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| Fall trip to Gulf Islands (BLUE=motor; RED=sail) |
After a week of subzero (Celsius) temperatures, the forecast was for warmer, sunny days. Still recovering from a post-trip cold, Michelle was convinced to head over to the Gulf Islands, where we hoped to visit sail friends on Pender Island.
Saturday, October 28, 2023:
Drove down from Whistler and stayed the night on the boat at VRC
Sunday, October 29, 2023:
Easy sunny motor across Georgia Strait. Probably could have sailed (NW 5-7 kn), but we wanted to make slack at Porlier Pass. As it turned out, we arrived over an hour early, so we idled around Dionisio. Went through early with approximately 2.5kn against us. Easy. Headed over to Clam Bay to anchor for the night. Only 1 other boat at anchor (a liveaboard). The joys of off-season cruising!
Monday, October 30, 2023:
A quiet night, morning temperature a cool +2° C. Sunny. Decided to head over to Princess Cove on Wallace Island. We rarely visit Wallace because it is so crowded in-season, and stern tying is expected (which can be a real problem in Princess when strong winds blow).
Princess Cove was beautiful... and empty! We went to the south (most protected) end, dropped anchor, and free swung. Again, the joys of off-season cruising. (2 other boats came in later... both free swinging.)
We went for a nice walk out to Chivers Point, then back to Conover Cover (empty), then back to the boat. No winds were forecast and it was a quiet eve.
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| Pelagia anchored in Princess Cove (free swinging in October) |
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| View North from Chivers Point (Wallace Island) |
Tuesday, October 31, 2023:
Another cool morning, our Espar hydronic furnace working great!
Motored over to Ganges, where there was plenty of space at the VRC Outstation. Out for dinner at Moby's Pub and its Trivia Night. (Note to self: no more wings!)
Happy Halloween....
Wednesday, November 1, 2023:
Woke up to galley/head fresh water pump problems....
We were due to meet up with sailing friends David and Gillian (ex SV Carousel) and Wayne and Lee (SV Chanter) at Wayne and Lee's home on North Pender Island. So we headed over to see if there was room on the dock (2-3 boats max) at the VRC Outstation at Otter Bay. Empty again!
Spent some time troubleshooting water pump. Seemed to get it going. Then headed out to road to be picked up by D&G (they took ferry over) and then to W&L's place.
As usual, we had a great time with our sailing friends.
Rain started that evening and continued all night. Happily, no rain during the daytime.
Thursday, November 2, 2023:
Left Otter Bay, and sailed all the way to Wallace Island (mostly downwind). Anchored again in Princess Cove -- only 1 other boat (when we arrived), so lots of room for free swinging.
Water pump acting up again....
Friday, November 3, 2023:
Nice quiet eve. Only 2 boats.
Left Princess Cove for morning slack at Porlier Pass. After pass, we hoisted both sails and had an easy sail all the way to Point Grey (~17nm), then motored in for a fuel top up and then to our berth at VRC.
Saturday, November 4, 2023:
Packed the boat up and headed home to Whistler.
A nice week away on the boat, with empty anchorages and marinas and a visit with sailing friends. (And, yes, a new repair to complete: a week or two later D installed a new water pump.)