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.