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.

Arrival at Gibsons

Originally I planned to go via Georgia Strait but the swells seemed enormous for this lake sailor and the winds were strong (small craft warning posted), so I went the back way around some islands. Sailed all the way - about 4 hours. I passed a seal lying on some drift wood - reminder to self of have my camera available. I stayed in Gibsons for a few days because of constant small craft warnings. The harbour was busy many people waiting it out.

The boat has been moved

Rudy drove the boat down to the coast on June 26th. The trip was uneventful except for a flat tire on the trailer on the top of the Coquihala Pass. We had a friend Steve driving by on the opposite side of the highway that stopped to give us a hand - nice.



The other picture is looking over the West Vancouver Yacht Club where I have been fortunate in staying at, getting my boat put together, and taking care of last minute details. Can you see my boat? Tomorrow I am off to Gibsons.

Bottom antifouling is nearly complete

The boat now has two coats of Fiberglass Bottomkote Act paint and will get one more. I used this paint because I previously had a Bottomkote paint on the boat, this one is effective in salt water and is multi-seasonal, and it is an ablative paint which means "it washes away with use like a bar of soap constantly exposing fresh and effective biocide and will provide excellent antifouling protection throughout the boating season." Also, because it washes away, the paint does not buildup over time. I'm hoping to get two seasons out of it without taking the boat out of the water, though I will do some swimming/diving to check it out.