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.