Rapids and whirlpools at Big Bay

A swirling whirlpool threatens to swallow the dinghy.

Rapids at Big Bay with a beautiful backdrop.

Captain Red Beard and his trusty dinghy will not be deterred! What a beautiful day for an adventure.

Stuart Island's Green Lagoon

The green lagoon at Stuart Island. A thick soup of algae colors the water a murky hue.

We still had fun taking the dinghy out to explore the island. We found no three-eyed fish or mutant ninja turtles, to our chagrin.

Foam Party at Joe's Bay.

Alden enjoys the bounteous foam from the tidal rapids at Joe's Bay, BC.

A good facial expression for this foam party. Bubble bath, anyone?

Picture of the Day

This photo was taken in Tracy Arm on our way North. We had Brian, Shannon and little Morgan aboard. Icebergs floated by and grizzlies roamed the beach. At one point we used the wildcat to get a great close-up of a grizzly that turned out to be a bit aggressive and charged us. We gave him a little more space after that. If we're too close for his comfort, then we're too close for mine.

I love the colors in this photo, and the light on the mountains through layers of clouds. Plus, our boat looks pretty awesome.

We have a lot more amazing photos, courtesy of Alden. We'll keep posting as we go through our images. Check back soon!

Back in the U.S. of A.

We welcomed Dan and Bryan in Sydney, BC.

We anchored at the Sydney Spit for the night. The next day we set out in the fog to explore the island.

Alden wore his gorilla shoes.

We had a beautiful walk on the beach.

The spit extending out from the island.

A heron takes flight from his tall perch.

I got Alden to climb this random pole.

The fog started lifting and we headed out of BC, making for Roche Harbor to check in at customs. We had to juice all our citrus for customs before making landfall.

We had a fun stroll around the harbor, seeing the sights.

A nice spot.

Back to the boat. You can see our mismatched bottom stripes. Out with the old and in with the new. Goodbye teal and yellow. Hello navy and gold.

A float plane touches down outside our window.

The next day we had a lovely cruise to Orcas Island where we met Chuck and Sue, longtime friends of Alden and Bryan.

Here we are heading under Deception Pass bridge. Naturally we lost an engine here. We were low on fuel, wanting to wait until we got somewhere cheaper. With all our rocking about in the Rosario Strait, our engine sucked up some air or debris and sputtered out.

We limped along with one engine, under the bridge at slack water and around the corner into a sheltered bay where we moored for the night. Alden changed our fuel filter and we filled up the next morning. No harm done! But a good lesson in not running too low.

Dan and Bryan head out to catch their bus to Anacortes. Thanks for all the fun!!

We had a lovely cruise south.

A lovely day to cruise and have a nap.

Welcome back to Shilshole! 

It's been an epic trip full of challenges, surprises and wonderful memories! Thanks for sharing in our adventure!!! Check back for more pictures soon :)

Pender Harbor

We left Desolation Sound and the sunshine and immediately ran into bad weather. We decided to call it a day early and ducked into Grace Harbor for the night. We waited out the weather overnight and headed south in the morning. 

It was a full day of driving to make it to Pender Harbor, but we made it. We dropped the hook and settled in, then took the wildcat to shore for some groceries.

At the store we ran into Ingrid, Alden's aunt. She and Dennis were up visiting friends. What luck! We got invited to dinner at the Livingston's island with all their friends. We were treated to lasagna  and apple pie. What a delight! Plus we got to meet a whole group of new friends. 

On the ride back it was dark and the moon hadn't yet risen. As we motored the wildcat back through the still water our prop churned up bioluminescence, making our wake glow. Little glittery diatoms flashed in our bow wake and down in the water whole schools of small fish darted about at the disturbance of our engine, lighting up like little comets through the water in every direction. It was stunning and such a wonderful little surprise to end the day.

We made eggs Benedict for breakfast the next morning!

Our view of Pender Harbor.

We had a beautiful day for crossing the Strait of Georgia to Nanaimo.

Coming in to the city. It was really weird to see so many buildings and cars.

Nanaimo to Montague Harbor

In Nanaimo we dropped anchor in a bay full of boats. We took the dinghy to shore and walked through the stores downtown. We wandered along until we heard music and followed it to a blues festival. We sat on a bench in the park and listened to the music and watched people playing in the grass.

I really liked the expression of this statue so I took a picture. 

We had a yummy dinner. The next day we walked around Newcastle Island. Its so nice to be able to do so much walking again.

After walking the island we headed south through Dodds Narrows, catching it at slack water. The pass was busy and boats migrated in and out, we carefully navigated around huge log floats that were also trying to squeeze through.

Entering the narrows.

Passing some of the log floats.

We were impressed by all the logs.

We anchored outside Montague Harbor. The harbor itself was so full we went around a corner and found our own little cove.

A white sandy beach and a nice little trail lead through the park.

Alden tames a deer.

It was a beautiful evening.

Prideaux Haven

Next stop, Melanie Cove in Prideaux Haven. This place was packed and we had to squeeze into a spot and put up a stern line because there's no room to swing. It felt like summer camp.

Our busiest anchorage, yet.

We took the dinghy to shore for some exploring.

And this is what we found.

A tree-strewn trail to Laura Bay.

Look at those two.

Eric and his skyscraper.

We spent two nights here, hiking, paddling and swimming. It was hot and wonderful.

Alden contemplates jumping.

We started the process of putting on new stripes.

Goodbye teal stripe.

Time for Eric to head home - at least it's in style. We took the dinghy out to meet the plane and watched him take off for home.

See you on the flip side!