Cruising with Bert & Darlene

The day was overcast with a slight possibility of rain. Just another perfect day to go cruising in the Gulf Islands. Very good friends of ours from Campbell River, Bert and Darlene came along with Sherry and I to spend the day on Springer. Winds were up Southeast 5 to 15 knts but protected waters in the Gulf Islands made a real nice day. The idea was to go down to Porlier Pass and then come back on the east side of the island's, and then back to our marina.

After going through the pass, we experienced three-foot slop coming from the southeast. It made for a bit of an uncomfortable ride as the three-foot slop was on our starboard beam but we kept on anyway because I wanted to see how the boat would handle in a bit of rough water. We ended up tacking back and forth to keep the waves on our stern and bow.

Bert has extensive boating experience however Darlene has never operated a boat like this. She grabbed the steering wheel and I noticed a big grin on her face that didn't come off for a couple of hours after. All in all, a fantastic day. We tried back up at the marina just before dark, then went out to Beefeaters in Nanaimo for a fabulous meal and vino.

New Bimini and Fly Bridge Cover

Yesterday, Springer had a new flybridge cover and bimini installed from A&M Marine from Nanaimo. For more info his company you can contact Stu Austin at 250-716-0403 or email stu@a&marine.ca

We have had a lot of rain over the past month, and I've had my electronics engages covered over with a tarp that has done the trick for the short-term.

Winter Cruising

Today was an amazing day. Sherry and I took out Springer for a little run on a beautiful sunny day. The past couple of weeks have seen a lot of rain and heavy winds. Last night I was checking out the marine forecast and it stated that there would be winds of NW 5 knts and sunny for the 2nd. The temp would be 3 degrees. It took about 2 seconds to slam the computer shut and start grabbing the gear.

This morning there was heavy frost, however the sun was shining and winds non existant. Today is my daughters birthday and we called her at work to sing happy birthday. I wish she was here with us to enjoy the day on the boat as I know that loves it as much as we do.

We drove to the marina and to my amazement, we were the only ones that were firing up. Needless to say, we probably didn"t see more than a dozen boats on the water all day. We grabbed some fuel from the Petro Canada fuel dock in Nanaimo and proceeded to make the slack tide at Dodds Narrows. We were running a little late and missed slack by a half hour. The water was churning but no problems at all.

As we passed through Dodds Narrows we entered the inner sanctuary of the Gulf Islands and protected water. We cruised at a liesurely 7 knts and enjoyed the sunshine. Even though it was cold outside, the inside was toasty due to the new Hurricane furnace we had installed. The furnace is incredibly efficient and we had to dial it down a bit as the sun was cooking us through the window.

It amazes me that more boaters don"t take advantage of days like this. The water was calm and we saw the usual seals and eagles. I cranked up Johnny Cash on the stereo and continued down to Galianno island and decided to cut through Porlier Pass. We proceeded back up the other side. When I fully retire, I can see myself going on extensive winter cruises. You just have to be patient and pick your weather. Have plenty of books on board and maybe some scotch for when you are at anchor.

We made it back to the marina just before dark and tied up for the night. This is as good as any cruise that we would do in the summer.