Thursday September 21, 2017

It was a beautiful sunny morning, but still a little chilly. Around 10:00 we headed out into Trincomali. It was lovely and flat and calm with little wind. There were 2 boats leaving the cove as we neared which was a good sign. There were still 3 boats in there when we arrived, one of which was anchored right at the entrance swinging, the other 2 were stern tied. We stern tied to the chain closest to the dinghy dock without much issue.

We had some lunch and then made the quick trip to the dinghy dock to go for a walk. The one thing about Princess is that you lose the sun early because you are closest to the western shore. In the sun it was very warm, but in the shade it was decidedly not! Even Bella walked over to Conover Cove. It was interesting to note the increased quantity of bird life there compared to most other places we had been. We passed the truck above on our walk and then arrived in Conover and just sat in the sun for awhile to warm up and bake.





Conover was much nicer than we remembered and there are also rings there too. Next time I think we'll try there!

Back to the boat for some computer time and trip planning. The weather for the next several days looks great. Then dinner and a movie after that.

Wednesday September 20, 2017

I lazed about in bed until really late - it was wonderful. We headed over to EG around 10:00 to say "see you later". They were heading to Port Browning today and then back to BHam the next. We left with some more apples, a Sonicare Toothbrush Charger, and their cell phone amp. A tidy haul.

Back to Spellbound for a pancake brunch and then we headed to the marina area to go for a walk. We walked up to the Pilgrim Restaurant there, even though we knew it was closed. It looked deserted. Back down to the marina store for ice cream and / or a cinnamon bun. We found out from the gal behind the counter that the marina was closing for the season on Sept 30th too. It seems odd because we were pretty sure it used to be open all year round. Then we went back over to the park area and paid for another night on the mooring ball, and then went for another short walk. We also ended up talking to some folks who had chartered Grand Adventure, another Grand Banks boat in the NWE fleet.

It warmed up a bit so we just hung out in the available sun on SB for an hour or so and then started putting dinner together. Seemed like a good movie night too.

Tuesday September 19, 2017

We waited until shortly after the 7:35 ferry left and headed out. The wind was supposed to be light and was, but there was a little bit of swell, not bad. Not a bad crossing of Georgia Straight at all, until we got closer to Porlier Pass. The it started to just get messy like it is want to do. So we sped up and we were out of it in about 3/4 hour. So mostly fine, but then a small amount of 3.5 on the Bella Meter.

Once in Trincomali, it was very nice. We tied up to the mooring balls around noon, and then the Giglette came and picked us up and we headed for "The Crane & Robin" restaurant at the marina. We left Miss B behind so that we could eat inside and stay warm. Well it turns out that all there tables were outside, but it also started to warm up and they also had blankets! The restaurant there was very nice and had a bunch of different kinds of taco's as well as the same stuff on a burger bun. And good corn chowder too!

Back to the boats for a few minutes to pick up Miss B etc, and then the Giglette came back to get us to go over to the dock in the park and go for a nice walk. It did start to warm up a bit and the sky got a bit nicer. Then about half way through the walk it started to rain. Hard enough. We kept doing the circle walk more quickly and then stopped at the "Group Camp Shelter" for a little while until the rain stopped. And it did!



Back to the boats for a "regroup", and then we headed over to EG for a great Thai curry dinner - our last dinner together for awhile. We did some evening screen entertainment but not too late. It was pretty dark and cloudy heading back to SB - good thing we were moored close and had left a light on.

Monday September 18, 2017

Back on the 8:35 ferry this morning! We went over to Horseshoe Bay and Greg went to drop stuff in the car while the rest of us went to Starbucks for a pick-me-up. It was pretty grey and rainy when we first arrived, but then the wind picked up and some blue sky came out after we had coffee. We walked around for a few minutes so Byron and Sue could "see" Horseshoe Bay. And we could see the new building going on there and the old Boathouse restaurant sitting there. Don't know what's going to happen to it.

In the car and off on the "famous" Sea to Sky Highway. Byron and Sue have never been on the highway and so have also not ever been to Whistler as well. They had heard so much about it so they wanted to see it. Greg hasn't been to Whistler in many many years either, so it was another day of being a tourist for everyone. The weather on the ride up was great and so the views of Howe Sound were lovely. We were reminded of the other stuff that you normally forget about on the way up too.

We parked when we got there and just wandered around the village. Stopped at the Visitor Centre and got a map so we looked the proper tourist. It took us a while to get settled after hitting the restrooms and getting slightly turned around. And it was *much* colder than we expected up there too so there was some required additional clothes layers. (I could have used even more than I brought! - it was like a winter day up there!). We went to the Village Centre first and watched all the bikers for awhile. If you've never seen it before, seeing bikers on a ski hill is a little odd. Seeing bikes on a chair lift is even odder. It was also interesting to just look around and see all the different non-skiing activities that are available.

We walked back to the middle and then dropped Bella off at the car. It had started to rain quite hard and so we needed to go inside to get something to eat. We went to the rings and the North Village and then ate at "Gnarlyroots" where they had some really great soup and salad. We left there and wandered for a short while, and some tried out some goods at the Bakery next door. Then back to the car and got Miss B out of jail.

My friend Sherry lives at Whistler part time and I had texted her on the drive up to see where she was today. Turns out she was at Whistler and so we drove to her place for another visit! She put the fire on especially for me and also made tea which was so wonderful!

Drove back to the ferry where Greg dropped us all off and we took the next ferry back to Snug Cove. He went and dropped the car off at the rental place and then took the bus to the ferry and caught the next one. Fortunately, we were able to catch Michael, and even though he had "closed out" for the day, he opened up again so we could pay and not have to wait for someone to open the next morning. A quick dinner and a quiet evening as we had had a long day and were getting going pretty early the morning.

Sunday September 17, 2017

You don't need an alarm clock at Snug Cove, especially when you're on E dock. You know what time it is because the ferry comes in starting at 6:30am. And when the ferry comes in, you can hear the prop sound all the way through the aft cabin. The trick is, can you go back to sleep?

We caught the 8:35 ferry over to Horseshoe Bay. We piled Bella into the dog carrier (*not* a popular idea) and hopped on the Express Bus to Park Royal South. Greg transferred to the Marine Drive us and headed to National to pick up the rental car. B&S and Bella and I headed over to Cafe Artigiano to have breakfast and coffee and wait for Greg. No use in putting Bella through another bus. It only took him about half and hour and he was back to the Cafe to have his own coffee and breakfast - so really pretty good! We also decided this morning that we would keep the car for a 2nd day since we knew were weren't leaving Snug Cove tomorrow either. (Tuesday weather is looking best).

It was supposed to rain today, but so far it hadn't. We decided to go for a walk at Ambelside since it was still relatively nice out. Down near the water is was quite windy and cool, but it was still OK. Turns out they have a Farmers Market there on Sunday too! Who knew?! So we did a little shopping there too, not that we needed any provisions. We walked down and watched the Harbour Police chase all these boats away from the traffic lane where the freighters were going in and out under the Lions Gate Bridge. It was a Sunday and there were boats all *over* the place. And the salmon are running so there were a ton of little fish boats everywhere too, but they were generally closer to shore. It was really quite entertaining to watch all the goings on.

Byron and Sue ended up getting the "Janice Historical Tour" of North Van. We drove up to Grouse Mountain, but Sue declined a Gondola ride to the top. Back down to Lonsdale Quay to walk around and see the sights. Grabbed some lunch at Cheshire Cheese! The old stomping ground.



We headed down to the Cove and drove by the old house on McCartney Close. It has been kept up and looks OK really which is nice. Funny to see all the old houses in the neighbourhood. Then back along Dollarton Highway and stopped at Dollarton Shopping Centre to pick up some wine. I had been texting with Cathy a couple of times throughout the day and she found out we were "in the area", so she invited us all to an impromptu dinner! How thoughtful. From there we went down to Deep Cove to look around. It started to rain pretty hard as soon as we got there, but we braved it for a short while. We did make it down to the water and looked around at the kayak rental place. Since it was a Sunday, even though the weather was pretty crappy, there were still a handful of people kayaking in the water and purposely "dunking" as practice. We were still full from our constant eating all day so we couldn't even take advantage of any coffee shops or Deep Cove Pizza!

From there we drove up to the Parkgate area, and then drove to the top of Mount Seymour. It was still pouring rain so there was no point in stopping anywhere or going outside. It was foggy once we neared the top so nothing really to see. Not sure what the point was other than to say that we went. Back down the mountain and then headed over to Cathy and Steve's. We had a great dinner and a great visit. Interesting to have two different set's of friends meet each other for the first time.

We were worried about ferry stuff so we ran out of there pretty early and pretty quickly. We went into the wrong parking lot at the ferry terminal initially, but then found the right one. The former is the "parking lot" and the latter is the "parkade" for anyone needing to know. But we'd left lots and lots of time, so we still got to wait awhile for the ferry. Back to the Union Steamship company and everyone crashed, especially Bella.

Saturday September 16, 2017

Today was the really nice day of weather - the calm before the storm. We went up for breakfast to the Snug Cafe again. Since we could. Then it was back to the boat to organize. We called a few car rental companies and it was not looking good. No cars, no pets, no open Sundays. We called National and not only did they have regular business hours on a Sunday, they had no problems with pets! Amazing that there can be such a difference. Anyway, we book the car for the next day Sunday.

As we were heading back to the boat early, Greg had talked to Michael and he said that they had a van that we could use to tour around the island. So we did! They leave the car unlocked and often the key is in it so that people can just take it. We "checked it out" until 4:00pm. So we packed up our stuff and the dog and tootled around Bowen. Down to "Seymour Shores" and sat on the logs and strolled the beach looking for beach glass and enjoying the view of Point Atkinson and Vancouver.



Also enjoyed the warmth! Then we drove over to Cape Roger Curtis and did exactly the same thing. There was a small lighthouse there and some great rock formations and a little trail. Back into the van and up to "Artists Corner" where there was a small "mall" of artist shops, but most importantly, a great little cafe. It was beautiful and warm and sunny as we sat outside eating far too much fatty food. Sue and I perused the shops, but nothing really stood out.

Back down to the marina and rolled into the parking lot around 4:00. Greg still had a migraine so he had a nap, and I worked on the computer for a bit and then went up and did a load of laundry. It was Saturday night and the marina was "hopping". Lots of boats coming in and many people looking for a shower! They were also located in the "Boaters Lounge" and they also had the BC Lions football game on the TV too. So lots of people coming and going there.

Back to EG for a late quickie dinner of sausages, german potatoes, and zucchini on the BBQ.

Friday September 15, 2017

We left at low tide this morning. We targeted leaving at 8:00 but it was closer to 8:30 by the time we left as Byron scouted out the squeaky channel to get back into the outer bay. We didn't have too much water under the keel, but certainly enough.

We got out there and it was OK, but not great. We went around the backside of Bowen into Howe Sound and it got a bit better. We saw Steve and Cathy's family cabin going around Hood Point. We got to the other side and it was really crappy. Had to wait for a ferry to go ahead of us before going in. Called the marina and he told us we were on "E Hammerhead" but we had no idea what that meant. Turns out that "hammerhead" is the perpendicular dock at the end of a finger. So we were both on the inside of the "hammerhead". Of course we passed it coming in, but he was there on the dock to direct us back. Lot's of small fishing boats coming in in a hurry behind EG. Didn't really care that they had to wait for us. Michael was the person running the place and he was great.

Got everything set and then went up to check in and go for lunch in town. Since we weren't sure when we were going to leave, Michael said to just leave it for now, and come back whenever we knew what we were doing. Went to "The Snug Cafe" again for a coffee and a sandwich and is was again great as we could take Miss B. It was quite warm and sunny outside too. Greg really wanted ice cream so back down to get some. Then back to the boats for some cleaning and vacuuming! Sue and I also walked up to the Ruddy Potato to get a few groceries. We had a team meeting and decided that we would stay for a few days and wait out the storm coming in. We would try and rent a car and spend some time on the mainland instead of leaving right away and waiting out the storm somewhere else.

Steve and Cathy came over on the 4:45 ferry and they got another Spellbound tour and then we had some drinks and appy's on EG. Cathy had made dinner reservations at Tuscany for 7:00. They had the reservation, but they hadn't actually assigned us a table so it was a little squishy. Good restaurant and we had a great dinner. Back to the boats for a short time, and then it was time for them to catch the ferry back. The docks were quite dark given that they were …. docks, so we needed flashlights to navigate them.