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.

Why am I in Campbell River?

My alternator went on my motor and I had to get in fixed or I would have no power. It was a great day for a sail so I thought Campbell River would be a good place to find a mechanic. I didn't want to retrace my steps so here I am. However, the alternator for my boat could not be repaired and thus one is being flown in from Vancouver. Ouch!This quote from Babs Hoffman seems quite appropriate now - "Stop worrying about the potholes in the road and enjoy the journey."

The current here in Discovery Passage is incredible - often over 7 knots and since my boat does about 5 knots, I have to make sure I pick the right times to travel. There are many interesting boats in this very large marina.

Copeland Islands

These island are about an hours sail north of Lund. Most are a marine park with many anchorages though room for only one or two boats in them. It was quite busy with boats looking for spots to anchor or just cruising through. With tidal ranges of 15 ft you have to know depths and tidal times. This also affects your anchor scope and all sort of other things. Twenty-five feet from shore my depth sounder registered 65 feet but I was getting antsy because if my anchor let go, I would be on the rocks quickly. The wind was also blowing me that way. I moved the boat and anchored further away and felt a little better and had no problems. Here are some pictures from my time there

From Lund

I had a nice trip, mostly sailing, to Lund. I am tied up to another boat on the breakwater and have to use my dingy to get ashore. This is a neat little town that exists of a marina, a general store, a couple of funky restaurants and the Lund Hotel. This was the first hotel (built in 1894)north of Vancouver to get a liquor license. There is also a very busy water taxi business supplying the many little island around this region. It might be called Desolation Sound but it sure is not isolated.

The Prawn Fisherman

I got talking to this Prawn Fisherman - 26ish - very fit - working very hard emptying out his boat for the season. Said he had a very successful season but had to cut it short because of boat issues with the diesel engine and refrigeration. The season is 73 days long and once it is over the boats don't work again until the next season. They are single purpose boats. Some refrigerate all of their catch and others keep their catch live. I hear the boats going out between 6 and 7 in the morning and they return around 4 - 6 in the afternoon. Then they unload their catch, clean up the boat, and disappear into the town. Their prawns are mostly all packaged up by the time they hit the docks. A truck appears on the dock and hauls away their catch. The Prawn Fishermen are certainly a hard working and friendly group of coastal workers.

A Musing

I got talking to this elderly guy fishing at the end of the dock. He had caught a little rock cod and says that he sometimes does quite good. I've been thinking about doing some fishing myself, have bought a license, but have never been quite organized with the gear prior to going out. However, I've been reading the book Through Black Spruce written by Joseph Boyden. The character Will talks about not wanting to kill anymore, it was "...the night of not shooting the bear." He had lost his "...his taste for killing..." when previously he had worked as a guide for fisherman and hunters. I might think a bit more about whether I will do some fishing or not.

But even more interesting was his empathy for this old bear - the one he didn't shoot. Will didn't think this old bear would make it throught the next winter as it couldn't see, had no teeth, and probably was not able to get food. Will left him hams and other food. When he talks about how the old bear needs to be treated with kindness, he says "But she is not long for this world. I'd want someone to do the same for me." This has got me thinking about our dog Kato, and the battles he and I have had over the years. I can't believe how nice I've been to him lately, in a way like Will and the old bear. Maybe, just maybe, he has been thinking the same thing about me. (That Greig is looking older these days so I should be a little gentler on him.)

I haven't finished the book but I wonder if the bear still has a role to play in the story.

Arrival at Westview (near Powell River)

Had a terrific sail from Pender Harbour to Westview with a following wind and current. I was going a steady 6 knots all the way. Had another visit from some dolphins but they weren't as close - I could see them but not hear them this time. My docking skills were vastly improved this time as I backed into a spot in front of another boat - without help - and calmly stepped onto the dock. I'll be here for 3 nights getting my laundry done, buying some groceries, putting the boat in order, buying a few boat things, and checking out this rather interesting town. This morning I awoke to my 7AM alarm - my new neighbour,the BC ferry, sounding its horn.

July 6th - The best day and the worst day - so far.

I had a wonderful downwind sail from Secret Cove to Pender Harbour. About 30 minutes into the sail I hear a gurgling sound from behind me. I look and see nothing and think it was just a wave breaking against the boat. I hear it again and again and then I finally see it/them. Dolphins are riding along with me. (No picture again as I was quite busy again) They stayed with me for about 20 minutes and disappeared. Later I got lost even though I had my charts out. I was just going to fast with a current pushing me along and so had to backtrack. Once in Pender Harbour I went to the public dock to spend a couple of evenings. The dock was full so I had to raft up against another boat. Without going into detail here I crashed quite hard into another boat and did some damage to the one beside me. ( my lawyer son says nohet to post to much on the net). Both owners are absent - one in Edmonton and one somewhere near here. I am waiting on that person now. My boat is damage free but I will be spending some money on the other two. I have included some pictures of the damage to one of the boats (is that okay Riley?) and a picture of the marina. It has rained hard all day today and I am sitting in an Internet Cafe posting. Tomorrow I am off to Powell River.

A Steven King night!

I was sleeping in the boat at Secret Cove when I was startled by some weird growling sound. Wasn't sure whether it was a dream or real. I realized something was in the boat and yelled "get out". It did. On further inspection the animal had got into my garbage and taken out and cleaned up an avocado skin. Also it was eating a couple of dog cookies that I carry around with me and had put on the counter. I look around outside the boat and see a - did you guess it - racoon. They have a reputation for being aggresive around food and probably I startled it. Lorrie, I guess I wasn't snoring. I returned to be with the hatch closed this time. The racoon came back as I could here it walking on the deck of my boat. The marina had not heard of a racoon on the docks before. Here are some pictures from the marina.

July 2nd - Sargeant Bay

I got stir crazy at Gibsons and decided to leave. The warnings were still out but the wind was calm when I got up at 6. The winds started to blow once out in the Strait and the swell were still huge. I was told though that after about 2 hrs the swells will diminish as some islands will start to break the flow. Good advice and I arrived in the bay and anchored out for a couple of nights enjoying the sunshine and warm waters of the bay.