Two walks in the park

Today I did two walks in the park! In the morning I walked along the trails on Portland Island that I omitted yesterday. We were last on this island in 2004, and I was happy to see that the only change was a new sign telling people to pick up to 6 fruit of a kind in the old orchards (a family of racoons harvesting apples blithely ignored this). In the afternoon I moved over to Russell Island and did another walk in the park (and ate some more apples). The view from the beach is towards Reginald Hill, which I climbed last Saturday. The weather was great, sunny and warm in the afternoon.

http://map.iridium.com/m?lat=48.750667&lon=-123.409453

A walk in the park

Portland Island was given to Princess Margaret when she visited British Columbia in 1958. In 1967 she gave it back and today it is a nice park with a few anchorages, campgrounds and walks. I came into Princess Bay today and hiked around the island. The weather was sunny, but cool and windy.

http://map.iridium.com/m?lat=48.718912&lon=-123.370495

Fulford Harbour

The sun came out again, but it is still very windy. I came to Saltspring Island today and am anchored in Fulford Harbour now. This is well protected from the Northerly wind, so it was a good place to clean and pack away some of our water toys. The harbour also has a nice dinghy dock, and a great hike up to Reginald Hill. The best: there is a nice restaurant at the ferry terminal to recover from the hike!

http://map.iridium.com/m?lat=48.768125&lon=-123.456295

Tod Inlet

The weather is still very unsettled and I came into this totally protected bay today. There are thirteen boats and a floathome in here, more than I have seen in any of my other visits. With the heavy rain showers and strong winds, it really feels like fall and I am starting to pack up the boat for the winter.
http://map.iridium.com/m?lat=48.559400&lon=-123.467772

Rum Island and Sidney Spit

I spent the evening yesterday on Ibis, a 35 foot sailboat we owned from 2003 to 2006. Gary, the current owner, runs a successful sailing business on it (blackfishsailing.com) and it was nice to see the boat in such great shape and swap a few stories with Gary and his students. Ibis even features on the training book now.

The night was windy but not as much rain as forecast. Today I went to Rum Island for a walk. We had never been here before. During prohibition this island was used to smuggle rum, but I did not find any.

http://map.iridium.com/m?lat=48.663962&lon=-123.280963

For the night I came to Sidney Spit, always a favourite. I tied up at the dock, something else we had never done before. The afternoon turned out beautiful and sunny.

Our previous sailboat IBIS

Rum Island without the rum

View of Mount Baker from Sidney Spit

Winter Cove

Today the weather was still nice, but the forecast for tonight is strong winds from several directions and heavy rain. I came into Winter Cove on Saturna Island, which offers alround protection. The afternoon was still pleasant, so I went for a walk. Now I am clearing up the boat and getting everything ready for a stormy night.

http://map.iridium.com/m?lat=48.811973&lon=-123.192713

Tumbo and Cabbage Island

I left Vancouver early this morning and it was a perfect day to cruise the Strait of Georgia (in a power boat): no wind, no waves, sunshine and I encountered two groups of humpback whales. Now I am in the Southern Gulf Islands, in the park consisting of Tumbo and Cabbage Islands with a nice bay in between. I took a paddle board out for a long ride and am now enjoying the evening sun.

http://map.iridium.com/m?lat=48.796298&lon=-123.088327

Cultus Lake

We came to Cultus Lake yesterday to join the retreat from our church, about 2 hours into the Fraser Valley from Vancouver. We had a little time to look at the lake and have dinner at the golf club before the program began. It is nice to spend the weekend with friends.

Vancouver in the rain

I brought the boat back to Vancouver for a week and yesterday we celebrated Sheila´s mother birthday with the family on Ancient Murrelet. Unfortunately, it was raining quite heavily, so we stayed at the dock and ate lots of food. Very nice to see everybody and we all had a good time anyhow.

Birthday party

Port Graves

It rained all day, and quite heavily in the afternoon. I came into Port Graves and am anchored off Camp Artaban tonight. Somehow it feels like Howe Sound should look like this, but I think I still prefer sunshine. Nevertheless, I got a lot of boat chores done.

http://map.iridium.com/m?lat=49.472687&lon=-123.354313