Turn Point Lighthouse, Stuart Island. We checked back into the US on Monday and, for once, had a good experience where neither one of us was threatened with the loss of life, liberty or boat.  It helped that we were on our best behaviour, having learned a thing or two from past experiences, but the officer who helped us recently transferred from the Tijuana border where she was...

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Cambria tied to a mooring in Montague Harbour. With our windlass out of commission, we’re no longer able to anchor unless we want to haul our ground tackle in by hand, which we don’t (or with David’s continuing shoulder issue, I should say which I don’t).  Fortunately, there are several marine parks along the way, so we’ve been using moorings to take us south from Pender Harbour to Pender Island. ...

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A chart of Pender Habour showing where we were anchored (Purple) and our final set (Red). It was a dark and stormy night.  Too dark.  And too stormy.  But these things always seem to happen that way.  We knew it was coming.  The forecast was for an intense frontal system to move across Central and Northern waters and a trailing cold front to cross Vancouver Island yesterday bringing...

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The city of Westview/Powell River. There was never going to be a good time to leave Desolation Sound … there never is.  But we upped anchor yesterday morning and left Prideaux Haven for the city of Westview regardless.  It was a quiet day on the water; the sun was shining and the sea was still.  David’s shoulder continues to be an issue, so he stayed down below and...

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Taking Sally to shore in Prideaux Haven. The weather continues to be beautiful, but a change is on the way.  The barometer is slowly falling and the extended forecast is for southeasterlies on Thursday.  At this point, they’re only calling for 10 – 15 knots, but it’s a sure sign of what’s to come.  On the bright side, the heater worked much more efficiently this morning and without...

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The guts of the Hurricane II Hydronic Heater. The mornings are quite cold now and the thought of plugging in and running the heater 24/7 is starting to sound more and more appealing.  The thought of being tied up to a dock and back in civilization, however, does not.  And as long as the days continue to be sunny and nice, we’ll stay. The solar panels continue to...

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I took Sally to the head of Melanie Cove this morning so she could stretch her paws along the trail and discovered two boats anchored in the bay – we’re not alone after all.  We walked along the trail that leads to Laura Cove, one of us more reluctant than the other, until we came upon a small pile of bear scat.  It wasn’t fresh but it wasn’t...

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Tied to the Government Dock in Squirrel Cove. The first of October has arrived, a time we’re normally discussing moving south, if we haven’t started already.  But with the continued beautiful weather, all we’re thinking about is getting to Squirrel Cove for fresh milk and pipe tobacco.  David believes we can live without both, but I would hate to be around if he didn’t have any milk for...

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