Thankful

1500 position 3916 Benson St., Gig Harbor, WA

Vicki was waiting as the mighty Thankful pulled into her slip in Gig Harbor yesterday at 230PM.  We immediately got to work unloading food, voyage supplies, and personal gear from the boat.  Vicki wisely had son Noel help her stage two vehicles at the marina to carry all the materials home.

We made it home to the Dyer residence on the hill overlooking Gig Harbor at 4PM, and got all the food and gear away put away.

Team Thankful met with pals of the Dyers at their favorite Mexican restaurant last night where we celebrated a successful summer of voyaging.

This morning Matt and I went back to the boat to finish unloading and give the old girl a good scrubbing.  Thankful loves to cruise, but she also loves a little TLC.

Looking back, we had remarkably few problems during the voyage, a testament to Matt's preparation and skill.  Besides the tempermental windlass, which seems to have sorted itself out, we only had one other boat problem, our black water discharge pump stopped working, but that just happened yesterday so it had no impact on the trip.

By my calculations, I travelled about 2,500 miles aboard Thankful.  It has been a fantastic two months of exploring the nooks and crannies of the Pacific Northwest with great friends.  Lori and I were lucky to be invited, and we are grateful to the Dyers for sharing the experience with us.

Lori is driving up from Portland tomorrow.  We will say goodby to Matt and Vicki and head to Seattle to visit with Don and Sharry Stabbert, who we spent the first half of the summer with aboard Starr.  We'll fly home to Hawaii sometime next week and the planning will start for the next adventure.  There are rumors of a potential catamaran cruise in the Caribbean this winter....

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Homeward Bound

1000 position 47-53N 122-29W.  Powering south in Admiralty Inlet

Thankful arrived in Point Hudson Harbor in Port Townsend at 11AM yesterday and found a slip in the small marina.

Port Townsend is the wooden boat capital of the Pacific coast, and it is like a second home for Matt.   He went to school there thirty five years ago to learn the craft of building wooden boats, and lived in the town for more than a year.  It is the site of the annual wooden boat festival, which was held a couple of weekends ago.  There were still a couple of classic boats in the harbor, left over from the festival.

It was a beautiful day, so after getting Thankful secured we took a walking tour of the main drag, marinas, and haul out facilities.  Matt still knows a lot of the craftsmen in town, so we dropped into a couple of shops to chat and inspect the ongoing projects.

At 5PM we wandered up to one of Matt's favorite watering holes, The Uptown Tavern, where we had dinner and watched Monday Night Football.  Local interest was high because the Sea Hawks were playing, but folks weren't too pleased when the Bears came out on top.  It was good fun, but I don't need to watch any more football until the Super Bowl.

We departed at 730 this morning to catch the flood tide on the final leg of the voyage to Gig Harbor, Thankful's home port.  It is a beautiful sunny day and the breeze is from behind us.  We should be back in Thankful's slip by 2PM.

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Tom’s Project

0900 position 48-18N 122-55W.  Crossing the Strait of Juan de Fuca

Tom picked us up at 9AM yesterday and drove us up to have a look at his current construction project, a $7M, 7,000 SF home up near the highest peak on San Juan Island.  It was Sunday, so there was no work going on which gave us free reign to explore the construction site.

The house is perched on the edge of a cliff, and will have a cantilevered infinity pool that overhangs the edge.  Most of the site work is done, the concrete and steel framing is nearing completion, and they are just about to get started on framing the home.  Moving materials is one of the challenges on the steep site, so Tom purchased and installed a tower crane to make this job easier.

They had already finished the $1M guest house/garage which was completed first to try out some finishes and construction techniques being considered for the main house.

It was a very impressive project, and fun to see how the 1/2 of 1% live.

Tom came out for a tour of Thankful and then Matt and I departed for the south end of Lopez Island. The Strait of Juan de Fuca was not cooperating yesterday, so we planned to wait for better weather today to make the crossing.  We anchored in Mackaye Harbor right at the south end of the island and had a pleasant evening.

We departed for Port Townsend at 730AM this morning.  Team Thankful is about half way across the strait now, and the weather is perfect.  There is no wind and the sea is calm.  We should get there by 10AM.

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Westcott Bay

0900 position 48-36N 123-08W.  At anchor in Westcott Bay

The pace slowed down a bit after yesterday's harbor cruise.  It had been raining since just after sunset the day before, but things started drying out about noon, and by 2PM, wedding time, it had turned into a beautiful day.  Good thing, it was an outdoor wedding with no Plan B.  Nothing beats a little bit of good luck.

Matt returned from his shopping expedition and we headed for San Juan Island, dropping the hook in Westcott Bay at 2PM.  We both took a nap as a part of our recovery plan from the night before.  By 5PM the geriatrics of Team Thankful were raring to go and dinghied ashore where we met Tom Nolan.

Tom and his wife Deb are college pals of Matt's who live on San Juan Island.  Tom is a contractor who builds high end homes here on the island and Deb is a caterer.  Their own home is a beautiful example of Tom's work, mostly made of old growth wood, a lot of which was salvaged.  Deb cooked us a fabulous meal, and there were a lot of laughs as the three of them caught up.

This morning Tom is taking us up to see his current project, a new home on the highest point of the island.  They have just finished the concrete and steel work and are getting ready to start framing.  The project includes a cantilevered infinity pool hanging out over a cliff - it's that kind of house.  This should be fun.

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Reunions

1140 position 48-31 N 122-55W.  In the marina at Fisherman's Bay, Lopez Island

Yesterday turned in to a day of reunions with old friends.  First my cell phone rang and I was surprised to hear Cliff Cisco's voice.  Cliff is a Hawaii sailing pal dating back to the '70s, who I hadn't seen in years.  Turns out he moved up here to Anacortes after retiring, has been reading this blog, and wondered if we were headed his way.  Cliff has also gone over to the dark side of the force and cruises the Pacific Northwest on a trawler similar to Thankful.  It was great to talk to him.  Unfortunately, we won't be going by Anacortes this trip.

Bo, Marcy, Jessie and Shelly Andrews came down to Thankful at 4PM.  The four of them flew up from Hawaii together for the wedding.  We had a cocktail on Thankful and then all piled into their rental car and headed up to Tom and Beth Andrewes' house a mile away.

Tom and Beth moved to Lopez Island from Kaneohe ten or fifteen years ago, and I don't think I've seen them since.  They have a beautiful home here and it was great to see them again and catch up.

The ever expanding group of revelers migrated to the Fleeler/Andrewes vacation rental for pupus and more cocktails.  Kara and Sean arrived after being delayed by a late ferry departure and joined the fun.

The party then moved to a restaurant a quarter mile away where we had dinner.  The bride and groom even made a surprise appearance after the bachelor party ended.  At 10PM folks stated wandering off.  Matt and I walked back to Thankful where we met a sailing pal of his, Doug Peterson, who is in the same harbor on a friend's boat.  They caught up over a final beer and we called it a night.

Team Thankful was remarkably spy this morning, all things considered.  Maybe us old guys can keep up with the kids?

At 8AM Kara, Sean, Marcy, Bo, Jessie, and Shelly arrived at the boat bearing pastries and coffee.  They climbed aboard and Thankful cast off for a morning tour of the San Juan Islands.  We checked out Friday Harbor and circumnavigated Shaw Island before returning to Fisherman's Bay and our slip in the marina at 11AM.  Our passengers departed to get ready for this afternoon's wedding, and Matt headed into town to do some shopping.

We will be heading back to Roche Harbor on San Juan Island, where we checked into the US a couple of days ago, as soon as Matt returns.  We are meeting a pal of his there for dinner tonight.

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Fisherman’s Bay

1200 position 48-31N 122-55W.  At anchor in Fisherman's Bay, Lopez Island

Thankful made a tour through the San Juans yesterday after departing Sucia Island, and ended up at Orcas Island.  We tied to the public pier at Olga, a cute little town, and went ashore for a look around.  There were only two commercial establishments in town, a store/gas station that was closed, and a cafe.  we had a leisurely lunch at the cafe and then powered up into West Sound where we anchored for the night.

In Olga we saw an interesting looking boat (photo attached).  The owner appears to be a conflicted one-time sailor that is headed towards the dark side of the force, kind of like me.  I'm not sure his conversion is the right approach though.  I wonder how Moku pe'a would look with a pilot house?

Vicky had some unexpected family medical issues she needed to attend to, so this morning we dropped her off at the village in West Sound where she caught a cab to the airport.  After breakfast there, Matt and I powered the few miles to Fisherman's Bay on Lopez Island where we dropped the hook at 11AM.

There is lots going in in Lopez Island right now.  Ian Andrewes, son of my high school classmate Beth, and sailing pal Tom Andrewes is getting married here tomorrow. My daughter, Kara, will be at the wedding and since Thankful is in the area we thought we'd meet up with her and her boyfriend Sean for dinner or drinks tonight.  I am also hoping to be able to say hello to Beth and Tom sometime today.  I understand they live pretty close to this harbor.

I just found out pals Marcy Fleming and Bo Wheeler will also be at the wedding and are catching the same ferry Kara and Sean are to Lopez Island this afternoon.  There may be a party tonight....

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Back in the USA

0800 position 48-45N 122-56W. At anchor in Fox Cove, Sucia Island

Thankful zipped across the border and into the USA yesterday morning, clearing customs in Roche Harbor on San Juan Island.  Lots of boats clear in here, and US Customs has a 100 yard long pier and office there to handle all the traffic.  We pulled into the pier right behind a very nice Jeanneau 45 foot sailboat, and as I was securing the bow line to the cleat on the pier I noticed that her home port was Haliewa.  I walked the few steps to speak to the owner in the cockpit.  "Are you really from Haliewa?" I asked.

"Waialua, actually," he called back.  I didn't recognize the boat or the sailors.

At this point the customs officer admonished me "Please get back on your boat, sir!"  Whoops, we hadn't cleared customs yet.

The Hawaii sailors departed before we cleared and I never got a chance to talk to them again.  Small world.

After the quick clearing in process we departed and powered north to Sucia Island, a two mile diameter marine park.  There are a bunch of hidey holes on this beautiful island and Matt picked Fox Cove to moor in.  We picked up a mooring and went ashore for a hike.

The park is very well built and maintained with moorings in all of the bays, hiking trails cris crossing the island, restrooms, camping areas, and picnic shelters.  We had a great three hour hike and returned to Thankful just in time for happy hour. 

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Forest Island

0900 position 48-40N 123-20W.  At anchor off of Forest Island

We had a hidey hole picked out on Rum Island, but found a small sailboat anchored there in a manner that prevented anybody else from using the cove as well.  Matt scanned the chart and found a possibility on Forest Island about a mile away.  We moseyed over and anchored in a small cozy bay on the east side of this half mile long Island.

We could tell the island was private by the multiple signs posted on trees facing the bay and beach, "Private Island.  No trespassing. No fires.  No camping."  Aren't "No fires" and "No camping" redundant after "No trespassing"?

Matt put out his crab pot, and we settled in for a calm but chilly evening.  We were just three miles from the border, and for the first time in weeks I got cell service.  Just in time to follow the latest storm that is whacking Hawaii.

Matt didn't have any luck in the crab department, and this morning is chilly and rainy.  At least it is calm.  Today Thankful will head across the border and reenter the US.

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Ganges Harbor

1600 position 48-45N 123-21W. Underway for Rum Island

I forgot to blog this morning. There was too much going on with finally getting internet, changing doctor's appointments in Honolulu since we will be getting home later than we anticipated three months ago, being able to video chat with Lori in Portland, catching up on email, etc.

Thankful got a nice slip in the transient section of Ganges Harbor that even included WIFI. We were surrounded by similar sized power cruisers, both Canadian and American, out enjoying the Gulf Islands.

Ganges Harbor was a busy place with all manner of pleasure boats coming and going, three Canadian Naval vessels in for the evening, and float planes constantly landing and taking off. It is a town definitely tailored for tourists, with lots of art galleries, coffee shops, and boutiques. Team Thankful had a good time exploring, and we went out to the Oyster Catcher restaurant for a great dinner.

We stuck around this morning so we could catch the open market early this afternoon. They had lots of good produce there, but we were concerned that fresh products aboard might create a problem when we cross the border into the US tomorrow, so we didn't buy any. I used the slack time this morning to go get a long overdue haircut.

We are on our way to Rum Island, just this side of the border. We will dash across tomorrow morning and reenter the US in the San Juan Islands.

Rain

1100 position 48-52N 123-23W. Underway for Ganges Harbor

We've had remarkably little of what I'd always considered typical Pacific Northwest weather, clouds, wind, and rain, over the past three months. The spell finally broke thirty six hours ago, and we have been living in dreary damp chilly conditions ever since.

We stayed put in Montague Harbor yesterday and had a sedentary day. Matt and Vicki went ashore for a while all dressed up in their foul weather gear and boots. I didn't feel like getting wet and stayed aboard Thankful.

It isn't hard to stay busy even when there's no action outside the boat. There are lots of books in the ship's library, I'm writing a lot, and there are three meals a day to cook and clean up after. Following dinner every night we have "entertainment", cycling between a couple of card games, scrabble, and movies. Last night we watched episode six in the "Horatio Hornblower" series. It is about an English Naval officer aboard an early nineteenth century sailing ship. Matt and I find ourselves imitating their manner of speech and saluting each other after watching, "As you were, sir!", "It is an honor to serve with you, sir!", stuff like that. It is making Vicki crazy.

The weather still sucks, but is showing signs of improvement. We have decided to give Ganges a try and are on our way there now. Steady as she goes, sir!

Old Friends

0900 position 48-54N 123-24W. At anchor in Montague Harbor

Team Thankful had hoped to make the short hop down through the islands to Ganges Harbor yesterday where the cruising guide said there is lots to see. We encountered continued strong southeasterly winds after departing Pirate's Cove though, and Ganges is a poor anchorage with winds from that direction, so we revised our plans and headed to the more sheltered Montague Harbor a few miles away.

Along the way we passed six massive empty grain carriers lying at anchor. Ships aren't making money if they aren't carrying product, and we wondered why these were idle. Perhaps they were waiting for the season's grain harvest to be delivered to the coast for export? I can see why they would choose to moor here to kill time though. The water is shallow, but not too shallow, and the anchorage is totally protected by all the islands. It seemed out of place to see a bunch of large ships parked up in this otherwise pristine cruising wonderland.

Al Hughes and I were college sailing teammates forty five years ago. We lost track of each other after he graduated and I transferred schools, but we reconnected six years ago when he sailed in the Pacific Cup to Hawaii. I learned that Al was going to be cruising up here on his boat this summer, and we have been exchanging emails for the past couple of months hoping to bump into each other.

Al and his wife Lou's boat, Mary H, was at anchor in Montague when we arrived, so after getting settled in we dinghied over for a visit. Mary H is a unique fifty five foot steel powerboat. It looks to me like the designer just decided to add an extra deck level to a more conventional power boat. As a result she is quite high out of the water, but has as much living space aboard as many houses ashore. Mary H has three double cabins, the same number of house sized bathrooms, a huge galley, and lots of lounging space. They bought her three years ago and live aboard in Seattle's Shilshole Marina when they aren't cruising in Canada. It was great to meet Lou, catch up with Al, and tour their floating home.

After our visit with the Hughes we dinghied ashore and caught the "Pub Bus" to the Hummingbird Pub a few miles from the harbor. The pub was OK, but the real attraction is the transportation. Bus driver "Tommy Transit" is famous for his antics during the ten minute drive to the pub. He has most of an entire drum kit set up at the front of the bus which he plays with one hand while he drives the bus with the other on the narrow curvy island road. Musical instruments including tambourines, bells, rattles, maracas, etc., are handed out to boarding passengers so they can participate in the music making during the ride. It was good fun, stereo blasting, Tom skillfully accompanying one handed, passengers playing along as well.... and we didn't crash. Between songs he regaled us with stories of meeting Duke Ellington, Sammy Davis Jr., and Ella Fitzgerald.

There were four other passengers that got off with us after the bus ride back to the marina and we noticed that they walked to a car, got in, and a drove away. They could more easily have driven straight to the pub, but chose to park at the marina instead so they could catch the bus and enjoy Tommy's performance.

Pirate’s Cove

1000 position 49-06N 123-44W. At anchor in Pirate's Cove, Gulf Islands

Thankful pitched and heaved for six hours yesterday as she worked her way down the coast of Vancouver Island directly into a fifteen knot headwind and lumpy sea. Things really would have become interesting if the wind had shifted further to the east, putting us on a lee shore, but fortunately that never happened, and at 1PM we were entering the shelter of the Gulf Islands.

Canada's Gulf Islands are a part of the same group that include the US's San Juan Islands. They would likely all share the same name if not for the international border that cuts right down the middle. There are hundreds of closely packed islands in the two groups, and with little distance between the islands there is not much room for seas to build. The forecast calls for continuing strong winds for the next few days but it won't have any impact on our cruising here.

There was one bottleneck, Dodd Narrows, that we needed to negotiate at the north end of the Gulf Islands to get into the group. The tide can run through the pass at up to nine knots, so most boats time their passage for slack water when there is minimal current. We were shooting to arrive there at 315PM, slack high water, but ended up arriving about forty five minutes early.

Dodd Narrows is a busy place, and boats were stacked up on either side waiting for slack water. A similar sized cruiser that arrived right ahead of us didn't even slow down. He powered right through against four knots of current and made it through unscathed.

The pass is only wide enough for one boat. If boats heading in opposite directions were to arrive at the throat of the channel at the same time things could get very interesting. There are no rules on which direction has right of way either, so the potential always exists for some real entertainment as boats traverse the narrows. A group of hikers were standing on the shore to watch the fun.

Matt decided that the time was right after a couple of boats successfully made the passage in both directions. We went through while the tide was still flooding at three knots, but we didn't provide the audience ashore with any interesting stories to tell their friends.

We decided to stop for the night in Pirate's Cove on De Coursy Island. The island was the home of one of the twentieth century's most notorious cults, and its leader is rumored to have amassed a treasure of forty three boxes of gold coins weighing close to 1,000 pounds. When the cult collapsed in 1934 the gold mysteriously disappeared. Perhaps it is buried here in Pirate's Cove? It didn't feel like Thankful's anchor hit any boxes of gold when I dropped it in the harbor yesterday.

Speaking of anchors, as I write this the Thankful crew is watching a thirty five foot double ended sailboat pull up its anchor here in the harbor as she departs. The male skipper is standing on the end of the bowsprit with a hose washing the mud off of the anchor chain as his female mate works the handle on their manual anchor windlass. An electric pump is providing water pressure for the hose.

We've noted that the systems are the opposite aboard Thankful. Our windlass is electric and we use a bucket to scoop water by hand for washing mud off of the anchor chain. At least the skipper of the sailboat has delegated properly by having his mate do the heavy lifting....

Comox

0900 position 49-26N 124-37W. Underway for the Gulf Islands

The Strait of Georgia was kind to us yesterday. The forecast southeasterly winds never did fill in. Thankful dodged another bullet.

After crossing the strait the topography changed for the first time in three months. I didn't see high mountains when I looked out through the ship's wheelhouse windows. The section of Vancouver Island we were coasting along was one long low hill to our right, and empty open water to our left.

We were heading to Comox Harbor on Vancouver Island so Vicki could make a social call on Cyndy, one of her leather handbag business clients. Cyndy had a retail store in a town a few miles away. The ladies spoke on the telephone, arranged to meet for dinner, and discussed an afternoon visit to the store.

Thankful stopped in at Comox's fuel dock on our way in and we topped up her tanks with 300 liters of diesel. A thirty five foot sailboat that we had been powering next to, also on their way south, tied up next to us at the fuel dock and topped their tank off with 24 liters. Wow. That really highlighted the difference between the sailboat and powerboat programs. Sailboats end up powering almost ninety percent of the time up here because the conditions are rarely suitable for sailing. However, they are far more fuel efficient under power than we are. The added expense is well worth it for the added comfort we have though, particularly in this part of the world where it is often cold and/or rainy.

After getting settled into a slip in the harbor, Team Thankful took off to hike to Cyndy's shop. It looked to be two miles away as the crow flies, an easy afternoon stroll. Three miles and forty five minutes later we were barely halfway there. Vicki called Cyndy to fill her in on our status, and Cyndy was shocked to hear that we were attempting to make the journey on foot. She insisted on picking us up, and a few minutes later we were enjoying sitting on our butts in her air conditioned car.

We checked out Cyndy's store, which was quite nice. Her store just happened to be next door to a craft brewery, which got Matt's and my attention. It was fate that drove Team Thankful to stop in for a pint before catching a cab back to the harbor.

Cyndy joined us for pleasant dinner at a pub overlooking the harbor. A good time was had by all.

Thankful departed Comox at 630AM this morning. The dreaded southeasterlies are still forecast, and Matt wanted to get an early start to avoid the worst of them. As I write this we are pitching and heaving down the Strait of Georgia along the coast of Vancouver Island. It looks like the forecasters got it right today, but we haven't seen more than twenty knots of wind so far. We have thirty five miles of open water to cross before we get to some shelter in the Gulf Islands.

Von Donop Inlet

0800 position 50-05N 125-06W. Underway across the Strait of Georgia

Thankful departed Tenedos Bay at a civilized hour yesterday and headed west twenty five miles to Von Dolop Inlet. Once again, the sea was glassy and the weather beautiful except for the lingering smoke from forest fires. We arrived at the narrow entrance to the inlet right behind another power boat and followed him in.

One of the cruisers we met up in Alaska said that Von Donop Inlet was his favorite anchorage in the Pacific Northwest, so we had to give it a go. The deep inlet has a large shallow lagoon at the inner end. The two mile long entrance channel is narrow along its whole length and in places is only 150 feet wide. We worked our way in to find ten other boats scattered at anchor around the lagoon. Apparently it is a favorite of lots of folks. No problem, there was plenty of room. We found a relatively isolated spot and dropped the hook on the east side of the lagoon.

The cruising guide said that the high trees surrounding Von Dolop cut off any wind that is blowing outside producing a flat calm in the anchorage, and that's what we found. It was still for our entire stay, and the air temperature got up over 80 degrees during the late afternoon. It almost felt like Hawaii.

Matt and Vicki worked on sprucing up the teak rails. I took a nap. Team Thankful had a pleasant afternoon. Fortunately, there were no guitar players in the anchorage so we also had a quiet evening.

We got started at 6AM this morning for our assault on the Strait of Georgia. The strait is a relatively large body of water between the mainland and the southern end of Vancouver Island. Being that large, significant waves can build if the wind is from the wrong direction, and the forecast is for moderate south easterlies this afternoon. That puts Thankful on the leeward side of the strait during the crossing, the wrong side, so we are trying to get across before the wind fills in and makes things uncomfortable. It is still glassy out here as I write this. So far so good.

Desolation Sound

1000 position 50-08N 124-42W. At anchor in Tenedos Bay, Desolation Sound

Thankful entered a new world after successfully running the rapids yesterday. All of a sudden we were seeing pockets of high end residential developments along the shore. Marine traffic increased noticeably as well. There were boats everywhere, and the balance shifted from the predominantly commercial power boats we were seeing up north to recreational sailboats.

We've been hearing about all the fires in Western Canada and the US, but until yesterday hadn't seen any smoke from them. The smoke filled in just past the rapids as well, and at times the visibility got down to less than a mile.

Thankful was headed for Desolation Sound, a popular summer cruiser's destination in this part of the world. We've heard that most folks are gone by Labor Day though, so we were hopeful that it wouldn't be too crowded. We pulled in to Refuge Cove, one of the primary provisioning ports in the area, and were pleased to find it nearly empty. Some more beer, ice, and food and Thankful was off and headed for Tenedos Bay, one of the main anchorages in the sound. We found three sailboats anchored together in a protected part of the bay, and a couple of power boats scattered elsewhere. We talked about anchoring near the sailboats, but opted instead for a more private cove a quarter mile away.

Except for the smoke, the weather was perfect. There wasn't a breath of wind, the sky was cloudless, and the temperature was in the seventies. Matt and I dinghied over to a trail head where we hiked a half mile up to an inland lake. He went for a swim but the water was a little to chilly for me.

Somebody on one of the sailboats had a guitar, and last night we could faintly hear the well lubricated crew singing '60s folk songs in the cockpit well into the evening. That can be fun when you are involved, but not so much when you aren't. Good choice on the isolated anchorage.

Shoal Bay

1000 position 50-24N 125-12W. Traversing Dent Rapids, heading east

Matt screwed around for most of the day trying to get the windlass to work. First he removed, took apart, inspected, reassembled, and reinstalled the control box. It appeared to be working before he started (we could hear the solenoids clicking in), but not after he was finished so he repeated the whole process and got it working again. He checked the connections. He checked for continuity. He checked the voltage. Everything seemed to be fine, but the windlass still wasn't working. He kept messing with it until it miraculously started to function properly, and now it seems to be working fine.

I still suspect we have an intermittent problem in the motor itself, perhaps worn or dirty brushes on the rotor. It is too tough to deal with that here, so we will keep our fingers crossed that the windlass keeps working. If it doesn't, no big deal. Captain Cook didn't have an electric windlass and he got by just fine.

Yesterday we traversed an area of very narrow channels that experience extreme tidal flows. I was driving during the afternoon in the worst of it while Matt was playing with his windlass. We were bucking an adverse current that was as strong as four knots at times. I worked hard to find the eddies along the shore for relief. The current would occasionally throw Thankful sideways, heel us over, and knock us off course by up to forty degrees. It was very exciting.

We got tired of fighting the current and looked for a place to hole up for the night. We found an interesting spot, Shoal Bay, in the cruising guide, just a few miles ahead of and pulled in. It turned out to be a real gem with a floating dock to tie up to, a beautiful valley, and a hike up to an abandoned gold mine near the top of the mountain. Matt and I hiked uphill for an hour and made it to a lookout near the mine before turning around. It was a great spot, and a great day. There are a few permanent residents in the bay, and they own a couple of big friendly dogs, Tulip and Taz. The dogs are the community's unofficial officials, and they have the run of the valley and pier. Last night as we were preparing dinner they decided to come aboard for a visit. Matt gave them a little snack, and then of course they had no interest in leaving... ever. He eventually had to escort them off of the boat and close the gate through the bulwarks to keep them from reboarding. Tulip sat on the dock and yowled to let us know that she wasn't happy about the new arrangement.

Today Thankful is still in an area of extreme currents, and we just went through Dent Rapids right behind a sailboat under power. We timed our arrival at this rapids to take advantage of a favorable tide. The sailboat was thrown back and forth by the swirling current in front of us, heeling and yawing as she went through. Matt was concentrating at the wheel to keep us aimed down the channel and out of the eddies. He hit fourteen knots of boatspeed over the bottom. That's six and a half knots of current. Matt did a better job of staying out of the eddies than the sailboat's skipper did, and we just passed him in an area of less turbulance. The rag hanger's skipper was absent from the wheel as we went by, the boat being steered temporarily by the autopilot. We joked that he probably had to dash below to change his underwear.

Port Neville

1100 position 50-24N 125-55W. Underway off of Hardwicke Island

Thankful wove her way east through the Broughtons yesterday until we got to the narrows of Chatham Channel where we expected to encounter an adverse tide of about four knots. Rather than fight it, we decided to anchor for lunch in Cutter Cove and wait until the tide turned. At 2PM we pulled the hook and powered through the channel in a slack tide.

We weren't sure how far we would make it yesterday. Thankful is working her way east towards Desolation Sound, and we figure it will take about three days to get there. Coves and inlets suitable for overnight anchoring are everywhere, so we are just moseying along until we get tired and then stopping for the night. Last night we decided to stop at Port Neville where the cruising guide indicated we would find a free public pier. The pier was full when we arrived at 5PM. No problem. We proceeded further into the protected inlet and anchored in thirty feet of water in the lee of a headland. We anchored just past a Beneteau 44, a bigger version of my boat in Hawaii. Thankful had anchored next to the same boat in Tracey Harbor a few nights ago.

Matt noticed yesterday that the electric anchor windlass didn't always engage when its control button was pushed. This morning it crapped out completely when I was on the bow pulling up the anchor. The windlass wouldn't work in either direction. We could hear the solenoids engaging when the up and down buttons were pushed, but the motor didn't run. We ended up pulling up the anchor by hand. It appears that the problem is either in the power supply or the motor. Matt is busy trouble shooting the system as I write this.

I wrote in an earlier blog about being mortified to find that we had inadvertently left a fender dangling next to Thankful as we powered along one day in Alaska. In the US, hanging fenders underway is like putting a "Student Driver" sign in the window of your car. Apparently that is not the case here in Canada. A significant percentage of the boats here leave their fenders out all the time. It is common to see a boat go by with four fenders hanging on each side swinging as the boat rolls and waves hit them. I wonder if those same boaters leave their Christmas lights up all year long too?

We departed Port Neville this morning just behind the Beneteau. Once we got out of the harbor we found that the wind was blowing right behind us at fifteen knots down Johnstone Strait, our main highway for the day. The Beneteau unrolled his jib and is sailing next to us. He looks good under sail, but I am content in the controlled environment of Thankful's wheelhouse.

Echo Bay

1100 position 50-44N 126-34W. Underway, heading south

It only took us a couple of hours to get to Echo Bay yesterday after zigging and zagging our way through the Broughtons. Matt had read that Echo Bay, a floating visiting boater oriented facility like Sullivan Bay, was very popular and he was concerned about being able to get a berth. We found it to be almost completely empty when we arrived.

In the office we met Tove, half of the couple that owned and managed the floating resort. She and her husband Pierre have been in this business for more than forty years, and as much as they have loved it were calling it quits. The marina was for sale. Did we want to buy it? Matt looked up the listing info on the internet after we returned to Thankful. Fourteen acres of land surrounding the marina and all the infrastructure for a measly $1.9 million Canadian. Such a deal!

Tove told us that the season is just about over now. They are full of boats all summer, but most cruisers have gone home. She also told us about a forty minute hike to Billy's Museum in the next bay. We were itching to stretch our legs, so off we went singing songs to scare the bears away. As we walked out of the forest and up to a couple of shoreside buildings we found eighty two year old Billy sitting on a bench outside his museum.

Billy was a fisherman, collector, and story teller who has lived his whole life in the area. He started collecting as a kid, and his museum was full of pre-contact native stone tools, old glass bottles, artifacts from the fishing industry 100 years ago, and stuff he picked up on Pacific beaches. He had a decent collection of glass balls, and we got to talking about those. He showed me some new ones he'd collected recently, glass inside of a plastic case. I'd never seen one before. Now I'll know better than to ignore plastic floats that I see on beaches.

Billy was also the author of three books about his life's experiences. There were copies on sale in the little shop next to the museum.

The Thankful crew attended the resort's prime rib dinner last night, the last such event of the season. We weren't sure what to expect. It was a bring-your-own plates, utensils, beverages affair. Tove and Pierre are pretty good at this after forty years though. The prime rib dinner for fifty guests was excellent, and lots of fun. We sat at a table with Allen and David, two guys on the first long cruise out of Vancouver aboard their new to them used cruising sailboat. They are having a ball and hope to take longer cruises in the future, perhaps to Mexico and Hawaii.

I turned them on to Noodle's Notes, my free on-line Hawaii cruising guide. This morning before we departed Allen yelled over that he had downloaded the guidebook after returning to his boat last night. They'll call when they get to Hawaii.

Sullivan Bay

1000 position 50-54N 126-49W. Underway for Echo Bay

Thankful had a short day for a change yesterday. Our destination, Sullivan Bay, was only four miles further into the Broughtons than our anchorage at Tracey Harbor. We took it easy in the morning, got a late start, and moseyed in to the bay just after noon.

Sullivan Bay is a floating community tucked into a protected inlet much like Lizzie Cove, except this is a commercial operation focused on supporting upscale houseboats and visiting yachts.

We haven't seen many luxury houseboats this summer, but this community has a couple of dozen. They are moored to the floating piers just like the visiting yachts are. I'm not sure what I expected floating homes to look like. Perhaps a cross between a boat and a normal house? I was surprised by their appearance though. They look just like homes you would see on land, but they are all sitting on top of floating platforms. Some of those platforms are steel, like the barge Judy had her floating home on in Thorne Bay, Alaska. Some are on concrete floats, but most are on criss-crossed log floats that are lashed together with cable or chains. I wonder how many years it takes before those timbers get waterlogged and sink? What happens then to the home sitting on top?

The proprietors have generators that run 24/7 to provide power to the community. There is a store, restaurant, and laundromat among the floats. Water tanks on the hill ashore provide catchment water, but signs warn users that it must be boiled before drinking. The water also has an unappealing tanin coloring. They had free WIFI in the covered party area outside the restaurant, and we spent some time there catching up on email.

A couple of float planes dropped off and picked up passengers while we were there, and a ferry delivered supplies to the store. It was a busy little community. We wanted to have dinner at the restaurant, but all forty seats were booked for last night's prime rib dinner. Shucks.

We did four loads of laundry, bought some supplies in the store, and spent a restful night tied to a pier.

This morning we are continuing deeper into the Broughtons, headed for Echo Bay. The forecast said it would be windy today, but it is glassy at the moment. Perhaps the 1,000 foot high peaks surrounding Thankful are protecting her from the prevailing winds?