So much since last we reported in! We left Pender Harbor on July 1 for a run up Jervis Inlet to the best part of the trip: Princess Louisa Inlet. This park is just about the prettiest spot on the west coast. It takes all day to get there and you have to be right on time for the slack tide at Malibu Rapids. We got to sail about half the way there which was great. We were really lucky to get a spot at the dock despite it being Canada Day weekend! We squeezed in and it was a pretty impressive docking with the campers manning dock lines. We hiked up to the falls the next day and had a ring ceremony for Esme. We had a 04:45 slack tide to catch on July 3, so that was an early one! Back to Pender Harbor at John Henry Marina for showers and laundry. Next day had some great upwind sailing and got us to Van Anda on the north side of Texada Island. A tricky docking here too, and the campers impressed all the yachts at the marina with the handling of the boat. We played capture the chicken on the old baseball field which covers the entrance to an old mine from the 1800s. We had dinner at a tiny family-owned restaurant with one employee. She wasn’t so sure she wanted 13 people showing up at once, but the campers and our cook convinced her with their politeness and gratitude. It was a really sweet experience. On the 5th, we got groceries and visited the Texada Museum, which was awesome. We left around noon for my friend Lorne Jacobsen’s house on Cortes Island and stayed at his dock. It was really hot, so the swim off his float was very welcome. Next day we headed for Desolation Sound where the campers decided what we’d do for the next few days. They picked my two favorite spots; Tenedos Bay, with a hike to Unwin Lake and a cliff jump into bottomless, warm, crystal clear water. We swam twice there. On the 7th, we ran to Teakearne Arm, but it was too windy to anchor, and went to Refuge Cove instead. This is one of my favorite places; it’s like an old west town, only one built on a dock. It used to be the main stop for steamboats heading north to Alaska but after a new safer channel was created, the town withered. It was purchased in the 1970s by some enterprising hippies that turned it into a supply port and hangout for boaters in Desolation Sound. The campers loved it. On the 8th we headed to Prideaux Haven, a must stop in Desolation. The water was 73 degrees and we swam and rowed around. We also had Zach and Alea’s Boon Pin Ceremony. This morning we celebrated Kaeje’s birthday by swinging on a big rope swing into the water. As we left for Cortes Island we spotted a pod of about 50 Pacific Whitesided Dolphins! Fantastic sailing in the afternoon brought us to Gorge Harbor for showers, laundry and groceries. We are predicted to have strong winds from the south for the next few days and are therefore amending our plans accordingly; instead of heading north to Quadra Island, we are heading south early tomorrow morning to beat the winds. We plan to travel south through Malaspina Channel to the Sunshine Coast, perhaps Pender Harbor again. Tuesday the wind is supposed to be calm enough for a crossing of the Straits towards Nanaimo, and then we will be in the Gulf Islands, a safer place to be in high southerlies. We’ll check in again around Saltspring Island. It’s hard to believe that we only have a week left on this side of the border! See you all soon.
-Capt. Ryan and Crew