Oh Canada!

Vancouver, BC

Vancouver from the bow

Water Taxi - Vancouver, BC

Cargo ship out galley window

Seabird @ anchor in False Creek - Vancouver BC

Empress Hotel - Victoria, BC

Seabird in dock - Victoria, BC

Cocktail time in the Gulf Islands

BC Ferry passing by

Mandolin playing time

July 27

I am happy to report that we have made it to Canada! 

We left Garibaldi early and headed north with a lovely south wind blowing behind us. A little after noon, the swell started to come from the south west and we cruised comfortably at 8 kts. The highlight was seeing our friend Peter and his boat the Bertie again this time on the horizon. We passed within a few miles of him & were able to chat w/him briefly on the VHF. 24 hours passed quickly and before we knew it, we were rounding Cape Flattery and headed East into the Straits of Juan De Fuca. The fog was very thick here and we had our foghorn going & both of us on watch. As we made the turn around the cape lots of targets started showing up on the radar. Turns out it was Saturday morning & lots of local fisherman were out. It was eerie as we could see them on the radar but not with our own eyes. Finally, as the fog lifted we did start to see them. We picked our way through & continued heading east. We had a flood tide & little wind so we made good time. Around 11:00 we had a visit by the local sheriff & border patrol boat. They pulled up beside us to check us out. Once they realized we weren’t pirates or smugglers, they were very friendly and even gave us restaurant recommendations for Victoria.  

We pulled into Victoria harbor around 4pm. It’s hard to explain the strangeness we felt after being at sea for 36 hours & suddenly finding ourselves among the chaos of Victoria harbor on a Saturday afternoon. It’s quite scenic but you have a very narrow channel to maneuver in. The reason is because aside from the many varied boat traffic, there are also seaplanes that take off & land right next to you. We followed our chart & Pete made a great landing at the docks right in front of the Empress Hotel. Unfortunately, we had somehow missed the customs dock, and docked in a private marina. So, we had to leave & make our way over to customs. 

Checking-in went extremely smoothly - it was all done via phone. After, we made our way over to another, more quiet dock, that was still right downtown. We were able to hop off the boat, walk across a parking lot, up a staircase and bam, we were right in downtown Victoria. It’s quite a beautiful city & we enjoyed a tasty Thai dinner & had a nice time walking around. It’s a very odd feeling to be in such a far away place and yet walk down a street & have your house at the end of the block.

This morning we planned to relax in town & go to a wi-fi coffee shop before heading out but Pete checked the weather forecast & strong winds were expected, intensifying in the afternoon. Not being familiar with the area and knowing how this would affect us, we decided to leave early and head to the Gulf Islands. We picked an island that is about ½ way between Victoria & Vancouver, our next stop where we are going to be meeting up with Sam. So here we are, anchored at Prevost Island in Selby Cove. One of our cruising guides describes it as a peaceful setting that is well protected from winds and we agree.

Would love to write more but it’s approaching cocktail time & we have our priorities. Will write more from Vancouver.

July 29 

Will need to make this kind of short as I’m headed to my friend Shelly’s house to get a quick blogging lesson. 

We crossed over the Straits of Georgia yesterday & headed into Vancouver. We’re anchored in False Creek which is a nice enough place though there is a large construction zone right across from us. There is a lot of construction going on in Vancouver due to the 2010 Winter Olympics. 

Yesterday, we met up with Shelly & Jamison. Shelly & I worked together at UCSF but now she & her husband live here in Vancouver. We met up at Granville Island & she showed us around a bit which was quite nice. Jamison works for Rainmaker studios and we got a behind-the-scenes tour of the upcoming movie (2010), Escape from Planet Earth, that he is working on. We also got to drive in a car which was odd as it’s been a few weeks since we’ve been in one. 

We are planning on picking up Sam later today and heading out early tomorrow to parts North.  Will write again as soon as we get internet access though I’m not sure when that will be. 

Slogging up the coast

Pelican fly by - Brookings, OR

Pirate Recruits

Boat lift in Pt. Orford, OR

View off the stern

Seabird docked in Garibaldi, OR

LC checking out the new spot

Pete cleaning the kelp off the fish

Arch rock out the galley window near Cape Blanco, OR

Downriggers working hard

Sunset beach stroll - Brookings, OR

Beach kite flying - Brookings, OR

Bertie & Seabird together again in Newport, OR

Sue driving

The seas are rocking & rolling

Brookings turned out to be a great town to be stuck in. We had fun watching the kites fly at the kite festival & even found we had one tucked away in a closet. Plan to fly it one of these days. We also started to feel like regulars, headed down to the coffee shop in the morning, with our laptop in one hand & cash in the other ready to buy a tasty mocha or homeade apricot scone. A farmers market w/delicious loganberries and a grocery store were all right there. But, the clock was ticking & we were itching to continue north.

Our friend Peter Bailey was still in Port Orford, only 50 nautical miles away. We downloaded a weather chart that showed if we hugged close to the shore early Monday morning, the winds & waves wouldn't be too bad. So we took our Bonine (decided that the fact that the movie Titanic was playing at the restaurant where we had dinner was not a bad sign) and tried to get to sleep early. Both Peter & I had trouble sleeping but at 2:00am when the alarm went off we decided to go for it.

We headed out of our protected harbor into the Pacific. That time of night the seas were down but crab pots were all around (There is a July crabbing season here). We had a fairly tense time picking our way through the crab pot minefield with a spotlight but slowly made our way further north west & into deeper waters. The wind was down & we made our way north at a solid 7 knots.

Around 10am we had a decision to make. Head around Cape Blanco or tuck into Port Orford. We decided to tuck into Port Orford for a couple of reasons but mainly because 1) we were tired & still had another 2.5 hours to go to get around the cape & then another 2-4 hours to get to the nearest port & the winds & waves were ramping up 2) we have a good weather window for tomorrow & assume our stay will be short & sweet. Unfortunately for us, our friend Peter Bailey headed out of Pt. Orford early this morning (after being stuck for over a week) but we are happy for him that he's finally made it around Cape Blanco. We hope to catch him the next few days.

So for now, the anchor is down, the flopperstoppers are out & we're swinging around in this windy but beautiful place. LC took this leg of the trip very well. As soon as the engine started she dove for the nearest covers, but came out after awhile, got sick (but only once) & then slept the rest of the way in her house. As soon as the engine was off, she came out & plopped herself down in a patch of sun seemingly content. Just another day of cruising.

More to come...

Greetings from Girbaldi Oregon. 

Oregon seems to like us & won't let us out of its grasp quite yet. 

We left Port Orford early & got around Cape Blanco easily. All day & night we headed north up the coast, happy to be around the obstacle. The seas were calm & a beautiful moon came up overnight which helped light our way.

We decided to stop in Newport Oregon for a quick fuel stop & came in a little before dawn. (Not too many crab pots). We grabbed a couple of hours rest before the fuel dock opened. Then Peter Bailey came into port with his boat Bertie. It was great to see him & have a little Galilee Harbor reunion.

Though tempted to stay, we decided to leave ASAP as the weather forecast looked ok & we wanted to get going. For the first 6 hours everything went fine. Around 5pm the wind picked up & we started getting a wind chop on top of the swell. We re-checked the forecast for the area we were in and it still looked like things were going to diminish, so we continued on. As the sun set & darkness set in, the wind waves continued to ramp up & we continued to pound into them. All night we tried different headings & speeds as the seas continued to build, but nothing helped. We were averaging only about 3 knots in the steep confused seas which is not a lot. Around 5am we decided to head towards shore so we could run in a little closer to land and maybe catch a lee from the NW wind which was now blowing a steady 25-35 kts. For about two hours we headed East/South East with the wind on our stern, making an easy 8kts - but going in the the wrong direction. As the sun rose & we got closer to shore, the winds finally let up & we headed north again but the N Westerlies quickly cranked up again. Pete checked the forecast and now they were predicting a small craft advisory for the area North of us. So, being exhausted & cautious, we decided to duck into Tillamook Bay & headed to Garibaldi, a small logging & fishing town. Ran through the bar crossing in light conditions and wound our way through the tidal flats of the bay towards what turned out to be a very friendly little harbor. Treated ourselves to a nice dinner (how can you turn up a local restaurant that serves locally caught fish-n-chips. It's called Fisherman's Korner & if you ever find yourself here we recommend it highly). Tonight we hope to get caught up on our sleep & maybe even recruit a couple of local pirates to join us for our (hopefully?) final leg of our ocean journey.

Last but not least, LC the cat has definitely acquired her sea paws. She was out & about last night even in the worst of it, demanding to be pet. It's hard to pet a cat while you are steering a boat & being pitched around. She didn't get sick & when we she had enough of our quick pats, went back to sleep in her house. As soon as we docked, she was out & about & checking our her new surroundings. Glad to see she is doing fine.

Love to read your comments! Thanks so much to everyone who posts them!!

Sue, Peter & LC

Rock N Roll

Greetings from Brookings, Oregon. We are currently tied up at the local harbor keeping ourselves busy. Here's what went down between Monday morning & today.

We left Sausalito around 6am and after doing some testing of the paravanes in the Bay, we headed out under the Golden Gate, turned right & headed north. The first 36 hours of the trip were picture perfect. The seas were extremely calm. We saw lots of sharks (looked like white sharks - yikes!), whales, few dall's porpoise, and many seabirds. Most of the sharks we saw were between 6 and 8 feet, but a few were closer to 10 feet, dark grey on top - fading to pale white on their bottom half, and very thick bodied. They definitely were not intimidated by us, as many of them made a beeline for our boat to check us out as we passed. Conditions were so calm that you could see their dorsal fins cutting through the water at the surface from 1/4 mile away. Brown Footed Albatross were also with us for much of the trip up the California coast - huge birds with 6ft wingspans. We were even able to cook while under way which was quite nice. Cape Mendocino & Point Arena, which are known for hazardous seas, were like a lake - light or no winds, and a long low swell from the NW. As we made our way out of Califonia & into Oregon, we were feeling pretty lucky.

We knew there was some weather up ahead and we had a very short window to pass Cape Blanco in Oregon before the weather deteriorated. We have a friend, Peter Bailey, who is also headed north in his boat. He had been stuck in Port Orford for a few days, trying to get around Cape Blanco. We checked the weather & decided to make a run for it. The forecasted wind & waves looked rough, but passable & we knew if things got dicey, we could always duck into Port Orford & hang with our friend Peter. We started hitting the weather around 9pm but continued at a constant 7 knots. Around 1am things got a bit worse & we had to slow down to about 4 knots but we were continuing north. And then around 4am things got really bad. We could see the Cape Blanco light in the distance as we were only about 20 nautical miles away from it. However, we were getting beat up pretty bad. The wind waves were about 8ft high & coming every 8 seconds. That makes for a square wave and you are pretty much going up and down constantly. In addition, we had a mixed swell at 2-4 feet coming from the NW and the SW which added an increasingly violent corkscrew motion to the boat. Even with the paravanes working hard to dampen the roll, it was a pretty wild ride. Not only is it uncomfortable and scary, it's also hard to get anywhere.

At first light, around 5:30am, we found ourselves between the Rogue River Reef (about 3 miles astern of us - a little close for comfort) and Port Orford ahead. Conditions were deteriorating fast and we were starting to see long sets of 8-10 foot seas stacking up dangerously close together. Pete made the decision to turn around. We made a quick turn between sets & headed South. Immediately, everything got quiet as we were no longer heading into the wind & waves. We now had following seas which are very challenging to steer (you have to make sure you don't get pushed sideways as you surf down the face of the waves) but less harrowing. It was pretty dramatic when a big set would overtake the boat, roll under us, then crest in front of our bow as high as our wheelhouse windows before rolling onto the South. We made our way back down the coast to Brookings Harbor in Southern Oregon where the sea conditions were lighter and the bar crossing into the harbor was calm.

Our first  visitors were the Chetco River Coast Guard who met us at the dock. They had a few questions for us & then boarded our vessel for a courtesy inspection. It was all very routine but certainly strange given our experience over the last few hours. Took us awhile to get our land legs back & get used to the quiet but we quickly adapted. Brookings has turned out to be quite nice. The town itself is further up the road, but the port area has lots going on. There is a little mall w/cute shops including a coffee shop w/free wi-fi, good pizza, a book store, and a beach, all within a 10-minute walk. There is also an international Kite Festival happening this weekend so there's lots to see & do. We are getting to know our neighbors, who are other cruisers, also stuck here, headed either up or down the coast. There are also lots of fishing boats that  go right by our window which gives us something to look at & also there are also huge schools of anchovies in the harbor which gives LC something to look at. Speaking of LC, she hung in there admirably throughout this last leg. In the beginning she got inside her house, curled up into a ball & played dead. After awhile, she came out, let herself be pet, grabbed a few morsels of food & then went back to sleep. She got seasick a couple of times but nothing too bad. When things go really rough she was huddled up in the aft cabin under a few blankets. She especially seems grateful to have this break in Brookings.

So for now, we're here through the weekend. The Coast Guard just put out a second orange flag which means gale warning. Our fearless crew member, Jon Elkin, is heading south today in a rental car with two of Peter Bailey's (newly bearded) crew members. Thanks again to Jon for his help getting our boat this far. Always a pleasure to sail with Elkin. Pete & I will wait for a good weather window & continue our journey north as soon as we can. More to come soon...

Ready, Set...

Life has been busy aboard the Seabird. Final preparations are under way and as of today's forecast, it looks like we'll be heading out early Monday morning! Wow, very exciting.

Things to do between now & then include:

• Final provisioning - Have made a couple of trips to the supermarkets & drug stores but still have more to get. We got a vacuum packer (thanks to Sam) and spent one night vacuuming chicken apple sausages. Should really come in handy to store all that fish Sam will hopefully be catching.
• Buying & loading spares - Pete has methodically gone through the boat & made sure we have spares for all mechanical items. And there are lots. He has also spent his days repairing & replacing windows, toilet pumps & updating our navigation software.
• Cat Prep - LC will probably not enjoy the trip north but we will try & make her as comfortable as possible. Note the cat-house we bought her. She seems to like it. Hopefully, she will find that to be a safe haven while we are cruising up the coast (which should be the roughest part of the journey). She does seem to enjoy some of Pete's projects, especially those that include lots of line!
• Going through every cabinet & drawer & making sure it's stable & in place. If it's not needed, it goes off the boat to storage.

Some other things that have been going on...

• We moved our boat to a different location. Note sunrise out back deck - awesome! Also better spot for getting in & out of & riding out storms in the winter. Will be nice to come home to.
• Sam caught a leopard shark in his fish trap! It was about 5 feet long.
• Sue got a tele-photo lens for her camera - ready to take lots of nature shots. For now, practicing on fireworks.
• Sam took Sue & then Pete out for a spin on a Laser sail boat - was a short cruise as the winds were light. Saw baby seagulls, seals & sea lions.
• Survival suits & raincoats will be the chic cruising wear for the season. We had fun trying them on.

That's all for now...if we leave early Monday we should be at our first stop, Pt. Townsend Washington, later in the week.

Bon Voyage!!