Nanaimo

After a breakfast of bagels and eggs we hung out on the boat, waiting for the currents to be in our favor as we planned to cross Dodds Narrows, requiring a slack tide.

We made it through Dodds just as slack was upon us with little incident. Alden was checking our oil leak about every fifteen minutes. We pulled into the Nanaimo Port Authority Marina and took a slip. The guys worked at solving our leaky seal.

It proved to be a pain in the neck. 

We also discovered that our VHF radio was not actually connected to the antennae on our fly bridge arch. Go figure! We had had trouble with clarity at even short ranges... (The boat had been disassembled ages ago when shipped up from California on a truck, apparently whoever put it back together hadn't bothered to reconnect all the wires. Nice.)

Dinner was great! A local thrifty mart supplied corn on the cob to our Moe beef t-bones and pasta, plus a bottle of Beresan cab 2006 that we had been saving. Yum!

The next day we had our list of needed supplies. We split up, Alden biking to a hardware store for new brass fittings, Dayne and I walking to the local chandlery to pick up a new antennae. We met back at the boat and got to work...

Our pretty, new antennae!

Alden in the engine room, where he spends most of his time these days.

Dayne caught a Kenmore flight back to Seattle and we prepared for the next leg of our trip.

The Grand Christening

We passed around the south side of Stewart Is. against an opposing tide. It was a fairly short motor across the border into Canada to moor at Bedwell Harbor. Customs was ridiculously quick and simple. We made lunch while moored and waited for currents to shift in our favor.

Out of Bedwell Harbor, we passed through Swanson Channel then through Tricomali Channel. 

We anchored in Clam Bay and I started cooking. What's for dinner? - scalloped potatoes, spicy coconut chicken with apricot chutney and sautéed asparagus. Luxury living! Meanwhile, Alden and Dayne worked at replacing an engine thermometer on the port engine since our temps had been reading low for that engine ever since we bought the boat. We ended those projects with gin and tonics.

We finally christened our boat with a bottle of champagne that had actually come as a stow-away with the boat when we bought it. It turned out to be delicious! Our vessel bears the proud name of Yukon Jack and it was decided to call the dinghy Wild Cat. We toasted to our voyage and luck.

After dinner the tide was up and we took the dinghy through the cut to Telegraph Harbor which had a nice looking and closed marina, a pub, and nothing else.

We came back to the boat and the boys started working on a leak we'd had on the port engine. It got worse before it got better and it took several hours until the leak was temporarily slowed. It was decided to head into Nanaimo the next day for parts.

Reid Harbor

We left the in-laws and Jess and continued north with Dayne through the San Juan Channel and past Spieden Island. We anchored in Reid Harbor for the evening. The bay was large, calm and soupy with stringy algal growth. The state park had inshore camping and floating picnic docks.

We took the dinghy on a short exploration in the misting rain. Back on board we baked a pizza, tossed a salad and indulged in ice cream. 

The next day I took the dinghy to shore and ran the gravel road that crosses the island to explore the light house on Turn Point. 

Once I was back on the boat we pulled anchor and made for Canada!

Rainy Dayz in the San Juan Islands

Steve, Lisa, Jess, and Dayne joined us in Friday Harbor. Finding anchorage here was a real pain due to deep water with little swing room. We finally found a spot free of cable lines, wrecks, buoys, or other boats. We used a stern line to keep ourselves safe from swinging on a long chain. 

We spent the afternoon exploring Friday Harbor. Jess loved the whale museum. We had a great lunch at the Hungry Clam and motored over to Blind Bay to anchor. The rain did not deter us as we explored the bay by dinghy, alternatively motoring around and practicing our rowing. Lisa was a champ! We explored the small state park island and hung out on the boat. Dayne, Steve and Alden installed some new radio equipment. We had popcorn, smoothies, and artichokes for dinner. The evening ended with a game of Cards Against Humanity. Alden's 13 year old brother won, but both his parents were fierce opposition, edging out the three of us that made up the only demographic with which you would normally play this game.

The rain continued the next day and we headed back to Friday harbor to drop off the family.

Fun in Port Gamble

We were well fed by Dennis and Ingrid with clams freshly gathered from their beach and mixed up in a creamy pasta. Yummy! We enjoyed more hot tubbing, wine and a trip to the cute little town of Port Gamble. Alden took some time to install a new windlass while the rest of us were kayaking. 

Failure to Launch

Opened up the Starboard engine to reveal these beauties. 

Alden hard at work bleeding our lines. A few hours later and we're back in business.

Shilshole to Port Gamble

"So this is where I say something?" -Alden

We left Shilshole on a rough, windy afternoon. Swells were nearly as big as our spirits and the wind was giving us following seas. A lot of tanker traffic kept us on our toes in order to stay out of their way and avoid their wake. We headed straight across the Sound and followed the coast of Bainbridge Island north from Kingston to Point No Point where we finally escaped the big swells around the north of the spit. We found calm, sweet anchorage in Port Gamble harbor where we were greeted by Alden's aunt and uncle in their kayaks. We were soon having enchiladas in their hot tub and recouping from the chilly voyage.