Thursday September 7, 2017

Laundry Day. We left the marina at 8:00am in order to get there early enough so that we weren't doing laundry all day. There were already a few people there when we arrived! But there were just enough machines for each of us. The washing machines were the smallest I've ever seen! I think we had 5 loads? Made an event of it though and brought Miss B and Greg and Byron did a Starbucks run after we got everything in the washers.

While Sue was finishing up with her laundry, we walked Bella over to a pet store to ask about getting her toe nails clipped somewhere. She said that we would need to go to a professional groomers to get them done, and when we asked for a local recommendation, she said we were actually in a bit of a "dead zone" of groomers. Then she asked if Bella was good when she got her nails done and offered to do them herself! She was a groomer previously for 10 years, but just didn't do it anymore. So she grabbed some clippers off the rack and just snip snipped while Greg held onto Bella. And then she said we couldn't give her any money for doing it. Nice! So we bought Bella more treats. Cause she really needed more treats.

Back to the boats to put laundry away, and then try to get the marina WiFi working again. We had paid for marina WiFi and also bought the upgrade package so we could stream stuff. Didn't work worth poop. At all. Shortly after noon, we headed out in the car to drive to Cumberland to see Byron and Sue's friend Darren. His wife Michelle was back east visiting her Mom, so it was just Darren. They somewhat recently opened the Cumberland Brewing Company and we all wanted to visit there (duh!) and so we went for lunch.

Darren has the perfect personality to be a "host" / "owner" of a public establishment that does craft beer. They just started it around Xmas of 2015 after previous careers doing something completely different. We got the full run down on each of the 5 standard beers they have on tap all the time. He was quite sheepish about the fact that they did not have anymore on tap - they like to have at least 8, but they were "tapped out" (pun intended) after the labour day long weekend and didn't have anything else ready to go. Byron and Greg had the Stout which got 2 thumbs up, Sue had the cider on tap, and I of course couldn't choose and wanted to try everything, so had the flight. Their food menu was really interesting and our lunches were fabulous.



Shortly after starting the brewery, they had the "opportunity" to purchase the building across the street. So they did and moved the pizza place over there. It's called "Riders" and is a community fixture. Now they had more room for more vat's of beer. We went over to take a look at it because Byron and Sue had been there previously right after the sale when it was an abandoned Chinese Restaurant. It looks a little different now and Darren and partners have just finished installing outdoor gas heaters on the patio so they can have "3 season" outdoor dining. Byron and Sue had 2 growlers that they have been carrying around on the boat, so we got those filled with more Stout for the arduous boat trip coming up. (Not.).



Before we left Darren, we had to meet Barley, his 7 month old relative new Pug / Cavalier Spaniel cross named … "Barley". Because he has every colour of barley in his coat Apparently this is a new cross breed that the vet's are likely because it rids each of the source breeds of their known genetic over breeding defects. So you get a healthy dog out of the deal. Sounds good.

We wandered a block or two in the town and found the Island's oldest credit union and got some cash, and then also found the chocolate shop. It's a lovely little hipster town these days and of course everyone there wants to help and support the local community which is great. Then we drove back to Campbell River and the marina and did some vegetating after all that eating and drinking. We still fought with the internet and told the marina folks that their support people never returned our call, but there was nothing they could do about that. They said they would come out and unplug/plug the WiFi on our dock (which they did), but it didn't make a difference.

Greg walked up and got a roast chicken and some salads for dinner on SB. Finished watching season 6 of Suits

Wednesday September 6, 2017

Engines on at 9:30 and out to hit slack at Seymour Narrows at 12:10. No wind at all but we had to push into a fairly good current the whole way. There was a fair amount of traffic with recreational boats and fish boats, a couple of tugs and tows to go around as well, but otherwise uneventful. We passed through the Narrows about 10 minutes early, and then continued on down to Discover Harbour. They had someone on H dock to grab our lines.

We got settled and checked into the marina and then walked Miss B up to Starbucks for a puppachino and some lunch. Then we walked over to Budget to pick up the rental car that Byron and Sue had reserved for our stay here. Then we drove over to the Thrifty and bought a *bunch* of groceries. We spent more money I think there than we did provisioning the boat in the first place! We didn't buy any fresh fruit or veggies though because we knew we wouldn't be eating on the boat much for a day or two, so we left the veggie buying until Friday.

Back to the boats and spent quite some time putting stuff away. Surprisingly, Byron and Sue and Greg were not excited about going to The White Spot for dinner, and instead suggested the Beach Fire Brewing Company. So we left the B *again* and went over there for a beer and dinner. It was a really neat spot and according to the waitress, they change the menu twice a day. So the only place they put it is on a chalk board in the middle of the restaurant, and the wait staff really doesn't know much about the meals at all! But the descriptions sounded fabulous and their beer was pretty good too! Stouts for us and apricot wheat beer for Sue for something different. All got a thumbs up from this crowd. Back to the boats to rescue the B and some evening entertainment.

Tuesday September 5, 2017

Slack wasn't until just after 11:00am this morning so we all thought it would be prudent to wait until then before leaving. Otherwise, you just end up in front of the marina going nowhere, or worse backwards, because the current is stronger than your boat speed as you wait for your engines to warm up. It was quite warm this morning and pretty much nothing wind wise which was nice.

Greg went up and did a load of laundry early in the morning so that we had clean undies and socks for the next couple of days. You know, just in case there is a problem later and we can do laundry There was some hanging out on the boat and some drama trying to get the WiFi to work this morning (it didn't). What can you do. We went up to pay our tab, and was reminded of how expensive Blind Channel really is. Woah. Amazing how much money you can spend in less than 24 hours.

The trip around Cordero Channel was lovely and uneventful. We had a tug and log tow initially, but not much other traffic. We went into the traditional harbour but it had 3 boats inside already, so we went down to Piddell Bay instead. Not a breath of wind and it was pretty humid and warm, but not sunny. The overcast and grey was a little depressing. Interestingly, we went in the furthest and had no issues anchoring, but EG was further out and ran into a bunch of rocks and had to re-try a few times in order to find good holding.

Greg went out into the channel and did a little fishing and no catching. I hung out on the boat enjoying the warmth, and then Byron mentioned that they had 3 bars of Telus on their boat. So I took my laptop and iPad over to try and get some internet to do some work stuff, but no joy. Greg showed up and we listed to the radio call, and then went out for a dingy ride around. Managed to watch a little mink do this long trek along the rocky shore along the mink highway. He would sometimes stop on a rock and take a look at us asking "do *you* have a treat?", and then when none was forthcoming, would just continue along.

BBQ chicken for dinner on Spellbound. My it's really dark after dinner.

Monday September 4, 2017

There were 7 boats on the dock at Port Harvey this morning, and we were all up pretty early to start heading south. Heading down Johnstone Straight is one of the big crossings that you need to plan. We all had a lot of discussion on the what's and where's of how to do this, and of course there were more opinions than people. Also, the calculated time of slack at Race and Current Passage (from the software) was 1 hour different than the time given by the Canadian Hydrographic Society (CHS). The former gave around 10:00am and the latter around 11:00am. We tend to follow what the CHS says, but it's hard to argue with software (!) and of course the truth is probably somewhere in between.

It was quite foggy in the morning but George said it was clear at Chatham Point already. (How did he know?) and that they had no fog at Dent (he looked at their webcam!). Sirena left first, then Beau-Dinky, Tahsis said they were going to follow us to Blind Channel, Emerald Star came slightly later, and CanTu went to Shoal Harbour but left at the same time as us. Once out in the Straight we could see more boats coming down from Port McNeill area, and a couple more coming down Chatham Channel. Busy day.

The water was flat flat flat, which was nice, and the 3 of us made a nice radar target so we were fine. Byron ended up fielding a bunch of radio calls as the leader of our pack (!) and we got several reports from CanTu on the way down.



Eventually the skies opened up and the sun beat down and the water stayed glassy. Probably our best trip down Johnstone ever. I took the opportunity to do some boat cleaning and had a shower.

We arrived into Blind Channel Resort just after 1:00pm. We had to wait a few minutes outside as they tied up another boat and then EG in front of us 1 by 1. Of course the current was running one way outside the resort, and the opposite way inside. Fortunately, there are always lots of hands on the dock. When EG arrived, the dock "young lady" said she was so exciting to finally have boats here again, she had been so bored! It was 1:10 when we finished tying up and the lunch patio was open until 1:30 so we headed up for their famous fish tacos. Unfortunately, they don't have fish taco's anymore But we had a lovely lunch in the sun anyway.



Did a bit of shopping in the store and picked up some essentials to get us a couple days before we go to Campbell River. Then back down to the boat for a bit of relaxing and sunshine. First, time to do some email though. Their WiFi is not the greatest but EG was able to pull a Telus signal in with their booster. I put on shorts and a T-shirt and sat on the flybridge again to do my sun worshipping and some knitting. Greg and Byron went for a walk up to the "Big Cedar" tree.

Soon, it was time for dinner. The restaurant did it usual good job, and was still slightly too expensive Rob and Sharon from Sirena joined us for dinner so we had some different company for a change. Our waitress Stacey was the only one in the place for most of the evening, but she managed to do just fine. Greg and I had a pasta dish with prawns, Sue had the halibut, and Byron had Goulash. It was dark by the time we headed back to the boats, somehow I'm still surprised that it's getting dark earlier and earlier.

Sunday September 3, 2017

It was a little bit foggy and cool this morning, but the fog lifted enough rather early. Left Lagoon Cove around 9:30 with a couple of other boats at the same time, and headed down Chancellor Channel. We looked for bears on the way down since we had seen our first one here on the way up, but no such luck. Very soon the sun burned off all the fog and we had a beautiful warm sunny day as we arrived in Port Harvey.

Both George and Gail were there this time, so it was good to be able to talk to them both. Sirena was already there as was Beau-Dinky III as they had both stayed for the better weather tomorrow. After we got there, then Tahsis joined us again, and then Emerald Star showed up from Kwatsi. And then CanTu came in behind us. So just like that, there were a bunch of boats in. George also got a visit from some neighbours. And then Emerald City and a sailboat both anchored out just off the dock. It seemed like there were quite a few boats positioning for the trip south.

After a bite to eat, we had a relaxing afternoon where I sat in the sun and rolled my shorts up to try and get a tan on my legs and pretend I had a summer. And did some knitting. And some dock kibitzing with everyone. The wind came up a fair amount in the afternoon at the dock as it can do in Port Harvey, so it was quite breezy. But as long as you kept out of the breeze, it was lovely. Some folks got together for some drinks on the dock while it was still sunny, and had a mini Happy Hour. We headed over with our plates etc and then George and Gail delivered the pizza's fresh from the wood pizza oven. EG, SB, Tahsis, Emerald Star, and CanTu all sat around and had the best pizza I've tasted in a long time. Couldn't believe how soft and fresh the crust was. So wonderful and melt in your mouth.

But this is the Broughton's so it didn't take long before it was cool again. Back for multiple fleeces, and then over to EG for some evening TV entertainment.

Saturday September 2, 2017

It was somewhat clearer skies this morning and a bit warmer too. The place cleared out it seemed with a lot of boats heading south so we were all alone at our end of the dock. Sue sent email and postponed our future reservations by one day.

Byron and Greg took off in the dinghy to conquer the fish again. Byron caught a pink, but ended up releasing it as it wasn't that big. They did pull in a bunch of more prawns though. We saved some for dinner this time! It was early afternoon before they got back so we had a quick bite. I worked on figuring out what to bring to Happy Hour since we were a little light on provisions. Ended up with a Crab Artichoke Dip that turned out pretty good!

Had more ice cream and did some dock visiting and bought the Lagoon Cove cookbook. (It does seem to have boat friendly recipes for when you run out of fresh veggies and just have canned stores). The day turned quite warm later one and I even put on a short sleeved shirt. (Sad when that is noteworthy).

At Happy Hour, we sat with another couple from Bellingham, Steve and Sherry on Tahsis, a North Pacific. They had added the "rolling chocks" to their boat earlier this year which Byron and Sue are thinking of adding, so we had a long talk about that. Then they mentioned that they were having trouble with their batteries, so of course we had a long talk about that. And then Sherry mentioned that her son was volunteering with a manta organization, so of course we had to have a long talk about that too! Lot's of talking ensued and continued even after Happy Hour as we headed over to EG for dinner. After pigging out on prawns for Happy Hour the last 2 days, we all went a little lighter at Happy Hour (sort of) and so we saved room for prawn taco's for dinner! Yummy.