OUR LAST DAY. HOME SWEET HOME TOMORROW

We left Genoa Bay on Monday, cleared customs in Roche Harbor and will be here until tomorrow AM when Main Attraction heads back to its home port in Seattle, Elliott Bay Marina, and Bowhaus goes to Oak Harbor to spend some time with friends.  G&T's son, Gene, and his girlfriend, Amanda, joined us on Monday. Friends Mike and Eryn, and their daughter, Maezy, arrived on their boat   yesterday.                  
      
As our Grand Alaska Adventure comes to an end,  here are some statistics for Main Attraction based upon tomorrow's return date.  Bowhaus' stats will be slightly different. 

• Departure date: (from Elliott Bay Marina):  May 12
• Miles traveled:  2,283
• Gallons of diesel used:  1,338
• Gallons per mile;  0.58
• Gallons per hour:  7.18
• Cruising hours:  318
• Marina nights (with power & water): 73
• Primitive dock nights (no power or water): 7  
• Nights at anchor: 14
• Return date: August 18
• Nights on the boat: 95

 GPS shows Main Attraction crossing the USA Canada boarder

 Bowhaus (ahead) across the boarder.  Main Attraction just crossing.  

Gene and Amanda in Roche Harbor

 

Ginnie's Mojitos on Monday were made with the last of our glacial ice from the LaConte Glacier

Party on the dock Tuesday night--a seafood feast featuring oysters, clams and prawns from Wescott Bay.  Gene and Doug took the dinghy over to pick them up.  Margi and Eryn made yummy salads.  

Mike enjoys a beautiful sunset  

The evening was topped off with this awesome moonrise    

OUR FINAL DINNER....JUST THE FOUR OF US

We can hardly believe it's our last night in BC.  Tomorrow, we return to Roche Harbor (Washington, USA) after 3 months together on this GRAND ALASKA ADVENTURE.   

We've had dinner together every night (except for two) and each has been memorable.  We couldn't have asked for a better place to enjoy our "last supper" as we reminisced about all that we've seen and done.  After a beatiful day at Cherry Point, our meal on the deck at the Genoa Bay Cafe, was  perfect.      

 Here we are together with  Gord (cafe owner, left) and Dustin (Executive chef, between G&T) 

It's safe to say that Doug and Margi have enjoyed their first time in Genoa Bay and will be back again and again. 

DAY TRIP TO CHERRY POINT WINERY FOR LUNCH AND TASTING

Tim's shuttle boat to Cowichan Bay from Genoa Bay makes it possible to visit Cherry Point Winery, one of the valley's winery gems.  Xavier, the owner, came down to pick us up to bring us to the winery where his wife, Maria, gave Doug and Margi and tour of the vineyards and explanation of their growing philosophy.   G&T are very lucky to have gotten to know Xavier and Maria five years ago and we've been back to visit every year.        
  

New this year:  a lovely sparkling wine made in methode champagnoise. 

 Greylag Shuttle to Cowichan Bay

Colorful float homes are seen in both Cowichan and Genoa Bay

Float house doors

NANAIMO AND DODD NARROS

After arriving in Nanaimo yesterday afternoon, we walked into town and hit the bakery and a few shops (we haven't seen many shops lately) before  heading to Penny's Palapa on the Cameron Island docks.  It was a hot afternoon so margaritas were definitely in order.                                               

 

Naniamo was very busy so we felt lucky to get space at a relatively new Marina called the Waterfront. Dozens of vessels were anchored in  the Harbour.

We had a beautiful sunrise as we departed just before 6 this morning to catch the slack tide at Dodd Narrows.  In the second photo below you can see that Nanaimo, the second largest city on BC's Vancouver Island, is a thriving port.

Transiting through the Narrows is done single file and vessels with the tide in their favor have priority. Arriving at the Dodd Narrows entrance slightly before a slack tide that would turn to flood in a few short minutes meant that we still had the ebb and, therefore, priority in our southbound direction.  Fortunately, there was no northbound traffic and we also didn't have to contend with any tugs pulling tows.  However, there was a tug with a log boom about a mile behind us that would cause other boaters a bit of angst.  Commercial traffic has priority regardless of their direction of travel.  

 

The above pictures show Dodd Narrows just before slack water.  As the tide comes in (floods) or goes out (ebbs) the current strengthens quickly making it difficult, if not impossible, to go through safely.  Today's maximum flood will be nearly 5 knots.  

Today's destination is Genoa Bay, G&T's favorite spot in the Canadian Gulf Islands, and one which Doug and Margi have not experienced .  

 

CRUISING THE EAST COAST OF VANCOUVER ISLAND TO NANAIMO

We sat out from Comox on this gorgeous Friday morning and, just a few miles out, we encountered something we'd never experienced before...a cable ferry. We first saw bright green lights on both sides of the channel.  Then they turned red which meant we had to stop and hold as the cables were raised to bring the ferry across the channel.      

       

A cautionary note appeared on the GPS chart 

As we waited, the cable ferry set out on its 8 minute crossing from Buckley Bay on Vancouver island to Denman Island.   

Ferry at mid channel 

Green lights meant the ferry was across, the cables were lowered and it was safe to proceed. 

Just one week to go

From our last anchorage in Blunden Harbour, we've  worked our way through the Broughton  archipelago from Echo Bay to Lagoon Cove and then Blind Channel.  After Blind Channel, we  moved south into Desolation Sound with a stop in Gorge Harbour.  Yesterday, we crossed the Gorgia  Strait to Comox on Vancouver Island.   

Coming south with every mile, it seems we are returning to civilization as more and more boats are seen on the water and at the marinas.  It is striking because, some days up north, we would  only see a couple of other boats on any given day.                                  
   
Today, our destination is Nanaimo, farther south on Vancouver Island.  

Mornings often look like this. 

"Evening red and morning grey set a sailor on his way."

 

Main Attraction leaves Lagoon Cove just before sunrise 

  

Blind Channel Marina

This "floating garden" is tied up in Blind Channel.  The owner uses the herbs to flavor delicious sorbets served in the restaurant.  Our favorite was wild berry with thyme and bay.  

 Gorge Harbour

 We were in this procession of boats leaving Gorge Harbour heading to the Georgia Strait.  

 Bowhaus sets our course to Comox  

Including this selfie to illustrate how beautiful our crossing was yesterday.  This was taken in the middle of the Georgia Strait.   

 

 These lazy seals were seen on approach to Comox

So much for morning grey.  

We set off from Comox bound for Nanaimo just before sunrise this morning.  

Our last 2 nights at anchor

We have enjoyed our nights at anchor so much and we can't recall having a bad one.   The gale we went thru in Pruth Bay wasn't fun but the  anchorage was beautiful.     

Leaving Shearwater on Friday, we returned to Fury Cove which was our first anchorage heading north.  Its white shell beaches make it one of the prettiest spots to drop the hook.                                

 

Leaving Shearwater Friday  AM

Bowhaus gets out of a tight spot

Fury Cove early Friday evening

 

And the  next morning.

    

Boaters often refer to August as Fogust. 

We left Fury Cove and crossed Cape Caution in fog with a low westerly swell.  It was a good crossing as we navigated with radar.  The fog lifted after a few hours.   

Our final anchorage last night was in Blunden Harbor  

 

A rainbow followed by this sunset made for a perfect final anchorage.

Earlier in the day we made water in our water maker and transferred some over to Doug and Margi's boat.  Margi proclaimed, "I've never had homemade water before!" 

 

This morning, we left Blunden in thick fog as we headed to Echo Bay

It looked like this:

And then it turned to this: 

Margi took this shot of Ginnie and Chester waving from Main Attraction after the fog lifted  

South from Prince Rupert--Klewnuggit, Butedale and Shearwater

We left Cow Bay Marina on Saturday and returned to Klewnuggit, the same anchorage we enjoyed on the way north.  Our next stop was Butedale which deserves quite a bit of press.   People either love it or hate it (the latter group often refers to it as buttdale).  We're in the former group and are so glad to have seen  and experienced it now, in its run down condition, before a major redevelopment transforms it into something extraordinary.       

Butedale is a ghost town that was founded on Princess  Royal Island in 1918 as a fishing, mining and logging camp. The salmon cannery was the mainstay and it ceased   operations in the 1950s,   The property has fallen into  decay ever since.  The good news for boaters is that the property was purchased by a new owner in 2013 and there   is a redevelopment plan in place.  Permitting has recently  been finalized and demolation of what's left of Butedale (seen in the photos below) could start as early as this year.  In the interim, the old linear dock was reinforced and a new ramp was added to make Butedale an overnight option for boaters heading up or down the inside passage via the Fraser and Graham Reaches.   A full time care taker, Corey Lindsay, lives on the property with his dog, Buddy, and cat, Tiger.  Both Buddy and Tiger come down to the dock to greet newly arriving boaters.   Corey receives supplies once every week or so from the new owners via boat, the only way to get to the remote location.    Butedale is a popular point of interest for cruise ship and ferry passengers sailing the Inside Passage of British Columbia.   We enjoyed our time there and are glad to have seen it as a ghost town before its transformation in the years ahead. 

 This beautiful waterfall is seen on approach to the Butedale dock which is just ahead.  

 

Corey, the caretaker, lives in this little cabin 

This flue brings water from the lake above Butedale and powers the alternator that enables Corey to have power.  

A BC Ferry heads north up the Fraser Reach as we watch from the dock.   

Main Attractio and Bowhaus are tied up,to the Butedale dock.

View from the dock looking up to the ruins 

From Butedale we came to a Shearwater Marina, planned to stay 2 nights and that turned into 4 because the winds and seas south of us have been to high to cross Cape Caution.  Today is Friday and we hope to head out in a couple of hours.