However I am looking at a submerged log that is a couple inches above the water at high tide that is about 80’ off my port beam.

On shore my wife waded in the water rock hunting and I went up to the old orchard and picked 5 apples. Very old trees planted by one of the early homesteaders. We are getting the occasional ferry wake that makes it way into the bay but they are pretty small by the time they get in here. BC ferries put out a much bigger wake than the WA State ferries do.

Two photos. Sorry they are just Dropbox links, but sketchy connections make posting photos difficult at times.

IMG_20180906_161805230.jpg

IMG_20180906_154329595.jpg

Because of the tight quarters and short scope where I’m at, I decided to try something that I think I heard a TF’er mention a couple years ago.

I typically use a bridle made out of 1/2” 3 strand. In this case, I wanted more stretch but not as much length. So I ran each leg of the bridle through the hawse holes and then back to a forward midship cleat. This added about 8’ of length to each leg and yet the angle the bridle leaves the boat is still the same. We will see how it works.

Lovely evening. I went for Paddle Boarding #2. This time it was mucb easier and I didn't fall in. I got back to the boat then jumped off the swim step. DAMN that water is cold! I was on the water for maybe 30 sec before I climbed out. It was refreshing.

Now my wife and I are enjoying what we call "cocktail time". It is a tradition that we started a couole years ago on our first trip to Canada in our trawler. I set up a couple reclining deck chairs up on the boat deck, make a couple drinks and sit and enjoy the sunset.

Very nice! Thanks for sharing your trip.

Ganges Saturday Market was a success!

This morning strolling the market we “just happened” to run into Bill and Gina from Seeadler. I may have texted Bill letting him know we were going to be at the market and that I was wearing my North Pacific cap, but I won’t confirm it. That was very nice.

However, as nice as meeting Bill and Gina was, my wife was absolutely thrilled when we were walking in the market and an unassuming older man was sitting behind a card table selling some books and CD’s. My wife instantly recognized him as Raffi.

Raffi, for those that don’t know, is a singer who has made his living writing and performing songs for children. My kids grew up listening to his music since they were infants (wore out more than a few cassette tapes) and this last year as my wife has been babysitting our new grandson they have been listening to Raffi every day. My wife is not an emotional woman and definitely not a “cryer”. As she was talking to Raffi she started crying. You have to know that beyond being a mother and grandmother, and musician, she also spent a 35 year career teaching primary children. She loves Raffi for the joy that he has brought generations of children. We bought two CD’s (a new album and a classic) and an autobiography. He graciously offered to sign them and inscribed a message to our daughter and grandson on each. Lovely, quiet man.

Just as I got the blame for the water failure in Deer Harbor that cost my wife an ice cream, I seem to have somehow been given credit for my wife meeting and hugging Raffi. Life is odd.

After drinks with Seeadler and a nice pizza dinner we cam back to the boat. We were back about an hour when the AC power quite. Very odd. My first thought was that the power on the dock went out but I wondered why the inverter didn’t kick on.

I checked the AC panel and sure enough, no AC. I then checked the SOC on the house bank and it showed 47%. At some point the dock power had shut down and the inverter had kicked on. Not sure how long but the house bank was seriously low (by my own personal standards). I found that by plugging into a different outlet on the dock I got power again and the batteries started charging. I try to be careful with the batteries so I am a bit disappointed. I think I will turn off the inverter so that if the power fails again, my house bank wont get depleted again.

dhays said:

Ganges Saturday Market was a success!

This morning strolling the market we “just happened” to run into Bill and Gina from Seeadler. I may have texted Bill letting him know we were going to be at the market and that I was wearing my North Pacific cap, but I won’t confirm it. That was very nice.

However, as nice as meeting Bill and Gina was, my wife was absolutely thrilled when we were walking in the market and an unassuming older man was sitting behind a card table selling some books and CD’s. My wife instantly recognized him as Raffi.

Raffi, for those that don’t know, is a singer who has made his living writing and performing songs for children. My kids grew up listening to his music since they were infants (wore out more than a few cassette tapes) and this last year as my wife has been babysitting our new grandson they have been listening to Raffi every day. My wife is not an emotional woman and definitely not a “cryer”. As she was talking to Raffi she started crying. You have to know that beyond being a mother and grandmother, and musician, she also spent a 35 year career teaching primary children. She loves Raffi for the joy that he has brought generations of children. We bought two CD’s (a new album and a classic) and an autobiography. He graciously offered to sign them and inscribed a message to our daughter and grandson on each. Lovely, quiet man.

Just as I got the blame for the water failure in Deer Harbor that cost my wife an ice cream, I seem to have somehow been given credit for my wife meeting and hugging Raffi. Life is odd.
View attachment 80696

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Dave

Great to see that you and SWMBO had a good time at the market yesterday. Interesting also to know that your wife and mine had a similar career path. We too raised our kids on Raffi and now have introduced the GrandKids to him. Ours live in Europe, so don't get the same exposure to guys like Raffi. We bought a collection of his songs and took them to the GKs a few years ago.
I have been away (Revelstoke) Tuesday to yesterday, and had no opportunity to review your posts until this AM. When are you leaving Ganges?

Thanks so much for sharing so much. I know it's not a small task.

Your batteries will be fine. on a routine basis 50% is a good floor or even higher, but it's even more important to get them back to 100%.

dhays said:

Ganges Saturday Market was a success!

This morning strolling the market we “just happened” to run into Bill and Gina from Seeadler. ...
...an unassuming older man was sitting behind a card table selling some books and CD’s. My wife instantly recognized him as Raffi.

Raffi, for those that don’t know, is a singer who has made his living writing and performing songs for children.

Click to expand...

Very pleasing cocktail hour; let's do that again soon.
'Prof, aka, Bill


Here's our daughter Olivia with Raffi last year:

Dave, what marina were you at in Ganges? We had trouble with power at the Harbour Authority Kanaka dock this summer. We ended up having to use our generator instead of shore power.