Summer cruising 2010 Part 1 Gulf Islands and Discovery Islands

           We started our cruising by heading to Otter Bay Marina on North Pender Island.  We met up with our good friends Anita and Phil  and their Sheltie Gemma.  Gemma is at the bottom of the picture checking out what is going on.  Anita and Diane had a wonderful time playing cards and enjoying each others company during the weekend.               

Mackenzie and Gemma after a play date at Otter Bay.  They had a great time together!
Can you tell which one is Mackenzie?

 
Gorge Harbour was our first stop in the Discovery Islands.  It is a beautiful marina with new docks and lots of grass for Mackenzie to play.

View from the water of marina

Diane and Mackenzie with our boat in the background

A new swimming pool but it was too cool to use it in mid-June.

Fire place and picnic area overlooking the marina.

Blind Channel Resort on Mayne Channel.  This marina is a natural overnight stop for boaters traveling north and south alone Johnstone Strait.  After one night at this marina we were able to go directly to the straits and head northwest to our next stop which was Port Harvey.

Approaching Port Harvey Marine Resort.  This marina has only been in open for one year and it was started by a couple with limited resources.  They have done a lot in one year and visiting boaters are stopping to support their efforts.

View from shore of Port Harvey Marina. By late afternoon the small marina was full with sail and power boats.  The building on the float contains a small store and a pub on the second floor.

Summer cruising pictures part 2

The winter resting place for our boat, Yesterday's Dream (the boat on the right)
We stopped at Gretchen and John Morris' home on our drive south. They live in Corvallis, OR. and invited us to spend the night. We also met them on our Panama Canal cruise.

Dick and Lorraine Metzner, also boat owners (own a larger Symbol then ours), make their home port in Anacortes. We visited with them on a several occasions late in the summer.

We buddy boated with Pat and Harry Nystrom for a couple of weeks this summer. We met them in Sidney, B.C. and then cruised with them to Victoria, shared several dinners together, and enjoyed visiting with them.

Elaine and Sven were fellow passengers on our Panama Canal cruise last January. They live in Victoria, B.C. and we were fortunate enough to visit them while we were in their home town.

Mackenzie on a "sit stay" at the Roche Harbor Resort. It took quite a few shots to get him to stay long enough for me to get a good photo.

Roche Harbor guest dock, San Juan Island

Nap time after a busy day of sight seeing

A top notch 1st mate tending to the lines as we depart from Victoria

Captain Dan in the crow's nest at the Victoria Maritime Museum

Yesterday's Dream moored at the Causeway Docks

Parliament building for B.C.

Glass ceiling in one of the banquet/ball rooms

Bengal Lounge, Empress Hotel

Our guide for the Empress Hotel tour

We moored at the inner harbor directly in front of the Empress Hotel. This was the view from our aft cockpit.

Victoria, B.C.

They are well known for their beautiful hanging baskets at each slip

Port of Sidney Marina

This is the method of getting Mackenzie to shore when we are anchored

A good picture moment a short walk from the resort

This is a very high end resort on South Pender Island in the Canadian Gulf Islands. It is one of several custom clearance stations for Canada where recreational vessels report before entering Canadian waters. The resort has a very nice marina that is quite popular, and the marina guests have full guest privileges at the resort.

Yesterday's Dream at anchor in Garrison Bay off English Camp

The few remaining buildings and guard tower

Garden area near the troop garrison at English Camp on San Juan Island

Next to this park is an excellent anchorage with easy access to shore by tender

In early August we were able to visit Emily Anderson, a Sheltie breeder, who lives in Anacortes. She co-owns Jenna, Mackenzie's sister, with his breeder. Brother and sister got to play with each other at Emily's house and had a great time. Mackenzie is on the left.

We passed two tall ships in Guemes Channel heading for Anacortes

Getting close to Anacortes and the conclusion of the 1st part of our summer cruising. The mountain you see in this picture is Mt. Baker

The marina was full when we arrived so we had to tie up on the outside of the breakwater

One of the busiest places in the San Juan Islands

The grounds have a farm animal petting area and ample picnic areas for large group and family gatherings

The house is surrounded by beautiful grounds

Main house at the Filberg Park

A nice spot to visit for a couple of hours

We saw this deer on a walk just off a busy street in Comox

Downtown Comox with interesting store fronts

Comox Harbor, some pleasure craft and a lot of fishing boats. A very nice facility with a large park and ample grass area for dogs to play and people to picnic.

Restored fishing boat outside museum

Totem outside a very nice museum in Campbell River, B.C.

Looking out to Moore Bay in the Broughton Islands on a foggy morning

Jennis Bay has room for maybe 12 boats

Jennis Bay, looking out from the marina

We pitched in to help out with some much needed scraping

Jennis Bay Marina and Resort

The ladies enjoying a friendly card game aboard Spirit Chaser on July 4thThe captain and crew on a beautiful 4th of July day at Sullivan Bay

All decked out for the 4th of July parade

Agony of defeat at the finish line!
The first leg of the race. At this point we are doing quite well.

We decided to try our luck in the dingy race. The rules were that the rower is blindfolded and the crew member is the navigator. The navigator gives oral directions or hand touches to the rower across the marina, around a buoy and back to the dock.

Sullivan Bay Marina

Prime rib (cooked to perfection) was on the menu for the Canada Day celebration

Guess what day we are all celebrating in this photo??
Check out the view behind our table.

We even had a table reserved for our 3 boats

John and Judy hamming it up
Our contribution
There is a real party atmosphere at the dinners. The theme this night was crazy hats!
Pig almost ready for carving on the barbeque


Pierre's Lodge at Echo Bay Marina
One of our favorite stops in the Broughton Islands. Pierre has recently moved his marina to the old Echo Bay location. This is a great place to stop for Canada Day and July 4th. They are well known in the area for their pig roasts. See photos above.
This building serves as computer room, 5 PM happy hour location, and marina workshop

The marina owner has placed these interesting signs throughout the property

One of our favorite stops on the way to the Broughton Islands

After a short walk, we found this row boat on a lake near Big Bay, Stuart Island

Dan and Mary Lou Sewell and Thunder with their boat "Spirit Chaser" in the background

Diane, Mackenzie and I hiked to this beautiful little water fall in Desolation Sound Marine Park

Our two shelties played tug of war and chased each other in our salon, when we were anchored.

Summer storm approaching!!

Desolation Sound

A spectacular view of Desolation Sound

This is some of the driftwood that Doug has found around his property over the years and has put them in his outdoor art garden.Portage Cove, Desolation Sound B. C.

These two summer homes belong to Doug and Danielle, who are friends of Dan and Mary Lou. As we were heading to one of the remote coves in Desolation Sound, we saw Dan's boat anchored off this cove. We stopped to say hello and stayed for dinner, returning to the boat at 10 PM. His two homes are rustic but nice and they are powered by a generator with a natural spring as their fresh water source. Their homes are the only privately owned structures in the entire marine park and access is only by boat or plane. We had a wonderful time visiting with them and are envious of their summer retreat.