The broken end of the aft head discharge fitting. The past few days have been a blur of activity as we crossed the border into Canada and slowly made our way north to the city of Nanaimo where we plan to have Cambria hauled out of the water tomorrow to fix the infamous hole in the boat.  We’re currently anchored in Mark Bay, just off Newcastle Island, but will move...

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Friday Habor, San Juan Island. The difference between US and Canadian customs is like night and day.  And if that’s the best our tax dollars can buy, I want my money back.  We left West Sound late in the morning and motored down to Friday Harbor on San Juan Island to check out of the country.  It’s a long story, one that doesn’t bear repeating in detail.  But,...

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The view from Mount Constitution. After spending two weeks in the San Juan Islands, we only managed to visit four anchorages, yet our expectations were exceeded because of our last stop – West Sound on Orcas Island.  We were finally able to leave Reid Harbor Thursday morning and motored down to Orcas.  We’ve been here several times over the years and always for the same reason – to...

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Turn Point, Stuart Island. We’re still waiting in Reid Harbor for the weather to improve and have used the past couple of days to put all of our ducks in a row.  Because the issue with the leak is under control, we decided to stick to our original plan and move down to Orcas Island tomorrow for a couple of nights to visit our friends, Bill and Sylvia...

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   The compression post on top of the wooden plug which is closing the hole in the boat. After keeping a close eye on the wooden plug for the past twenty-four hours, which finally swelled so that water is no longer leaking into the boat, we both feel more confident and less pressure to act.  The through-hull and fittings still need to be replaced but not necessarily today,...

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Limestone rock formations along Sucia's shoreline.  Coming back from shore with Sally this morning, I was greeted by David standing at the stern of the boat with a grim look on his face and the following words: “there’s a hole in the boat.”  I had only been gone an hour … what could have possibly have happened?  A bronze through-hull fitting broke, which is exactly what it sounds like...

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Sucia Island After a few days in Reid Harbor, we decided it was time for a change and travelled fifteen nautical miles to the west over to Sucia Island.  Our first attempt was Fossil Bay which was already full of boats so we motored over to Echo Bay, the largest of the island, where we had our choice of spots.  And for good reason, it’s a rolly anchorage...

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Turn Point Light, Stuart Island In 2008 we were sitting aboard Cambria in San Diego making plans to sail up the west coast with the sole intention of exploring the San Juan Islands.  Well, it seems we finally made it!  For the past four years, with the exception of an anchorage here and there, we’ve skipped the San Juans in favour of Canadian cruising grounds with the intention of stopping...

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An aerial view of Garrison Bay. We’re only two days away from Poulsbo, but it may as well be a lifetime … the scene has changed so dramatically.  Our new anchorage is dotted with a smattering of houses on its western shore, rather than with crowded neighbourhoods.  And although we’re sharing it with several other boats, it’s very quiet.  There’s no traffic, only the occasional buzz of a...

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Mount Baker in the distance as we cross the Strait of Juan de Fuca. With the currents in our favour, we decided to spend only one night in Port Ludlow and make our way to Garrison Bay on San Juan Island – some forty-six nautical miles away. I’ve been itching for a good sail, but it wasn’t meant to be.  The wind was coming from the right direction,...

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The Poulsbo waterfront. Our first week at anchor was somewhat difficult and disappointing . . . but not unexpected.  From cold and rainy days to the short-list of teething problems that are all too common with boats, we plodded through Cambria’s systems to make sure everything was in working order so that we could move onto our next adventure.  Some issues were more significant that others, but they all needed...

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Today’s moving day!  I really didn’t think we’d make it and, in all honesty, we were a little late with our departure (the last of the winter live-aboards off the dock).  But we managed to drop our lines by one o’clock after running around all morning finishing up last minute things and are now officially at anchor – the 2012 cruising season has begun! Our final days on...

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