New Years Eve DeCourcy Island

49 05.847N 123 43.812W Another morning of -6C. The wind is 5 knts Easterly. Anchoring in this bay has been very peacefull. The water is calm, it is very quiet and the seals are playing in the bay. We put the dinghy in the water and rowed to shore. We hiked the trail on the island. I did not find the gold, however Sherry and I both burned off some caleries. Our plan today is to read some books and do some maintenance on Springer. I am always surprised that more boaters don"t take avantage of the weather windows. This bay would be jam packed during the summer months. This is why I enjoy going north during the summer and the gulf islands in the winter. I don"t have to contend with boat traffic in any season.Pirates Cove is 2 hours from our slip in Nanaimo.

Pirates Cove, De Courcy Island

The weather has been horrific over the past month with little opportunity to go cruising. The weather window for the next few days is clear with minimal wind. The temperature is -6C in Nanaimo this morning so we are off. We left the marina this morning and made our way through Dodds Narrows for slack at 11:00 AM . I love this time of year as there is minimal boat traffic on the water other than commercial ships. We are on our way to Pirates Cove on De Courcy Island. The area has a colorful history with a fellow named Brother X11 and their cult followers.

The following is directly quoted from Wikipedia.
Born in Birmingham, England, Wilson attracted a devoted following of wealthy, socially prominent followers. As Brother XII, he established an organization called the "Aquarian Foundation" in 1927, which owed its origins to the teachings of the Theosophical Society. Wilson encouraged the society's members to build homes at the colony headquarters. With the goal of being a self-sufficient community separate from the outside world, the Foundation acquired additional property on nearby Valdes and De Courcy Islands through the donation of a wealthy socialite from Asheville, North Carolina.

Claiming to be the reincarnation of the Egyptian god Osiris, Wilson took command of the colony and its funds, becoming increasingly dictatorial and paranoid, fortifying his island kingdom, accumulating a fortune in gold, and acting unilaterally without the consent of the original Foundation Governors. His mistress Mabel Skottowe, née Rowbotham (under the name "Madame Z") worked the members unceasingly, the tasks given being considered tests of their fitness to advance spiritually. As conditions at the colony deteriorated, the disciples eventually revolted. One man, who had been imprisoned in a cellar on the northern end of Valdes Island, managed to find a rowboat and row to Nanaimo to report the circumstances to the British Columbia Provincial Police. In a rage, Wilson destroyed the colony, smashing its buildings and farm equipment and scuttling his flagship, the yacht Lady Royal.

Wilson and Skottowe escaped in a tugboat, failing to appear in court to answer the charges brought by their former disciples. Wilson is alleged to have died in Neuchâtel, Switzerland in 1934, but may have faked his own death. He remains one of the most mysterious occult figures of the last century. End quote.

Sherry and I will be walking through multiple trails on the island tomorrow to find the lost gold left behind by the cult. My thinking is that this island has been picked apart from top to bottom. Oh well, the excercise will do us good.

Genoa Bay, North Pacific Yachts Rendezvous

The North Pacific Yachts rendezvous was held September 10-12, 2010. Sherry and I met many new friends. Checking out everyone's boat was a great way to see new options that might work for us. Brian Genge had a great water maker that is exactly what I have been looking for. The weather held out for the most part. A misty rain occurred during our potluck supper, however we had a covered area that kept us dry. Can"t wait until next year.

Fishing with Brother in Law & Nephew

My brother in law Terry and his son Landon arrived to spend a week with us fishing and cruising. We took Springer 2 ( 22 ft Grady White ) up to Chatham Point and Browns Bay and then beat the water for 3 days. The Sockeye hadn"t arrived quite yet, but we managed to catch some Pinks's and a Spring salmon. We cruised up to Blind Channel resort for a barbecue on the upper deck and then proceeded to check out porpoise up the Nodales Channel.

We travelled to Vancouver yesterday with Springer, to have yet more equipment added to the growing list of extra's. We decided to go with a Rocna 25 anchor system as we have been sliding a lot with our present anchor. Our power cord has a stern connection and we are adding a bow connection to give us some more options.

The entire week has been very hot and we have had a great time.

Grandchildren and Cruising

Our daughter Nadia and her three sons, Austin, Mason and Nate have arrived for a weeks holiday. We have been waiting and very excited about our kids coming to visit. We had Springer prepped and ready to go. We left Nanaimo on monday with sunny skies and 25 degree weather. A perfect start to the cruise to Poets Cove. Poets Cove has become a favorite short trip for us as they have a full service marina with swimming pools and hot tubs. Its a great place for a short holiday.

We arrived at the marina and it took about 3 minutes for the kids to get to the pool. We set crab traps outside the harbour and also jigged for cod. They actually had the most fun racing out to the traps and jumping the wakes of other boats.

The sunsets each night have been fantastic, with brilliant red shades in the back ground. There is nothing more fulfilling than watching your children smile.

Back Home from The Broughton's

Our final leg from Squirrel Cove to Nanaimo was done in about 10 hours flat. We decided to run straight down the Georgia Strait, and it was the perfect final run on a great cruise. Our biggest objective on this cruise was to take an extended trip, and jot down any shortcomings of equipment that might need to be upgraded before our trip to Alaska. Our North Pacific 42 handle itself flawlessly. We ended up with a page of notes on small equipment items, some of which are a little on the expensive side.

A water maker is not necessary to go to Alaska, however many of the marinas that we were able to visit either did not have water on the dock, or the water is tinted yellow with cedar tannins. The water was good to drink however washing your clothes was not a good idea. I like the idea of having our own water maker anyway so that we are not constantly looking for or saving water.

The same goes for a deep freeze. Springer does not have one installed other than the one provided by the refrigerator. For an extended cruise, we will definitely install a secondary freezer for meat products etc.

We are installing a secondary navigation system for our computer as well as sirius radio. We have hundreds of songs on our iPod but even that gets a little old after a while.

An extensive parts list is an ongoing process. By next spring, we should have enough parts to replace most critical items required.

This trip only ran for approximately 450 nautical miles. We were gone for 23 days and we met some wonderful people along the way. We can't wait to our trip to begin next summer for Alaska.

Sullivan Bay to Squirrel Cove July 15-24, 2010

The past several days have been difficult to establish internet connections. Our areas of travel have been remote, beautiful and astounding. Good friends, Russ and Terry Hebblethewaite joined us with their Campion fishing boat for 4 days. With Springer tied up at the dock, we were free to travel to several areas such as Jennis Bay in Drury Inlet.

Jennis Bay Marina is an excellent area to tie up at the dock or to anchor off in the bay. There is no power at the dock but there is water and internet.We met one of the owners, Allyson Allo on the docks and she was a lovely young lady who was quick to say good things about the rest of the marina owners in the Broughton's. I am beginning to think that all of the marina owners informally try to market the Broughton"s in a positive light. All of the marina owners to date have been very helpful, and are quick to give you helpful tips on what to see, and where to go to get the best out of your travels.

We set prawn and crab traps daily, and we fished for Hallibut and lingcod. The four of us cruised quickly through several coves with the highlight being Turnbull Cove. The cove is a huge area that is very well protected. There were several others anchored at the time. You can take your tender to shore and follow a path up to a fresh water lake. The lake is several miles long and full of trout. ( second hand info on the trout )

At night, we decided to watch a HBO video series of called "Deadwood" We have all three years of video on board. Its an excellent series, however do not ever let your kids watch it until they are 32 years old. Its violent, graphic and has extremely foul language. Needless to say the next day of fishing was full of fresh colorfull terminology.

After Russ and Terry left to go home, we pulled anchor and said goodbye to Sullivan Bay. We decided to go back to Pierre"s at Echo Bay. As we pulled into our slip, I looked over and another saw a monster Nordhavn taking up the other side of marina. The boat is called Luna Spirit, a 64 foot Nordhavn owned by another couple of great friends, Andrew and Shannon Boddy. We hadn"t seen them for a couple of years. We had the grand tour of their magnificient ship and were invited for supper that evening.

You can"t help but walk around their boat with your mouth open. It's embarrasing, but what can you do. This little ship is built to go anywhere in the world. and can be easily handled by two people. Its a masterpiece of engineering design with several complex systems made simple . I know that they will love Luna Spirit for many years to come. Along with them was their two daughters and good friends from home.

We left the next morning and travelled to an anchorage called Kwatsi Bay. There is a a small marina there, however it was full, so we anchored off in the far end of the bay. I would probably say that this is the most picturesque anchorage that I have ever been into. There are high mountains all around you that look like they came from the movie Jurrasic Park ( Hawaii ). To add to this, there were dense clouds hanging above the water that gave it that mystical look and feel. Its a deep water anchorage, but the bottom is good. We tied off with a stern line to shore, but we didn't need it.

From Kwatsi Bay, we cruised to Lagoon Cove Marina on the bottom of East Craycroft island. This is owned by Bill and Jean Barber. Bill is 75 years old and full of life. There is a happy hour at 5 oclock that everyone goes to at the workshed about the docks. You bring your own drink and appetizer and make it a potluck. Bill supplies all of the prawns for the festivities. Bill has several stories about the area which had everyone mesmorized. His orientation included a discussion on his excercise area. Wondering what that was, I investigated and found a sign that said excerise station ( beside a huge pile of fire wood and an axe ). Very smart on his part.

We then travelled to a new marina on the south end of Minstrel Island that opened last year called Port Harvey Marina. George and Gail Cambridge are the owners. We had only planned to stay one night, however their cinnamon buns and a 47 knt wind in the Johnstone Straight convinced us to stay for 2 days. This is also a place that I will return too in the future.

From Port Harvey, we travelled down the Johnstone Straight to Cordero Lodge. We stayed here 3 weeks ago, however thoughts of the Wiener Schnitzel at their restaurant made me navigate back to them.

The next morning ( July 24, 2010 ) we were up early to make it through the Dent Rapids on slack. As we we coming south next to Sonora Island, a pod of 4 Orca surfaced about 1/ 4 mile in front of us. We pulled Springer into neutral and coasted. The Orca swam right to us and passed along the port side no furthur than 30 feet. Other boats also trying for rapids, in close quarters to us, were pulling over, stopping their props so as not to inadvertently strike an Orca wilth the blades. To actually see a wild Orca that close is something that is hard to describe. Your heart pounds and leaves you with a great feeling for the whole day ( if not the rest of your life )

We continued on and have anchored back in a frequent spot of ours; Squirrel Cove in Desolation Sound. Squirrel Cove is a great place to go, however I would recommend coming in the off season. At this time of writing, there is approx 80 boats in this bay. A far cry from the tranquil bays of the Broughtons. It feels like bumper cars right now. I have many more pictures to post, however it is difficult to do from a remote area with minimal coverage. I will update in the next few days.

Sullivan Bay

July 14, 2010
We travelled from Pierre's & Echo Bay yesterday and decided to anchor in a well enclosed spot called Hoy Bay. Its naturally protected from winds in any direction. This would be a great place to hunker down in a bad storm. We set our crab traps and enjoyed the day.

Hoy Bay 50 55.328 N; 126 49.995 W

July 15, 2010
Sullivan Bay 50 53.29 N; 126 49.81 W
A short trip from Hoy Bay to Sullivan Bay Marina. About a mile away from the marina, a pod of porpoise came out and swam under our boat and directly in front of our boat. I stopped the boat and watched them jump all around us. What a great welcoming committee.

Good friends, Russ and Terry Hebblethewaite from Fanny Bay joined us this afternoon. The first order of business was to organize the prawn traps and fishing gear. Having done that we travelled in his boat and deployed the crab and prawn traps to let soak for the night. We then spent the rest of the day fishing and cruising around.

July 16, 2010 Fish Mania

Russ and I left early this morning and retrieved the prawn traps. They were of average size. We then spent the day fishing and had an excellent day on the water. We played catch and release with dozens of Rock Fish and kept a few for supper. Sea Food at its best.