The forecast for the weekend was looking nice so I headed out to the boat on Friday, provisioned and settled in for a relaxing evening. Saturday morning was warm with calm winds so I cast off around 11am and motored north. I was planning to go to Ganges for the night but decided to head to Montague since I had everything on board that I needed for a night at anchor.

I motored out into the harbour, thru the passage on the inside (west side) of Coal Island and past Swartz Bay toward Portland Island. The current was against me but luckily it was a light current and didn’t have much of an impact on the speed.  I passed a few fellas salmon fishing and we had a chat, they weren’t getting much action but we agreed that it was a nice day on the water.

The wind was from the SE and when I rounded Beaver Point it was behind me. I decided to raise the sails when I passed the Channel Islands and got to enjoy a nice sail down Captain Passage to Selby Point, Prevost Island. I fired up the motor and crossed Trincomali Channel to Montague Harbour.

Although the weather is still beautiful there are not many boats on the go this time of year.  There were loads of open mooring buoys and I tied up to a buoy just past 15:00. The temperature was warm and I was beat so I cracked a beer and relaxed to rebuild my energy.

After a few minutes I was ready to set up the BBQ and get preparations started on dinner. I hooked up the BBQ and went to fire it up but no flame. Hmmm… After a few minutes of trouble shooting it turned out that my 12 lb propane tank wasn’t outputting any propane even though I just had it filled. Perhaps it’s defective. I disconnected it and connected the BBQ to the main propane tank and it worked fine. Oh well, I’ll have to take that one in and get someone to take a look at it.

I had a nice BBQ and relaxed for the evening with a few tunes. It was a clear night and the sky was full of stars. It’s amazing how lit up the sky is when you are not around any lights. Very nice…

I woke up Sunday morning, had breakfast, untied from the buoy and set out by 10am. It was a great sail when I got out into Trincomali Channel and the wind was blowing nicely when I got into Captain Passage. There’s no nicer feeling than that of Treylya leaned over under strain from a good wind, to feel the power of the boat as it cuts thru the waves and of the sound of waves splashing against her hull. Man, I love it…

The wind stayed pretty consistent until I got back near Sidney and I motored back into my berth.  Another great day on the water.  Gotta love it.  I spent the next few hours cleaning, tidying up and straightening away.

I was fortunate enough to land one of the jobs I interviewed for over the past few weeks.  It’s with a great company downtown Victoria who are developing tools for the construction industry utilizing several very kewl, cutting edge technologies such as Augmented Reality, Drone Photogrammetry, 3D rendering, LiDAR, etc…  Needless to say I’m very excited…

I figured I’d get one last sail in since the weather was looking good for the next week for so.  It’s probably the last kick at the can to do some hiking in shorts and sandals until next spring so I slept on the boat Saturday night and cast off Sunday morning.  There wasn’t much wind so I motored out around Coal Island and figured I’d head over to Ganges.  After steaming along for a bit I had a change of mind…  I go to Montague and Ganges quite regularly so I figured I’d change things up and head over towards the Straight of Georgia.

After passing Morsby Island I figured I’d put up the sails as there appeared to be a little bit of wind out in Boundary Pass just to the south of Pender Island.  I sailed for an hour or so and then the wind died out so I fired up the motor and headed toward Winter Cove, Saturna Island.

The great thing about cruising this time of year is that the crowds are gone and I arrived at Winter Cove to find only a few other boats.  What a haven of peace and tranquility!  No screaming kids, no shouting adults, no barking dogs, very few motor boats zipping around, and no large motor yachts pumping exhaust and fumes into the clean air.  Just a few ducks and sea otters swimming around, a few walruses and seals, and some song birds.  I love it here…

This place is a little piece of heaven.  I dropped the anchor away from the other boats in about 20 feet of water and settled in for the afternoon with a BBQ.  I decide to paint the little nicks and cracks in the deck so I set out with a brush and small can of paint and within a couple of hours had all the small dings and imperfections covered up.

Next morning was beautiful and calm so I decided to jump in the dingy and head to shore for a hike.  The hike (nature walk) around the Winter Cove Marine Park is peaceful and quiet.  The underbrush is lush and green and the air is still.  When you break out to Georgia Straight you are at the tip of Saturna Island where there is a narrow passage, called Boat Passage, between Saturna and Samuel Island and the water floods and ebbs swiftly thru there, changing direction a few times a day in rhythm with the tides…

After the nature walk I relaxed on the beach for a bit and rowed back to Treylya to settle in for the evening. I had a BBQ, put Jack Johnson on the radio, cracked a beer and settled in for a picturesque evening. The sun went down and a beautiful sunset ensued… Life’s good…

I’m due to start work Wednesday morning so on Tuesday mid morning I raised the anchor and headed out into Plumper Sound. The winds were coming up from the south so I raised the sails and tacked back and forth as I made my south and around the south end of South Pender Island. There was a nice breeze so I got to enjoy an hour of sailing before the wind died again and I was forced to fire up the motor. It was a beauty day on the water.

I was back in Victoria for a few days of interviews and decided to get out sailing again.  Things are going well on the job front and it looks like I’ll be working sooner rather than later so gotta take advantage of this nice weather while I still can.

I slept on the boat Thursday night and cast off Friday morning.  It was a beautiful morning but the winds were light so I pretty much motored most of the way to Montague.

It was HOT…  and there wasn’t much wind so I was sweating by the time I got tied up to the mooring buoy.  It’s not hard work but just moving around in the heat is enough to cause the sweat to start dripping.

I relaxed for the afternoon and had a BBQ in the evening. It was very warm even after the sun went down which made for a beautiful evening sitting on deck watching the moon and stars come up. The moon looks almost full which makes for higher tides. Amazing how everything in life works together in a massive system. For every action there’s a reaction. Thoughts of the vastness of the universe, the enormity of life and my place in it faded to the sound of Bob Marley on the radio as I drifted into a deep slumber…

Next morning the sun came up revealing a peaceful morning with light winds.  I sat on the deck and enjoyed the start of the day while sipping a coffee.  Life’s good…

It was another hot day and I braved the heat and rowed across the harbour to the Marina to stock up on ice. Between the heat of the day and the drinks in the evenings my ice rations were running low and although I wasn’t looking forward to rowing across the harbour in 32C heat, I was really not looking forward to having a warm beer this afternoon and a drink with no ice this evening. Funny where motivation comes from sometimes… 😉

I relaxed for most of the rest of the afternoon and enjoyed a beautiful sunset and a break from the heat as the sun went down.

The next day was another hot one without a cloud in sight. I went for a short hike midday and relaxed on the boat in the heat for the remainder of the day.

Finally on the 4th day it was time to head back to Victoria. I have a couple of condos to look at over the next few days and negotiate a job offer. The winds were decent which made for some good sailing on the way home.

I felt very lucky to be spending the day on the water which helped cool things down a bit. It was still very warm and I enjoyed a long, relaxing day sailing.

I arrived back at home port around 15:30, cleaned up and headed back in to Victoria. Doesn’t get much better than this…