07/22 - 08/05 - The Gulf Island Cruise

[Pat Anderson]

Well, the Great 2007 Gulf Island Cruise (thanks, Terry and Ann!) goes on for some, but it is over for us - we are back in Birch Bay, got unloaded yesterday, flushed engines, today will do a thorough cleaning! Pat, Patty, son Austin, Austin's friend Jared and Baxter on board. We had one main criterion for our itinerary - a place where the boys could camp (let out Winter Cove, we found out). A recap:

Prevost Harbor, Stuart Island. Sunday, 7/22. Cruised over from Bellingham Sunday after breakfast at the Bayside. At Stuart, fog, rain, cold and damp. Austin and Jared camped on the island, discovered the tent leaked - we naturally had a spare, doesn't everybody? We anchored out, Wallas blasting, we were toasty, Olga Symphony playing, made the poor weather tolerable. C-Dory weather we call it!

Newcastle Island, Nanaimo. Monday, 7/23. After telephone check in at Bedwell ("Have any weapons, alcohol, $10,000? No? Well, have a nice time in Canada, eh?"), the longest run of the cruise, a little over 50 NM to Newcastle Island. Weather much improved! The much-storied Dodd Narrows was a pussycat this day, I suspect with a C-Dory you rarely have to be too concerned about the state of the current. At Newcastle Island, the whole group was tied up at the dock, it was amazing there was still space for all of us. We had a wonderful evening in our folding chairs out on the end of the dock with the group! The boys disappeared to the island to camp. The next morning we dinghied over to Nanaimo, had some ice cream, there is NO place to even tie up a dinghy in Nanaimo Harbour, but lots of evidently derelict fishing boats - Harbour Master confirmed, we had to find space for the dinghy on C, D or E docks. The Chamber of Commerce needs to exert a little influence on the Harbour Authority, bad image, a dedicated dinghy dock would hugely improve tourism spending there I bet...

Pirate's Cove, De Courcy Island. Tuesday, 7/24. Still one of our favorite places! A provincial marine park, natural and unspoiled! We got in, dropped anchor and stern tied, then Austin took the dinghy and helped a bunch of other folks with their stern ties. We were next to Wild Blue and had a nice visit with Jim and Joan! Patty noted the adults "playing" - we all took turns in Jan and Stacy's hard shell kayaks, and in Jim's inflatable kayak, folks swimming (brrr....), floating around in dinghies just for the fun of it - truly a grand time in a grand place. In the morning, Patty, Baxter and I walked the trail out to the point near the entrance to the cove and back, Austin and Jared were camped out on the far side. There was a hand pump for water there we noted. In the morning, we borrowed Wild Blue's five gallon container, cruised around to the far side of De Courcy and ferried back and forth a couple of times to top off our tank with water from the hand pump, loaded up the boys and made our way to our next port of call! I could come back to Pirate's Cove again and again!

Montague Harbour. Wednesday, 7/25. We had been here before, but it looked nothing like we remembered. It is HUGE. We anchored up near the provincial park dock, the boys went ashore to get a camp site - surprise, campground is reservation only, and was full to boot! This was the only night the boys had to sleep onboard - Austin on the dinette berth and Jared on a cot in the cockpit, it worked out OK if a little tight! The highlight of this place is clearly the hippy bus to the Hummingbird Pub! The traditional Fats Domino sing-a-long on the ride back was spiced up by the driver doing a pole dance and kicking his feet out while careening along the narrow two lane road...I guess after 18 years he has it down to a science. He claims it never gets old!

Conover Cove, Wallace Island. Thursday, 7/26. Just another spectacular spot to anchor, a provincial marine park. Another stern tie. Terry and Ann were here, as were Dave and Helen from Sailor D and Jim and Jan on Castaway. We walked to Sunset Point with Terry and Ann, spectacular view! Conover had a grand vision for this island as a resort for Hollywood stars, some of the cabins still remain, along with the Conover house and a little covered shelter with a big stone fireplace. People have taken to hanging pieces of driftwood with the names of their boats inside the shelter. The stars (except Marilyn Monroe) never came and Conover's dream for the island died. His loss, our gain! Another place to return to again and again!

Reef Cove, Cabbage Island. Friday, 7/27. Possibly our all time favorite place, it is certainly Austin's favorite place! Reef Cove is tucked in right between Cabbage and Tumbo Islands, which are connected at low tide. We came here when most of the other boats were headed for Ganges - did I mention I would rather eat dirt than try to deal with Ganges on a weekend (read Wild Blue's account - I would not have been as gracious as he). It also put us close to Point Roberts for our return on Saturday. In fact, from the far side of Cabbage Island, you are looking right at Point Roberts, and can even see Blaine and Birch Bay. Jim and Laurie joined us on Laurna Jo, and we had a great time conversing over horses ovaries and sundowners! Here we decided to grab a mooring buoy rather than anchor because we were uncertain of the depths at low tide outside the area where the buoys were. We would have been OK, as a big Bayliner anchored up right where we were contemplating, but better safe than sorry! This is just another fantastic spot IF you prefer natural provincial marine parks to marinas, docks and so forth.

Saturday morning, we made the 10 NM run back to Point Robers with Laurna Jo, had an easy check-in with a surprisingly jovial CBP agent (they must be really BORED at the auto crossing at Point Roberts!), and then 12 NM back to Blaine to retrieve. The Strait of Georgia was a little sloppy but manageable. We had filled up Daydream's gas tank on the way up with "cheap gas" and monitored fuel used / remaining with the Navman. We covered 162.5 NM, and used 75.5 gallons for entire cruise, so did not need to buy any expensive Canadian gas. I compute 2.15 NM per gallon (2.47 SM per gallon), and we were running pretty heavy, so I think we are now doing about as well as we can. I would expect this to go up a bit more when just the two of us are aboard.

We have our biases, we favor the intimate little provincial marine park coves, especially Pirate's Cove, Conover Cove and Reef Cove (Cabbage Island). Newcastle Island was fun with the group but if cruising alone we probably would not return there, and Montague Harbour really seems to have little charm except for the hippy bus, and evidently the bakery boat, which we missed - definitely too "yachtie" for our tastes.

All in all a grand cruise, and over all too quickly!

[colobear]

C-Cakes and I had a great time on our abbreviated Gulf Islands cruise. I was really intrigued with how different the Gulf Islands are from the San Juans. It was very nice, and fun, to meet new C-Dory friends. And, I encountered some new and interesting mishaps along the way. Can't wait until Patti and I can get up there.

Stayed in Reid harbor on Stewart Island Sunday night, pretty and quiet. There were several boats moored but no sense of being crowded. Took some pictures that turned out very well. All was fine until trying to weigh anchor Monday morning. I could not get the Bruce to budge. Forward, backward, in circles, nothing moved it so finally I let out about 50' more of rode and motored out briskly. Finally got it to move but it was still really hard to pull up with my Armstrong windlass. When I got it up to where I could see the anchor I discovered a nylon cable about 1 1/2" in diameter over the flukes. I was able to get the anchor up high enough to reach down and free it by hand. I think it must be a mooring cable for those useless "linear mooring fixtures" at Stewart.

So, off we, (Dreamer, Sea Pal, C-Cakes) went to Bedwell/Poet's Cove to clear Canadian customs. Dreamer and C-Cakes had no trouble except I forgot and had some nectarines and plums which got donated to Canada. Sea Pal however must have appeared suspicious because in short order a customs vessel motored in and a giant Canadian customs officer boarded her, something about smuggled cherry pits I think. . Anyway, after Sea pal was inspected, we started on the way to Nanimo and I felt something was out of kilter. My starboard engine had shut off. On checking I discovered that I had hit the key with my knee, hard enough to bend the key about 80 degrees so it would not fit in the ignition. Fortunately I had spares aboard and after a quick, tossing things about, search, got the spare and was on the way again. Took more good pictures. A special thanks to our guide, Dreamer, who was kind enough to slow down to about 19-20 knots so we could keep up on the way to Nanimo. (Ever seen a TomCat mush for 3 hours??)

Newcastle Island was beautiful, a good place to be. Lots of good pictures and good times. Jim and Joan of Wild Blue were kind enough to give me a ride over to Nanimo on their dinghy so I had a nice walk around the town, a good lunch at the marina and rode back to Newcastle on the water taxi. I was last to head south towards Pirate's Cove and saw about a 50' Nordhaven just north of Dodd Narrows. That in itself is not all that unusual but this one was towing a C-Dory so I headed over to see if one of our group was under tow. When I got close I saw that it was a 22' cruiser And IT WAS THEIR DINGHY . So, after recovering from my newfound sense of inadequacy, went south and joined up at Pirate's cove.

Pirate's Cove was also beautiful and fun. Took lots of pictures of the area, Nootka, sea life, etc. and got my first Canadian sunburn sitting out on the bow drinking Canadian beer. The tide was down so the reef guarding the entrance was fully visible and impressive!

Spent Wednesday morning exploring possible places for Patti and me to visit on our trip to the Gulf Islands. Went out and then in Porlier Pass. About 1' standing waves and a twisting route with less than 2kt current. I'll bet that could be really exciting with the reputed 8-9kt currents. Poked C-Cakes nose out into the Straits of Georgia, its a long way over to the mainland. More good pictures.

Montague Harbor was pretty, anchored out between Dreamer and Nootka and hitched a ride with Dreamer into the docks (Yes C-Cakes has a dinghy but rowing it to a destination is not one of my favorite pastimes.) and rode the Hippie bus up to the Hummingbird Cafe. Had dinner with Dreamer and Wild Blue, pretty good food and lots of it but our C-Dory friends out at picnic tables on the lawn weren't so lucky, no food after more than an hour and then they had to rush it to catch the last bus for a fast downhill trip back to the harbor. That was exciting, especially when Bob Burke of Sea Pal (who's in the tire business) noted the tires were bald and I noticed the performer/driver/aging hippie, was holding the bus in gear with his hand while standing up and doing one-legged kicks out to the side at about 35MPH .

The next morning Nootka and I had to head back so we left about 9:15 and had a nice trip to Sucia for customs clearance. No trouble there but as we were leaving a gaggle (pod?) of about a dozen sea kayaks came to the customs dock, in from Canada and the ICE agent was trying to figure out just what to do with them.

All was well until we started up San Juan Channel and then it got fairly ugly, 3'-4' chop into the wind and current, so Nootka opted to split off and C-Cakes headed over towards San Juan where the water was a lot less lumpy. Nootka opted to stay in the washing machine for a more exciting time. The water was ugly all the way down to Friday Harbor and the end of Shaw Island. C-Cakes hung out in Hicks Bay to watch for Nootka as there was a lot of debris and the water was still ugly. Nootka said to go ahead so I motored out and was so busy watching for logs and bouncing. that I missed one and hit something at about 9kts, hard enough to lift one motor out of the water. Scary but no apparent damage, vibration, etc.

Headed out into Rosario Straits, beautiful scene of Mt. Baker with a two masted schooner sailing in the foreground. More good pictures. Took a picture of the Chinese tanker "New Amity" with Chinese characters under the English spelling and a registry in Monrovia, Liberia.

Then...when I got home and was downloading all those beautiful picture to show Patti, discovered that somehow I had hit global delete and had DELETED EVERY SINGLE ONE!! Aarrgh!! I'll take the chip to a local computer guru and see if there is any possibility of retrieval. But, making lemonade, that disaster just makes it more desirable to take Patti up there soon.

[SeaSpray]

C-Cakes,

I have never heard of being able to check in at Sucia. Is this new?

Nice trip report,

Steve

[DanRichman]

barry meant to say we cleared U.S. customs at Roche Harbor, on San Juan Island.

dan
"Nootka"

[Pat Anderson]

Not sure what Barry meant, but I can guarantee he did NOT clear customs at Sucia, unless he made special arrangements with the President or something!!!!

[Sea Wolf]

Speaking of customs, did any of you see the 35-40 foot offshore racing type boat with

" U.S. Customs Patrol" on the side with four 250 hp Mercury Verados on the transom?

I think it may also be funded or linked to the Homeland Security Department.

We were stopped and asked a few questions by them on the West side of San Juan Island in early June.

Joe.

[colobear]

Ooops . Another attack of senioritis. It was indeed Roche Harbor.

[Dreamer]

The cruise continues! Sea Pal and Dreamer are tied up in Port Browning at the marina. Call us "Yachtie" but the ammenities are nice every 2-3 nights. Rock-C was going to Cabbage Is. tonight. No word from anyone else.

[Pat Anderson]

Spent most of yesterday at Birch Bay cleaning up the boat. Patty did the interior and I did the exterior. Stiff bristle brush did a great job on all the non-skid surfaces, like the "sundeck" and cockpit. Washed every square inch, looking good! Man, was that boat salt-encrusted, and somehow all the mud, shells and sea critters managed to get transported by two boys, two adults and a dog from the beach to the boat! Back to Fall City yesterday evening, it is REALLY over when we leave Birch Bay! Sitting here stalling on the shave and shower before heading off to my "gainful enjoyment"...those of you still cruising, hoist one tonight for all of us who are back at the daily grind!

[Grumpy]

Barry,

I don't know if it is safe to travel with you anymore !!!

Let's look at your CBGT history:-

Boat next to you sinks in the night...you get attacked by piratical picninc table....issues of smuggling Chinese nectarines into Canada...Uri Geller morphs your keys.....submarine reports of Cabernet paint on perisope...
mystery particle from space wipes out your camera memory...

Sounds like you had FUN. Sorry we couldn't be there.

Merv & Kathy

[tom&shan]

[Grumpy]

Tom,

I last cleared customs by cell phone in the middle of Boundary pass (right on the dotted line) thanks to a very acommodating agent who filled in all the blanks that the NEXUS people forgot !!!

Actually I think that picnic table is going to turn out to be like Ahab's white whale. It is going to follow him everywhere and bite his props because he failed to rescue it.

Merv

[Dreamer]

Actually, we had 3 boats at port Browning last night. Rock-C joined us in the late afternoon. Sea Pal is leaving shortly for Sidney and the on to Butchart Gardens tomorrow. Dreamer is going to Prevost Island and anchor in the long cove on the West side, Glenthorne. Rock-C is heading to Friday Harbor and on home from there.
" Having all this much fun has worn me out" says Terry.

We will probably hang out in the Gulf Is. area for 3-4 more days. We will monitor ch68 for any interested C-Brats.

All in all, a great cruise with the best of all cruisers, the C-Brats.

[Dreamer]

Here's the wrap up of our Gulf Island Cruise. After Port Browning, we went to Annette Inlet on Prevost Island. It's a lovely anchorage, shallow but adequate depth. Great Sunset!

Wednesday we cruised to Cowichan to browse the village then on to Genoa Bay Marina for the night. Good dinner at the marina's restaurant.

This AM, we felt the call of home. 1 foot chop turned into 2 foot then 3-4. Not fun, emptied one drawer in a 40 degree roll. Then the fog! There's always a price to pay for getting home.

We had a great time(up till this morning!). Met some great folks we want to cruise with again. Thanks to you all.

Roger & Janet

[Rock-C]

Home at last. With over 1200 posts waiting for me.
Thanks to Pat, Jim , Roger and others, for posting the highlights of the cruise. I won't try to repeat those here. We had a really nice time cruising with the group. It was also nice to spend a few days by ourself at the end. If you havn't been to Cabbage Is / Tombo Is, make a point of visiting there. It is a quiet, out of the way place with sandy beaches and safe anchorage. We tried our hand at crabbing and shrimping while in the Gulf Is. Only three crabs but we got 33 prawns. They were huge and delish!
I want to send out a special thanks to our friends, new and old, that help make this one fantiatic vacation, or as they say north of the border, holiday