Tuesday through Friday, July 6-9, 2005: Broughy Bay - Lagoon Cove

We left Blind channel around 9:30 with a farewell to new friends and a desire to come back before we leave the northwest. The Youngbloods and Tildens had met up with us and enjoyed their short stay at Blind channel where we also met the Davis’s aboard “Kinship”. We had been with the Davis’s when we went to China to see “Kasekuchen” being built. They were with their son and his family visiting from Florida. The three original boats set out for Broughy Bay, a serene passage through a beautiful channel where porpoises ran beside us happilly playing in the wake of our boat. We spotted two bear eating (salmon?) along the shore. We set anchor in Broughy Bay, I took the kayak down and decided to explore the bay and get a little exercise. Bob was doing boat stuff. We watched satellite TV until 11:30 and woke up the next morning to news of the terroist bombing in London. The real world has a way of sneaking into our peaceful lives with all of the technology aboard.

Our destination today is Lagoon Cove where our friends Bonnie & John Jaquet are flying in on a float plan to spend a few days with us. Many of our Colorado friends know Bonnie & John from their years in Vail. We met in 1974 in Vail, Bob was working for Nobel as a salesman. There were not many families there at the time and I met Bonnie at the pirate ship park with her two children Katie and Charlie, who were exactly Chris and Kim’s age. We left Vail after the ski season and moved on to a couple of different states, but we remained friends with the Jaquets and stayed with them on many ski week-ends over the years. They left Colorado in about 1987 to return to John’s hometown of Seattle and started a game business. We were introduced to the Northwest in 1993 when we visited them, and at our kid’s weddings. The float plane was to drop Bonnie and John off at Lagoon Cove. This area is only accessible by float plane or boat. We rounded the corner to the bay and there they were waving at us from the dock.

When we got settled I called Chris on the satellite phone to see if the baby had been born. The due date was July 12, but Kree tends to have babies a little early. Chris was a daddy again -- our granddaughter had been born July 6 and named Calyx Alicia. Two little girls, Cambry and Calyx. He had misplaced our satellite number, as had Kim, so I’m really happy that I called. Wish we were there -- that is our only regret: not being close to the kids.

Lagoon Cove is a party moorage. They are famous for their nightly “happy hour”. Everyone brings a hors d’oeuvre and we get together in this historic “workshop” where we meet cruisers from all over (the photo on the left is of John standing in front of the historic workshop). It is also the best crabbing we have seen. We caught about 60 crabs between our boats and enjoyed a crabfest for Mark and Roseann’s 27th anniversary.

We stayed two nights and bid farewell to a great place and great new friends.

Sunday through Tuesday, July 3-6, 2005: Blind Channel

We were anxious to leave Campbell River and get out of civilization. We headed for Blind Channel, a fairly short cruise but we needed to time our passage thru the rapids as the current can get very rough. I will explain this later as we will encounter this phenomenon with many of our passages.

We turned the corner and a beautiful bay came into view impeccably maintained. This property was bought in the 70’s by Edgar and Annmarie Richter who had a vision to transform a rundown piece of property into something beautiful for the future generations of their family. They put in many years of hard work and raised their family in this beautiful isolated location. Their son is general manager and grandsons have helped work at the resort every summer since they were children. The grandsons spent the early years being home schooled , but their mom would move with the boys to Victoria during the school months to attend public school. Bob and I were amazed at the beautiful artwork on the docks and in the dining room of the resort. Annmarie was an exceptionally talented artist. She had many offers to show her works internationally, but she never wanted to leave her family and her little piece of paradise. Annmarie died in 2003 of cancer, she was in her early 70’s. I felt the enormous loss her death has left in her family and the many friends that visited over the years.

We enjoyed the ambiance of a fabulous German dinner in their gorgeous dining room. Every table has a beautiful water color painted by Annmarie. I also had the freshest most delicious salad I have ever eaten. Their own fresh organic greens, flowers and currants. As we returned to our boat, a pod of orcas were spouting in the bay—WHAT A SIGHT!!! A BEAUTIFUL ENDING TO A GLORIOUS DAY.!

We met some lovely couples in their late 70’s who invited us over to play cards. I am so happy we that we decided to do this cruising thing now. It is so inspiring to see people in their 70’s and 80’s enjoying the cruising life.

Friday - Sunday, July 1-3, 2005: Campbell River

Today is Canada Day, much like our July 4th. There are activities planned at the waterfront park with a band and craft booths. We watched fireworks that night from the flying bridge of our boat. We aren’t missing the festivities of July 4th, just enjoying them a little early in another country.

Saturday morning the Honda repairman did show up to repair the engine on the dinghy. Some cables needed to be replaced and it didn’t cost all that much. It is a little late to leave today so we decided to leave early tomorrow. We were both amazed at the huge ships that were passing by every few hours on their way to Alaska. Campbell River is on the inside passage and our marina was in a great viewing area for the beautiful parade of ships.

Sunday we were ready to leave and discovered that our generator wouldn’t start. Bob tried to troubleshoot with our son Chris, on the phone, but to no avail. We realized that in our file of manuals we didn’t have one for the generator. I got on the Internet to try to find information on the generator but instead found an authorized service center in Campbell River. I called and of course an answering service answered since it was Sunday morning. Almost immediately the manager called us back and had a repairman out within the hour. It was a relatively minor problem but one we probably could not have fixed ourselves. What a learning experience, and great customer service in Canada.


We finally left Campbell River after three nights to head to Blind Channel. It was an overcast chilly day and we waited for slack tide in a beautiful bay watching the seals play and the bald eagles fly overhead. We missed three days with the Tildens and Youngbloods and some spectacular anchorages—but enjoyed our experience in Campbell River and the new people we met. Campbell River was a major logging and fishing port and since logging is gone it has emerged as a major tourist area with great fishing. Because of the mild climate both Canadians and Americans are buying property and retiring here.

Thursday, June 30, 2005: Melanie Cove to Refuge Cove

We left Melanie cove around 11 a.m. on our way to Gorge Harbor. We stopped along the way at Refuge Cove to stock up at the store. We needed to tie up to a dock and have all the guys troubleshoot the dinghy problem and now the windlass. It kept tripping the breaker when we were pulling anchor this morning. Mark was looking for electrical problems with the windlass while Bob and John checked the oil in the gear case and found none. They must have shipped it from China without oil. Bad news -- thank goodness the little store had tubes of oil. Once it was filled, it ran much better. When we get back to Seattle we need to have Sterling check to make sure no permanent damage was done. Unfortunately the transmission cable was broken on the dinghy motor. We needed to get it fixed and the only place to do so was Campbell River, historically renowned as "The Salmon Capital of the World." They had a Honda repair guy there. We headed for Campbell River while the others headed on to Gorge Harbor. We made plans to catch up to them as soon as possible.

We arrived into Campbell River around 3 p.m. but were informed that it was too late for the repairman to make it out. The next day was Canada Day (like our July 4th) so Saturday was the first they could fix it. So we made ourselves comfortable in the really nice marina which was located right behind a shopping area. We found a great restaurant and just enjoyed our forced break.

Wednesday, June 29, 2005: Melanie Cove

Awoke this morning with a terrible screeching noise. Two bald eagles had attacked and killed a blue heron right beside our boat. They dragged the heron to shore where one of the eagles started eating it--feathers flying—while the other eagle sat in a tree on the opposite bank waiting his turn. I took pictures and that is the one posted of the two eagles. The other eagle waited for almost an hour and finally decided it was his turn. They fought over it for a few minutes and the first eagle finally flew away. What a spectacular sight.

Bob & John took the dinghy early to go fishing. Roseanne, Kathy, and I took the kayaks for a long ride around the bay. We got to know each other better and got great exercise. We could get up very close to the marine life in the bays. Our kayaks are very special, we can pedal them like a bike, or paddle like a traditional kayak and even sail them. Roseanne loved using one of ours and put it on her Christmas list.

Our dinghy broke down when the guys were fishing so Kathy and Roseanne drove over to rescue them. Kathy had never driven her dinghy before but did great. Bob needs to fix the dinghy motor before we go much further.

Celebrating Bob's 60th Birthday

Tuesday, June 28, 2005: Melanie Cove: BOB’S 60th BIRTHDAY!!!!

What a special day!!! We could sleep in because we did not have far to go. I made Bob’s favorite breakfast of corned beef hash and poached eggs with crumpets and a birthday candle. Being here on our boat makes this a special birthday for Bob. He really misses the kids and granddaughters, but he is doing his dream.

Melanie Cove was more spectacular than the last one. We anchored right next to a hidden waterfall and could hear the water running. What a great sound for sleeping!!

Mark, Roseanne, Kathy, and John joined us for Bob’s birthday dinner. Mark and Roseanne made a cute picture collage of our trip so far, and Kathy and John brought over a fabulous wine to celebrate with. We had the fresh fish that Bob & John had caught, plus crab that we had caught in our crab traps last night and I made a pineapple upside down cake. We had a great party for Bob’s 60th.

Monday, June 27, 2005: Pender Harbor to Grace Harbor (Desolation Sound)

The cruise from Pender Harbor to Grace Harbor was a long one -- about five hours. It was a little rough but when we reached Desolation Sound the scenery changed to this incredibly stunning series of high mountains winding thru beautiful rock islands. It is like driving thru the Rockies on water. We anchored in this gorgeous bay and immediately put out crab pots with our dinghy.

As a side note: our dinghy sits on top of our boat on the "flying bridge." To get it down we use our crane. There is a learning curve to all this and Bob is very good with it. I, on the other hand need practice. Our kayaks are stored under the dinghy. We had a stainless steel cradle made which stores both.

We all came to our boat for a potluck. Before we started eating, John and Bob started fishing and pulling in one after another fish from the cockpit. Bob used his custom-made cleaning table on our stern to clean and fillet the fish for dinner another night.

Our guests left about 10 p.m. and the bay was like glass. I can’t describe the beauty here.

Sunday, June 26, 2005: Ganges to Pender Harbor

We got underway early -- around 7 a.m. -- and the first bit of travel in the Georgia straits was calm but then the wind picked up along with the swells and the motion. I must say it was quite a ride and I really enjoyed seeing how the boat handled. “Kasekuchen” was awesome, absolutely no creaks or groans just a wonderful motion. Yeah!!! I did not get sick!! The other boats had stabilizers and were using them. I felt extremely proud of myself and Bob was ecstatic that we made it thru in such comfort.

Thursday – Saturday, June 23-24-25, 2005: Friday Harbor to Ganges

Our cruise began at Friday Harbor with John & Kathy Youngblood aboard “Mystic Moon” and Don & Linda Sanborn aboard” Interlude” and our “Kasekuchen." We were all heading for Canadian customs in Bedwell. The day was warm and sunny and the trip took about an hour. We were only allowed two bottles of wine each to be brought into Canada. Kathy & John are Northern California wine collectors and paid duty on their two cases that they brought in, which was hefty but worth the price to have their fabulous wines.

We are officially in the Gulf Islands. We are headed for Ganges on Salt Spring Island where we will stay a couple of nights to wait for our fourth boat, “Koinonia” and Mark & Roseanne Tilden. The day has gotten windy and unfortunately the wind pushed us into the breakwater which had a nice wooden dock with big bolts protruding and our beautiful green hull got it’s first boo -boo. Nothing major, just scratches along the port side.

Ganges is a very pretty small town with some great shops, restaurants, and a hardware store to rival McGuckins in Boulder. We walked around town and shopped at the large grocery store and went to dinner at a great restaurant(Artist’s Bistro

The next morning we enjoyed the bustling Farmer’s Market where there was not as much produce as we expected, but great bakeries, cheeses, and lots of natural products. Bob had his horoscope done, and we both bought Funk hats, which are made on the island by Mr. Funk who raises sheep, spins the wool and creates the hats.

That night we had a progressive dinner aboard the boats, starting with Don & Linda who were anchored out—so we took our dinghies to their boat for appetizers, then back to dock to Mark & Roseanne’s for salad, onward to ours for Bob’s famous prosciutto, brie, and pesto sandwiches and lastly we topped it off at John & Kathy’s for ice cream and chocolates. John is a former Dreyer’s guy and ice cream is a food group for them (both very slim) .We all got to know each other and had a great time. Our departure in the morning had to be early because we needed to get through Active Pass during slack tide at 8 AM.

Linda Sanborn with one of Bob's famous prosciutto sandwiches

Very sad, we had to say good-bye to Don and Linda aboard "Interlude." Don needed to get to Nanaimo to get some business done by fax and internet and Linda needed to fly back home to Las Vegas. Don did some great photography of “Mystic Moon” and “Kasekuchen” cruising in the straights and set it to music. Wow it was awesome! Our time together has been memorable. We plan on meeting them in the fall and cruise together.

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