september cruise: gulf islands
Date: September 14, 2015
Time Start: 11:00 a.m.
Time Finish: 1:20 p.m.
Cruise From: Sucia (U.S.A.)
Cruise To: Reef Harbour, Cabbage and Tumbo Islands (Canada)
Engine Hours Start: 317
Engine Hours Finish: 319
Weather/sea conditons: Partly cloudy, calm, low 60's, nice day
Picture this! We are the lone boat in all of Shallow Bay on a beautiful morning! Skies are blue with scattered clouds, breeze is light, water calm, tide low with the rocks of Lawson Bluff all exposed. The gulls are having their usual raucous conversations, wonderful wild sounds. Dan rows to shore to fill extra water jugs as we are not certain about the availability of water when we get to the Gulf Islands. We hear rumors that it is not available in some places.
Time Start: 11:00 a.m.
Time Finish: 1:20 p.m.
Cruise From: Sucia (U.S.A.)
Cruise To: Reef Harbour, Cabbage and Tumbo Islands (Canada)
Engine Hours Start: 317
Engine Hours Finish: 319
Weather/sea conditons: Partly cloudy, calm, low 60's, nice day
Picture this! We are the lone boat in all of Shallow Bay on a beautiful morning! Skies are blue with scattered clouds, breeze is light, water calm, tide low with the rocks of Lawson Bluff all exposed. The gulls are having their usual raucous conversations, wonderful wild sounds. Dan rows to shore to fill extra water jugs as we are not certain about the availability of water when we get to the Gulf Islands. We hear rumors that it is not available in some places.
We leave Sucia, heading toward Saturna's eastern shore and nearby Cabbage and Tumbo Islands. In no time at all we are in Canadian water. The lighthouse on Patos Island is in the distance, in the U.S.A. A large container ship heads our direction travelling at 17 knots. We let her pass, no argument.
We reach the east point of Saturna with its light. Boiling Reef is beside us, filled with seals and cormorants, and boiling water!
Things calm down in the Tumbo Channel. Dan makes the call for our customs clearance on our NEXUS pass. We are asked to check in at Bedwell, then that is changed to Horton Bay. Dan calls again, getting a different agent, and we get the O.K. to enter at Cabbage Island, our original destination. Whew! We are relieved that we don't have to make a detour. When we get there, we find that there is no place to clear customs, it is an empty island with just a maintenance worker on shore! Guess we are cleared to stay via the phone call!
We have easy pickings of a buoy, all but one are empty. Zuma, an R29 that is a charter, grabs a buoy in front of us. By the time we finish lunch, all are filled! We are between little Cabbage Island and Tumbo Island. No one lives on either of them.
We have easy pickings of a buoy, all but one are empty. Zuma, an R29 that is a charter, grabs a buoy in front of us. By the time we finish lunch, all are filled! We are between little Cabbage Island and Tumbo Island. No one lives on either of them.
We take the dinghy along the shoreline of Tumbo, drifting over beds of eel grass and oysters, mussels and clams. A walk ashore takes us past an enormous osprey nest, madronas, garry oaks, an old home site, a marsh. The island is just plain scenic! What a beautiful day here!
Late afternoon and evening are beautiful, too. It is one of those days to treasure.
Date: September 15, 2015
Reef Harbour, Cabbage and Tumbo Islands
Weather: Sunny, scattered clouds, calm, upper 50's
It is so nice to have the sun brightening this beautiful harbor when we wake up. The water is so calm even though we are right next to the Strait of Georgia. Freighters, tugs and barges, even a cruise ship, can all be seen passing on the far horizon. Their wakes barely rock us here. Last night a large cruise ship passed by, all lit up against the dark sky and very impressive!
Reef Harbour, Cabbage and Tumbo Islands
Weather: Sunny, scattered clouds, calm, upper 50's
It is so nice to have the sun brightening this beautiful harbor when we wake up. The water is so calm even though we are right next to the Strait of Georgia. Freighters, tugs and barges, even a cruise ship, can all be seen passing on the far horizon. Their wakes barely rock us here. Last night a large cruise ship passed by, all lit up against the dark sky and very impressive!
It's time to explore Cabbage Island while the tide is low, exposing the shallow shelves and their tide pools that extend out from the shoreline.
The N.W. shore has an exposed tombolo created from shell debris, making a pathway far out to groups of exposed rock islets. Mussels are abundant along with varnish clams, littlenecks, butter clams, cockles, oysters and barnacles. We don't find any starfish or anemones in the tide pools.
We chat with another couple who have come ashore from their sailboat. They have been cruising since May! It turns out they were at Princess Louisa the same time as us and also used their radar when the forest fire smoke filled the inlet.
In the afternoon, we retrace our walk from yesterday on Tumbo Island. Clouds are building, but it is still calm and the water is like a mirror.
In the afternoon, we retrace our walk from yesterday on Tumbo Island. Clouds are building, but it is still calm and the water is like a mirror.
Date: September 16, 2015
Time Start: 7:40 a.m.
Time Finish: 1:50 p.m.
Cruise From: Reef Harbour, Cabbage and Tumbo Islands
Cruise To: Otter Bay, North Pender Island
Engine Hours Start: 319
Engine Hours Finish: 321
Weather/sea conditions: Sunny with scattered clouds, a breeze, low 60's. A lovely day.
Sun is up! Skies are blue! Dan takes us on the short run along Saturna to Boat Pass, a quick half hour away from Reef Harbor. His timing is perfect to take us through the currents of this narrow passage into lovely Winter Cove.
Time Start: 7:40 a.m.
Time Finish: 1:50 p.m.
Cruise From: Reef Harbour, Cabbage and Tumbo Islands
Cruise To: Otter Bay, North Pender Island
Engine Hours Start: 319
Engine Hours Finish: 321
Weather/sea conditions: Sunny with scattered clouds, a breeze, low 60's. A lovely day.
Sun is up! Skies are blue! Dan takes us on the short run along Saturna to Boat Pass, a quick half hour away from Reef Harbor. His timing is perfect to take us through the currents of this narrow passage into lovely Winter Cove.
Our anchor gets dropped in the calm bay, and it is breakfast time. We idle away the morning, Dan does some work. After lunch, the anchor is pulled. We are on our way to Otter Bay on North Pender. It is smooth cruising on glassy water, a beautiful day to be on the boat.
Jeff the marina manager greets us and helps us dock. We have a boatload of laundry that needs to be taken care of. We also hope to pick up a few grocery items like milk, eggs, and bread, but are out of luck. The marina store and restaurants closed on Sept. 15, and today is Sept. 16! They only have a few leftover items to sell, and nothing that we need. We really are late season boaters! Fortunately, the showers are still available!
The marina has nice facilities with two swimming pools, kayak rentals, vacation home rentals on the hillside. A new R25SC "Sea Venture" pulls into the marina with her owners who are from Calgary. Clouds build toward evening, and then we have raindrops.
The marina has nice facilities with two swimming pools, kayak rentals, vacation home rentals on the hillside. A new R25SC "Sea Venture" pulls into the marina with her owners who are from Calgary. Clouds build toward evening, and then we have raindrops.
Date: September 17, 2015
Time Start: 11:30 a.m.
Time Finish: 1:50 p.m.
Cruise From: Otter Bay, North Pender Island
Cruise To: Conover Cove, Wallace Island
Engine Hours Start: 321
Engine Hours Finish: 323
Weather/sea conditons: Light clouds in morning warming to mid 60's and lovely.
It is so quiet in the Otter Bay Marina! There is very little activity now that September is more than half gone. The skies squeezed out a few raindrops overnight and a few more this morning. We are using our little electric heater while on the dock. The temperature this morning is in the mid 50's. After catching up on a few things, we leave the relaxation of Otter Bay, heading to Wallace Island.
The Pender Island ferry terminal is near the marina, and the ferry is loading vehicles as we leave. And then there are more ferries, big and small. They breed like rabbits up here in the Gulf Islands! They are the main means of moving people and supplies to and from the numerous islands.
Time Start: 11:30 a.m.
Time Finish: 1:50 p.m.
Cruise From: Otter Bay, North Pender Island
Cruise To: Conover Cove, Wallace Island
Engine Hours Start: 321
Engine Hours Finish: 323
Weather/sea conditons: Light clouds in morning warming to mid 60's and lovely.
It is so quiet in the Otter Bay Marina! There is very little activity now that September is more than half gone. The skies squeezed out a few raindrops overnight and a few more this morning. We are using our little electric heater while on the dock. The temperature this morning is in the mid 50's. After catching up on a few things, we leave the relaxation of Otter Bay, heading to Wallace Island.
The Pender Island ferry terminal is near the marina, and the ferry is loading vehicles as we leave. And then there are more ferries, big and small. They breed like rabbits up here in the Gulf Islands! They are the main means of moving people and supplies to and from the numerous islands.
We pass a scenic light on Prevost Island, continuing in the Trincomali Channel. It is another calm day with beautiful water, and we are seeing blue patches in the sky as we approach Wallace Island.
The dock is full when we enter Conover Cove, and several small boats are at anchor. We drop our anchor in 8 feet of water and shore tie to a ring. We are right in front of the old Conover cottage. Another Ranger Tug is at the dock, Nit-Sea-Moose from Vancouver, but leaves before we have a chance to connect.
It is shore time. We admire a classic old wooden cruiser on the dock before walking to the sight of the Conover homestead and camp. We have a sign for North Star, made on an oyster shell, to leave at the shack where boaters leave mementos of their visits. We are able to locate the oyster shell from our previous boat, Hoku Kai, that we left here last year. Our new shell gets attached to it using cable ties. It is great fun to read all of the signs that boaters have left, we even recognize some of the names.
Late afternoon is perfect for paddling and rowing, the water is like glass.
Date: September 18, 2015
Conover Cove, Wallace Island
Weather: Gray and cool, breezy, rain showers, low 60's, calm in afternoon
Tucked in Conover Cove, we have a leisurely breakfast. The clouds have rolled in and rain has arrived. We have a quiet morning aboard North Star, listening to music and the sounds of the rain, reading, working, day dreaming. Afternoon clears enough for some pleasant walking along the trails of Wallace Island to Panther Point and then Princess Bay. The old truck from the Conover days is still surviving!
Conover Cove, Wallace Island
Weather: Gray and cool, breezy, rain showers, low 60's, calm in afternoon
Tucked in Conover Cove, we have a leisurely breakfast. The clouds have rolled in and rain has arrived. We have a quiet morning aboard North Star, listening to music and the sounds of the rain, reading, working, day dreaming. Afternoon clears enough for some pleasant walking along the trails of Wallace Island to Panther Point and then Princess Bay. The old truck from the Conover days is still surviving!
We have time for a quiet row along the shore of Wallace Island, enjoying the calm grayness of the day. Just five boats are here on this Friday evening. The clouds are too heavy for a sunset. What kind of day will we have tomorrow?