WEDNESDAY AUGUST 29TH— 0625 The sky is pink to the south as we ride at anchor in Genoa Bay on Vancouver Island.
Since I didn’t get to T&J Café in Ganges to email Whisper Log 7, you may be concerned that we got sucked into some black hole. The black hole is a lack of internet connectivity here in the Gulf Islands.
At the public dock in Ganges I met Arnold & Donna Lyon from Helena, MT. Arnold is a retired periodontist and they like to spend their winters skiing at Silverbow in Montana and summers on Silverbow, their McGregor 26. There will be a winter trip skiing with them in Montana in my future. We compared cruising notes and it set my course to move west from Ganges.
Leaving the public dock I went out to Third Sister Island to retrieve the crab pot. Fresh crab for breakfast! I reset the trap & anchored Whisper.
Monday night was a beautiful moonrise, nearly full, over Ganges Harbour.
In the morning Donna & Arnold were to hit the bakery and then join me on Whisper for crab crepes. I successfully augmented the recipe with pine nuts. Arnold & Donna approved.
At the public dock in Ganges I met Arnold & Donna Lyon from Helena, MT. Arnold is a retired periodontist and they like to spend their winters skiing at Silverbow in Montana and summers on Silverbow, their McGregor 26. There will be a winter trip skiing with them in Montana in my future. We compared cruising notes and it set my course to move west from Ganges.
Leaving the public dock I went out to Third Sister Island to retrieve the crab pot. Fresh crab for breakfast! I reset the trap & anchored Whisper.
Monday night was a beautiful moonrise, nearly full, over Ganges Harbour.
In the morning Donna & Arnold were to hit the bakery and then join me on Whisper for crab crepes. I successfully augmented the recipe with pine nuts. Arnold & Donna approved.
The anchor came up and we said our final goodbye to Ganges for this summer. We’ll be back. The crab pot again worked it’s magic and I met MONSTRO the 8” Dungeness. You will hear more about him later in the day.Fulford Harbour was the first stop for a walk about. It never happened. The marina wanted $5 docking fee and the public dock was both rundown and full. I just left Fulford in my stern. In my cruising record Fulford is synonymous with forget about it. Rounding the south end of Salt Spring Island our next destination was to overnight in Genoa Bay.
The wind piped up to 13 knots, providing us with a great reach & then broad reach across Satellite Channel. While under sail I decided it was timely to clean Monstro & his rock crab companion. With every intention of retaining Monstro’s shell as a record, I was so caught up in my cleaning routine that I only realized what I had done as I saw his shell disappear below the surface behind me. Oh well!
Pulling into Genoa Bay we decided on the shallow NE side and anchored with 16’ under the keel. I dinghyed ashore to discover limited connectivity to the internet. As I was returning to the Avon I recognized Black Cat from Seattle Marina. I walked down the dock to introduce myself to Jeff, my Seattle neighbor.
Back on Whisper we were treated to an aerial ballet as two Golden Eagles were soaring in the thermals above the island. The next tasks were to cook the crab, shell the crab and prepare dinner. On this evening’s menu was penne pasta al dente with Classico Alfredo sauce with pine nuts &, of course, fresh crab dusted with Parmesan cheese. Dessert was to be fresh blackberries with whipped cream.
Really! That is just one crab.
In Jewish tradition, when the Passover Seder meal is served, a place is set for one more than the attending guests in case Elijah shows. Well I followed that tradition in setting YOU a place…
but you never came.
With dishes done and Whisper shipshape, I turned in by 2130 with the full moon yet to rise over the tree line.
After retrieving a crab pot devoid of both bait and crab I made ready to leave Genoa Bay. With the promise of both WIFI & phone service I weighed anchor ready to make for Cowichan Bay a short distance away. On my way out of the bay I noted that the couple on Skaggerak, a Hanse 400 were in the cockpit. I detoured to tell them, I wish I had your boat and you had a nicer one. They smiled and gave me a thumbs up. Under a cloudless azure blue sky we left Genoa Bay in our wake.
Arriving in Cowichan Bay I learned that in Canada all public docks have red railings. I tied Whisper to the dock and went to check in with the harbourmaster (this IS Canada). I further learned that the lime green stripes where I had secured indicates transient moorage, free until 1600.
I went in search of WIFI. As I walked the street of Cowichan Bay I found the Rock Cod Café. Great breakfast with coffee for $7.69 Canadian. I tried the internet, NO LUCK. A short walk to the hotel lobby, and here I am.
In Jewish tradition, when the Passover Seder meal is served, a place is set for one more than the attending guests in case Elijah shows. Well I followed that tradition in setting YOU a place…
but you never came.
With dishes done and Whisper shipshape, I turned in by 2130 with the full moon yet to rise over the tree line.
After retrieving a crab pot devoid of both bait and crab I made ready to leave Genoa Bay. With the promise of both WIFI & phone service I weighed anchor ready to make for Cowichan Bay a short distance away. On my way out of the bay I noted that the couple on Skaggerak, a Hanse 400 were in the cockpit. I detoured to tell them, I wish I had your boat and you had a nicer one. They smiled and gave me a thumbs up. Under a cloudless azure blue sky we left Genoa Bay in our wake.
Arriving in Cowichan Bay I learned that in Canada all public docks have red railings. I tied Whisper to the dock and went to check in with the harbourmaster (this IS Canada). I further learned that the lime green stripes where I had secured indicates transient moorage, free until 1600.
I went in search of WIFI. As I walked the street of Cowichan Bay I found the Rock Cod Café. Great breakfast with coffee for $7.69 Canadian. I tried the internet, NO LUCK. A short walk to the hotel lobby, and here I am.
Leaving Cowichan I lay a course for Winter Cove. Wednesday night there, a day of sailing in Plumper Sound with explorations of Lyall Harbour, Boot Cove and Hope Bay. Thursday night again in Winter Cove with a farewell sunset.
Leaving at 0600 Friday morning provided outstanding sunrise views over the San Juan Islands.
Here we are clearing the southern most tip of Saturna Island as we enter Boundary Channel.
With the current speeding us along at times up to 8.4 knots SOG, we tied up at the U.S. Customs dock in Friday Harbor by 0900. Again greeting David & Kerry Freeland at our Front Street Cafe, Kerry had just
flown in for the transit south, I logged onto the internet to post Whisper Log 7.
Back aboard Whisper, we clear the dock on our way to Cattle Pass. While timing may not be everything, it sure helps when it comes to tides & currents!
Here we are clearing the southern most tip of Saturna Island as we enter Boundary Channel.With the current speeding us along at times up to 8.4 knots SOG, we tied up at the U.S. Customs dock in Friday Harbor by 0900. Again greeting David & Kerry Freeland at our Front Street Cafe, Kerry had just
flown in for the transit south, I logged onto the internet to post Whisper Log 7.Back aboard Whisper, we clear the dock on our way to Cattle Pass. While timing may not be everything, it sure helps when it comes to tides & currents!
Cattle Pass gave us 10.3 knots with casual RPMs. Once in the Strait of Juan de Fuca we found rain coming off the north side of the Olympic Penninsula. With winds of 8 knots on the beam, we altered course to quarter the waves and hoisted sail abreast of Smith Island.
The sails did not come down until the light on the NW point of Marrowstone Island. You can see the current chop in the waters off of Point Wilson that gave us 9.5 knots. Thank You!
Looking over my right shoulder I had this view of blue sky over the San Juan Islands. I was forced to ask myself, Why am I returning?
There is already much to look forward to for next year in parts north.
By 1800 I had dropped anchor in the back bay of Port Ludlow after filling the diesel tank at the fuel dock. Whisper last had her diesel drink on Sunday, August 26th, prior to our last week in the Gulf Islands and she now only took 14.5 gallons. I like the math! We covered a lot of water in that time.
Saturday, September 1st
After sleeping in untill 0800, I went into Port Ludlow for laundry, shower and blackberries. Around 1400 the first of what was to become a record 19 boat raft arrived.
Seafaringly, your skipper,
Joe Grande
joe_grande@msn.com
Joe Grande
joe_grande@msn.com
1 comment:
Interesting to know.
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