The End

Riley came to Maple Bay to pick me up and take me home. The boat will be staying at Maple Bay Marina for the next year. This picture of the Ferry was taken while sailing close to their route when they enter Active Pass. On this day, we were passengers on the Ferry. This is my last post on this blog. I will be back in Maple Bay sometime this fall and next year I will be sailing down on the coast again though the plans for destinations have not been made. Maybe Desolation Sound again or maybe the San Juan Islands or maybe the West Coast of Vancouver Island. Bye and thanks for visiting my blog.

The Yin and Yang of boating

Some places I anchor have one or two boats anchoring there. Others like Montague Harbour have 100 boats moored or anchored there. Both have their attractions. Some Marinas are busy, busy, busy - like rush hour. Boats have to leave by noon in most cases and by one a whole slate of new boats arrive. It really is quite interesting how the dock managers manage to get all the boats in.

Float Homes at Maple Bay

Boats have lots of lines to hang your laundry from

I will have been about 7 weeks in my boat by the time I leave. I have done this before in are variety of vehicles while in my early 20's. I lived in a van on site of the Intercontinental Hotel in Kihei while working as a concrete labourer, I lived in the back of a pick-up truck while building trails at Champion Lakes, and I lived with a few people in a modified bus travelling around B.C. selling East Indian food at festivals.

This boat could be compared to travelling around in a VW Camper. It has similar amenities. Modern technology has however added to my comfort level from previous experiences. Because of solar panels, deep cycle batteries and an inverter, I can charge up and operate my cell phone, laptop computer, Waterpik, VHF radio, digital camera, shaver, flashlight, and GPS. Did I forget anything! Of course I have the usual stereo, fan, and TV (thanks Mom). Yet, the barbecue, oil lantern, and paper charts have often been of more value.

One always wants a bigger boat - wouldn't two feet make for more comfort! While in Telegraph Harbour a 32 ft. power boat pulled up beside me. They had five (I'm not kidding) adult Border Collies on board and were travelling around the coast. On the other side was a 26 ft. Grampion sailboat with mom, dad, a 14 year old daughter, a 12 year old son, and a 10 year old son (no dogs). They too were travelling around the coast and seemed to be getting along just fine. I'm thinking my boat will do just fine.

E-mailed pictures from Irish Whiskey

David from the Yamaha 33, Irish Whiskey, sent me these pictures of my departure from Comox. I was trying to sail but the wind was just too light. Who would have thought that such a large glacier was located in the mountains above Comox.

Dodd Narrows

Dodd Narrows has tidal currents to 9 knots and because my boat has a maximum speed of 5.5 knots, I have to pick the right time to go through. Even the larger power yachts wait until slack tide because they can get caught up in the eddies and get pushed around. Slack (current at .2 knots) was at 10:20 on the day I went through - this information is available from tide and current tables either in books or the internet. Many boats on both sides were waiting for this slack period including a tug pulling a log boom. There really is only room for one boat at a time. Here is the procedure for going through - it really is quite organized.

On VHF channel 16

"Securite, Securite, this is the 25 ft sailboat Kato II entering Dodd Narrows southbound. Two other small sailboats are going through with me. Any concerns please advise on channel 16."

After our 3 boats, I saw a power boat go through quite fast with no radio announcement, and someone called him up on the radio to let him know what an $&%*&* he was. The tug with the log boom made sure everybody knew what he was doing but one sailboat thought he might beat the tug through. Bad idea. He changed his mind once he saw the tug in the narrows. All very interesting.

Honey - look what I found!

What a wonderful house I found, with studio, and you don't even have to mow the lawn anymore. And look what is in the backyard that comes with the house. It might need some work but wouldn't that be fun. And can you believe it, the dingy comes also, and it has an anchor, crab trap, and fishing equipment. Wow!! What do you think?

My friend Frank

Frank was walking down the dock the other day and asked me if I wanted to buy some carvings. I was busy reading and said no rather too quickly. On his return trip I said that maybe I would be interested in seeing what he had. It was all in his pack. Anyways, we started talking about carving, and then his life, my life, his family, my family, ...... and on it went. He stayed for about an hour and I invited him to come visit with me the next day. He did and we spent even longer talking. It turns out his birthday is two days after mine. For whatever reason, I seem to get along with others that are born under the cancer sign.



I also met a college student in Comox that is working as a summer job for a society involved in saving the Purple Martin from extinction. Interesting summer job - eh. She told me that the Martin was used by the natives as an early warning sign when a stranger would approach their village. She talked about .....



And then there was this 65 year old guy (looked 50 ish) that was sailing his 38 foot boat by himself between California and this area. He was saying.........



Author Paul Theroux said it best "I sought trains; I found passengers."

Nanaimo Bathtub Race

I just happened to be in Nanaimo for the bathtub race. If I would have sailed down here a day later, I would have seen the boats racing around some of the islands I was sailing around. I didn't even know that they don't go to Vancouver anymore, not a result of the dangers involved with crossing the Strait, but because Vancouver was getting all the glory for the race, while Nanaimo was doing all the work. (it's good to talk to a local)

Baynes Sound - Tribune Bay pictures

Two nice encounters in Comox

While docked in Comox, I got a chance to talk to the owners of the big sister to my boat, a Yamaha 33. The family were cruising in similar territory to me as they had said "hi" to me when I was anchored out in the Copeland Islands a week earlier. A few days later I see they were also in Tribune Bay when I was there. I got a tour of their boat Irish Whiskey and if I was going to go bigger, that would be a boat to look at. You can tell by the photo that it is well set up for cruising.

The next boat, Dreamspeaker, was recognized by me because the owners, Anne and Laurence Yeadon-Jones are writers of many cruising guides for this area. I have two of their books, one of which I just had to take over and get them to sign it. They also graciously spent some time giving me information on some places I might want to visit on my trip south. They were getting a steady stream of people at their boat with books to sign, while trying to do laundry, buy supplies, email, etc.

Dock Denizens

I just had to do this

Pottery designed and crafted by Bunko - Fish caught and cooked by Goldstone.

Happy Birthday to me.

I think the pictures say it all about how my 60th birthday morning went. The fish was a 27lb Spring salmon measuring 36 inches long. When they reach 30lbs, they are called Tyee or Chinook.