We stayed in shallow bay, as it was the closest, the sun was going down, we needed dinner.. and there were mooring bouys available!  Always a bonus.  I checked the tides and depths and noted a -1 tide, in shallow bay that is low.  Again I used navionics on the ipad($29.99) and iphone ($9.99) to get more details.  I’m uploading some screens from my Iphone.  This app is beyond incredible, in my phone I have charts, tides, currents, and harbor info at my fingertips.

Friday morning, the tide was way out, we saw a family of otters playing near us and run up the bank on shore.  Then we took a nice paddle around the bay looking into the pristine waters of the salish sea, all in all a great vacation.

After the perfect breakfast, some ball play, and a shower we are off for Maple bay. A 25 NM journey north around SaltSpring Island. The IPad has been invaluable in our trip planning. I purchased the Navionics HD (BC, Canada) app as soon as it was available, and it has been an incredible tool. I have a Garmin 276c GPS on the boat as well, but the charting and ability to build waypoints faster using the touch screen is awesome. It also runs on my Iphone so I have a full charting system of the Gulf Islands and San Juans with me all the time. Make sure when you purchase the region to buy the BC region, it includes the San Juans and Vancouver Island all the way to alaska. The Western US version stops in Canadian waters. The beauty of it is, the IPad on it’s own is awesome for reading the newspaper, books, checking email, surfing the web and packing a few HD movies around, really I have Avatar, Gran Torino, The Big Lebowski, Star Trek, Clash of the Titans, Where the Wild Things are and a couple of the others, plus a ton of music!. The price tag for the 3G version was around $900, but the Navionics application, was only $29, this put together outstrips Nobeltec software, and makes my $1200 Garmin look like a toy. Best of all the charts are continuously updated and it has tide and current information even without connectivity! Finally it’s awesome when I look up guitar tablature to play on our trip.. It also carries many of my work tools for doing emergency maintenance. Of course I bring along a laptop as well, but honestly if I had the blue tooth keyboard, and an airport on board I wouldn’t even need that.

En route to Maple Bay we were Motor sailing again.. heh I mean motoring, it’s flat calm. We picked a great time to go as the tides have been tame and we are having a great time. Just finished cooking burgers with fresh tomatoes, lettuce, sriracha, mayo, and of course cheddar cheese. This Magma barbecue cooks an awesome burger, even under way. Highly recommended. Have had a couple of high temp alarms which seems to be related to the sea strainer getting gooped up, and needing to clean the bottom. Note to self before our next voyage… clean the bottom we are about .5k faster that way. Hoping Maple Bay has a marine store to replace this stupid autopilot connector, and toss another cig lighter adapter out here for phones and stereo. Maple Bay has nothing by the way…. It’s quite remote from Duncan the hub of the region.

Maple Bay, the place looks beautiful, large clean grounds, a big bar and deck. Problem is dogs are not allowed on the deck here, and the patio can’t have alcohol, so that left this place pretty stale, we couldn’t associate or talk with others as Jack is high maintenance when left on the boat. We were able to hang out on the Patio and sneak a Root Beer and a Sparkling Cider on the patio while we played ball with Jack on the expansive lawn. Everything was going great, until one member scolded us and told us DOGS ARE REQUIRED ON LEASHES AT ALL TIMES AT MAPLE BAY! Buzz kill to say the least. So here we are stuck in the middle of nowhere, with no city nearby, on our boat. ;( Dinghied to the local pub, they let us have Jack on the deck! The next day everyone at maple bay was wonderful, one run in with a hostile dockmaster… go figure.

The IPad 3G is great with it’s connectivity everywhere for only $29.95/month in the U.S. I was hoping I would be able to switch plans once in Canada but learned that once the SIM card in the IPad is configured, it is only good for that provider. So If you want to take one to Canada you need to bring another blank sim card and sign up for service once your here, both Telus and Rogers wireless have plans up here. After more research here is the skinny, At&t roaming in canada and international plans are of course obscene. So purchase a mini Sim from Telus before you get here, and sign up for service, it’s $20 for 500mb and 30 days, much better than roaming charges.

I started a new section on the cruising site at http://cruising.byc.org/ to have a listing of BYC member’s boating blogs – I know there must be more out there, so if you write one (no matter where it’s at) send me the link, so I can add you? I’ve had much fun reading non-resident member Angela Butterfields M/V Desert Venture blog since I found it. Funny how after reading a bit, you feel like you sort of know someone, so I think it’s a great way to be in touch with our fellow members.

Today the weather is looking much nicer. There is little wind, it’s mostly sunny, so it should be a nice time to move on. I think we’re going on to Ganges, but am not entirely certain we’ve made a decision as of yet. Oh, and today’s photo is a random one from the archive. Since I chose a theme for the blog that is photocentric, I need at least one, but I hardly took any yesterday.

~Sally

Port Browning has to be the very best, most wonderful marina we’ve found yet. It has everything we could want, including a big grassy field in which to play ball with the dog. When we got here, we loaded up two bags of laundry, and started it in the little laundromat behind the cafe. Then we sat on the back deck having lunch, while the laundry processed. They also have a lovely little pool. I think the think I like the most though is just how dog-friendly everything is.

After lunch (a very late lunch) we walked the roughly half mile to the “town” – a small shopping complex I mentioned the other day. It was the opening day of a new little pet store, where we loaded up on more balls, liver treats, and a bunch of doggie bags. Then, I just barely made the bookstore before it closed, and loaded up on 3 more books. Last stop, grocery for some fresh veggies and fruits.

And now a note about cribbage: Ray has apparently got a pact with the devil, because he ALWAYS wins. It’s ridiculous. Of course he has found this to be both a blessing and a curse, as he was informed that we would continue to play until I finally won a game.

This morning that finally happened, yay! and as you can see from the photographic evidence, I double-skunked him. Of course now I am suspicious that this was merely so he could get out of further games.

and now, Ray, on yesterday:

Ray: It started so innocently, a quick run from Montague down to Saturna for the Saturna Island Regatta. We grabbed cinnabons at the bakery boat and were off. Leaving montague the seas were sloppy from the night before, Sally was downstairs cleaning up and watching things fly about, we got it under control once the main was up. We were trucking along motor sailing and the wind was lightening up, and since we were going downwind.. well Spinnaker time! Got the boat set up.. there are a ton of lines on Sunstar, a big pole etc etc. Everything was ready to go, launched and it looked good, except the guy wasn’t in the pole.. I went up to put it in, and this was the start of an interesting sequence….

First I almost had the guy in, and a gust hit, Sally had the guy in her hand it stripped, hit me in the back of the head and tossed my NOOD mount gay hat in the drink! No turning back now… Now, perturbed I get the guy in. Except we now have the monster knot in the spinnaker, after 15 minutes of unwinding I finally, go back, clean up (look at Sally’s line burn), and start trucking, we just get everything under control when… boom, big gust off the island and… hmmm broach as I was busy and had cleated the sheet.. rule #1, NEVER cleat the sheet. Of course the autopilot has a fluky power connection so when it gets bumped, it resets and the boat turns right 20-210 degrees… ok, back under control, and well, wind is building, now at 20. Things are going alright, I can keep the chute full and we are charging along now at 7+ knots.. All still good.

I make the call that for safety we need to get the chute down, we put Jack downstairs and begin the process. All is going well, being fairly methodical, hiding the chute behind the main, and we get it down, no issues. Sally wants to go clean up and I say, just get the bag and lets get this downstairs before anything more happens.. (ominous thunder clap (just for affect)). Sally again starts to go up to clean up, and we are still going downwind surfing, keep in mind the deck is covered with lines, kayaks, a step, well a cluster… I got distracted, we started to run down a wave, and a quartering wave came in from behind, and boom, the slow motion accidental gybe. I can see Sally and I yell, she stumbles on the Kayak, the boom comes over her and smacks her backwards over the top, and all I can think is, I hope she hits the lifelines.!!!!! Ultimate disaster averted, no overboard thankfully, with the dinghy in the davits it would have been a horrible time. She is banged up, i’m now fairly concerned, the tears begin to well up and she says… “I’m not having fun now!” So.. this ends the crazy events as we head into Port Browning to recoup. She is a trouper.

Yesterday was the most vacation-ish day yet because we actually had no destination, no plans… we paddled out to the bakery boat on our kayaks to get some scones for breakfast, and put in an order for some cinnamon buns for this morning. The bakery boat guy has a cute little pug that Jack was DYING to meet, but alas apparently the pug is too high strung for friends.

After scones yesterday, we kayaked around the bay for a couple of hours. The shoal extends quite far there, so a good deal of the time we were in about 1-2 feet of water. Every time Jack would see a little finger of land, he would hop off the kayak. There’s a picture below of “Jack dog Island”. heh.

In the afternoon, we went up to the little shop/restaurant for lunch. The shop has a good selection of books for such a small place, so I once again have reading material. Today’s book: “The Sweetness at the Bottom of the Pie“, by Alan Bradley. I also found a cribbage board, which we’d been trying to find since Friday Harbor.

Last night we stayed aboard, and Ray taught me to play. We are pretty evenly matched, because we both happen to be fairly lucky, but he did beat me in 3 of 3 games. Tonight I am going to demand a rematch.

We were going to do Saturna Island Regatta today, but it’s already 9am and we aren’t out of Montague yet, so I think we’re going to be too late – the race starts at high noon. We still have 6 days left of cruising, but we’re at the end of any of our planned destinations. Now we’re just going to pick each morning where we feel like going. Have I mentioned yet that this is our first vacation in about 2 years? Since we opened the shop.

Oh: I also have meant to answer the photo question. My camera is a Pentax K100 digital. The lens I am using right now is a Pentax FA 50mm and it takes really nice pictures. I don’t have my normal photo editing tools, so these are pretty much straight out of the camera with a bit of contrast adjust for the web.

Also a note on the kayaks: we rented ours at LFS the first weekend we cruised this summer. They let you rent to try them, then they will take the rental cost off of the purchase price should you choose to buy them. I think they’re a great deal, at about $250 a piece. We have used them for hours and hours already this summer.

We left right at the noon checkout, and again we were actually able to motor/sail for most of the 2 hour journey from Bedwell to Montague. We lucked in to mostly having sunshine on the way, which was quite nice. We were thinking of Cori when we passed Julia Island, her family place. When we arrived at Montague, the marina people were kind enough to change our stay dates – originally we weren’t coming until today, and leaving Sunday. Now we’re leaving tomorrow. We are trying to decide whether or not to do the Saturna Island Regatta tomorrow… I think we will if it’s not too early a morning. :)

When we got here, who should we bump into, but Joe from the band “The Walrus” – we’d last seen him around the campfire with guitars at Inati Bay, during the cruise last weekend. That has to be one of my favorite things about cruising – you never know who you’ll run into, but it’s a small world.

We caught the 6ish bus to the Hummingbird Pub, which happily is Jack-dog approved. The pub is “owned” by a dog named Cello, but Jack paid his respects and was allowed entry. We sat on the back patio and had some really delicious fish and chips for dinner, with a family we’d just met (friends of Chuck and Joe) who happen to live near Ray’s sister, in Stanwood.

The bus is fun, definitely one of those try it once at least experiences. Music blasting, and somehow the bus managed to careen, even while going slow. heh. I think tonight I’ll cook on the boat though. I would want to go back tonight for karaoke night at the pub, but we can’t go inside with the dog.

Today we’re going to paddle around in the kayaks, and not sure what else. It looks like the weather will be decent, it’s light clouds right now.

Sorry that we’ll miss the town hall meeting at the club tonight – the notice was short, so sadly we won’t get a chance to voice our opinions… also sorry to be missing the Commodore’s Picnic tomorrow. Hope everyone has an awesome time, esp. Commodore Pete! :)

More tomorrow, internet connection provided…
~Sally

We started out the day the way all dog owners do – taking Jack up for his morning constitutional. Grabbed coffee at the little shop (note to self: no latte next time, just coffee. Lattes there taste funny, there is something sweet in them.) then took the kayaks out for a paddle. We wandered the other way this time, towards Port Browning. The tide was way out, so we were in nice and close. Jack and I jumped off the kayaks and went hiking along the rocky shore for quite awhile. A sidenote: I got these creepy looking, but totally awesome Vibram 5 finger shoes. While they are creepy, they are the best thing EVER for both sailboat racing (super sticky) and for adventures like this. I could jump off my kayak into water, then traverse the rocks, with no fear of getting cuts or hurting my feet. Unlike most of the multi-sport shoes I’ve tried, with these they are fitted enough that little pebbles and shells can’t get into them. It’s like being barefoot, but with what my daughter Abby refers to as “summer feet”, that is feet that are super-tough on the bottom from going barefoot. So anyhow, I highly recommend them if you can get over the creepiness factor.

On the way back, we paddled by a cool little volunteer outstation from the Sidney Yacht Club. They have a small floating dock that they man with volunteers, to hand out info about the islands, and to log usage by kayakers, boaters and campers. Spent a nice while chatting with volunteer Richard, a former sailboater now converted. He was really friendly, and we left with an awesome leaflet on the various coves and parks in the area.

Once back, it was spoilage time. We had appointments at Susurrus Spa at Poets. We got there in time to use the steam cave and hot tub first, then I had a blueberry soy body wrap and Ray had a pedicure. (ahem: a “gentleman’s pedicure”. No polish. ) I give the Susurrus a C+ as far as spas go. It’s nowhere near as nice as the Chrysalis back in Bellingham, or various other spas I’ve been to. Not in terms of the interior, which was sufficiently plush. It was more that the staff was fairly inattentive, and worst of all was another guest on her cellphone for more than a half hour. Despite posted signs. Gah.

Anyhow, I returned to the boat all sugar-scrubbed and with a sheen of golden shimmer lotion, to a wigged-out Jackdog. But I also returned to a bucket of chilling champagne, with chocolate dipped strawberries and blueberries sitting at the top of the hatch. I do not deserve friends as thoughtful as Troy and Cori. They’d had it sent to the boat while we were in the spa. (thank you, you guys!) There was simply nothing we could do but drink champagne at 4 in the afternoon – if we’d waited, the chocolate would have melted off the strawberries. heh. Sooo delicious.

After our treat, we splashed the dinghy, to take a proper trip to Port Browning. While it could be done by kayak, it would probably have taken us a good 3 hours to get there. We had heard from our friend Kathy (hello, Ms Brown!) that Port Browning had expanded considerably since we were last here a couple of years ago. We puttered over, and at first it seemed to be the same as remembered: a small landing area, with a bar & grill, washrooms and a tiny little convenience store. We asked around, though, and within a mile walking distance there is a big new complex with a full grocery store, wine shop, liquor store, bookstore and bakery. We ended up walking up to check it all out, and getting some groceries for morning. It’s most definitely all new construction, but the grocery even has a full deli. Unfortunately, we missed the bookstore which had closed at 5. We may head back there today, just because I am once again out of book.

Anyhow, here are a few photos from yesterday.. in a couple of hours we’ll be headed to Montague Harbor, will check in from there.

~Sally

August 25th: Poets Cove Marina

We made good time yesterday, I had forgotten it until Ray mentioned after leaving Friday Harbor at 1pm that we needed to be to Poets by 5pm or we’d miss customs. We were actually able to put up the sails for a short while (maybe the first hour) before we were directly head into wind again. Clearing customs was a snap – I love clearing at Poets. Rabies certificate for Jack, everything good.

The first order of business for me, once we were safely in our slip, was to splash the kayaks and find a little beach for Jack to play ball at. I loaded up my waterproof bag with camera, beer, water and bowl, ball and thrower. Jack then discovered that ball kinda sucks when playing on a tiny, sandy beach. He persevered, though – his ball obsession knows no bounds, not even when Ray accidentally threw it was up the rocky hillside. He managed to launch himself at it fast enough to scramble up the rocks, rooted around in the grass and emerged victorious. :)

We paddled around for awhile, until the sunburn and my bruised ribs started to get to me. Then it was back to the boat, and up to shore. Poets Cove has a beautiful pool area, and jacuzzi – which normally we would have availed ourselves of, but we didn’t want to ditch the dog. That was more out of concern for our slip neighbors, who would have to hear him complain if we did. We did end up putting him on the boat, when we went to the Syrena bar/grill for dinner later on. The dinner ended up being delicious – steak sandwich and REAL french fries (like, the kind with skins that actually do taste like potatoes, not whatever they were fried in) and bellinis.

If you’ve never been to Poets, you should know that there is no real grocery at the marina. They have a small liquor store (beer, wine, about 10 brands of hard alcohol to cover the basics), a little coffee/souvenir shop, the more casual restaurant that we went to, and a fancier gourmet restaurant that we’re considering going to tonight. If you want to cook on your boat, it’s worth it to scrutinize the rules on what you can and can’t bring in, as you won’t be able to restock very well here.

As for today, it’s my 41st birthday. Because of that, I booked a spa treatment here for the first time, as a birthday present to myself. Ray is getting a pedicure on his big Shrek feet. I’ll write later about how the spa is, in case anyone is interested. Other plans include more kayaking, and of course more reading. I finished the lovely “The Tower, The Zoo and The Tortoise“, and have moved on to “The Particular Sadness of Lemon Cake“. I’m hoping when we move on to the next destination to find another book store, as I’ll be out after this. The other thing we want to track down is a cribbage board, ’cause Ray is going to teach me to play.

Anyhow: below, some photos from yesterday’s kayak/ball playing trip, and the beautiful scenery here at Bedwell Harbor.

Once again, the morning found us at Blue Water Ba & Grill, sitting in the sunshine on the back patio with Jackdog. He very nicely sat in his chair, with a side of bacon in front of him. At the end of the meal, a different restaurant employee than our earlier server came with water – and since she hadn’t seen him yet, she wanted to give him bacon also. So yes, Jackdog had TWO sides of bacon for breakfast. I think it’s only because he is such an avid ball fetcher that he isn’t ginormous.

We’re getting ready to depart Friday Harbor soon, for Bedwell. Ray is off meeting the San Juan commuter ferry from Bellingham, to fetch a camera lens I left at home, and some computer gear so that we’ll be connected during our entire trip. Scott was kind enough to box it up and send it along.

It’s HOT out today – we’ll have a nice, leisurely trip to Bedwell, rare Ahi for lunch on the way. I see the temps are supposed to take a dip in a couple of days, but so far so good.

~Sally

So here we are at Friday Harbor, just starting out on our 2 week cruise. We spent the first two nights at Inati Bay, attending the BYC Buccaneers Cruise. The weather there actually cooperated, and it was a fun time, especially with the music in the evening by Chuck and Joe (of the band “The Walrus”). Sunday at around 1pm, we departed Inati for our current destination. Ray was exhausted, so he took a nap down below, while I attempted to acquaint myself better with the names of various bays, islands and outcroppings courtesy of the GPS.

We got into Friday Harbor last night around 6pm. Note: it’s AWESOME to have slip reservations ahead of time, Friday Harbor allocates about 30% of their visitor space to advance reservations. It was just so nice to actually know ahead of time exactly where we were headed. And bonus, we had a slip in nice and close on G-dock. The docking was iffy, due to a fairly strong wind blowing us away from the dock, and towards a powerboat next to us, but happily, boaters being as they are, we had plenty of help from neighboring vessels.

After getting settled, we went up the main drag to go to King’s Market. Pork chops, fresh sage and apricots, green beans and mashed potatoes were on my list to take back to the boat. A quick stop at (Jackdog approved!) Griffin Bay Books, and I picked up a copy of Julia Stuart’s “The Tower, The Zoo and The Tortoise”. I’m about halfway through and it’s every bit as charming as I’d read in the reviews.

Lunchtime today we went to Blue Water Bar & Grill, which overlooks the ferry docks. It’s always on our list, because they let Jack sit with us on the outside deck. Oh, and they also have good food, and (as the photo shows) delicious beverage. heh.

Next stop was the other bookstore, which is adjacent to the ferry docks. We picked up yet more books, and yes, they too are Jackdog approved, as they let us bring him in. He had quite a growl at the cardboard cat cutout, then was fawned over by the other shop patrons.

I love that Friday Harbor has so many dog-friendly places. More photos and travelogue to come, tomorrow we leave for Poet’s Cove Marina. Oh, and if you’re reading, leave us a comment so we know? :)

~Sally

p.s. this is a trial at doing a BYC member blog – if you’re interested in one of your own, and you are a BYC member, email me and I’ll get you hooked up. :)