In early September, ‘08, I waited around Port McNeill on Vancouver Island, British Columbia, Canada, for several days, waiting out bad weather.  Too bad - it never did clear up nor calm down and remained foggy and rough.  No chance of seeing Whales from my little 16 foot boat, so I left for the Sechelt (Seee-SHELt) Peninsula to visit with old friends who were expecting me and had plans of their own for the following weekend.  First, I stopped at Halfmoon Bay on Tuesday the 9th to visit my lifelong (60 yrs now) friend, Bob, and his ladyfriend Marsha and grand-daughter Mattie.   He’s one of the few people (Hans in Idaho is another) who I can walk in on 10 years later and pick up as tho’ there’d been no time lapse at all.   A rare gift.

We had a great visit, then I left for the home of Garry & Nellie, who were waiting to take me on another “mystery trip” on their 40 ft sloop, the “Sunshine.”  They had plans for the weekend with friends up in the interior of British Columbia, so we planned on Wed the 10th & Thurs the 11th for our cruise.

3 summers ago, we had a semi-impromptu race against several other varied boats and had a tremendous day fine tuning the sails and hoping for a better wind.  Great sport and a good time was had by all.  This “race” slapped me with “the shot that got away,” too.  A smaller boat was passing us closely to port (left) and as he came by the skipper was peering out under the boom of the sail, one hand gripping the tiller, the other the sheet and the total concentration and drive on his face gave an almost ferocious grimace.  I can still see his teeth almost snarling………..and I didn’t get the camera up in time.  What a shot that would’ve been ! ! !

2 summers ago, they took my cousins, their 2 grand-daughters and myself to Newcastle Island in the harbor of Nanaimo, B.C.  We spent the night over there and sailed home the next day.  Great Fun, again.

Last year it was just the 3 of us.  We met at Garden Bay/Pender Harbour on the Sunshine Coast and they took me to Jedediah Island, sandwiched between the lower west corner of Texada (Tex-AY-dah) Island and the lower east corner of Lasqueti (Lass-KEE-tee Island in the Strait of Georgia.  The morning at Jedediah was the calmest I’ve ever seen on the ocean.  How often have you seen the ocean like this ??………………

This year, we hauled all our gear down to the Sunshine and started loading it all aboard on Wednesday morning……..from food to cold weather gear.  A local resident, a Great Blue Heron, looked it all over and wondered why we didn’t just fly across and save all the fuss ??……………….

But finally we were underway, and very quickly started to relax and enjoy the peace and pleasure of sailing.  This was a clear day with a moderate breeze, and perfect for the trip.  In my mind, when I think of Garry & Nellie and the Sunshine, this is what I picture.  Wonderful…………….

In the above picture, the mountainous land in the distance is Vancouver Island.  Nanaimo, B.C. and Newcastle Island are about in the center, and if you look very closely, you can barely see a slightly darker line in front of the main Island.  That line is some of the many Gulf Islands, a northern reach of the American San Juan Islands………..tho’ the Canadians will tell you the San Juans are a southern reach of the Gulf Islands.  :-)  Straight ahead of the bow, that notch in the skyline is our aiming point for the channel leading in to Silva Bay on Gabriola Island……………

Meanwhile, we’ve already been passing some of the smaller islets…………..

Many of these islands are privately owned, and some owners have built wonderful get-aways.  At what expense, I wonder, but can’t help being envious.  Can you imagine a nicer weekend retreat than this…………….

Or this, hidden behind a huge red Arbutus tree, (called Madrona in the USA)………….

Homes like these are scattered everywhere up the B.C. coast, and around many of the lakes as well.  After we came thru the channel between Gabriola and Valdes Islands, a look to the east showed what I like to think of as “picture rocks.”  Others think the rocks are in my head.  Look right in the center…………….

Can’t see it ??  How ’bout a closer look.  To me that looks almost like hand carved hieroglyphics in the rock, with a roof and windows on the right.  It’s not, just erosion, but I think the effect is neat.  More on erosion later……………….

Now, after a hearty day at sea, the intrepid mariners sail (motor) into Pirate’s Cove on DeCourcy Island.  (sp ??)  What a beautiful spot………………

After setting the anchor, we took the dinghy (”the dink”) ashore and set out to explore the trail leading down the left side of the above picture to the notch to left of center.  Garry & Nellie hammed it up in front of the welcome sign, but I like this one a little better.  Can’t remember what they were looking at.  There’s actually “treasure” in the chest there - trinkets left by passing sailors in the spirit of fun……………….

After hiking about ¼ mile or less on the brushy, rocky trail, we came out to another anchorage on the south end.  Beautiful, again.  Look how clear the water is……………

There’s a small campground there for tent-ers, and a custodian to keep track of things.  A very pleasant lady, she lives on the island and loves her job.  She pointed out a family of River Otters playing on the far side of the cove……………

Too lazy to walk over there, it was getting late, so we hiked back to Pirates Cove…………………

……….and rowed back out to the Sunshine……………..

Later, after a great dinner prepared by Garry on the grill and Nellie in the galley, we kicked back and quietly watched the darkness fall.  A flock of birds passed the rising moon, behind another sailboat’s mast………………..

In the morning, we (Garry) rowed the dink to the landing closer to the notch we’d hiked to last night.  See it, tied almost out of sight, right behind the ramp at the dock at lower left ??  What a great way to start the day……..after a good breakfast, of course………………..

Our friend from yesterday greeted us and wondered what had taken us so long……………..

Here we see the erosion from ocean waves that I spoke of earlier.  Strange shapes………………

And more great scenery.  It just keeps getting better……………..

On the way back to the Sunshine, we came across another resident busily foraging for his (her ??) own breakfast……………….

This Raccoon was turning over the large oyster shells (which are probably too difficult for him to open) and seemed to be doing quite well.  He (she ??) would stop fairly frequently to munch away on…..something………………

Finally, tho’, reality must intrude and we set sail back toward the mainland.  The big gray/brown mountains to the right of this picture are the ones behind the village of Squamish, that I went thru on my way to Pemberton, 2 months ago.  The city of Vancouver is out of sight to the right…………………

What a way to spend a “weekend.”  Thank you guys so much for a really great trip……….again.                   Lar.

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Larry Bourne
Santa Fe, NM
www.gogittum.com
www.gogittum.com/blog

Posted: May 24th, 2009 under 08 Vacation, 08-9-11 Pirate's Cove.
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