After wrapping up our last Vancouver Island flotilla, Kevin and I flew from Victoria to NY for some work and some fun, and then returned and met up with Kevin’s mom for some Gulf Island cruising. We went around from Sidney to Tod Inlet and anchored there for the night. The next day we dinghied in to Butchart Cove and spent most of the day exploring Butchart Gardens. Kevin and … Read more
The beautiful weather continues! We awoke this morning to bright sunshine and our group was so excited to get going that we left Roche Harbor by 8:00 a.m. — an hour earlier than originally scheduled. All but one of us has Nexus (the trusted traveler program that lets us clear Canadian customs by phone most of the time), so one boat had to stop and clear customs at Pender Harbour … Read more
Princess Louisa Inlet is iconic. It’s a “holy grail,” and with good reason. It’s not too far from the major population centers (200nm from Seattle, for instance), yet it is among the most scenic spots on the coast. Cliffs rise from the water all the way to peaks thousands of feet above. Waterfalls tumble down. Trees cling for dear life. A classic fjord. About 10 years ago, Princess Louisa was … Read more
The Strait of Georgia is one of the significant “gates” on the trip to Alaska. It’s a big body of water—20 miles wide and 150 miles long. When it’s windy, the Strait of Georgia gets rough. Today it was calm. Read more on samlandsman.com
Today was a short day—28 nautical miles of protected water from Ganges to Silva Bay. We left about 10:30 a.m., transited Gabriola Pass just before slack at 2:01 p.m., and arrived in Silva Bay soon after. Easy, smooth water along the way. A bit of drizzle, but very little wind. We had a relaxed afternoon at Silva Bay. Some folks dropped crab traps, others hung out on the docks. I … Read more
The last week has been super busy. Finalizing the watermaker install, tinkering with systems, provisioning, saying bye to friends and family… Yesterday I moved the boat around from Skyline Marina to Cap Sante Marina, fueled up, picked up Kevin Monahan (my crew to Alaska for the third year in a row), and met with the flotilla folks who are departing from Anacortes. A busy and productive day. Read more on … Read more
We left Roche Harbor this morning after a lovely evening with near perfect weather. Check out the light on the chapel last night! At sunset, the Roche Harbor Color Guard does a flag ceremony where they take down the flags (the Washington State flag, the Canadian flag, the British flag, and then the United States flag), complete with soundtrack: Oh Canada, God Save the Queen, Taps, etc. Oh, and a canon … Read more