Orcas in the harbour

When we have the boat in Vancouver, we sometimes take a trip through the harbour into Indian Arm for a lunch there. This morning, a group of orcas had the same idea. When I was walking around Stanley Park, I saw them crossing under the Lions Gate Bridge. In the last few months this has happened a few times and is probably related to the considerable increase in the pinniped (seals and sea lions) populations here in BC. The transient killer whales, or Bigg´s Killer Whales eat pinnipeds and are doing very well here (in contrast to the resident groups that eat salmon). There are some good sized seal colonies in Indian Arm, and I guess some of the whales have found them and are stopping by on a regular basis.

Orca close to Lion´s Gate Bridge

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Vancouver

I am enjoying my time in Vancouver, though our place is a bit of a mess. But Sheila is making great progress with the renovation and I am busy with meetings. Tonight we went together for a business meeting close to the Convention Center, and sitting in the sun chatting with friends was rather enjoyable.

Campbell River, BC

I came into Campbell River today, where I will leave the boat for two weeks. The day was busy with maintenance tasks and a trip to the chandlery. While it was still sunny, the strong wind made it quite cool.

Gowlland Harbour

The night at Rebecca Spit was nice and quiet, but for tonight the forecast is for strong winds. I came into Gowlland Harbour, close to Campbell River. This is very protected, pretty and has lots of seals, eagles and harbour porpoises. On the way I saw a small group of humpback whales. The weather continues to be hot and sunny and I spent the afternoon on the Hobie kayak.

Rebecca Spit, Quadra Island

Wolfgang left yesterday morning, Sheila in the evening, and today I headed north. It was a very hot and sunny day, with a fair bit of wind. I stopped at Mitlenach Island, a marine park in the middle of the Strait of Georgia. On the way I saw a small pod of orcas, but did not get a good picture. Very noisy sea lions welcomed me at the island, the park wardens were very friendly and the seagulls worked hard at being noisier than the sea lions. It all smelled a bit fishy too. I walked around the island, which was great. The anchorage there is only good in certain conditions, holds only a boat or two, and this is the first time it all worked out for me. Fantastic!

Welcoming committee of sea lions

The outhouse did not smell

After lunch I continued on to Drew Harbour on Quadra Island and now am anchored behind Rebecca Spit. It is so hot here that quite a few people went swimming, but not me.

Ancient Murrelet behind Rebecca Spit

Another day, another hike

We went to the Denman dock today and took a long hike around the middle of the island. The weather turned windy and cool, but was good for the hike. In the afternoon we came into Comox, and it will be a pub night!

More sunshine!

I spent two days in Comox and yesterday evening Sheila and Wolfgang, who is in Vancouver for a week, flew in. Today we spent a sunny and hot day on the water at Sandy Island and with a long walk along the beach at low tide.

An active day

The rain turned out to be only a bit of drizzle, but the forecast was for a Qualicum wind, which makes Tribune Bay very uncomfortable or even dangerous.

The UBC website on this describes Qualicum wind as a unique local wind system that forms when a high pressure ridge sits on the west side of Vancouver Island, a southwesterly inflow funnels through Port Alberni Inlet, across the island through a gap in the mountains, finally emerging as strong outflow winds into the Strait of Georgia. These outflow winds have sometimes torn apart the log booms pulled by tugboats down the Georgia Strait, when the tugs travel through the Qualicum outflow winds.

So I left Tribune Bay and docked at the Denman Island Public Dock to go hiking (9km) and enjoy lunch at a quirky bistro there.

Earth Club Factory Bistro

I then anchored for a couple of hours next to Sandy Island, one of the nicest beaches in BC. It was overcast, but paddling around it was still fun, another two hours of exercise. Now I am anchored again at Henry Bay for the night, recovering from the strenuous activities.

Henry Bay, Denman Island

Tribune Bay

The wind slowed down and the rain stopped. Most of the day was nice and sunny and I came into Tribune Bay on Hornby Island to walk on the beach and take the kayak to the sea lions (not too close). Unfortunately, the forecast calls for more rain tonight.

Henry Bay, Denman Island

It is raining, really windy and very cool. Fords Cove was getting a little restless and I came into Henry Bay on Denman Island. Once I dressed for the weather, a trip on the paddle board and the walk along the beach were quite nice.