When last we spoke, there was rain, thunder and all manner of complicated weather.  But, also a few moments when the moon shown through.

Ann got this "art shot". Some fog was forming in the bay with the moon overhead.

The variable weather kept up most of the night, but broke in the morning to blue sky.  It beckoned a hike.  Oh, did someone say Mt Daniel??!  Well, Ann did and I of course followed.  All 10 miles and 1500 vertical feet.  Yipes!!

So, the hike was lovely.  Past a gorgeous lake and straight up the hill.  Sometimes very straight up.  Oh well, the pics will show it was worth it.

Roughly, this shows we walked the road from the Garden Bay harbor, around the lake then up the trail to the summit and back.

View from the top looking north (where we're eventually going).

We can see Charisma waaaayyy down in the cove.

Whew, made it!

We had a lovely picnic overlooking Pender Harbor.

EagleCam!!!!

Ok, we’re hangin’ here at least another day or so.

We left Nanaimo on Vancouver Island and transited the Strait of Georgia to the Bristish Columbia mainland.  We’re now in Pender Harbor, about 42 miles NW of the city of Vancouver on the mainland side.  This is the beginning of the odyssey.  The gateway to the inlets and tributaries of the inland passage that should we have time – will take us all the way to southeast Alaska.  Most folks tell us we could spend years exploring all the twists and turns, little islets and inland passages, so we’ll see how far we get.

As we approach the coast, we get a hint of the tall, snow-capped mountains that define and surround the inlets we'll be exploring.

Pender Harbor is still civilized.  In fact we had dinner tonight in the local Pub.  But, in just a dozen or so miles out of here we’ll be in fjord-like wilderness as we work our way up to Princess Louisa.  We’ll have more to say and show about that so will leave the description for another day.

Some of these entrances can be a little tight. The cove we're in is about half a mile back and around to the left.

In the mean time, here’s a few pics of our new locale.  The trip over was pretty uneventful and unfortunately flat calm, so we motored the whole way.  About 35 miles – 6 or so hours.  We got here just in time though.  As we were coming in Ann said, “Those clouds don’t look so good”.  Half an hour after the anchor was set we had thunder and rain squalls.  But it cleared in time for a beautiful twilight and full moon rising over the mountain.

Nice and tucked in after the storm blew by.

View of the harbor from the back deck of the Pub.

Once back on board, we were treated to a lovely full moon rising over the mountain.

Hello moon!

A little catch up.

Ann got her tooth fixed.  That was Number One on the agenda.  We had visions of having to wait three weeks to do a crown, etc, etc.  But, hooray, the security guard at the Nanaimo Yacht Club had a dentist recommendation!  Ann called, got an appointment at 11:30 and came back to Charisma with a big, full smile.  A temporary filling to keep things together until we get back.  Whew!

NYC. A very nice spot. We highly recommend visiting Nanaimo Yacht Club. Nice folks, excellent facilities. We've had a very comfortable stay here.

OK, so the other thing about Nanaimo is seaplanes!  Actually everywhere in the PNW there are seaplanes, but the larger cities have LOTS of seaplanes.  When the wind is from the SE we are in the flight path.  Not so good when the first plane arrives at 0700 in the morning!

The wide angle lens doesn't do this justice. Sometimes you wonder if they are going to clear the mast!

Once we wake up and have a cup of coffee or two, it's pretty entertaining though.

And one more thought on why we like Canada.  REAL CUBAN RUM!!!

The real, deal. Anejo, aged 7 years. Oh, yeah.

OK, some catching up.

Starting with yesterday (Tuesday), we went for a hike on the lovely Newcastle Island where we are/were anchored.  We ended up doing a 7 mile hike around the outside of the island.  Really lovely!  The trees!!  There were maples, pines, firs, redwoods, all kinds and they were old.  Some huge trees.  Reminded us of Muir Woods in California.

We dinghied ashore to a nice welcoming sign.

The first thing we saw was this lovely totem!

Much of the hike was among beautiful trees such as this.

Then…after some “hammock time” and etc, we went to the Dinghy Bar where we met up with some friends we met last year (Morgan and Douglas on Tumbleweed) and some friends we met last week (Phil and Betty on Pilgrim).

Tumbleweed. Morgan and Douglas are headed to the South Pacific after one more season in this beautiful area. They were so kind to give us their cruising guides to the area and we traded our PDFs of the South Pacific islands.

Pilgrim and their guard dog; "Thomas".

And dumb-us for not getting actual pictures of us with the crews of these yachts.  Damn!  Maybe we’ll catch them and get pics.

But we did have a get together at the “Dinghy Dock”.  A well known local “floating” establishment where you tie up your dinghy and stop in for a beer and some – as it turns out – really good food!  Music as well!  Much fun was had by all.

Looks like my kind of place!

Fun to motor over, tie up and enjoy good, friends, good beer and food and live music! (OK, the sign says no tie; dinghies tied up on the right)

So, we’re now up to today; Wednesday.  We moved over to the Nanaimo Yacht Club transient slip where we got a pretty good deal ($20 Canadian/day) to tie up.  More importantly we can use their showers and laundry!!  One of us – no names now – was getting a little ripe!  We also did some provisioning as we’re close to “jumping” to the other side – the BC coast where we’ll head up into the wilderness.  First stop is Princess Louisa, then on to Desolation Sound and up to the Broughtons (for those who know).  The only downside is the slip we are in is 1/4 mile from the showers/laundry!  Oh, well it’s good exercise, except when it’s raining (like now!)

But for now – we’re staying here for a bit since literally a couple hours ago, Ann broke her tooth!  It doesn’t hurt, but the whole  corner of a molar is gone.  We’re going to scramble to find a dentist tomorrow and see what can be done.  Bummer.

OK, and here’s today’s Mystery Message Contest!  What does the following message mean?

Mystery Message.

We made it through the “dreaded” Dodd Narrows and are now in Nanaimo, Vancouver Island.  Dodd Narrows is one of those places that is a “constriction” in the passage in more ways than one.  Because it goes from hundreds of feet deep to 40 feet and half mile wide to a hundred yards, the current can be ferocious and scary.  This contributes to the second “narrowing”; that of the narrowing of the crowds.  A lot of people just don’t want to deal with doing it, so once past it, the crowd thins.   It’s called one of the “Gateways” heading north.  The reality is, if you hit it near slack tide, it’s not so bad (of course if you don’t, really bad things can happen side the tidal speeds can hit 9 knots!

Today, we came through on the flood heading northbound and the tide at the narrows shot us though at a leisurely 4 knots plus our 6, meaning 10 knots.  And that’s near slack water.  OK, glad to have that one behind us.  Coming up in the weeks ahead are some spots that they call the rapids.  I hate to think of 13 ton Charisma going through rapids, but that’s a story for a future day.

Here's the narrows coming up. It also has a blind curve to the right, so as you approach the constriction you call in the blind on the VHF to let others know you are coming through. Good thing. As we were preparing to go through a boat called from the other side (who we couldn't see). We slowed down and avoided a difficult situation.

Once through Dodd Narrows it was a pretty straightforward couple miles up to the second largest city on Vancouver Island, Nanaimo.  On the way in though we saw our friends from Tumbleweed on the AIS.  They were leaving.  We called them on the VHF to find they were heading north.  Sad.  But, as our luck (not theirs) would have it, they had a problem with their raw water pump and had to turn back.  We’re anchored next to each other and got together for sundowners this evening.  Great to catch up with a fellow cruiser.  We met them in Port Townsend.  They gave us their cruising guides to BC and we gave them our PDFs of cruising guides for the South Pacific which is where they are headed a little later this season (via the west coast and Mexico).  They sourced a new water pump today which they will install tomorrow, so all’s good.

A look out at our anchorage (can you see Charisma?) from Nanaimo.

EagleCam!!

Another eagle sighting!

We had a great couple days catching up with John and Lisa – formerly of Orcinius, that they still own – but now in the PNW of the M/V Figaro.  They are heading up to Juneau, Alaska and our paths crossed for one night at Telegraph Harbor, Thetis Island.  How great to see them, except…well, see below for more on that!

Figaro approaching the dock.

Great to catch up with John and Lisa, if only for one night.

An impressive looking boat. They do twenty knots at cruise. Where we could "almost" keep up with Orcinius, we can't even come close to matching speed with Figaro. We'll hope to see them again at the end of the season on the way "back down".

So about that Bread Caper.  Well sneaky buggers that John and Lisa are, they finally “aced” us with the infamous “forever” bread.  When we were in Hawaii last year provisioning for the final three week leg back to the US, Lisa convinced Ann to buy some bread that was supposed to stay “fresh” for months.  OK, we bought two loaves.  Three days into the trip, John posted an urgent message via email to say it was the worst bread he had ever tasted and not to open it.  We didn’t.  But…we saved it and hid our two loaves in their house after we got back and were on our way back to the Bay Area.  Sort of a “back-atcha” for Lisa recommending it.  In the last year, those loaves have been hidden and re-hidden back and forth several times as our paths have crossed.  Sometimes to be found in a suitcase, sometimes left in the top shelf of a pantry, etc, etc.

Well, they finally topped us and “got” us.  Having stashed both loaves in Lisa’s backpack at their house months ago on our way up to Port Townsend, Ann and I completely forgot about them.  John and Lisa had not.  We cheerfully helped them leave the dock in the morning on their way north.  An hour later we sauntered out of Charisma to loose our lines for our 10 mile jaunt to the next little anchorage.  As Ann went to unclear the bow-line, she got a panicked look on her face.  I heard a; “Bob, quick come here there’s a problem, the line’s caught on something!”  I went up to check it out and sure enough the end of the bow line was straight down in the water and seemed jammed.  I was able to pull on it though and pretty quickly realized “something” was tied to the end of the line.  Oh crap!  It was the bread!!  Weighted down in a grocery bag with a huge rock!  Rats!  They got us.  And the bread is so water logged it can’t be saved.

Oh well, the end of a year long adventure.  We’ll have to figure out a new one.  In the mean time it’s John and Lisa 4, Ann and Bob 3.

Yup, just chillin’.

It’s nice here and John and Lisa (of sailing vessel Orcinius and on this trip, their new motor vessel, Figaro) are going to be in the area tomorrow on their way north, so we’re hanging here.  Tomorrow we will go around to the other side of this small island and meet them in Telegraph Harbor (still Thetis Island).  As John put it; “There’s a pub there!”  Then they are moving on a mission to get up to Alaska in the next couple weeks, whereas our mission for now is…very slow, so we can see all the sights.  After tomorrow we’ll go to Pirate Cove the next island north of here (DeCourcy Island) and spend a day or two hiking.  And so on.

So, without further delay, here’s todays EagleCam!

Today's Bald Eagle.

We had an amazing event that happened too fast to get on camera.  While we were eating lunch in the cockpit we heard a loud; “Whoooosh” almost overhead.  Jumping up we just caught two mature Bald Eagles locked in what looked to be a death grip, talon to talon and spinning down toward the water.  I thought for sure they were going to splash, but at the last possible second they let go and swooped away, talons just skimming the surface.  I don’t know if it was an argument over a piece of food – we didn’t see anything hit the water – or an aggression display, but it was breathtaking.   So that’s why we’re taking our time.  So much to see.

The edge of our little cove - you can just see the mountains across Georgia Straight on the mainland BC side.

I had to feature this lovely shot that Ann took today as we were getting ready to anchor in Clam Bay just off Thetis Island some 15 miles south of Naniamo on the SE side of Vancouver Island.

Wow! (I think this is an immature Bald Eagle. It takes two years for them to develop their distinctive white head and tail).

A couple days ago, we moved north to Maple Bay.  That’s where our friends Chris and Rani – formerly of Ladybug II – live.  We first met them as we criss-crossed each other cruising in the South Pacific.  Now they are living back in BC planning their next adventure.  In the mean time they were nice enough to host us for a couple days at their home near Maple Bay on SE Vancouver Island.

Chris and Rani met us halfway between where we were anchored on Portland Island and their home near Maple Bay.

We sailed about twenty yards apart for the hour or so it took to get to their home base. It was great catching up - we hadn't seen them for about two years.

The next day Chris had to work, but Rani took us on a 6 mile hike along the Cowichan River - a stunning river just half an hour from their house.

And during a bit of a tour of the area, guess what Ann found?

One of the high points of our visit, Chris, who has sailed around Vancouver Island as we plan to, we able to take us through the charts and point out spots not to be missed.

As always, such a great time catching up with old cruising friends.  Thank you Chris and Rani for the great time!