September
3, 2004 Shelter
Bay to Blind Bay (WA)
The
first leg of our 10 day journey. We
have loaded on the provisions – of course not too much else we would have no
excuse to go out to eat or to provision at the Thriftway in Ganges. The day is beautiful and we were able to
leave at a nice hour, 3:00.
Arrived at blind bay where it is so calm and beautiful. I’ve started dinner
and Andy went to set the crab traps.
Hopefully we will have some wonderful surprises in our traps tomorrow!
Finished the night off with some cookies and milk and a game of cards.
September 4, 2004
Blind
Bay/Poets Cove/Horton Cove,
Mayne Island
It
was a great nights sleep and we started the day off right….a visit to our
crab traps. We got three nice
ones! We went to the general store
that the nuns run, but learned they no longer own it. Back to the boat enjoying breakfast and
suddenly realized that our anchor was dragging. Yikes!
A quick start and we were on our way to clear customs at Poet’s Cove
on Pender Island. Called Linda (owner of our favorite
B&B, Bayview) and she was having a family weekend at the place. She invited us by. Who were we to say no to such great people
in the most beautiful cove in all of the islands. First we cleared customs at
Poet’s Cove and then had a wonderful crab lunch at anchor. But the anchor did not set again and we
were on course to hit another boat. We
had another quick exit. Tied up to the dock at Linda’s, made it up the 150
stairs and visited with, Linda, Jennifer & Jason, Kathryn. It was great to catch up. Had a great dinner with them. Turns out they are reality TV junkies too,
so we all watched Big Brother. Too tired to even go hot tubing.
September 5, 2004
Horton Bay, Mayne Island
to Montague Harbor, Galliano Island
Wow
what a day! It could not be
prettier. Went up to say a quick
goodbye and ended up staying for breakfast.
Fresh croissants, banana bread and fruit salad. The day is starting out perfect. Everyone came down to tour the boat and we
were off to our next destination.
Arrived in Montague Harbor and quickly noticed the floating bakery was
in port. So of course that was our
first stop – we know our priorities!
We put our order in for cinnamon buns for the next morning and now it
was time for lunch. We hitched a ride
over to Sturdies
Bay for our favorite Indonesian place, more
like a cart on wheels, but it is tasty. Another thumb out and a ride back to
the other side of the island. Our sweet
tooth had now kicked in so we made a pass by the floating bakery for a treat
or two. Andy ended up with a whole pie
and our morning order had now been increased to 3 cinnamon rolls and 2 sausage
rolls. On the was back to Another Whim we saw some folks we met in Desolation
Sound about five years ago – Simba is the boat name, Mike and Carolyn. It is
a nice 61 foot Tolly. We ended the night with a beautiful sun set and a
romantic steak dinner for two on Another Whim!
September 6, 2004
Galliano Island to Ganges,
Salt Spring Island
Another
beautiful day. Andy ran over on the
dingy and picked up our hot cinnamon buns, delivered to my bed side.
A
nice ride to Ganges where we set anchor in Madrona Bay.
What a view! As always we had a
wonderful dinner at House Picolo (side note: they mix half butter with half
cream cheese in place of just butter and bread – it is excellent). Finally
made it to the movie theater in the little church and finished off the night
listening to live folk music by Valdy at the Tree Top. Is it possible to have two perfect days in
a row?
September 7, 2004
Ganges to Genoa Bay,
Vancouver Island
Mmmmmm,
Baba Benny for breakfast. What a
treat! Went to Thriftway to pick our
order up that we placed before leaving Seattle…2
lbs of candied salmon nuggets, 5 lamb kabobs
and 4 beef. Of course we couldn’t end
there. We left with many bags of
wonderful treasures.
Arriving
back at Genoa
is like visiting an old friend, always glad to see you and a place to stay
that feels just right. Shortly after
securing the lines a rowdy bunch that we new came up on a dingy: Bill &
Janet Winters and Phyllis & Bill Arbuckle. What a surprise to see them. We were on our
way to get some ice cream at the Utter Guys in Cowichan so we all hoped in
our dingys and made our way over. It
was a wet ride, but well worth it! My
ice cream was chocolate with homemade chunks of fudge. Andy had rum raisin
and the raisins were soaked in rum for 24 hours. Before dinner everyone came
over to our boat for drinks. As we all
stood on the back deck with the sun hitting us Bill looked up and said, “Your
mom is looking down on us smiling that we are all on the boat.” It was so good to hear, it warmed me inside from head to toe. Our romantic dinner for two at the Genoa
Bay Café turned into dinner for six.
It was good to see everyone though.
The meal was excellent and we will be sure to go back again…as usual.
September 8, 2004
Genoa to Telegraph Harbor, Thetis Island
The
morning started out with rain, but soon turned to sun. We tied up at Telegraph Harbor,
put on our foul weather gear and were off through the cut to find the
doughnut lady. Rumor has it that she makes amazing doughnuts, but we have not
been. We found it, but due to the time
of year, she only makes them on weekends. Drats! I guess we will have to come back next
year. Went over to the pub to share a
burger and brew. Of course hockey was on and the locals couldn’t get enough. Finished off with a milk shake at Telegraph Harbor. Tasty! A few hours later and after the wind
has calmed down the k-bobs were barbequed, a movie was watched and a few
competitive hands of gin were played. Vacation
has truly kicked in.
September 9, 2004
Telegraph Harbor to Sibell Bay,
Vancouver Island
Woke
up to an unexpected beautiful day so we celebrated with a morning
milkshake. After a quick boat cleanup we cruised for
just under an hour to Sibell
Bay. Anchoring was tough but very important as
the forecast claims it is going to blow 20-30 knots. For dinner we jumped into the dingy for a
ride over to Page Point Inn – the old Manna lodge. Wow what a
difference. They have really done a
nice job with the place. (Side note:
if you tie up here you can use their hot tub, right on the bank overlooking
the water). Dinner was very good and the view was fabulous for watching the
sun go down. Back to the boat on the
dingy. The water was like glass. It was breathtaking. We finished the night
watching the sun set from the bow of Another Whim. Is it possible for every
day of a trip to be so perfect?
September 10, 2004
Sibell Bay to Glenthorne Passage, Prevost Island
This
is the day we are supposed to head to Yellow Point Lodge. The marine forecast says gale force winds
from the south, so Yellow Point is not the place to be. We grabbed a mooring buoy and said a quick
hello to Joan. Back on the boat to
find a place to weather the storm.
Andy picked a great anchorage in Glenthorne Passge. It was beautiful and well protected. There were a number of boaters preparing
for the storm. Went for a dingy ride
in the rain the explore the island a bit.
It is really a special spot here.
Had a great brat and sauerkraut dinner. Played cards forever and hit the bed early
since we didn’t know what the night was going to bring us.
September 11, 2004
Glenthorne
Passage to Friday
Harbor, San Juan Island
We
were well protected last night so no real problems, but it rained and rained
and rained. Making our way home and
what a lumpy ride it is, 4-5 foot waves.
Andy and I both got soaked while up on the fly bridge. Landed in Friday Harbor for the final oyster/beer of
the year and a scoop of ice cream. Got
Thai food to go, rented a movie and enjoyed a secure night on the dock with
all the electricity we could use.
September 12, 2004
Friday Harbor to Home
What
a trip it has been. I have enjoyed every minute with my baba – the sunny days
were far more than the couple of wet ones. It was good to see familiar
friends and places and a few new ones along the way. We will be back for another journey next
year to these old islands we are now so familiar with that we consider them
friends.
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