Date : September 1
Log: 56245
Bar: 1012
Sky: Cloudy
Location: Plumper Cove, Keats Island
Comments:

We left Pender Harbour at the crack of noon, and in hindsight, probably should have got moving a little earlier.

The wind had gone southeast and stayed on our nose as we motored all the way through Welcome Pass and down the Sunshine Coast, and by the time we got down to Trial Islands, there was an uncomfortable chop in the water. Abby even stopped patrolling the foredeck and curled up in the cockpit (on the feet of whoever was driving).

We had intended to look at Trial Islands as a possible anchorage (we hadn't looked closely at them in the past) but given the wind and sea conditions decided to continue down to Howe Sound. We came through Shoal Channel between Gibsons and Keats Island shortly before high tide, and snagged a mooring buoy at Plumper Cove, Keats Island. The mooring buoys are a bit of a challenge; the rings heavy and difficult to pull up on the chain. The first one we tried didn't move at all, and the second required both of us to pull up (and we could have used Abby's help as well!).

The upside is that we now have bandwidth!!! We are able to catch up on tons of email and publish the blog finally.

Cheers,
Turicum

Date : August 31
Log: 56207
Bar: 1010
Sky: Clear; sunny
Location: Pender Harbour
Comments:

Leaving Texada this morning, we found a pleasant 8-10 kn northwest, so we became a sailboat again, enjoying the quiet downwind trip. The wind (of course) went very light, and Turicum again became a powerboat.

We docked at the VRC outstation in Duncan Cove, Pender Harbour in the early afternoon. Pender Harbour Resort and Marina has cottages and a campground, good docks and facilities. Guests on the club moorage (Maple Bay YC and West Vancouver YC also have space here) have access to the laundry, washrooms, showers, and outdoor swimming pool. From what we saw, everything here is clean, organized and well-run by friendly staff.
As the rules are very specific that we have to fly our Cub burgee and somewhere on the trip we lost ours, Hale busied himself making a new lightweight one.

The weather forecast indicates a change coming; wind going southeast and rain on the way in a couple of days...must be near the end of the trip!

Cheers,
Turicum

Date : August 30
Log: 56185
Bar: 1011
Sky: Clear; sunny
Location: Sturt Bay, Texada Island
Comments:

Well, we left Refuge at 1100 this morning after refuelling, and found some light wind out by Kinghorn Island, so we were a sailboat, albeit briefly.

We motored down to Cortez Bay and realized that we'd be done for the day by 1300 if we stopped there, so we continued on south. We finished up the day on the Texada Boating Club docks at Sturt Bay. The people from the club are friendly and helpful, and they've made good improvements to the docks since the last time we visited. We were joined on the dock by a flotilla of Catalinas from the Barnett Sailing Co-Op who were heading north to Desolation, and Abby was thrilled to find dog-lovers in the group although all the activity tired her out.

Cheers,
Turicum

Date : August 29
Log: 56156
Bar: 1017
Sky: Clear; sunny
Location: Refuge Cove
Comments:

Leaving Pendrell Sound this morning, we found a little wind in Waddington Channel and were a sailboat for an hour or so. The weather is spectacular -- even June (the fleece-and-sweater-in-August girl) was in a T-shirt.

We arrived at Refuge shortly before 2:00 pm and found space at the dock with no problem. The sunshade went up and the paperback novels came out!

Replenished ship's stores, and we'll top up the fuel before we leave in the morning. Refuge water is untreated and has a boil-water advisory on it, but we're still working on the same tank as when we left Port Hardy; Wheezy the watermaker is keeping up with the usage.

We plan to go a short distance tomorrow; just down to Cortez Bay, and we hope to find some breeze in the morning.

We also have to arrange for a shearing for Abby when we get home -- we haven't seen her eyes for a week now

Turicum

Desolation Sound

Date : 28 August
Log: 56138
Bar: 1017
Sky: overcast
Location: Pendrell Sound
Comments:

We left Frances Bay at the crack of noon for Pendrell Sound. Turicum is still a powerboat, as we motored quietly down Pryce Channel, past Walsh Cove Marine Park and down Waddington Channel. Walsh Cove provides anchorage behind two small islets; it's very deep, and we suspect you have to anchor very close to the islets to get protection from the wash in the channel as well as a reasonable anchoring depth.

Pendrell Sound had several boats already at anchor in spots we would have enjoyed, but we found a place to anchor right at the top of the sound, deep enough and far enough from shore that we didn't need to stern-tie.

We had a pleasant evening, as the sky mostly cleared off, and the night was quite warm. We plan to go to Refuge Cove tomorrow for a night on the dock and (ahh....) hot showers.

Cheers,
Turicum