Captain's Log

18:49

Dropped Simon off on Rizpah around 7:45 this morning so he can head back to Vancouver with Nick and Catalina. Been lovely sailing with Rizpah for the last week or so and a sad farewell.

Rizpah left shortly after 8 to head up to Porlier Pass and across the Strait.

We left soon after and motored in very light wind about 2/3 of the way to Ganges Harbour until the wind picked up enough to sail downwind for a bit.

Arrived at the VRC outstation at Ganges Marina and made it to the Saturday market which is a big affair on Saltspring.

Captain's Log

18:49

Another day at anchor in Bedwell Harbour. Had a lovely lunch at Poets Cove resort with Nick, Catalina and family.

Last day with Rizpah so hosted a surf and turf dinner in the evening with 5 rock crab caught just outside the marine park.

Captain's Log

12:30

Spent the day at anchor in Beaumont Marine Park in Bedwell Harbour (next to Poets Cove). Spent the morning on the beach, then some snorkelling and went ashore briefly in the afternoon for a drink at the resort.

Captain's Log

21:34

Left Victoria around 11am and started to make our way up to Poets Cove on Pender Island (unrelated to Pender Harbour). Tried to sail but very little wind so had to motor almost all the way, but was helped by around 4 kts of current that was regularly pushing us over 10 kts speed over ground.

This turned an almost 30 mile trip into a relatively short motor and we anchored off Poets Cove resort near the marine park.

Captain's Log

21:34

Another day in the inner harbour in Victoria. Met up with some friends and spent the day walking around and exploring the local sights.

Captain's Log

13:10

Fun day exploring Victoria with the gang. Lots to do here and fun things to see. Amelie headed off with Catalina and her parents and was fully entertained for the day while myself, Simon and Judy did some shopping at Munro's Books and a few other jaunts.

Captain's Log

17:55

Left Sidney Spit at 11am. Later start today as we had to wait for the tide. Sent Rizpah ahead of us out of the bay to give us depth readings. Min depth leaving was showing 5.8 feet on our sounder. The keel is 5.4 feet below the sounder (7.5 ft draft total), so that gave us 4 inches of clearance — glad we didn't leave any earlier.

Managed to get the sails up through Sidney Channel, but wind soon died and we had to motor for a bit. Got the sails up a few times and had the fishing lines out for a bit but no bites today. Motored down towards Discovery Island at which point the breeze picked up to 15-20 kts and we were able to sail.

Headed out into the Juan de Fuca Strait and turned west towards Victoria against a vicious current that hit 4 kts a few times making progress slow, but we managed to tack out further into the Strait to get some current relief.

Managed to get the rail in the water (30+ deg heel according to the instruments) which made for an exciting sail but caused havoc down below.

Pulled into Victoria Harbour around 5pm and docked next to Rizpah in the inner harbour. Such an incredible spot to be in the heart of the city on the boat — one of our favourite spots.

Captain's Log

09:15

Left Montague at 7:30, Rizpah following a bit behind. Managed to get the sails up just outside the harbour and sailed slowly past Active Pass with the fishing lines down.

About 1-2 kts of current against us made the progress slow and had to put the motor on a couple of times to get us round Portlock Point.

Lots of ferry and tanker traffic making the sailing quite interesting. At least a ferry going by every 10-15 mins.

Managed to hook a good sized coho going past Captain Passage doing about 5 kts.

Had to motor the last few miles with dying wind and anchored just outside the mooring balls around 3pm. We noted 10 ft on the sounder on an 8.8 ft tide coming into Sidney Spit.

Went for a walk around the spit and then hosted dinner for Nick, Catalina and Family with the salmon we caught.

Captain's Log

22:06

Stayed at anchor in Montague Harbour. Another hot and beautiful day. We spent the morning organizing the boat and then took the dinghy over to the park dock inside Montague.

Went for a nice walk around the park (Montague has a great and very popular campsite), which we have done many times before. There is a beautiful shell beach on the north side (which we are anchored in front of) and a boggy lagoon in the middle with lots of sea asparagus.

After the walk we took the dinghy over to the small marina in the center of Montague Harbour which has a fuel dock, small store and restaurant. We managed to snag the last few seats during the busy lunch rush and had a fantastic meal.

After lunch we got some very generous ice cream servings at the store and slowly made our way back out across the bay to the boat.

Our friends Nick and Catalina were on their way with Catalina's family and so we decided to prepare a little welcoming committee for them on the pop-up dock.

Rizpah arrived around 4pm and we had a nice catch-up with them. I think they appreciated the welcome.

Amélie took to the paddle board again and was able to paddle all the way between us and Rizpah several times. We were anchored a good 300-400 meters apart.

Captain's Log

19:40

Left VRC at 7:20am with Simon on board. Nice to visit friends but very glad to be out of the city. Too many people and too busy this time of year.

Motored out to English Bay and was able to put the sails up as English Bay merged into the Strait. Humpback whales greeting us as we turned the corner south along Spanish Banks.

Had a lovely sail down the Strait on a broad reach hitting 7 kts several times. Was able to keep the sails up until about 4 miles from Active Pass when the wind died. Quite the swell and Judy was feeling rather green for most of the trip.

Motored through Active Pass and managed to miss all commercial traffic. The pass was completely empty, just saw the Nanaimo ferry approaching as we exited the pass.

Motored the last mile or so to Montague Harbour and anchored in a medley of about 30 boats on the north side of the harbour on Sunset Beach.

First Mate's Log

08:00

Pan fried pork chops, corn, rice, and salad.

Captain's Log

10:30

Another day at the dock in Vancouver. Provisioning and getting things ready. Had dinner with our friends Simon and Cheryl.

We managed to convince Simon to join us on the boat for a few days to sail to the Gulf Islands.

Also hoping to meet Rizpah over there.

First Mate's Log

08:00

Anniversary dinner at Nook West End with Cheryl and Simon.

Captain's Log

10:30

Docked at VRC in Vancouver and spent the day doing some shopping, getting supplies and seeing some friends.

Feels strange to be in the city again, so busy and so many people.

First Mate's Log

08:00

Dinner at New Fuji with Cheryl and Simon.

Captain's Log

20:27

Left home around 6am and had a fantastic sail down to Vancouver. Wind started light, building to 15 then 20 knots. Flew the spinnaker for the first few hours, then main only, averaging 6-7 kts. First time in a couple of years that we have taken the boat into Vancouver, and a lot of fond memories.

A long passage, but the whole crew did great although a little tired on arrival.

Tied up at the VRC marina and had a lovely dinner with Nick and Cata.

First Mate's Log

08:00

Lunch was bratwurst on pretzel bun. Dinner at Sura for delicious Korean food.

Captain's Log

16:00

Left Powell River approx 8am and had an amazing downwind sail, regularly hitting 8 knots all the way home. Wind blowing from the north started around 10-15 and built to 15-20 kts. Planning to be home for a night before heading on to Vancouver.

First Mate's Log

08:00

Dinner at home. Parents cooked tonkatsu and panko prawns. Steph and Christoph bbq'd salmon.

Captain's Log

16:00

Stayed at anchor in Powell River. On Dock 10 exposed to the south and the wind was blowing all day. It gets quite bumpy on the dock in a southerly so we try to avoid it but the marina was quite full. Had a good day with our friends Fraser and Claudia and got some boat errands done.

First Mate's Log

08:00

Brunch at Magpie's. Dinner in Powell River at Old Man Pho with Claudia and Fraser.

Captain's Log

17:08

Left Copelands early this morning in a 10-14 kt southerly on the nose. Sailed into the wind and had a good sail down all the way to Powell River. Arrived around midday and tied up on Dock 10. Met up with some old friends and met a few new boats on the dock.

First Mate's Log

08:00

Dinner at Claudia and Fraser's — home cooked shakshuka and plum and blueberry cobbler.

Captain's Log

20:06

Stayed at anchor in the Copelands. Spent the day with our friends Bill and Marita who are staying at Lund on the breakwater. Bill picked us up in their Hewescraft and we spent the day catching up and walking around Lund.

We have docked at Lund before but they charge $1.75/ft, even on the breakwater and so we prefer to anchor nearby in the Copelands which provides an easy run down to Lund and Savory Island.

Garbage at Lund is now $3/lb. These guys must be the richest on the coast!

First Mate's Log

20:07

July 30th, baked feta and tomato pasta, pan fried spot prawns with garlic butter. Prawns gifted from De Concubine.

Captain's Log

22:36

Left Squirrel Cove early to get to Refuge Cove so Dad can fly back to Vancouver. Arrived Refuge around 8:30am, still quite a bit of space on the dock. Refuge Cove became chaos around 11, never seen so many boats coming in and quite a few altercations. I suppose the bad weather for the last 2 days has kept everyone hunkered down and now they are all converging on Refuge.

Dad flew out on Corilair around 2pm and we departed and sailed down to Copelands. Anchored in the center of the main bay in Copelands with only a couple of other boats in the bay.

After a few days bad weather, sunny and hot again today.

First Mate's Log

20:07

July 29th, super easy dinner of frozen pizza.

Captain's Log

20:43

Stayed in Squirrel Cove, wet dinghy ride to the store against 20 kts of wind. Managed to find a big stack of Comté cheese! Spent the afternoon relaxing on the boat and hiding from the rain showers.

First Mate's Log

08:00

Cook's menu — Manila clams dug from a beach in Squirrel Cove by our friends Pat and Ruis of Pavana. Steamed with rosé, steaks on the bbq, roast potatoes and salad.

Captain's Log

20:02

Decided to move from Laura Cove to Squirrel Cove. Still grey and rainy, southerlies 20-30 kts forecast in the strait. Calm and some drizzle leaving Laura Cove at low tide (13 ft min depth). Motored until the south tip of West Redonda and then wind started filling in. Sailed with headsail only downwind past Refuge towards Squirrel, 17 kts gusting 20 at times. Grey and drizzle all day. Anchored just next to the lagoon and took the dinghy through at high tide. Explored the lagoon and had to tow the dinghy by hand to get back out. Not recommended.

First Mate's Log

~18:00

Cooks log July 27th — Dinner was pan seared salmon with tomato, mushroom, and basil ratatouille. Corn bread as accompaniment.

Captain's Log

08:37

Stayed another day at anchor at Laura Cove. Heavy rain most of the day. Managed to get out fishing in the afternoon and caught a decent sized spring.

First Mate's Log

11:22

July 26th was German night. We had bratwurst sausages, bratkartoffeln, braised cabbage for dinner.

Captain's Log

08:04

Stayed at anchor at Laura Cove. Judy's birthday so set up the flags in the boat (as the weather started to turn). Festive and fun day, joined by Dan, Justina and Francesco for a pot luck dinner in the evening.

First Mate's Log

11:22

July 25th was Cook's birthday 🎂. Captain made a delicious dinner of BBQ salmon, corn, homemade focaccia and rice. He also surprised the cook with friends bringing a delicious mushroom soup and garlic butter spot prawns. We also had homemade birthday cake — delicious!

Captain's Log

20:13

Left Pendrell Sound as the weather is due to get a bit wet and southerlies forecast. Decided to head down to Laura Cove with Schatzi and Francesco. Lovely sail all the way and managed to get a spring salmon on the way down. Anchored in Laura early afternoon. Water approx 25 and spent the afternoon in the water.

Evening racing demon:

First Mate's Log

22:30

steak on the Barbie, new nugget potatoes with butter and zucchini

Captain's Log

20:57

Stayed at anchor in Pendrell Sound. Hot day, water 27+. Explored around on the paddle board with Amelie. Very nice petroglyphs on the wall behind the small island. Amelie swimming very well.

First Mate's Log

22:30

chicken teriyaki, salad and rice

Captain's Log

10:31

Left Teakerne around 10 and motored with a bit of sailing down to Refuge Cove for lunch and supplies. Met up with Schatzi and decided to go up Pendrell Sound for the first time. Arrived early evening and busy but found a spot just off the little island at the end of the sound. Water 27+ deg!

Filled up with water and gas at Refuge.

First Mate's Log

22:30

pasta bolognese