Coal Harbour, Vancouver

I came back to Vancouver this afternoon after spending a night on Bowen Island. Now I am tied up in Coal Harbour, no coal in sight, but a very urban environment and only a 15 minute walk from our flat.

Gambier Island

After a somewhat bouncy crossing of the Straight of Georgia yesterday, and a quiet night in Gibson’s Landing, I am now in Howe Sound close to Vancouver. I am anchored in Port Graves on Gambier Island. The log booms that used to fill this bay have given way to docks for the fancy holiday homes. The scenery of water, snow capped mountains and a dense forrest in between is still very beautiful. I am alone in the bay and as far as I can tell, most homes are unoccupied.

Thetis Island

I got out of Connor Cove with plenty of water under the keel and went north a few miles to Clam Bay between Thetis and Kuper Island. Kuper, or as it is known now Penelakut, is home to a group of about 300 First Nations band, and off limits to me. Thetis has two marinas, a pub and a few year round residents. To get there however, I have to take the dinghy across the cut between the islands, and that only has water in it at high tide. Fortunately, that is at 6pm today, and at 5 there was already enough water for a visit to the pub. Fitting ending to a busy day of boat work, kayaking, and watching the wildlife.

Conover Cove

I motored from Sidney to Wallace Island this afternoon and am now anchored in Conover Cove. In the 40s and 50s David Conover lived here with his wife, fulfilling their dream of their own island. He wrote a couple of books about the experience, one of which I read as a teenager and found very impressive. Today the island is a park and people leave boat mementos in one of the old cabins. The bay is rather shallow and I have to watch the tides. Tomorrow I need to leave before 9am, which is much better than the last time we were here in 2004, when we had to leave at 6am.

conover cove

old cabin

Back on Ancient Murrelet

Today I flew to Victoria and got back on the boat. Quite a bit of sorting to do, but the boat looks great. The weather was cold and rainy, hopefully better tomorrow.

Back in Vancouver

I have returned to Vancouver, the weather is beautiful and Cecily took good care of our flat. Now I am busy unpacking, preparing a lecture and getting ready for the summer.

California

I very much enjoyed hiking in Bryce Canyon, though the mornings were rather cold. From there I went on to Zion National Park and hiked Angels Landing and Observation Point, both quite spectacular (the picture is from the second hike). I bypassed Las Vegas but spent one night in Boulder City close to the Hoover Dam (which used to be called Boulder Dam). Now I am in Death Valley in California, enjoying a last day of sun and heat. Tomorrow I plan to fly back to Vancouver.