Lots Goin' On!

The days run together, but I'll try to catch up with everything now. (Last night after we got in to Secret Cove, I wrote a really long entry about our days up to now, but it disappeared. So, here goes again!)

Thursday-June 3-Spent the night in Lund, and left early for Desolation Sound, Grace Hbr. The seas were a little bumpy but once we were behind the Copeland Is, things were better. We forgot to get ice, but we did fill up with 5 gals of fuel. We discovered we had a little overflow problem so that made an exciting morning, trying to figure out how that fuel got in the cabin on the floor. We rounded Sarah Pt to go into Malaspina Inlet to see beautiful mountains and glorious scenery. The three boats anchored with stern ties in Grace Harbor, all alone until late afternoon when one other boat came in. It was a quiet night. We used the polypropelene Jim bought in Seattle and did the stern tie thing, but it seems to be more trouble than it's worth right now. We have room to swing almost everywhere.

Friday June 4-Awake to clear sunshine and a glorious day. We were both overwhelmed at the beauty of the mountains, the calm waters and the endless cruising possibilities. It is very quiet, too. We left Grace and motored up to Melanie Cove. Loyal has a 5 day fishing license and will meet us in the Cove a little later. He did get some fish for us, red snapper and greenling, which he shared. We have had great food on this trip. We had trips out around the Cove in the dinghy. It's been easy for me to get on and off the boat with our great stern step. We didn't even know that when we bought the boat. Spika arrived late in the afternoon, so we are now four boats. We went over for a glass of wine to welcome them to the group and then home for supper and an early night. We head for Tenedos Bay tomorrow.
(Loyal was out fishing in his dink and he threw away a small red snapper he had caught, and two eagles came flying in to fight over that fish. He was stunned they would come so close to the boat. No camera that time. He was out another day and did get a photo. He also took a photo of a wolf swimming from island to island. This place is amazing.)
Saturday June 5- We were getting ready to leave when Sweet came over to tell us they were leaving for Refuge Cove because they needed to contact an MD for Gary's eye infection. He had left home doing OK, but he was awakened with a flare up and he wanted to talk to his doctor at home. We went on to Tenedos Bay with the other two boats and found the anchoring to be a chore with a very rocky bottom. We worried about that all day, but finally settled in to the NW corner of the bay. We did stern tie and when Jim took the tie in he tore the bottom of the dinghy, so we now have no dink. Loyal had a repair kit and he loaned that to us, but we have to wait 48 hours to see if it holds. It was not a restful night although we did not drag the anchor. I worried about Gary and Brynn and about the dink and about the anchor! Tomorrow we go to Refuge Cove to meet up with Sweet.

Sunday June 6- Left Tenedos on a wonderful sunny day to motor to Refuge Cove, ariving after only 1.5 hrs. Sweet was waiting for us on the dock where we all tied up together and celebrated our reunion. Gary did talk to his MD but got no real help. He has doubled up on his meds and he hopes that will hold him for now. The night before they met Ziggy who was on the dock in his 27 ft Catalina. He is a retired musician, a guitar player and funny guy who said he has played with the Doobie Bros and all over Mexico and other places. We had a pot luck on the dock and Ziggy brought his guitar to entertain us. He was a good musician and Gary played along on his traveling guitar. Loyal even got his guitar out and joined in, while we all drank wine and sang along. In the middle of it all the RCMP came ashore to say hello. We all agreed later they were checking to see what Ziggy was smoking! He was smoking regular tobacco with us but probably other stuff when he was alone on his boat. It was a fun evening with silly sea songs and great ballads and Johnny Cash all thrown in. We were in the bunk by 10 AM. We leave for VonDonop Inlet tomorrow.
Monday June 7-We had eggs Benedict for breakfast and drank coffee until Gary and Brynn came over and told us they were heading for Bowen Island to get close to an opthmologist in Vancover. We had already decided we would go with them. I had discussed it with Jim days before that, so we told them right away we would be going along. The others will go on to the planned stops and meet us in Bowen in three or four days. We left the dock at 9:30AM and started towards Powell River, thinking it would be a good midway stop. The seas were calm, the winds were 5kts at our back, so we kept on going, arriving in Secret Cove at 6PM. We tied up to the dock, got on the internet, had a great fish dinner (from Loyal's catch) and drank a little wine to make things even better. We'll go to Bowen tomorrow and have plans to take the ferry over to the mainland and then a bus to Vancouver. We'll also try to do some sailing in Howe Sound while we are waiting for the rest of the group. We had a good night sleeping at the dock and plugged in everything to recharge. Off to Bowen this morning. The Adventure Continues! Jim and Virginia