Re-entry shock as we leave the wilderness for the real world

June 24^th – Dire forecasts still but peeking through our “window” shows low chop in the Strait.  Decided to scoot around the corner into protected country while we can.  Picked Claydon Bay in more pretty country, shared with several other boats but still very quiet.  Walked around the old lumbering wharf which nature is reclaiming.  The second-growth forest behind looks pretty mature. 

Raining steady in little wind while the weather service still predicts that a front will be moving through “real soon now” as we say in software development.  It has been a challenge the whole trip to figure out how to deal with these worst-case-timing-worst-case-location forecasts covering large areas, which take on a “crying wolf” aspect requiring a lot of reading between the lines.  Getting the NavFax to work reliably would be a help -- then I could see where the front really is, when it really starts to move and thus when the wind warnings might actually apply where.  Meanwhile like everyone else I listen to the actual reports, watch the barometer trends, look out the window to see how fast the clouds are moving, make an educated guess – and finally go have a cautious look with fallbacks in case we happen to enter that worst-case spot.

June 25^th – Took a quick peek at Kingcome Inlet and Shawl Bay; both look worth a visit another year.  Sightseeing at Deep Sea Bluff and Lacy Falls in Tribune.

Got a warm welcome from hosts Max, Anca, Russell and Maricke at Kwatsi Cove.  Met Bob and Marilynn Hale and thanked them for their excellent Waggoner Guide!  Spent a pleasant day in spite of the rain chatting with folks from the other boats (it’s a fair sample of cruisers we have seen: 3 GB, 1 Tolly, 1 OA, 2 sail, all ranging 32 to 42 feet).  Popcorn had a great time running the dock with Maricke, as charming a young lady as Waggoner suggests, plus meeting all the other people.  Great stop: not fancy or complete services yet but a happy place.  Lovely waterfall “music” to boot.

June 26^th – the front never broke through the ridge and is apparently dissipating instead; been raining steady and heavy all night into this morning though dead calm.  Got to talking with Max and found he is a careful observer of animal behavior and intelligence.  Wonderful stories about the bears, cougars and ravens they live with year-round.  Jan played “Grandma” to Maricke and Russell, passing along craft supplies and cookies. 

Then off to Lagoon Cove in thin fog (3 mile visibility) and rain, no wind.  Had a great time at the Happy Hour meeting interesting folks.  One of the fellows has the same sort of “quilting” problems with Visual Studio that I see on Furuno/C-Map, down to one of the same map inset examples I found.  Curious since I assume they use different data bases and presumably code.  Perhaps someone designed a faulty algorithm years ago that everyone is using?  Still raining pretty heavily here at 8 pm is spite of the “dissipating front” – should be better once we get completely behind the Vancouver Island rain shadow in the next day or two.

June 27^th – weather better today!  Off to fuel dock at 7:00 am sharp for a meeting with the slack tides at Whirlpool and Greene Point rapids, a half-hour each way was still placid.  Johnstone Strait was working itself up to a 2 foot chop for the day but we got out before it did so.  Tied up at Cordero Lodge by 1:00 for a lazy afternoon.  Dinner at the Lodge lived up to all the advanced billing, so this is another must stop for future trips.  Still early season so the guests are cruisers not fisherman.  We have noticed our first mosquitoes the last few days but Jungle Juice keeps them easily at bay.

June 28^th – away promptly at 6 am for a 7:28 slack at Dent and Yuculta Rapids, which Jan piloted us through.  Calm Channel lived up to its name, then into Sutil where things started to get lively.  The weatherman’s gale warnings have finally come true!  This front is moving across us, whipping up 3 (and a few 4) foot waves for the last few miles as we crossed the end result of the whole Strait of Georgia fetch.  Had to “tacK’ a bit south from Viner Point to quarter the waves over to Rebecca Spit, then north inshore with seas aft until turning the corner into Drew Harbour. 

Chose this place for its long sandy beach and endless driftwood for both lady’s pleasure, not for riding out a SE blow, but it should do for all.  Measured 12 knots gusting 25 in the harbour at noon, up to gusts 35 later.  Bedoeling is nervously swinging in a 100’ wide arc around her chain, bouncing in the small wind waves.  Jan is on a cooking binge (goodies coming!), while I watch the GPS and radar for signs of anchor dragging and listen for the wind to ease.  Popcorn is miffed because she isn’t ashore even though the engines are stopped.  Have to wait until this blows out before trying to row an inflatable around.

June 29^th – anchor held fine!  Winds dropped around midnight so took Popcorn ashore in the morning first thing.  Calm and clear early became windy and showery later.  Still got to enjoy the lovely beaches.  Made a dinghy run to the Heriot Bay market for some groceries (they provided a lift back to the dock too) and checked out the Heriot Bay Pub for future reference.  Got splashed a bit on the dinghy ride back as the rising wind had whipped up a 1 foot chop in the anchorage again.

June 30^th – decided Rebecca Spit was about as good a beach as we were going to find so settled in for the day, walked ashore and let Popcorn play with some new dog friends.  She found something thoroughly disgusting to roll in so got a little bath coming aboard – she wasn’t happy but we like her better this way.  Nice relaxing day.  

Watched new arrivals struggle with anchoring here.  The bottom is demanding of both technique and equipment if you hit the wrong spot.  Douglass says it’s a hard bottom and we saw a lot of kelp fouling come up.  Some folks took several tries to get a good set, and one needed to switch anchors.  Very glad ours took the first bite in the wind two nights ago.

I had settled on the beach to read about Ben Franklin the First American (great book by the way), moving my chair and the dinghy up the beach as the tide kept rising.  Went for a short walk and got to yakking with some foks.  By the time I got back Ben was 3 times bigger, full of salt water, which never did dry out again.  Bought another copy to finish it.

July 1^st – cruised down to Schooner Cove for the night, which wins the “best facilities” award for this particular trip hands-down:  nice docks, pool, spa, showers, exercise room.  The pub was closed (temporarily everyone hopes?) but the restaurant was open.

July 2^nd – off right on time to meet slack water at Gabriola Pass, and a fleet of sailboats motoring through with us.  Delightful cruise on the flybridge past old haunts like Connover Cove, and into quiet charming Ganges – oops, what a difference 8 weeks makes – make that bustling charming Ganges.  Lots of boats of all kinds, cars, people, dogs, bikes.  Or maybe we just got out of touch with civilization? Or both?  The Ganges Marina has also changed with the new floating store/office building, new showers, internet access, dock repairs, and more apparently coming.  We did get in without a reservation (say what?) but clearly shouldn’t count on it now that the season is underway.  Celebrated the end of our trip as it began with a superb dinner at House Piccolo.

July 3^rd – a mild trough is passing so skies are mixed and the wind is south 10-15 mph for our run home today.  Lots of sailors out enjoying the wind.  In fact, lots of everyone is out on a week including both Canada Day and the Fourth long weekends.  I’m having big trouble getting re-adjusted to crowds.  Roche Harbor customs clearance went smoothly and quickly considering the volume they were handling. 

Flybridge weather until we got into San Juan Channel where the cold wind against current had whipped up a steep 2-3 foot chop.  This raised concerns about crossing Rosario Strait and Bellingham Bay later, so we ducked behind Crane Island for a few minutes of re-planning.  Decided to continue with some new fallbacks in case we got stopped.  Turned out we had minor 1-2’ chop from there on (actually the worst waves of the day were mostly from inconsiderate boaters; with this many people out there were bound to be some).  We tied up in our Sqaulicum Harbor berth at 6:17 pm to end a fabulous trip!

July 4^th – watched fireworks from our nearly front-row seat on the flybridge, a stunning welcome home.

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