It's sunny on Granville Island. I have been remiss in updating the blog. The reason is simple... I have been feeling a little out of sorts with everything going on.

As I said before, everything happens for a reason. We had a list of issues that called for attention. Some could have waited and others we felt could not.

As you know, we came to Granville Island due to unsettling weather at the north end of the island and on the west coast. Ron and I determined this was the best decision considering he will be working out of Vancouver at the beginning of October.

One item on our list was a water drip in our aft cabin that was definitely more than condensation on the window frames. It seems that we had a major leak in two areas - the propane tank bin and through the arch where the canvas frame attaches. I cannot imagine what a nightmare it would have been this winter having to contend with these leaks. I don't even want to go there! Needless to say the crew here, Sara, Darren and Mark have been directing their attention to our issues.

We have been getting water in the bilge and may have solved that problem by stopping the leaks. We will see over the next couple days.

A primary reason for being here is our secondary refrigeration/freezer. It has not worked since we took delivery of Ta Daa. We now know that to access the secondary system, the primary system had to be completely removed from the galley. To do that our companion way stairs had to be removed. Freddy Freezerman was supposed to have a look at the system on Thursday afternoon but didn't make it until Saturday morning. We understand the delay and are very thankful he came out yesterday just for us. Problem now solved except that the crew here is not in until Monday to put everything back in it's rightful location.

Having mentioned all the above the galley is virtually unaccessable 'cept for coffee in the mornings. Our freezer and fridge food is being held under lock and key on another boat. The ceiling in our sleeping cabin was hanging down for three days until we were confident the rain would no longer penetrate and drip on our woodwork.

Ron and I will run some experiments to see if we can figure out the water in the bilge. As you know, when you want something to happen, it won't.

Through all of this I was not feeling my old chipper self. We were working alongside the people here to discuss and assist with the list of items. We have been eating out which is not my favourite thing to do.

We have breakfast and lunch pared down the a minimum cost. For breakfast the BELTCH sandwich is enough for two and only costs $6.00. For lunch I purchased a Tiffen Tin and it gets filled with two curry dishes for only $5.oo and the amount is enough for the two of us. The curry has been outstanding.

Another item on our list will be taken care of on Monday / Tuesday. It involves removing part of the canvas from the cockpit to replace the buffalo hide with elk hide. Our buffalo hide reinforcement is deteriorating much faster than it should. I guess elk are more though than buffalo - who would have thought?

Yesterday and today we went for long walks. Today was four hours which also involved off-leash areas for Winston. In addition we have been taking some pictures to help pass the time. There is so much here.

We are hopeful that we can leave here on Wednesday. It's up to the canvas guys now so we shall see. I will keep you posted.

While this is not the adventure we intended we made the right decision. While on the SSB this morning I became aware of a catamaran who was sailing the west coast. They endured three big storms which resulted in the loss of BOTH their rudders. They were being towed into Ucluelet by the Coast Guard. If we had insisted on sticking to our original plan, we would have been out there too.

Thank you all for checking the blog. It means a lot to us.
Until later - be happy!

While yesterday was exciting today was adventurous. We started out from Powell River with a favourable weather report. If any of you want to google Grief Point you will find that it is a jut of land that seems to have its own weather pattern. At Powell River - south marina - you are right behind the BC Ferry Terminal. It is also the home of numerous tugboats that come and go all through the night.

We headed out at 0845 toward Pender Harbour. The harbour we just left indicated 6 knots of wind. When we arrived at Grief Point it was gusting to 20 knots right on the nose. Then we hit a quiet area where the swells were 3 metres and the wind was only 2 knots. That was short lived. Before long we were in winds gusting to 25 knots, 3 metres+ seas and all on the nose. If we sailed all the seas would be on our beam and not a comfortable ride which would take twice as long as we would be tacking down Malaspina Strait. We made a conscious decision to take the short route and keep motoring. Any boat motoring the opposite direction would and did have smooth sailing. We passed many who waved and were taking much less beating than we were.

It was a very rough ride to say the least. At one point with the wind and the waves I was sure we were going backwards! Need I say more???

Our three hour trip took six. All was fine - we laughed, joked and talked about how we would do things different next time. Winston on the other hand did not find the rough seas amusing. He stuck to the cockpit floor like glue. Rest assured he was comfortable with bedding and extra coverings. He had been suffering from a sensitive ear. After picking up some earwash in Courtenay and using it dilligently his ear did not clear up.

Now you have to understand our gentle and sensitive little Winston. If he thinks he is going to be hurt he in on the defensive. Walking into a veterinarian office is usually not high on his priority list. Once in Pender Harbour and tied securely to the government dock, I immediately went to the office to phone the local vet. Once at the vet I warned him that Winston did not like the thought of pain and probably would not settle down in the office. Well, knock me over with a feather - Winston loved this guy. Nuzzled up to him, let him check his ear and all was a piece of cake. That was the best vet ever for us! Suffice it to say, he now has some medication for his ear and all will be well in a couple days.

Another interesting tidbit about Pender Harbour. Last year, Ron noticed that it is now the home of my father's former fishing vessel - Island Derby. It does not look the same. Last year when we were here the owner was not. Lo and behold he is aboard today. Naturally, I walked over and introduced myself and properly announce that my father used to own this boat. He was rightly excited. He promptly gave me his phone number to pass along to Dad. Let me say that this fellow is a character. Let your imagine to the rest. I did manage to get a couple snapshots.

For those of you who do not know (and I will try to keep this short) there is a portion of the Fraser River called Derby Reach - pronounced Darby Reach. My great-great grandmother had a farm there called The Derby. It was the first unofficial capital of British Columbia. The powers of the day didn't like the location so they moved the capital to Fort Langley. My grandmother was the first May Queen of Fort Langley. The family farm was called Derby. My great-uncle had a fishboat on the Fraser River called Derby Gal. When my father (a nephew) built his fishboat he aptly named her Island Derby because of living on Vancouver Island. Island Derby now lives in Pender Harbour. The first sailboat that Ron and I purchased, we named Derby Lass in keeping with the tradition. As you know we have strayed from tradition to something more whimsical. Just tonight a dinghy of people went by and all we could hear was Ta Daa.

Tomorrow morning we will listen to the 0400 weather report and make our decision whether to head to Gibsons or stay put for an extra day.

Mother Nature calls the shots!

Momma Dougan - thank you so much for the telephone call tonight. I had a great laugh and enjoyed hearing of your sailing experiences on Tapas!

Time to catch up again. The last two nights we were in Campbell River and spent much of the time with company, doing laundry and general boat cleaning and fishing. Let's start where I left off from the last post.

September 11, 2009

The fog horn at Chatham Point (in Johnstone Strait) has stopped sounding and that is a good sign. The fog around us at Blind Channel has lifted completely and we have a beautiful sunny day. Fog is great for photo opportunities. We shoved off at noon making way for Campbell River en route to Vancouver. We needed to do some laundry and trash duties. It's been a couple weeks!

We spotted whales again. This time there were at least half a dozen whale watching zodiac boats hanging around. We moved to the middle of the channel to keep our distance. We did not have the luxury of time on our side to drift and enjoy the pod. We had to make it to Seymour Narrows on time.

Have you folks heard of the infamous Seymour Narrows? I encourage you to 'google' it. Everything I read about the narrows scared the living #$%^ out of me for fear that we read the current tables incorrectly. I checked the tables, checked the time, checked the tables and checked our time again. I was sure that one of the whirlpools would swallow us up. On the other hand, tens and tens of boats go through there everyday.

We arrived at the narrows ahead of time so fished while we waited. Now I have to tell you, when we fish we really do not know what we are doing! Ron drops something pink over the side and we troll. We heard that the fish this year like anything pink so pink it is.

The time came to make our way to the narrows. Ron piloted us through while I was on the lookout for the big one that was going to spin our boat, swallow us and spit us out in some other location. I never felt this anxious piloting us through all the other rapids. This one has such a history.

Ron reminded me that we did all the others just fine, the moon was not full which meant smaller tides and less current. Seymour Narrows can flood/ebb up to 16 knots!!!! Not today and not when we transited. It was beautiful, calm and uneventful as were the others.

We continued to motor to Discovery Harbour Marina in Campbell River. We had dinner with my Aunty Linda and Uncle Al. Kris, if your are reading this blog - Al and Linda say hello! They were surprised that we are living at the same Marina.

We were pooped so turned in early. We knew we had a busy coming up.

September 12, 2009

How exciting can laundry and vacuuming be? Not very so I am not going to tell you about it. After our chores we went fishing. The tyee are jumping like crazy. They were running like porpoise. I had never seen anything like it before. Ron and I were in our little dinghy. Remember, we do NOT know much about fishing and especially in unfamiliar places.

We eagerly set out to land the big one. We motored to this little place the locals call Tyee Bowl. This is where they were almost jumping into the dinghy. We trolled back and forth, back and forth. We were commenting to each other how interesting it was that other people were in dorries and rowing - now that is adding sport to the sport of fishing! After Ron promptly lost his tackle and was reloading a kind gentleman gestured me with this pointing finger to come closer to his boat... I did as I was motioned to do. He very gently explained that we were in a no motor zone and if we wanted to fish we had to tilt our motor and get out the oars. OK, we said, we can do that. It was not so easy. The current was building and I was rowing nowhere fast. When I was pooped from rowing - and just to be fair to Ron, I chose to row - we dropped the motor and happily changed locations. We went back to the boat absolutely skunked by the jumping tyee.

Friends, Bill and Leanne, from Courtenay drove up for a visit. We had a very nice evening and dinner. Not a late evening as Bill and Leanne had to releive the babysitter and Ron and I were planning so undock at 0700 the next morning to catch the flood tide past Cape Mudge.

September 13, 2009

We witnessed a spectacular sunrise this morning while walking the dog. We could feel it was going to be a stellar day with some sailing - finally. We popped over to the fuel dock before heading into Discovery Passage. The people at this fuel dock were outstanding in their customer service - Discovery Fuel - if you are boating in this area.

As we were heading out we tried to reach Barbara on the SSB. No luck but then came to the conclusion that the huge antenna towers might have had something to do with the interference.

I spotted a single whale this morning. I do not think he was an Orca as there was a very tiny dorsal fin. I will have to research to see if I can ID what I saw. He was definitely blowing out of his blowhole.

You will never guess what happened on the way to Powell River! Ron and I do not need to circumnavigate the island for excitement and adventure. We cleared Cape Mudge, had a good point of sail for raising the genneker. It is a large and lightweight sail much like a spinnaker but is a different shape.

We were breezing along at 5 knots and so enjoying being one with the wind and the water. We sailed on past Middlenatch Island maintaining our point. Ron played with our new Hydrovane ( a steering system that does not use electricity). We are neophytes when it comes to the Hydrovane so play we did. Ron did very well and we were impressed. The wind was quite light so thought we would try again later when we have the main and genoa sails up.

Ron went below to review our charting. I was at the helm. What ensued next took only a matter of minutes but felt like hours - drum roll please....

I head some raindrops hit the canvas. I felt a great gust of wind. I look behind me and a squall was coming down on us fast. I called Ron up and we decided to drop the genneker. Not an easy task in now 20 knots of wind. I really don't know at what point things started to go wrong but suffice it to say that we have learned very valuable lessons. At some point I let the genneker sheet go as Ron was pulling the sock over the sail. You are not going to beleive what happened next and keep in mind we are in the middle of a 20 knot squall. For some it might be a piece of cake but for Ron and me, this was a new experience.

I started the engine - as you should do before dropping sails. I heard a klunk and thud and then an alarm. Yes folks, for those of you who sail will know I wrapped the genneker sheet around the propeller shaft. We were now dead in the water. We cut the line - good idea but wrong timing. As soon as Ron cut the line the Genneker flew out from the boat and the sock was unreachable. Now what - and keep in mind the wind is blowing us about. We knew that we and the boat would be fine but how are we going to get the sail in.

As I dropped the halyard, Ron pulled on the sail during the lulls in the wind. As the wind picked up I was sure my husband was on his way overboard. Again and again and again he gave it the old college try and between us we managed to get the sail onboard before it completely landed in the water.

We could start the engine but not put it in gear because of the sheet wrapped around the prop shaft. So here we are half way to our destination and completely shocked at what just happened - perhaps we were in denial. We set the main sail and got underway.

After many minutes of silence we decided that we should do the inevitable - Comox Coast Guard, Comox Coast Guard this is sailing vessel Ta Daa. We explained that we were in no immediate danger and felt that we could make our way to the marina but would need a tow to the dock. The Coast Guard was absolutely wonderful. They monitored our progress every hour. We gave them our coordinates and speed to help estimate our time of arrival to Powell River. Once there they would put out a call for any boats in the area to assist. As our luck comes and goes... we sailed well to the Powell River mill and then the wind died. Again we were dead in the water. I hailed the Coast Guard letting them know we would need a tow sooner than anticipated.

Coast Guard to the rescue! Once they arrived they attached a tow line and to Powell River we landed in style. It sure saved on the fuel bill -hee hee.

For any of you who are boaters I strongly urged you to send them a donation - it was very comforting to know that they were there when needed!

Once tucked into the dock we took Winston for a walk and our luck changed again. There were a group of commercial divers and Ron struck up a deal with one of them. All the line was cleared off the prop shaft in short order. He checked our through hulls, sounder and zinks while he was at it. We were very appreciative and felt the small fee we paid was well worth it.

We will certainly have a good night sleep knowing that all is fine and we are much wiser than we were yesterday. Tomorrow we are off to Garden Bay in Pender Harbour. Tomorrow is a new day and all will go well. TA DAA

Hello Family and Friends! Time for some catch up on the blog. We have not had good connections until now.

September 8

It was extremely foggy outside so we had to stay put another day. For those of you who do not understand why we stay put for a whole day, we have current times that we have to meet in order to transi t some of the rapids in daylight and that will be flowing in a favourable direction. For us, we want the ebb tides as we go north.

The fog did finally lift later in the morning. We had a little sleep in, as much as I can sleep in. We have also had good SSB connection with Barbara in Sidney. It is a steep learning curve to operate the SSB but I am persisting.

Before leaving Victoria, I had purchased some very nice and new fender line. Thanks, Fern, from Bosun's Locker! I changed all the fender lines today so have now gotten rid of some of the less than desirable fender line that came with the boat. What I purchased from Fern works on the Chinese Pull Finger method and it is great to handle. For you who have boats -go see Fern.

I tried my had at fishing from the dock but nothing bit in the first 5 minutes so I gave up, but did try again and no bites so I gave up again. Good thing it is not my job to feed the crew - we'd all starve.

September 9

Woooo whoooo we are leaving Cordero Lodge. Not that is is not a nice place to wait but there is so much more to see. Today we transit Green and Whirlpool Rapids. Our destination - Forward Harbour. Did I tell you that it is raining buckets. We are in our winter gear.

It is stunning scenery up here. And that is without seeing the tops of the mountains. I still don't know how high they are visually however the chart does indicate the height.

We made it to Forward Harbour in record time. We caught the last of the ebb through Whirlpool and had a good ride. Anchoring went without a hitch. Another boat was just ahead of us and we had a sheltered little bay without a breath of wind. We anchored in 50 ft of water so let out all 300 ft of chain. It was a good thing we did because no sooner did we anchor and I looked to the east and I could see unsettling skies and I could hear the water start to ripple. Yes sireee-we anchored just in time to ride out a four hour storm with winds gusting up to 36.8 knits. Double that for a rough estimate of kilometers per hour. We made a decision that if the wind didn't settle by 4 PM we woud weigh anchor and move to the head of the bay.

All went well - we stayed the night. I rowed Winston to shore to do what dogs need to do then rowed for another 45 minutes enjoying the calm and quiet. It was so quiet that I could hear the seaweed brush by the dinghy.

All in all we had a very peaceful night with four other boats that joined us in the early evening. They missed the storm. We have great faith in our new anchor.

September 10

Today we need to make some decisions. As you already know we have decided not to circumnavigate the island but thought we would mosey on north a little while before heading south for Victoria. Well, another option came available. We have some warranty work that needs to be done on the boat. Specialty Yachts can fit us in to have the work done. It was a tough decision - go north or Granville Island; go north or Granville Island. Ron and I knew that the best decision is to go ti Granville Island and have the work done while we have the time. It will be much more complicated to get the work done once Ron starts working in Vancouver. There it is... we are turning around. Sad but true. It was tough for both of us but is is the right thing.

Today we left Forward Harbour for Port Neville. From Port Neville we charted our new route to Vancouver. We always like to take new routes so we can see new thinngs. Well, as they say "everything happens for a reason". We saw two pods of whales! How exciting. The first pod was about 6 whales. They were on both sides of us. The second pod was about 10 whales and babies. Yes, we did keep our distance even though it was tempting to get closer. We didn't want to intrude.

There has been no wind for sailing. We had a nice motor to Blind Channel - a stunning little place. Moorage is only a buck a foot but electricity is expensive - nearly $20. a night. Thank goodness we are green and have our solar panels.

We had BBQ chicken and cole slaw last night for dinner. Food always tastes better when we are somewhere new.

We saw stars tonight. They were magnificent and the planets shone like lightbulbs. We sat outside until about 10 PM picking out the constellations we know. We noticed that the big dipper is starting to spill its contents.... winter is coming.

September 11

This morning we had about 50 feet of visibility - fog surrounded us and we could hear the fog horn at Chatham Point. Not a good sign for heading into Johnstone Strait. It's a good thing that we do not have to leave until noon. The fog has been slowly burning off. It is about 1030 and the fog horn has stopped. Looks like it will be a go to leave as planned. We are off to Campbell River. Funny thing but we have never been there by boat before so it will be an adventure.

All in all even though we are heading to Vancouver it is good. We will still see new sights, have new experiences and above all we are still vacationing.

Cheers!

OK - here is the scoop. This is the third time that I have written this update. I just keep losing the connection. Also, the internet is sooooo slow that it will not allow me to upload pictures. That is the life in the boonies.

Don't faint but I have baked muffins since we have been here. Thanks, Tara C of SV Sumitra, for a great recipe. I also have apple crisp in the oven as I type - recipe compliments of a no name boat from Washington State. They are delightful people.

This afternoon we went for a dinghy ride. Discovered an island for sale. Any one of you can purchase it for a mere $1.6M. Leanne - you wanted a project. Here it is. All there is is the island and a ramp to the dock. It looks new so maybe it is a bargain!

We saw a huge sea lion - the only one. We have heard the orcas are on their way. We shall see as we head north.

Lots of boats from the marina tonight. Ron and I are the only Canadians and probably have the smallest boat. Do the math - they are 60 plus feet.

Tomorrow we will head out at daybreak for the Green Rapids and mosey on up to Whirlpool Rapids then on into Forward Harbour. I am hoping for find a Grand Banks there - named Sea Gypsey. I understand they know how to work a SSB. I am going to crash their boat and not leave until he teaches me everything he knows. Shhhh- he doesn't know that yet.

Time to say goodnight. Until the next update... stay safe1

Here it is, the morning of Sep 7. All is calm at Cordero Lodge. We have gone for a forest (also pronounced 'forced') hike this morning. I think Ron and Winston would have rather stay curled up in the dry and warm boat. I managed to drag them out after checking in with Barbara on the Single Side Band. Our connection with Barbara is hit and miss. Last night I could listen to people from Michigan. We keep saying we have radio problems but me thinks it is Janice knowing how to work the radio.

Tomorrow we will head north to Forward Harbour. The weather reports for Johnstone Strait and Queen Charlotte Strait do not sound favourable so we will just take out time in the calm and protected waters. We have also been monitoring the weather on the West Coast - it is crazy out there too. Our goal is to at least get to Bull Habour and it looks like coming down the West Coast might be saved for next year. The final decision still to be made.

We have a lot of fun using our navigation skills, checking each other's work. Planning around tides and currents. Dent Rapids has an area called Devil's Hole... it sounded extremely daunting but was totally uneventful. I guess that is why we did all the courses!

It is very peaceful up here. Even though it is drizzling outside I am enjoying sitting in the cockpit as I type. Winston is snoozing beside me and Ron is cooking brunch. Can it get any better?

I walked in the forest yesterday when we arrived at Cordero Lodge. It was so quiet, so lush and the only sound was a very loud and large Raven. I am sure he was talking to me and Winston. I have no doubt he reminding me that I was intruding.

Internet up here is intermittent. Funny how I can update this blog yet I cannot seem to send an email. My Crackberry doesn't find the signal but Cordero Lodge has very slow wireless. Thanks to them you are getting this update.

This afternoon we may go exploring in the dinghy and I also might put my nose in the manual (yet again) for the SSB radio.

TTFN (Ta Ta For Now)

Yesterday was a very rainy day. That, however, did not deter us from trekking through the forest along a very lush, water's edge trail. I spotted my very first ever forest frog. It was the size of Ron's fist and blended in very well with the brown and green of the forest floor.

In the afternoon, Ron and I poured (pun for all the rain outside) over our reference material to best decide our departure time from Dent Island to transit Dent Rapids. We decided to head out for the slack turning to an ebb (just what we wanted) at 0606 hrs.

After that we pumped the dinghy of the rain water so we wouldn't be pulling all the extra weight - glad we purchased a proper hand pump. It was much faster than bucket bailing.

We caved and ate dinner at the resort knowing it likely will be the last time we eat here. If you save every cent for a year you too can afford to eat at this lodge. The food is to die for. Enough about that as I already mentioned how good the food was in the previous writing.

Off to bed early as we were due to arise at 0500. I was wide awake this morning at 0300. Not sure why so just started thinking about our day ahead. As I checked the 0400 Marine Weather report on the blackberry and reading about THUNDER storms a sheet of lightening lit up the boat and cracked loudly in the not too distant. That went on until about 0530 and by that time Ron and I decided we were not heading out at 0600 with lightening about. Our mast is a good target so we stayed put.

This morning the rain has subsided for now. I did get a chance to see how light it is at 0600, 0615 and 0630 for when we have early starts later in our trip.

At the moment I am enjoying a relaxing cuppa Joe. Ron and Winston are snuggled and reading a good book. We have referenced out materials and will push off about 1130 today to catch the slack at the Dent Rapids. This slack will be turning to a flood but we feel this is the lesser evil between the alternative - Thunder and Lightening.

We are optomistic the weather will be changing in a couple days.