Pirate's Cove before Christmas

There were supposed to be some flurries. Instead we woke up to this.

We headed off to shore in a wet slushy snow that very quickly got everything very wet. As soon as we entered the forest we heard tree limbs cracking like rifle shots. Large Arbutus limbs were succumbing to the weight of wet slush. I cautioned Yammy to keep about fifty feet separating us as we walked, to avoid a double catastrophe. 

We didn't see otters frolicking, but we did see signs of their passage.

Vancouver

I am skipping over the snowstorm in Pirate's Cove. I will do an update and post the snowy wet pics.

From Pirate's Cove we first had to get through Gabriola Passage and then Cross 25 miles of Georgia Strait. I was a little concerned because we had to wait until late in morning to wait for the current to ease. Once we were through we were out in the strait and it was gorgeous. It was a little windless but that pleased the first mate. The timing worked out and we pulled into False Creek in downtown Vancouver just as the sun was setting.

So here we are in the heart of the beast. A five minute dinghy ride gets us close to Cambie and Broadway where there are a whack of stores and restaurants. In the other direction there is downtown the library the skytrain and the seawall. There is no end of stuff to do here and we shall be royally entertained over the Christmas season. We hope to cross back over the Strait a couple of days after Christmas. But the Gods may have something to say about it.

Sidney Back in Canada

Past Turn Point Light and across Haro Strait and we were back in Canada

We cleared customs in Sidney. We are staying in a pretty fancy marina. They had a two day special price. We stayed our two days then went and anchored out overnight and now are back for another two days.

The fact that I have so few pictures of Sidney is a bit of a commentary on the town. It has everything a sailor needs but is a little lacking in Character. The streets are full of old timers like us. It is important to keep your eyes peeled for the mad seniors racing down the streets on their three wheelers.
On a windy wet day we sailed off to Connover Cove. It is about fifteen miles away and a south wind pushed us the whole way.  We were lucky in that we were the sole boat in this congested anchorage. The last time we were here there were about six boats crammed in here.

Stuart Island Again

Another nice day, a little fog and a short hop over to Stuart Island our last port in USA. This time we anchored in Prevost Harbour on the north side of the island. There was a baba 35 pilot house sailboat moored to the dock.

Sucia Island

I can't say enough good things about Sucia Island. The whole island is a state park and at this time of the year it is very quiet. The great weather continued and we lingered here for three days. We were very put out when we discovered two other boaters anchored in another bay.

My apologies for the indiscriminate photo dump.

Back Across The Strait

It seemed a shame to leave Port Townsend, but our month was almost over and the weather looked good for crossing the Strait of Juan de Fuca.

We left on a very frosty morning with a little bit of fog over the water. Immediately a large navy supply ship with two gunboats escorting it appeared out of the murk. I maintained our course and tried to look like the innocent sailboat we were. It was quite intimidating as the gunboats swiveled around to keep us in their gun sights.
 We had a great crossing and were able to sail for the last couple of hours towards San Juan Channel.

Smith Island, Midway across San de Fuca

Entrance to San Juan Channel

  Unfortunately we arrived as the tide was ebbing out and we made very slow progress to our destination, Fisherman Bay.

The Spit at the Entrance to Fisherman Bay

Fisherman Bay is a great anchorage and we spent a quiet night here and woke up to a heavy frost and another gorgeous day