June 3, 2017

Left early (but not as early as Irish Mist) in order to catch the good weather.



It was beautiful when we left Nanaimo, but as with all best laid plans, it went for poop just after the Winchelsea's and was quite swelly up to Hornby. The weather service added a "Qualicum" to the forecast, meaning it was "wind's light" everywhere, but oh by the way, it'll be 15kts to 25kts. So we put the pedal to the metal and just powered through "Qualicum" for about an hour. It's only diesel and money. After Hornby it was back to "lovely" again and Bella got one of her special "named" treats for being such a good girl.



Then it was just the long haul up the Strait. It was a long day of running, but worth if you consider how much area we were able to put behind us.



When we arrived at Rebecca Spit though, it got windy again!! It was blowing away at about 12kts inside Drew Harbor. Fortunately, it was just one of those afternoon temperature change winds and it settled down shortly after we finished anchoring. Had a total of 9.4 hours running time today which is *far* from our norm. But we're up early again in the morning to catch the slack at Beasley Passage so it will be an early night.

June 2, 2017

The forecast was for a bit windy this morning. It was light when we got up, but was a little heavier by the time we left. Fortunately, the current and the wind were going in the same direction, and even more fortunate that we were going that direction too. So not too bad. One of those mornings though where we had blue sky, clouds, and rain all at the same time.

We left at 9:00am to have plenty of time to hit slack at Dodd Narrows at 11:56. We even found a red canoe adrift and called it into the Coast Guard (nothing inside of it!). The further north we got, the nicer it got and we saw a nice rainbow as we approached Nanaimo.

We tied up on "Hotel" dock and was pleasantly surprised to have no wind and a warm sun. We checked in and then had Halibut Taco's at Penny's Palapa's. Then for a walk to have our regular coffee and a nanaimo bar at Serious Coffee. And a present for Jan. I didn't get my standard "pre-trip pedicure" before we left as things just got too crazy. So I got my "pre-trip pedicure" here in Nanaimo. (Yay!)

Back to the boat where it is now quite windy again (it *is* Nanaimo) and then over to Thrifty to collect some fruit and vegetable provisions. Back to the boat to make salsa, and then a present for Greg - Fish and Chip dinner from Trollers.

We're sitting in the salon where it is again nice and warm and not windy, with the doors open and look up at the boardwalk, and who goes walking by but Scott Blake. He and his friend Gary are delivering Irish Mist to Alaska. So we call him on the phone and tell him to look over his right shoulder and wave 😀. We finally meet his friend Gary who is helping with the delivery, and talk boats (really boat problems), and plans for heading north. Small ocean.

June 1, 2017

OMG! Normal trip preparation is a pain. But trip preparation for a 4 month trip brings it to a whole new level! It's stressful, tiring, and it's been going on for a loooooong time. Great way to start a brand new Blog right? By complaining. "Oh poor me, poor us" - I can hear you playing the miniature violins now . Well you're right! Moving on …

Before I get started, I just want you to know that this Blog is mostly for me, not you I would like to be able to look back at the trip and remember where we went and what we did. So I might not explain all the details needed for someone else to understand. And also, I need an excuse to take more Bella photos.

We moved onto the boat last night, and then went back to the house to finalize a few things this morning. Byron picked us up and took us to the harbor as we wanted to leave the cars in the garage while we're away. A quick trip to the fuel dock to top off on cheap USA diesel, and we're off across Bellingham Bay. Of course the wind was blowing more than the forecast said it would (surprise!) but it wasn't too bad. As is often the case, it was much nicer out in the islands. And it was lovely and flat crossing Boundary Pass. It got a "zero" on the Bella meter.



We told customs we'd be outside the marina at 5:00pm, waited an extra 5 minutes there, and then took off for a mooring ball. We dropped the dinghy and headed to the public dock to register and pay our $14 fee, and back to Spellbound. Just before the crossing, the water maker decided to "alarm". It complained about the "pre-filter" being bad. We didn't really need much water as we of course had filled up the day before, but we want to get in the habit of running it and of course making sure that any potential problems show up sooner, rather than later. So when we got back, Greg took apart the forward cabin and took out the 20 micron and 5 micron filters. The 20 looked fine, but the 5 was a little messy. So he switched them out and then cleaned them up again for re-use. It's a messy job, but we really like having fresh water so it's not hard to talk yourself into it.