Visit with friends

Friends from our time in Michigan are visiting and we went out on Ancient Murrelet today and anchored behind Jug Island in Indian Arm. The weather was great and the young ones went swimming. Very enjoyable day!

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Vancouver

I brought the boat back to Vancouver and we are busy running errands and preparing for the next sets of visitors. In the summer, there are three weeks of free concerts at the local CBC building, and today Sheila and I met there to take a break, listen to some nice Latin jazz in the sun and grab lunch. Now it is back to the grindstone.

Bedwell Bay, Belcarra

Sheila left with our friends yesterday and today I also left early with the boat as the Bowen Island ferry woke me up shortly after 5am. I crossed busy Vancouver Harbour, went under the Second Narrows Railroad Bridge (the charts say that I should have at least 1.5m extra clearance), and I am now anchored in Bedwell Bay in Belcarra. This is just across from Deep Cove in Indian Arm. Last week a bear plundered the picnic bags of beach goers a few hundred meters from here (https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/british-columbia/belcarra-s-white-pine-beach-remains-closed-due-to-problem-bear-1.4739202), but today there is not a bear in sight.

Bowen Island

We are spending the weekend at Bowen Island with friends from our student days. We explored Howe Sound, reminisced about old times and solved a few of the world’s greater problems. The weather continues to be hot and sunny.

Port Graves, Gambier Island

I left Keats Island very early this morning because a swell started to come into the anchorage. I spent the day going around Gambier Island, stopping to drift about while cleaning the boat and anchored in a bay to check on my second anchor. Tonight I am in Port Graves in front of camp Artaban, an Anglican institution that seems to have a lot of kids there right now. The picture shows my track in red.

Gibsons, Keats and friends

I left Sargeant Bay early this morning and headed south. At Keats Island I met some friends from our Alaska trip and we had a nice long chat. I then anchored at Gibson’s Landing and did some boat cleaning. In the evening I took the dinghy into town to have scallops and mussels, nice. For the night I am back at Keats, but all the anchorages here are very rolly due to the current weather (hot and sunny with westerly winds) and a lot of boat traffic.

Sargeant Bay

Sheila went back to Vancouver this morning and I am in Sargeant Bay again. The beach is very nice to walk on at low tide, and summer is returning with sunny weather. There is a creek that salmon use and bears visit, but the fish come late in the fall and the only activity today was eagles and vultures fighting over a fish carcass.

Long day and back to Secret Cove

We tried out a few new things today. First we went for coffee to Halfmoon Bay, where we had not been before. Then we went into Buccaneer Bay and took a long stroll on the sandy beach on North Thormanby Island. As the weather turned rainy again, we came back into Secret Cove for the night.

Our mode of transport

North Thormanby Island

Beach North Thormanby

Secret Cove

We enjoyed a very quiet night in the Jedediahs and walked the main island this morning. Later we came to Secret Cove, which does not seem so secret anymore: the shores are solid rows of summer cottages, many with docks, and there are quite a few boats as well. But, there also is a gas station where we can fill the dinghy tanks and a restaurant we want to try. The picture is of the old Palmer homestead on Jedediah Island.

Jedediahs

After a couple of busy days in Pender Harbour, Sheila and I are now enjoying a quiet evening at anchor in the Jedediah Islands (and hope of course that the night will be even quieter!). The weather is slowly improving and hopefully in a few days it will feel like summer again.