Author: salestosails

This morning is a bit foggy with some low hanging clouds around the mountains and islands. It is really very pretty and appears to be lifting as the sun comes up higher. Today is forecasted to be another beautiful sunny day, but we are hoping for some wind. Yesterday was another day of motoring to our destination in glassy waters. It was stunning but we are anxious to raise the sails again, turn off the engines, and be a sailboat again. We had a change in plans yesterday and we decided to go back to Prideaux Haven. The last time we were there it was raining and cloudy and we could not take advantage of the 360 degree view of the surrounding islands, mountains, and peaks. It was only a two hour ride for the day so we arrived in time for Dianna to go kayaking around the area. She went all the way around one of the islands and had a blast.

Now for a first……Dianna and I volunteered to anchor our boat so the others could tie up to us for a change. We needed the experience of successfully “setting the hook” by ourselves. With three members of our flotilla group being sailing instructors, we had plenty of guidance if we needed it. We were in 40 feet of water, so we went forward four to five boat lengths, dropped the anchor and waited till it hit bottom (slight slack in the chain), then idle reverse as we “pay out” more chain, followed by revving the engine in reverse to 1000 RPMs to ensure it is “set”, then add the snubber, and let out more chain to ensure weight of the boat is on the snubber line instead of the chain and windlass. It went very well thanks for Dianna’s close attention to the details of the process. My lovely “safety officer” has added another skill to her sailing resume. Yea!

Before we left yesterday a group gathered more oysters that we brought along for our evening appetizer. We gathered around 6pm on the front of our boat and the two neighboring boats for cocktails and oysters. The colors of the surrounding area became golden as the sun was falling past the mountains. It was a great twilight to witness, and the group was lively with conversation. It is interesting to see the people spread out and talk with new people instead of staying with the people they are more familiar with.

Today we are heading to Teakerne Arm and the waterfall, then to Von Donup Inlet. We have not been to a dock since Saturday when we left Campbell River and our water, fuel, food, batteries, oil, cocktails, etc are all holding up nicely.

As I write this the clouds are lifting and the sky is turning blue so it will be another wonderful day out here!

Bright sun coming up at 7:30am was a treat, as this is the third day in a row for us for all day sunshine, or at least that is the forecast for today.  Yesterday we left Squirrel Cove around 11am and headed towards Tenedos Bay.  The wind was 1 to 3 knots so we had to motor the entire way, but the surrounding mountains and bays were very pretty to sail past. The water was so calm that at times it seemed like a big glassy lake. The logs in the water were easier to spot and from a greater distance away, so that made it less about concentration and more about enjoying the day’s journey.

When we arrived we all rafted up together, and Dianna and I enjoyed some home made chicken salad courtesy of our good friend Karen Brayton who introduced us to it at their lake house on Lake Tennkiller in eastern Oklahoma. Karen is a very talented host who seems to come up with amazing food out of thin air!

It was a shorter trip than usual, and we arrived around 2:30pm so we had time to get our dingy in the water and go for a ride around this gorgeous area.  The dingy engine is a little querky but we figured it out. We motored around the shore of the bay where rock cliffs seem to go straight up from the water, and there are beautiful Madrona trees growing out of the rock cliffs. We also saw a family if seals swimming around the water and then moving onto some rocks where they seemed to be napping. That gave me an idea and I did the same. Some members of our group went to gather fresh oysters for an appetizer for all of us. The tide was coming back in so there was a sense of urgency about that. They returned in an hour with two buckets filled with oysters.

Two of the boat captains prepared their grills for the oysters, where they grilled them until they opened, then removed one of the shells, added butter and garlic to the now open oyster, and closed the grill until they were done. They were really good and even people that say they don’t really like oysters were pleased with the taste and texture. I have pictures but can’t post them until later today when we get a better signal.

The moon eclipse was to start at 7:11pm and end at 8:23pm so we kept watch.  About 7:40pm we could see just a faint glow coming up from an opening between two mountains.  It was the perfect placement for us to view from our flotilla of boats. Some were eating and came up to see, others, lke us, were cooking dinner. So we stopped and watched as the show unfolded. It was truely amazing to see! I have a couple of pictures that don’t really do it justice but will post anyway.  Dinner was spaghetti and red sauce with fresh grated romano cheese, romaine leaves with mustard vinegarette, and sourdough bread from the oven, with a bottle of Cabernet.  It was really tasty.

Today we are headed back to Teakerne Arm for another view of the waterfalls, then north to Von Donup inlet. We have some new people on board and they wanted to see the waterfalls.  Hopefully we will have some sun for pictures?

The second cup of coffee just arrived from my “saftey officer”. When chartering a boat from San Juan sailing someone has to be designated captain and someone as the safety officer, and with just two of us, well you get the picture. It is so much fun having a beautiful and talented saftey officer on board, and I feel very safe.  Just one more reason why I am the luckiest person in the world!

Cheers!

The sun was late coming up this morning because we are anchored in cozy little Squirrel Cove surrounded by small mountains. We noticed yesterday when we arrived that the water is filled with jelly fish that vary in size but the larger ones are the size of a dinner plate. It is cool to sit and watch them travel in slow motion through the water with all their gracefullness.

Yesterday was as close to the perfect day as can happen! We left Campbell River right at 10:30am during a slack tide and made our way around Cape Mudge where there are some tricky rocks and shallow areas. We put our sails up, tuned off our engines, and we were a sailboat for 6 hours! Wow! The wind was 10 to 15 knots in the morning, and 15 to 20 knots in the afternoon so it was just perfect. We started on a long port tack for over 2 hours, which is such a treat for us, because we are used to sailing in the California Delta where tacking is done every 15 to 20 minutes, or so it seems. We sailed across the Strait of Georgia again and encounted some side waves but managed nicely. Then through Baker Passage and around Hernando Island, then north in the Lewis Channel. The other 4 sailboats are all monohulls so that gives them an advantage when sailing to wind. We hung in there nicely for the beam and broad reach sections of the day, but when we turned to sail up Lewis Channel, we were going to wind where we have a disadvantage of not being able to point as high. One by one they passed us with a graceful heel that was really spectacular. It made me long for our boat that performs in a similar way, but we had a blast on Messing About. Most sailors in this area are “purists” and prefer monohull boats. They are sometimes opinionated in their views to the point of being critical, but it seems they are never too reluctant to come on our boat for cocktails, etc. Our group is really not like that other than they prefer monhulls. We did get a little ribbing as we arrived in Squirrel Cove an hour after everyone else, but all is good spirit.

We anchored and rafted together with 2 rafts of 3 boats each and hosted cocktails for our group of 2 other boats. Dinner was Barbara’s rice pilaf, lamb chops & steak on the grill, romaine lettuce leaves with a mustard vinegarette, and a bottle of Alexandria Nicole red blend from Washington state. And of course, Dianna’s candle on the table. The wine was the best we have had to date on this trip. I put the meat on the grill and noticed that the moon was coming up over the mountains off to our starboard side. It was so amazing to see this “supermoon” in this setting. We took a couple of pictures but they don’t really do it justice. We needed Maggie’s expertise to capture the moment. The other people were below decks eating their dinners, so we knocked and told them about the moon, as well as yelled across the cove to our other group. They came running out of their salons with cameras in hand. Lots of ooohs and aaahs followed. It was the most amazing thing I have witnessed in a long time.

Today we are off to Tenados Bay which is not very far away from here, so we will probably find some good wind (hopefully) and sail around a bit. Tonight we are anchoring with all 6 boats tied together, so should be fun!

Well we are off to do our morning preparation routine and looking forward to another wonderful day in this beautiful place.

Today marks the first day of our second week aboard Messing About. Some people left yesterday and more arrived last night, but we feel fortunate to have 2 more weeks on the boat in this beautiful part of the planet. Slack tide today is at 10:45am so we are planning to depart at 10:30am, with our destination being Squirrel Cove. It is nice to have a quiet morning where everything is prepared for the week and we can enjoy our french press coffee and review our course for the week. Today we sail back across the Strait of Georgia and around Cortez Island, but the difference being, today is bright sunshine and calm seas. We are hoping for some wind to develop because we will be sailing on a west to east course, that would be ideal for a beam reach for a couple of hours. We will be sailing near where we saw the whales yesterday so are hopeful to see more again today.

Dinner last night was at the local pub and the food was amazingly good. We met some of the new members of our group and talked about our plans for the week. The moon was close to being full so we stayed up a bit to savor the evening, knowing that we did not have to get up too early today. The night was perfectly still with clear skies so the moon provided beautiful light for the boats in the harbor. At one point it looked like it was sitting on top of the mast of a sailboat on a neighboring dock. With it being this late in the season most boats our here are not occupied so it is very quiet and peaceful. Just boats of all shapes and sizes bobbing around in their slips. It is fun to see the mega yachts next to fishing boats, some of which don’t appear to be seaworthy.

This week we will be out 6 nights at anchor with no docking, pubs, or stores, so we have provisioned well for the week. Some goodies include: fresh basil for pasta we are planning to serve, a wheel of brie cheese, some fancy garlic stuffed olives (thinking of my mother with this one), cherry tomatoes with mozzarella cheese balls, fresh romaine, fresh raspberries, brownie mix with walnuts for some baking opportunites, a loaf of cinnamon bread, rosemary flat bread, red bell pepper, avocado, eggs, thick bacon, lamb chops, filet steak, rice for Barbara’s pilaf recipe, and of course some canned chicken for Dianna’s world famous chicken salad (she stole from Karen Bayton) mixed with celery, slivered almonds, and ranch dressing. We still have plenty of candy bars, string cheese, cheddar cheese, triscuits, etc from our original provisioning outing. Oh, and I should mention that the bar is also nicely stocked with all the fixins including key limes from Florida for Dianna’s vodka tonic. So we are ready to go!!

The internet varies quite a bit in this entire area. Some remote areas have excellent coverage and some do not. It is likely there will be times this week when I am unable to update this blog. Sometimes I can get the blog to update but not the pictures. So we will see how it goes.

I am off to top off the oil in both engine compartments so we will have a nice quiet sail today. Loving this sunshine!

Cheers