Poet’s Cove, South Pender Island

Sheila came to Sidney yesterday and we enjoyed a nice dinner there. Today we went to South Pender Island and are tied up at the marina there now.

Port Browning

I went on to the Pender Islands today and am anchored now in Port Browning. The local marina has a nice pub, which I intend to check out later today.

Addendum: Coming back from the nice pub, I met Doug from a boat close to me that is also named Ancient Murrelet (you might need to zoom in on the door of the boat in his picture to see the nice painting of the bird), glad he did not register her, so I could use the name. We shared a beer and a few island stories (and I rescued his dinghy).

Port Browning

Sidney Spit (again)

Sheila and I spent a very nice evening in Vancouver, I came back to the boat yesterday and Sheila will stay a few more days in town. Today I went from Victoria to Sidney Spit. On the way the two SALTS ships, Pacific Grace and Pacific Swift passed me, always a nice sight. Nine years ago I donated our boat Ibis to SALTS; they do great work with young people.

pacific grace 2015 09 25

pacific swift 2015 09 25

Victoria

We pulled into Victoria for a couple of nights and enjoyed walking around town today. The weather has been great.

Oak Bay near Victoria

Yesterday was very windy and we spent the day in the marina. Today it is warm and sunny and we went to Oak Bay close to Victoria. This is a nice and well run marina, and ten years ago the restaurant was also very good. We will check on that tonight, now it is time to enjoy the sunshine.

Maple Bay, Vancouver Island

It rained a lot during the night and also is rather cold and windy. We did a short trip to Maple Bay and will spend the night here. The marina is nice and well kept, including a number of old engines in various places.

Telegraph Harbour, Thetis Island

I am back in Telegraph Harbour, Sheila will fly here tomorrow. Unfortunately, the chef and cook suffered medical problems and the kitchen is closed. I have enough food on board, so should be able to survive.

Chemainus, BC

I left the little island and went to the small town of Chemainus on the east coast of Vancouver Island. Once a busy logging place, the town now is a major tourist destination due to the over 40 large murals painted on the outside walls of local houses and businesses. It took me over an hour to walk to almost all of them.

Princess Cove, Wallace Island

I left Vancouver this morning on the first floatplane to Saltspring, Sheila will be in the city for a few more days. After a short trip I am now anchored in Princess Cove on Wallace Island. There is a large park here, ideal for kayaking and walking. When I came in, there was only a deer and her baby here, and they were not bothered by me anchoring across from the bluff they are resting on. Unfortunately, they are so well camouflaged that they do not show up well on the pictures taken with my phone. So all you get to see is my lunch, bottom right, insalata tricolore with tomatoes, avocado and mozzarella (it was good).

Kinesiology

We attended a 50th year celebration of the Kinesiology Department at Simon Fraser University last night, great fun and some people recognised us from our time there over thirty years ago. It was great meeting some friends from our student days and see some pictures from so long ago. In 1979 Parveen Bawa organized a raft trip through the Fraser Canyon, the picture shows Sheila and me enjoying a quiet stretch on what turned out to be a rather scary ride.