July

Friday, July 4, 2003
KAYAK MOTHER-SHIPPING

With our son Jason and seven of his friends, we are off to Blackberry Point on Valdes Island for the weekend. We have two double kayaks on the salon roof, and we are loaded with tents, sleeping bags, grub and toys enough to last 3 days!
posted by marilyn - 10:25 am

Sunday, July 6th, 2003
KAYAK MOTHER-SHIPPING, Day 3

We came through Dodds Narrows at about 4 pm to end our trip to Valdes. What a beautiful place! We were able to anchor about 100 feet off the beach and the whole weekend was calm. Jason and his friends kayaked, swam, hiked, ate and sat around a fire singing and playing guitar -- basically, everyone had a great time! Blackbery Point, as I understand it, is owned by a logging company and 'managed' by the BC Marine Trails Association; apparently the logging company is thinking about LOGGING it now, and what a shame that would be. I'll see if I can get some info, and I'll post it here if I do!
posted by marilyn - 10:25 am

Friday, July 18th, 2003
HAPPY BIRTHDAY

Our daughter Hailey turns 26 tomorrow, and she requested a cruise to Ganges on Salt Spring Island for her birthday, so she and her friend Grace arrived this evening (from Whistler, where they live) and we'll leave at daybreak tomorrow. We have to go through Dodds Narrows (that's one of those places here on the West Coast that are like 'white water' most of the time, except for maybe 15 minutes a couple of times a day at 'slack tide') at 7:30 a.m., and then it's about a 4-hour cruise to Ganges. We anticipate a sunny day, and calm weather!


Monday, July 21, 2003
SURFIN' ON THE WIND WALKER

Our cruise to Ganges was pretty much uneventful, but beautiful! The highlight of a cruise to Ganges is always the Saturday Market, which the 'girls' and I spent the morning at, as we do every year! Then we took Hailey out for her birthday dinner at the OysterCatcher Bar and Grill (it used to be called 'Kanaka's') and there was a live band playing, so they sang Happy Birthday to her. It's a great spot overlooking the harbour.

On Sunday's cruise home, we hit some seas on the north end of Thetis Island, and then a big tug went by, creating a series of 4- or 5-ft waves. At one point we were 'surfing' sideways off one of them -- Michael was loving it, but I was kind of nervous.
posted by marilyn - 10:25 am

Wednesday, July 23, 2003
DINGHY PICNIC

Jerry and Holly, who live near Grand Prairie, Alberta (but keep their boat, the 'Mavourneen,' in Silva Bay on Gabriola Island) stopped by the Wind Walker to say hello and mentioned that they intended to anchor for the night in Mark Bay on Newcastle Island, so we packed a 'dinghy picnic' and went over to join them. It was really hot, so we went ashore at Newcastle for a swim first, and met a senior couple from Bainbridge Island who were cruising in an old wooden sailboat -- nice people! By the time we arrived at the Mavourneen, Jerry and Holly were napping, so we just dropped our little anchor near the shore and had our supper. When they woke up, we rafted up to them, went aboard and had a great visit. They'll carry on to Silva Bay tomorrow, and we'll see them again when we cruise over there for the August long weekend.
posted by marilyn - 10:25 am

Thursday, July 24, 2003
DAY TRIP

IslandWomen Cruise - Spent today on the water with IslandWomen, the networking group. It was blowing 15-20 knots out on the Strait, but hot, so we meandered through Departure Bay and eventually dropped anchor near the Pacific Biological Station for our lunch. We relaxed and enjoyed the view, watched the Horseshoe Bay Ferry come and go a few times, then cruised down Newcastle Island Channel into the Nanaimo Harbour. We 'peeked' out past Gallows Point to see if it had calmed down, but it hadn't, so we motored over to the Newcastle Island Marine Park dock and tied up. Some of the gals went for a walk and then we ate our pot luck supper. Michael and I had met an older couple on the beach where we'd gone for our dinghy picnic (and a swim) the night before, and they were still aboard their adorable little wooden sailboat, (called the Segue) so I took them over a few back issues of the Marina Mirror, and wished them well on their journey north today.
posted by marilyn - 2:45 pm

Friday, July 25, 2003
SUNSET DINNER

We spent the evening with Erica and her husband Phil, from Victoria, who were celebrating a belated anniversary; Phil's Dad, Ian, who was celebrating his 60th birthday, and his wife Anita (from Nanaimo); and Phil's brother, Scott. We did the dinner first, and then the cruise, because the Dinghy Dock Pub wanted us in and out early - it's Bathtub Weekend in Nanaimo, and they anticipated a busy night. That worked out well, though, because the wind died down while we were having dinner, and we were able to go for a bit of a cruise out around Newcastle and Protection Islands. Then we shut off the engines and drifted in Departure Bay to watch the sunset. A couple of bathtubs were 'practising' in the bay and gave us a bit of a show, too, so that was nice!
posted by marilyn - 10:18 am

Saturday, July 26th, 2003
BATHTUB DAYS

As sponsors of the Bathtub Race, we made the Wind Walker available to the Committee for whatever they needed. There is a film crew here from Germany, so their representative came over to meet us and see the boat. We'll be taking their cameramen out to the start line today for the beginning of the race - which means I'll have a 'front row seat' to take my own pictures!

While we were waiting for them to come meet with us yesterday, it was SO hot, so we snuck over to Midden Bay, by dinghy, for a quick dip -- the water felt WONDERFUL!

After supper tonight, our friends Susan and Sri came to visit, and we dinghied down into the harbour to watch the fireworks .... dropped anchor halfway between the Yacht Club dock and the crabbing pier, and had an AMAZING view of the show, right in front of us. I've never seen so many boats in the harbour -- there must have been hundreds, and the 'parade of lights' coming back up Newcastle Channel in the dark was really something to see!
posted by marilyn - 6:20 am

Sunday, July 27, 2003
BATHTUB DAYS - DAY TWO

Yesterday morning we were on the water at 8 a.m. to pick up the film crew, and then get over to the Bathtub Race start line before they closed the harbour to traffic. Watched the start of the race while they were filming (including last year's champ who was the first to dump off of Newcastle Island in the 15 kt north-wester that was blowing!)

We then turned around and headed north through Newcastle Channel to drop anchor at the Finish Line. Got the film crew ashore to get set up, and then spent the whole day 'hanging out' at the Finish - we watched all 16 tubbers cross the line, and just relaxed. It was a fabulous, hot day on the water! Got back on the dock at about 8 pm, and it was still too hot, so we got in the inflatable and went over to Midden Bay for a swim. Great day!
posted by marilyn - 3:24 pm

Wednesday, July 30, 2003
FANTASY ISLAND DINGHY PICNIC

Had a lovely 'dinghy picnic' this evening -- there is a little Island in the Nanaimo Harbour that most people don't even know is there. It's for sale, but since we don't have $160,000 we don't know what to do with, we just pretend it's already ours, and have our picnics on the beach there sometimes.
posted by marilyn - 9:55 am

AUGUST

Saturday, Aug. 2nd
SILVA BAY CRUISE

We have our daughter Mischa, her partner Jeff and our grandson River on board, and we are on our way to spend this long weekend at Silva Bay on Gabriola Island. The weather is hot and calm, and we're all really looking forward to our time together, away.

Monday, Aug. 4th
THE SILVA BAY EXPERIENCE

Our cruise to Silva Bay on Friday was nerve-wracking - it was blowing 25 kn on the Strait of Georgia the entire time, so we had to 'tack' out to the lighthouse. It's usually better once we're past the buoy, but this time it wasn't -- we ended up 'surfing' some pretty big waves down the back side of Gabriola. It's really un-nerving to watch the bow of our 15-tonne boat 'lift off' as a huge wave passes under it!

We had a lovely weekend, weather-wise, and got out in the dinghy to do lots of beach-combing and exploring. HOWEVER, on Sunday morning our 20 hp Merc packed it in for good after giving us grief for several weeks now. We had intended to dinghy over to the white sand beach on Saturnina, so after the motor quit, we took the Wind Walker instead, and anchored there. Then we moved over behind 'Seal Reef' off Acorn to do some more exploring, but the owners were patrolling the perimeter (big worries about forest fires right now, of course) so we left.

Tuesday, Aug. 5th
KANAKA BAY DINGHY PICNIC

This evening we went around the back (east) side of Protection Island and into Kanaka Bay. (Historically, this was the homestead of a Hawaiin immigrant .... who murdered his wife and child in a rage. He was hung at Gallows Point and is buried here in the bay). We just anchored out rather than going ashore; we saw lots of seals in the water.

Thursday, Aug. 7th
DRAGON BOAT TEAMS

We gave away a gift certificate for a 3-hr cruise at the local Dragon Boat Festival a few weeks ago, and it was won by Anastasia, a member of Island Breaststrokers, the Victoria survivor's dragon boat team. She asked if she could bring her team members, and before the end of the phone conversation, we had arranged to create a social evening on Newcastle Island with members from the team I manage, Nanaimo's Angels Abreast.

We had a wonderful cruise out around Newcastle and Protection (including going over to the Galleries at the north end of Gabriola) and then came in to the docks at Newcastle for the evening. Angels Abreast paddled their dragon boat over to join us, and gorged ourselves on fabulous pot luck food! We ended it by cruising the Breaststrokers out into Departure Bay to watch the sunset -- we usually just cruise into the middle of the bay (out of the way of the BC Ferries!), cut the engine and drift while the sun goes down.

Monday, Aug. 11th
ANNIVERSARY CRUISE

Michael and I celebrated our 24th wedding anniversary this past weekend by cruising (ALONE for a change!) through Dodds Narrows to Whaleboat Island Marine Park in the Gulf Islands. There's only room for 2 or 3 boats, and we were the first one there, so we got the perfect spot to anchor. What a lovely place, and we'll definitely go back! It's a 7-acre island 'tucked in' on the east side of Ruxton and Pylades Islands, undeveloped -- so, wilderness. We spent the weekend 'puttzing' on the boat, reading, napping, and of course, exploring the whole area by dinghy. (We borrowed a friend's outboard ... it may be the fall before we can get ours repaired). There is an amazing midden on the north west end of Ruxton Island, and we were close enough to putt-putt into Pirates Cove Marine Park, as well. Beautiful weather the entire weekend for us... but as we were cruising home, a lightning and thunderstorm surrounded us. It was amazing!

Aug. 14th
"A THREE-HOUR CRUISE"

In spite of all the teasing we get about doing 3-hour cruises, we've never yet ended up stranded on a desert Island, a la Gilligan. Tonight we had aboard Gail and Roy from Campbell River along with their children, and a family of their friends from Saskatchewan. We headed out to Snake Island to see the seals hanging around the northeast end, then over to the Galleries for a look, and then in through the Nanaimo Harbour. It was sunny and warm, but there was a bit of a north-wester blowing. A lovely evening!

Aug. 17th
FAMILY DAY TRIP

This evening, Michael's brother Paul and wife Sandy and their sons Curtis and Clayton (from Courtenay) joined us for a cruise out around Newcastle Island and then in through the Nanaimo Harbour to the public dock at the Marine Park. After we BBQ'ed supper on the bridge of the Wind Walker, we moved out to drop anchor in the 'cut' between Newcastle and Protection Islands, and Michael took everyone ashore in the inflatable for a swim. It was a wonderful, hot and cloudless evening .... again. :-)

Aug. 19th
TREATED TO SUPPER
Tonight Susan and Sri, Rennie and Kristy came aboard for a short cruise around Departure Bay and down the Newcastle Island Channel to the Marine Park dock. Again we hung out on the dock while we had supper -- their treat, and the wraps were delicious, including homemade salsa -- and then, when the Park Attendants come around to collect fees from over-nighters, we cast off and anchored in the 'cut' again. Michael took everyone but me ashore to swim... I didn't trust our anchor.

After a time it seemed like it was holding, so I went ashore for a quick dip, too ... but just after we all got back aboard to leave, sure enough, the anchor dragged! We had to haul up quickly, as we had drifted to within 15 feet of another anchored boat. The NW wind blew the whole time, so we thought we might have trouble getting safely back on to our dock , but it went okay after all.

Aug. 20th
HAMMOND BAY BOUND

Today my sister Julie and her friend Erin from Alberta joined us for a day trip. We started out through Departure Bay, but the NW wind was blowing hard, so instead of going out into the Strait, we came back into Newcastle Channel and dropped anchor in Midden Bay out of the wind. Did a bit of beach-combing and waited for the wind to calm down. It obliged after an hour or so, so we headed out to have a look at Shack Island (this is a UN Heritage Site), and decided to drop anchor in Hammond Bay. There was a little nook with a campground at the head of it (I'm thinking maybe Neck Point Park?) and we anchored nicely in about 25 feet of water. There was a woman out on the deck of her house on the point shouting something to us, and after we shut off the engines, we could hear her. She wanted to know if the swimmer coming across the bay was with us (he wasn't, but we chatted with him as he came alongside -- says he swims Hammond Bay round trip 3 or 4 times a week!) -- and she was offering us her buoy, which we'd just anchored near. Michael took our guests by inflatable over to the shacks and into Piper's Lagoon, while I put my feet up and enjoyed the solitude.

Eventually we ended up back in the Nanaimo Harbour, where our guests treated us to dinner at the Dinghy Dock!

Aug. 22nd
SUNSET DINGHY CRUISE

We were getting ready to go on our daily dinghy picnic last night when our friend Frank came alongside in his boat, to have a coffee. By the time Frank left, it was too late to picnic, but it was hot and stuffy inside, so we decided to go for a dinghy ride anyway. I'd heard that the SV Tethys is in town (skippered by Nancy Erley, the Tethys has circumnavigated the globe twice, always with all-women crew) and wanted to see if I could find it.

Didn't find the Tethys, but we went for a sunset ride, anyway... cut the motors and drifted near the Departure Bay ferry as it was loading and leaving, and watched the last of the anglers come in from fishing out at Five Fingers. We slowly manoevered our way home in the nearly-dark, cooled off and refreshed from our ride!

Aug. 23rd
SALTERY BAY
There was a southeaster blowing and an incoming tide, so we decided it was too much like work to go south into the harbour for this evening's dinghy picnic. We steered north to Saltery Bay instead, landing the inflatable on the beach below what was once a thriving Japanese-owned herring saltery in Departure Bay (one of four, apparently, which were unceremoniously stolen by the government during the war, when the Japanese were shipped off to 'camps' in the interior).
We've often found little 'treasures' on this beach -- for example, a solid brass ring, a 100-plus-year-old empty home-remedy medicine bottle (I researched it on the 'net!), and lots of interesting shells. But tonight the tide was too far in for much beach-combing, so I sat on a log watching the boat traffic while Michael snorkelled a little. It was a lovely, quiet evening. Fall is 'in the air' now, so our dinghy picnics might become fewer and farther between, soon.... :-(