Friday August 7^th & Saturday the 8^th – 6am the alarm goes off.  Time to get up and head north to Nanaimo BC.  We had to leave at 6am to catch the slack water at Dodd Narrows – a tiny waterway you have to navigate to Nanaimo.  Current in the waterway can run like a river, so with our slow boat its best to transit at slack water.  The problem is that everyone else is doing the same thing (going both north and south) and even though two boats could fit through at the same time, its not really ideal.  We hit it just right as we shot through after announcing our north bound transit on the VHF radio, all lined up with the other boats doing the same thing.

Our plan was to stay in Nanaimo tonight then take off early in the morning to cross the Strait of Georgia.  The strait is a large body of water that can get really rough.  After checking the marine forecast we learned that high winds were coming in tonight and tomorrow.  This would delay our crossing so we decided to just keep going today and get across the strait.

Just as we got into the strait a scary call came across the radio.   “Mayday, Mayday, Mayday, I think my husband has had a stroke, he is not responding”. The coastguard got on the radio and sent a rescue boat out to their location and a doctor and nurse who were out on their boat offered assistance. What a scary call!  We all said a little prayer for the couple in distress.

The strait was still a little rough but we got across without any problems. Once on the mainland BC side we pulled into Pender Harbor traveling 65.76nm.  Pender is a maze of little inlets and bays with many different marinas.  We tried to get into one of them but they were all full.  Normally we would have made reservations a few days before but this was a last minute decision.  We had to get food and water so our best bet was to get tied up on the government docks because they are close to the grocery store.  After talking to them on the phone they said they might have something open up in an hour or two so we floated around in the bay for a while, until we saw some dock space open up.  Just as we got close, a big boat stole our spot, stayed there for a few minutes then took off again.  Julie called the marina and the nice man had kicked them out for us!  We settled in then and went to dinner in Garden Bay.

There were strong winds forecasted for the next day, so we decided to stay a 2^nd night giving us time to re-provision the boat and avoid the wind.  We woke up pouring rain so we had a lazy morning sleeping in.  As the rain slowed down late morning it gave us the opportunity to wipe down all the salt spray off the boat.  We got a boat load of groceries, stocked everything away and made reservations at the Painted Boat Marina for dinner.  The picked up again just in time for the 10-minute dinghy ride to the the restaurant.  Julie, not wanting to be wet for dinner, rode all the way there with an umbrella.  I was a little embarrassed, but she stayed dry.  Dinner was fantastic and we all had a great time.  Tomorrow we will be in Desolation Sound, swimming in the warm waters!

Trip Log – 200.88nm

 

 

Thursday August 6^th – Today we are going to cross the boarder into Canada, but first we have to get the anchor up after setting it over a ship wreck yesterday!  Our boat has a windless (a sort of winch that pulls the anchor up) so you don’t have to pull it by hand.  Everything was coming up just fine until the end when the windless started to get really stressed and slowed way down!  The chain started slipping on the windless pulley so I had to stop.  Oh no I thought, we are going to be stuck here all because I didn’t pay attention to the chart!  I looked through the window to see what Julie was thinking, but she wouldn’t even make eye contact.  I waited a minute and tried a couple more times – still slipping!  This was the most stuck our anchor has ever been.  One more time and all of the sudden it seemed to break free and up it came.  What a relief!  I don’t know if it was stuck on the ship wreck or just really stuck in the mud but we were free!

As we motored out of the bay and around the south-west side of Stewart Island we decided to try our luck at fishing for salmon again.  Skylar was all freaked out like a crazed bunny, because we were fishing off the big boat and not the dinghy.  For some reason he had it in his head that he couldn’t catch fish off the big boat and it was killing him.

It’s a Pink year so there should be a lot of salmon around.  We pulled out our Buzz-Bombs and casting poles and started chucking them out there.  Noting for a while then all of a sudden I got a bite!  It got off – then another bite – it got off – then another, and it stuck! Everyone scrambled for the net and watch the fish come up.  Then, just as the fish came close to the surface I watched as a seal quickly swam up and snatched my fish.  My pole went zinging toward the ocean floor and I couldn’t believe what just happened!  I yelled to Julie and the kids “a seal just stole my fish!”  I kept fighting the seal/fish combo for a while longer until the pole lightened up.  Surprisingly the fish finally come up without the seal but the poor fish didn’t have any scales left on the tale section.

We fished for a while longer without much luck and Skylar started to get discouraged.  Julie grabbed Skylar’s pole, started fishing, and WHAM another fish on!  We all watched in excitement as Julie fought the fish to the surface.  As we drifted along Skylar finally got one on but lost it.  Another few casts and he had one on for good.  He was in heaven fighting the fish.  After netting the fish he was right back at it.  I kept a couple of the Pinks, one to eat and one for crab bait, and started cleaning them.  Skylar kept on fishing and caught 4 more fish, each was one just as fun to catch as the last. At one point he was having so much fun, he said in excitement “This is the best day of my life”. All together we caught 7 fish but threw most back to the sea.

At one point, while fishing a couple hundred yards off Stewart Island, Julie and Skylar saw a Humpback whale surface close to shore.  It was right between us and the island – super cool!  Later, it surfaced once more and we all got to see it just off the point ahead of us.

We wrapped up the fishing and headed for the Canadian boarder.  After clearing customs at Bedwell Harbor we tied up at Poets Cove Marina (7.99nm), sharing our dock with float planes coming and going.

We needed to get off the boat so we took the dinghy to Bedwell Provincial Park for some hiking.  We had a great hike but super steep way up the mountain behind Bedwell Harbor on South Pender Island.  Ava has been pretty scared of bees this trip se we have been trying to teach her to keep calm her calm.  Of course, just as we got back to the beach, and never seeing it coming, she gets stung on her arm.  Poor little girl, she toughed it out like a trooper but her fear is now a reality.  While eating dinner outside at the restaurant that night the bees started to swarm as our food was served.  Ava tried really hard to keep it together but we had to move inside away from the bees.

All the way up here in Canada, while walking back on the dock that night, Ava sees a classmate named Blake.  So funny to happen to be at the same place.  We talked with his parents for a while while Ava played with Blake.

Wow, a long eventful day!

Trip Log – 135.12

 

 

Wednesday August 5^th – Today we are going to meet the Edgewater dealer in Fishermen Bay to take a look a 17’ center console.  With our new 48’ American Tug on the way we now have the opportunity to pull a smaller boat once in a while and the 17’ Edgewater may be just the ticket!  At 9am we met Brian Krantz from Inside Passage Yacht Sales for a demo of the boat.  The wind was still howling and it was way colder than we have been used to this summer (62 degrees) but it would be a great test to see how the boat performs.

The little boat performed really well in the choppy seas, much better than I expected but we all froze our butt’s off!  After the demo we went back to the boat and all had hot chocolate while we pulled anchor, motored out of the bay, and set a course for Stewart Island’s Reid Harbor right on the Canadian border just a short 13.38nm away.

As we entered the bay I noticed a nice open spot to set anchor.  After reviewing the chart, I noticed a weird symbol right where we were anchoring.  I mentioned it to Julie and Skylar but thought “whatever” and promptly started lowering the anchor anyway.  Just after the anchor was all set, Skylar said “I looked up that symbol on the chart and it says Caution Area, Ship Wreck”.  Oops! Maybe I should have paid more attention.  Some skipper I am; my 14-year-old son has to read the chart for me!  “Ok, well we’re here now, hopefully the anchor comes up tomorrow”.

Stewart Island is pretty interesting.  It doesn’t have a ferry service so the only way to get there is by private boat or small aircraft.  However, families have lived on the island full time for the past 100 years or more.  There is a tiny school that still runs today however, some years there’s kids and others there’s not, they have all either graduated or move off the island leaving the school empty that year.

The Turn Point Lighthouse is about a 5 mile round trip hike and we’ve never been out to it because Ava has always been too little to make it that far.  This is our year!  We dinghied to shore and started our hike.  Julie came up with a wonderful plan to bribe our kids in exchange for a peaceful hike for us parents.  The kids would be given 5 pieces of licorice when the hike was completed.  However, for each time they complained (Skylar had it good because he doesn’t complain on hikes) 1 would be taken away.  We’ve never seen Ava hike so good in her life!  She didn’t complain one time and those little legs kept up with us the whole time.

That evening, as the sun was going down, Skylar and I went fishing just outside of the bay for some salmon but didn’t have any luck

Trip Log – 127.13nm