Clearing skies in Phillips Arm. I suppose you really should be careful what you wish for because the weather did take a turn for the worse and we spent Monday and Tuesday aboard surrounded by showers and grey skies – something we'll have to get used to when we move north next week. When I took Sally to shore Tuesday morning, a lady from a large motor yacht...

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Mowing the lawns at Shoal Bay. The next time I volunteer to mow an acre of lawns, I'll have to remember to ask if the mower is self-propelled first.  I really will. We've been living aboard for ten years now, which is exactly the number of years it's been since I've mowed anything, so I thought it would be fun and a good way to exercise.   I...

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The view from Shoal Bay up Phillips Arm. The day started off disappointingly with overcast skies and a few showers but improved late in the afternoon.  I didn't feel well, so I stayed on the boat and put together a list of possible anchorages and stops for our trip north to Fitz Hugh Sound while David went to the pub to play the guitar.  He came to pick...

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Looking up Nodales Channel to Frederick Arm. We woke up to a much better morning and upped anchor at noon to make our way through Upper and Lower Rapids for Shoal Bay – 10 nautical miles as the crow flies but 24 by boat.  The most surprising event of the trip came as we travelled up Nodales Channel and Frederick Arm came into view.  We could hardly believe...

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Travelling down Hole In The Wall. We left Refuge Cove yesterday morning to time our arrival for slack tide through the western rapids at Hole in the Wall, a narrow passage that cuts through Sonora and Maurelle Islands. Unlike last year, the sky was clear and we were able to enjoy the view of the Coastal Mountains, which still have large amounts of snow pack, as we travelled...

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Refuge Cove General Store and Floats. We managed to squeeze out of Westview at nine this morning and had anice push from the current up to Desolation Sound which cut nearly an hour off the trip.  Some boats managed to get a good sail out of the wind, but it wasn't enough to carry us along, so we motored...AGAIN. Although we've never been to Refuge Cove and have...

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After spending the night in Ballet Bay, which was mosquito infested as well, we moved up to Westview this morning to fuel-up and re-provision.  There have been A LOT of changes to the marina (which is still under construction) since last year.  They completely redid North Harbour, the permanent moorage, and have added to the seawall in South Harbour, the guest and commercial moorage, changing the entrance in...

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 Maude Bay We left the dock at 6:30 this morning for a 7:11 am slack tide at Malibu Rapids.  We were the last boat to leave, everyone else having dropped lines at 6:00, making us wonder if we had missed some vital piece of information last night while having drinks aboard Bluefin.  But it wasn't long before we caught up with the rest of the outgoing fleet and, as...

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Chatterbox Falls on a beautiful day. It looks like Wednesday was our one and only nice day and the weather has been slowly deteriorating since then.  We still had sunshine on Thursday but, with the cloud cover, it was much cooler so I spent most of my time swinging in the Air Chair, a hammock-like concoction, reading and enjoying the view while David (you guessed it) played the...

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Stephanie, winner of the Stanley Cup, with Leah. It rained most of the day again yesterday and the barometer started to drop (1021 MB to 1020 MB to 1019 MB this morning) showing showers which means we only have about 36 hours of fine weather to enjoy.  And today was one of them. The dock cleared this morning with the exception of He's Dreamin' (Leah and Ray from Nanaimo) and Seaweed (Sandy...

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The weather hasn't been the best over the last few days – overcast and grey with rain – and we've been stuck inside the boat for the most part passing the time by knitting (me) and playing the guitar (David,who must be trying to get his callouses in shape for Shoal Bay).   But even in this weather, the solar panels managed to put something back into the...

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Kayaking at Chatterbox Falls. What a difference a day makes!  Yesterday we spent the entire time locked up in the boat with the heater running as it rained through the day.  Today, the sun shone and we could get back to our favourite activities – kayaking, enjoying the view and watching the solar panels do their magic. With the kayaks aired up, we took to the water in...

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A waterfall along Queen's Reach. We had a quiet week recovering from the Blues Festival and left Pender Harbour at 11 o'clock today to time our arrival with slack at Malibu Rapids – our sixth visit.  A lot of people don't understand our attraction.  I suppose you either get it or you don't.  But, for us, the 40 nm trip inland is worth the time and effort because...

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Dr. Fun and the Painkillers Saturday afternoon we went to Madeira Park to listen to several bands, one of which was Dr. Fun and the Painkillers featuring Gary Gilbert –a friend of ours.  This was the first time we'd seen Gary (lead vocals, harmonica and guitar) and his band play and were in for a real treat especially when he dropped down on one knee and proposed to Tani, his...

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Cambria crossing the Strait of Georgia for the mainland. We left Clam Bay yesterday at nine to time our arrival at Dodd Narrows for slack tide – 10.53 am – dropping our hook just off Mark Bay in Nanaimo sometime around noon.  Unfortunately, over the winter they put in more than 40 mooring buoys in the park greatly limiting anchoring possibilities, so it's very crowded and boats are...

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Over the years, we've avoided Roche Harbor like the plague due to the reputation of one of its custom agents.   Not only have we heard about him by word of mouth, but he's been written about in international cruising magazines...twice!  From all accounts, he's rude, generally in a foul mood, likes to find anything wrong no matter how small, and is a right-wing nut who isn't afraid...

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