Home Again

Thanks to calm seas we made very good time heading south from Blind Channel and spent the night in Nanaimo again. In the morning we made the run from Nanaimo to Anacortes (did not have to stop in Friday Harbor -- thanks to Nexus). The boat traffic around San Juan and Lopez was horrendous -- dodge'm boats and wakes in every direction. Very stressful. We are home until Friday, when we take the boat up to Bellingham for a C-Brat Get-Together.

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It's a dog's life

Ike and Sookie, our two mega-mutts (AKA Australian Labradoodles) have been our somewhat-faithful companions on this trip but we have decided that in future cruises they are going to the mutt motel (or have someone sit with them -- any volunteers?) They did not like the idea of using the pee pad at all and we are not up to the task of taking them ashore even a couple of times a day -- one of the reasons we have only stopped at marinas on this trip. For the most part, they have been good cruisers, but last night, when we were at least 5' from the dock, Sookie decided that was close enough to jump -- NOT. Result: one soaking wet dog (fortunately she had her PFD on which made retrieval much easier). Now we are careful to tether her in the cabin as we approach any dock. Ike likes to check out what we are doing but thus far has stayed out of the water.

Last night was spent in Lagoon Cove, and tonight we are at Blind Channel Resort, where Ike and Sookie found 3 other Labradoodles to compare notes with.

The rain and cold of the Broughtons took more out of us than we realized, and even though we have more sunshine and warm weather here on the north end of the Discovery Islands we are both tired and ready to get home. My back has been bothering me and after several weeks in the boat berth my hips have started complaining. Lori wants to get home now, too, so we are going to head straight home from here, which should take 2 or 3 days, depending on the weather, wind, etc.

As with every cruise, we come home with many ideas about modifications to improve the boat, what to pack, etc. I think we have also decided that a month is about the ideal length of a cruise for us. Maybe someday we will take off to Alaska for the whole summer like some of our friends do, but not yet.

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Echoing Echo Bay

After leaving Sullivan Bay, we cruised to Shawl Bay, a much less upscale marina than Sullivan Bay, but much more in tune with the C-Dory lifestyle. We enjoyed a potluck happy hour before dinner on our own, and in the morning, Lorne's famous pancake breakfast, to which we contributed blueberries for the pancakes and some fried-up bacon.

Tonight we are back in Pierre's Echo Bay for a final gathering with our C-Brat friends Roger & Janet on Dreamer, Barry & Patti on C-Cakes, Brent & Dixie on Discovery, and George on Kerri On. Dinner was Pierre's second-most-famous dinner, prime rib on the Weber 8000 BBQ (the most famous being the Roast Pig dinner which we enjoyed here with the same group a couple of weeks ago.)

Unfortunately, the rain has returned, along with low clouds and cooler weather, so tomorrow we split up and head for home on our own paths & schedules. Lori and I will head south in search of actual summer weather, which hopefully we will find in Desolation Sound and the Discovery Islands, the next major island groups south of here. Failing that, we should be able to find good weather in the Canadian Gulf Islands and the U.S. San Juans, if email weather reports are to be believed.

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Celebrating Independence Day, Canadian Style

We celebrated Independence Day by rubbing shoulders with the passengers and crews of (mostly) large yachts. Our motley crew of 8 C-Brats on 4 C-Dorys was virtually the only indication in Sullivan Bay that middle-class folk go to sea in small boats: surveying the assembled flotilla here one could logically assume that the boating world here consists primarily of yachts 50' and larger, several with crew. Our C-Dorys were grouped near several floating houses, each often with its own luxurious fishing vessel and either an airplane on floats or a helicopter.

The 4th in Sullivan Bay gave us an opportunity to experience how the other half celebrates. The day began with an 11 AM parade that wound its way down every floating boardwalk between the privately-owned houses, restaurant, store, etc. here, led by an Uncle Sam on a Segway. Patriotic colors were the order of the day, the more outrageous the better. Interestingly, 3 of our 4 C-Dorys were the only boats decked out with patriotic bunting.

The afternoon's entertainment featured dinghy races in which every boat in the marina was represented, whether by their own crew or by more-athletic volunteers. The racing vessels consisted of cheap bathtub-shaped play boats with a crew of two paddlers, one of whom was blindfolded, which resulted in few boats proceeding in straight lines around the course. I did not count the number of boats "competing", but it was over 25. Lori and the resort manager competed in 3 heats before being eliminated. Roger and Janice, from the C-Dory Tom Cat "Dreamer" competed in one heat; the other two boats' owners decided that non-competition would be healthier for their marriages.

Just as the final race was held, it started to rain again. We had been rain-free for nearly 2 days but it was probably too much to ask for that to continue. The resort offered a BBQ with ribs and chicken but the C-Dory group decided to put their own party together with hamburgers, beans, potato salad (my contribution), deviled eggs, and brownies from Dixie's toaster oven. Much better fare, and for much less than the $40 per person the resort was charging for their BBQ. We all congregated on Dreamer and enjoyed a delightful C-Dory evening together, warm and dry.

Tomorrow sees us all leaving together to go to Shawl Bay for the night, followed by Tuesday night back at Echo Bay for Pierre's famous prime rib dinners, which promises to be almost as good as the roast pig we enjoyed a week or so ago. After Pierre's we will each go our own separate ways. Lori and I are going to start heading south; how fast we go will in large measure be dictated by the weather.

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Grumman Goose delivers supplies to Sullivan Bay

One of the most unique seaplanes ever built, the Grumman Goose, delivers supplies here two or three times a week. The Goose was last manufactured during the war years, I think. Here is a link to more about the Goose: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Grumman_Goose

Still in Sullivan Bay

Yesterday was Canada Day here at Sullivan Bay, but other than a few red and white balloons you wouldn't know it. We celebrated with a fine prime rib dinner, a Canada Day special offered by the restaurant.

We were celebrating also because we went out in the boat and Lori caught 5 nice bottomfish (snapper, rockfish, etc.) After we came in another boat came in with a 35# salmon that a guy had caught on lightweight spinning tackle (he had been jigging for bottomfish with his kids.) He played the fish for 35-40 minutes and had to radio Sullivan Bay for Chris (the manager) to come out in another boat with a net to land the salmon. He was incredibly lucky (or skillful) that he did not break off the big fish on that light line and no net. Today, I saw a couple of guys come in with 2 lingcod, the largest of which was 42#. So there are fish here, even thought the area has been overfished by the commercials.

I am more of a fair-weather fisherman, so when (or perhaps IF) the rain and cold ever lets up I hope to get some fishing time in.

3 other C-Dorys are coming in tomorrow for the big July 4th celebration, which includes a BBQ, a parade (everything here is on log floats so the route for the parade is limited) and blindfold dinghy races.

Sullivan Bay, BC and prior

We are currently tied up at Sullivan Bay, which consists of numerous homes, a restaurant and store, etc., all floating on logs or pontoons. It is a pretty neat place, or would be if we could see more of it as it has been raining hard all day. Unfortunately, the rain today is what we have come to expect every day here in the Broughtons. We have spent more time than we would like inside the boat, mostly reading and sleeping. It's an unusual June, I'm told, and summer usually arrives by July 6. We will see. Tomorrow is a Canada Day celebration here, and then on the 4th they host a big party for the Yanks, with dinghy races, a parade and a band. On the 3rd several other C-Dorys will join us here.

We came here from Jennis Bay, which is run by a vivacious and energetic young woman and her two pre-teen children. She and her ex-husband started (or took over) the marina, then got divorced. Allyson has found true love near Rock Springs, where her future new husband is starting a trucking company. She plans to come back in the summer to keep Jennis Bay going but I think that is going to be difficult. It is a very basic marina, with no power or water, but with more hospitality and camaraderie than any other marina we have stayed at. Tuesday night was "Cajun Night" (her ex-husband was from Louisiana) featuring authentic Cajun gumbo to die for. The rest of the meal was potluck, as was the meal on Monday. Wednesday was just happy hour with potluck hors d'oeuvres. It rained every day at Jennis Bay, too. At Jennis Bay we were joined by two other Tom Cats and one C-Dory 22.

We left Anacortes with only a few days to meet up with the C-Brats in Jennis Bay so we made good time, with stops in Ganges, Nanaimo and Gorge Harbour.

If the weather turns for the better I will probably post more often but right now it is a pretty dreary existence with only our fiberglass cabin keeping us warm and partially dry (lots of condensation because it is cool also.) I hope my next post finds me in better spirits!

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