Bringing Agricultural Products Into the U.S

Please click to enlarge...

I thought I would pass this along as it gives the latest requirement for bringing food products from Canada. This is important to be aware of especially for Nexus Card holders.

Its seems Canadian in season fruits and vegetables are OK to bring across the border.

Hooray as I am just freezing BC Strawberries and peas for summer!

No citrus, onions, garlic, or potatoes though, and watch out for pet food which must be in it's own marked container.

Kalena

Sucia Weekend

Well some of us made it...

And some of us didn't!

We all arrived Friday morning with great intentions but between conflicting weather reports, a maiden voyage for one of our group, and a bad knee, we decided to spend the night on the dock. I had bought champagne to Christen George and Lorna's new Bayliner Playtime, so we spent the evening there eating and drinking merrily and hoping for better weather in the AM. (The weather from several sources showed everything from light winds to gale force- all very confusing, we will have to determine the most reliable source for marine forecasts.) George and Lorna did not want to head out on a maiden run in less than good conditions and rightly so, it is a big boat with lots of equipment. Dan and Sharon didn't trust the weather and headed back to land, Dave and Barb wanted to go but Dave's knee was killing him and wouldn't take kindly to alot of bouncing around out there (we know it must have been bad to keep Dave off the water).

Dinner on board

In the end two boats left on Saturday morning,
Playtime and Treazure!

We arrived midmorning at Sucia, lucked out with mooring buoys in Shallow Bay, and headed straight for the beach. Extremely low tides gave us a long sweep of soft sand, perfect for three dogs to run and play like crazy. Zack their year old Lab actually went swimming for the first time, and well you know Labs, it was hard to get him out of the water after that.

Doggy playtime

LouLou was having so much fun she was actually airborne.

A few hours on the beach, naps on the boat, and over to Playtime for massive amounts of Greek food, George your homemade Tzaziki is amazing, just the best! A beautiful violet sunset from the back of the boat with absolutely calm waters and a huge cruise ship heading north twinkling with lights ended a lovely day.

Playtime in Shallow Bay

We woke to gusty winds and a heavy downpour, which always makes taking the dogs to shore a great experince. Afterwards, we passed the time making french toast and bacon and sausages for breakfast and the storm passed about 10:30. The sun came out and we decided to head for shore and explore the trail to South Shallow bay. This trail was a little steeper than we thought and most of it goes along the steep cliff but it was lovely with wonderful views out over the sound and lots of arbutus trees. Accompanied by the jubilant choir of many song birds now happy the sun was out, it was just beautiful!!

We decided to head back to Point Roberts and see how everyone was. With light winds and a one foot swell, we made good time.

George and Lorna had lots of help docking and were overall happy with Playtime's voyage. One interesting note... as they were heading over to Sucia they saw a black object accompanied by two boats. Behind the black object was something white that at first they couldn't make out. Turns out it was a mostly submerged submarine accompanied by two US Coast Guard Cutters. The white thing was a huge wall of water from the sub's engines. They tried to get as far away as possible but reported it was not a happy experience to receive the force of that wave, they expected the propellers to come right out of the water. Scary.

We spent a couple of happy hours on M dock with our reunited group and then we all packed up and headed home. And I mean happy hours as in fun not the other kind.

Next destination, well we have plans....

Kalena

Sucia Bound

We will be part of a small flotilla bound for Sucia Island this weekend
from Pt. Roberts Marina. We're not sure where we will anchor, some of us want dockspace and some of us want to try a mooring ball. We will try first for Fossil Bay and the only dock on the island. We may try Echo Bay and try the line dock. Saturday is Greek food night which should be very tasty. Yum!
We are leaving out Friday morning, here's hoping for sunny weather and light winds.

Kalena

Info appreciated...

A few destinations that we are hoping to reach this summer...

Desolation Sound - this is a big one for us as we didn't make it there last summer. I am fine tuning our itinerary and if you have any tips or favorite spots I would love to hear about them. Is August really fogust? Also how much stern line is recommended? (We have 300ft and found that to be tight at Conover Cove though it is quite shallow so didn't want to get too close to shore.)

Princess Louisa Inlet and Pender Harbour - Again info would be appreciated.

Victoria Harbour - We would like to see the Royal BC Museum's exhibit Treasures from the British Museum. Opinions on best marina, moorage facilities would be very helpful!

Thank you,

Kalena

LouLou

I just love this photo of LouLou .....







My talented daughter Laura gets the credit for this beautiful photo..

Thank you Laura

Mommy

Clean That Dinghy

After some early Spring forays, our dinghy definitely needed a good clean!

What a mess!

Numerous beachings with dogs in and out took their toll.

But what to use to get it clean?

It had a a nasty sticky residue on one side, could this be the work of resident herons?

Actually just the result of weeping of the poly/rubber glue from the manufacture we found out.

This is what we used..

And this was the result...

Amazing!! Lots of elbow grease later.... Beautiful !

Little Treazure looked like new.

Good job John!

Kalena

Dock News Point Roberts Marina

M Dock...





A few things going on at the marina...



Happy to report that George and Lorna have their new boat a great big beautiful 388 Bayliner. We enjoyed our tour, so much space to fill Lorna! George was joking about putting in a before and after waterline mark, before loading all the gear and after.
They are now on P Dock, same side of marina and not too far away, short walk or dinghy ride.

Lorna is just back from a one week onboard sailing course, she said she learned so much. I will pass info on a little later..



Dave and Barb are back from a European Cruise, tanned and relaxed, and ready for this summer's boating season on Invictus. Barb would make such a great Chihua mom, I'm working on her ;)



Leanne's Dad is here from Annapolis, helping with a few projects. He is very nice man, the head of a family with a nautical pedigree to be proud of. Leanne has her sailboat on M Dock, and runs the gas dock at the marina. We hope she can get some time off this summer to get out on the water with us.



Gunther came in with another big salmon caught off of Gabriola Island, Silva Bay. He was in a tournament and lost first place by 2 1/2 lbs. $1500 first place finish - ouch! Nice fish though, 23lbs caught at 100 ft.

The weather was great this weekend, not nearly as hot as earlier in the week. We finished a number of small projects and feel ready for the summer. As much as any boater can...

Kalena

Galiano Bald Eagle

Montague Harbour, Galiano Island

This Bald Eagle was enjoying getting his feet wet while digesting a fish.

Unusual to see him on the water and not

in a tree.

I kept LouLou on a very short leash that afternoon!


Kalena

Coming up Daisy's

In a field behind Monague Harbour, Galiano Island last weekend.

I just had to take these shots of Daisy our Australian Shepherd.

I should have made her a Daisy chain..

Kalena

Salt Spring Island Market

Truly one of the best things to do on a sunny Saturday is to head over to Salt Spring Island and walk thru the market...

It is open every Saturday rain or shine from 8am to 4pm in Centennial Park, a short walk up from the docks at Ganges town centre. You cannot miss it, there are usually lots of people strolling around.








There are over 140 vendors who must

"make it, bake it, or grow it" !

Creative Islanders show off their wonderful wares... including pottery, jewellry, flowers, fruit and vegetables, crafts of many kinds, and food products.

We especially love Moonstruck Organic Cheeses, a handmade product from their small herd of Jersey Cows. You can sample all their cheeses and choose as many as you like.

Our favorite is Savory Moon, it always tastes even better on board at sunset with a glass of Cabernet!






We try to stock up on a couple of jars of spice mixtures from Monsoon Coast Exotic World Spices, just love their curry mixes. Monsoon Balti, Moghul Curry, and Arabian Baharat we can personally vouch for - delicious! They usually have a couple of pots simmering featuring their spices that you can taste.



A stop in all the little shops in Ganges, particularly Mouat's treasure trove of boating, fishing, and clothing goods, rounds out the day. There are lots of restaurants as well and if you need supplies, Thrifty's Market is excellent! They have everything you could need and will even deliver your groceries to the dock.


The market runs from April to the last Saturday in October, it is great fun and you can ferry over or dock at the two marinas, or anchor in the bay and dinghy in, the government dock is free during the day.




This is Daisy waiting impatiently for us to finish shopping.


Ganges is a dog friendly town, but dogs are not allowed in the market. One of us usually sits with Daisy in the park, spelling each other off every little while.








Kalena

Crabby Mushrooms

What to do if you have too much crab left over from crabbing season?

Make this great appetizer for four of course. Hope you enjoy my recipe for Crab Stuffed Mushrooms, our guests sure seem to ;)











Clean and wipe 20 large mushrooms, remove stems and hollow out the caps a little.



In a saucepan combine :


half a brick of cream cheese (125 grams)

6 oz fresh or frozen crab meat (Dungeness is the best if possible)

1 tsp of Old Bay seasoning

1/4 cup of green onions or shallots finely diced

1/4 tsp of horseradish (slightly more if you like)

squeeze of lemon juice

1/4 cup of grated parmesan cheese

salt and pepper to taste


heat over low heat and mix well, taking care not to thrash the crab meat up too much, aproximately 5 minutes.


place mushroom caps on an baking tray and fill completely with crab and cheese mixture.

bake in 425 degree oven for 10 minutes and put on broil for last few minutes.


Boaters can use their Seabque just as well, place on a tray on low for aprox 10 minutes with lid down. Check after 5 minutes.


Leftover crab mixture can be frozen for the next trip.



Enjoy,

Kalena

Active Pass

The entry into Active Pass




















Two Ferries entering and exiting





















This most beautiful pass,

of all entryways and exits thru the Gulf Islands and Vancouver Island is mythic. A million visitors pass this way every year on their way to Victoria and it is without doubt the best part of the ferry ride and definitely worth leaving the food court and venturing onto the deck to see. Beautiful island homes, multitudes of seals, and boat traffic, beautiful deserted beaches are only a part of it.

A beautiful deserted beach

Seals resting in the sun at western end of Active Pass Galiano Island side...

Click and enlarge

When I was younger (not that much) and coming out of Active Pass into Trincomali Channel looking northward, I sighed and wished with all my heart for a boat. To be able to go in almost any direction, West to Saltspring, Vancouver Island. North to Thetis, Gabriola, Gibsons, Pender Harbour, Desolation Sound, Charlottes, Alaska. South to the San Juans, Seattle, Oregon.

It all seems possible when I exit this magic spot at Mayne and Gabriola Islands.

When John was much younger the fishing in Active Pass was something else. Fast currents, slack and high tides made it tricky let alone dealing with the big boat and ferry activity. Nonetheless, fishermen persevered and were rewarded. Now, not as many fish boats can be seen and the BC Ferries definitely rule the waves in this beautiful passage.

We fished here on Friday, something we have wanted to do for a number of years. We were not rewarded with fish this time, but loved it again nonetheless.

A week ago we played hooky and had lunch at Montague Harbour Galiano Island, and we had the whole marine park to ourselves. We had forgotten our camera and so we knew we would see something spectacular and sure enough coming back thru Active Pass we saw two huge Steller Seals (Galiano side) and then amazingly two Orcas with a new baby between them. It was so young it was still jaundiced, with orange stripes on it's side instead of white. Mother and auntie kept the baby between them like a sandwich.

We reported this wonderful sighting to www.orcanetwork.org/ This is a great website incidentally, that follows and researches the three local whale groups: j,k,and l pods as well as transients and other whales as well. If you want to know where the whales are this is the site that knows, it is just excellent.



Kalena

A Sunny Sunday at the Marina

Well we made it ...

to the boat this weekend. There were lots of people doing chores and enjoying the sunshine at Point Roberts Marina. We chose the latter as it had been a hectic week. David and Kaye, Dan and Sharon, and Barb and Dave were there working hard on various projects. Dave and Barb's Invictus had just been put back in the water after some minor work and major scrubbing on the hard. She looks beautiful.

Sad news for our group at M Dock - George and Lorna sold Four Buoys! They are looking to purchase a larger boat and may have found what they are looking for on P Dock. Good luck guys, fingers crossed for you! We will miss them on M dock but at least they will be on the same side of the Marina and an easy dinghy ride away.

There are some 30ft moorage space available, for lower mainland boaters who may be interested please contact the office www. pointrobertsmarina.com
Great facilities and absolutely the closest away point to both the San Juans and Gulf Islands.

We had an enjoyable time talking with everyone, listening to everyone's destination plans for the summer and opinions on boat repairs and gadgets. I will take David's advice and buy a new completely stainless steel horn - ours now sounds like a sick sheep. They sure don't last very long and we definitely need a louder one.

Some new faces and boats on our dock that we will get to know. Gunther came in with a beautiful 10 lb salmon caught off the west side of Galiano. He had two more bites as well, depth was 70 ft.
Talk has started about an M Dock Rendezvous for early June. Dave and Barb will be back from Europe and hopefully George and Lorna will have their new boat by then.

I did do a little cabin work while I was there, if not planned, it did give me a small buzz of accomplishment. I was putting some washed dishes away and discovered a little water in the dish cupboard under the sink. Not good!! Turned out my too many dishes had bumped the drain pipe creating a little leak. We took everything out, tightened the pipe fitting, ran the water and presto no more leakage. I washed the cupboard out with bleach and re-washed all the plates, platters, and bowls. I ended up bringing home a couple of bowls that I had never used...

Always too much stuff! I still need to remind myself to keep it simple while on the boat, and isn't that the best part?



Kalena

Cherish Our Earth Day

Earth Day...


All things loose seem to drift down to the sea, and so did I.

Louis L'Amour

These photos are from the Sian Kaan Biosphere in Mexico, a World Heritage Site.... And it went on forever. I stood there and cried when I saw it.

I picked up trash today that wasn't mine.

Though weeds spring up in my garden and grass, I again vowed not to use pesticides. (14 years now).

Low sudsing eco friendly cleaning products, love them and use them.

Recycle, Recycle, Recycle. It hurts me when one little item that could be.. escapes.

We all need to do more.... I vow to

Kalena

Almost getting close to starting to get ready

Another Boating Season!

We've been down to the boat two weekends in a row, with such lovely weather it's hard to stay away.

Especially after such a long snowy winter.

It was great to see some of the people on the dock again.

We did have dinner at M dock mates George and Lorna's a few weeks ago, with Dave and Barb and Dan and Sharon. We had wonderful food and great conversation, catching up and Boating and travel mostly, with a little puppy talk too. Zack who was just a small pup last summer is now almost full grown but has lots of loose skin so I think he still has some growing to do. He is a beautiful golden lab with a sweet nature and lots of energy.

Thank you George and Lorna! Lots of fun!

Though we're not ready to go full tilt at starting the boating season, we have done a few things ...

I cleaned out the galley pantry, took everything out and washed and wiped out the shelves, tossed more than a few things, and made a list of what we need...

rice, pasta, crackers, canned corn, beans, and tomatoes, pasta sauce, canned pineapple, cherries, and mandarins, a few new spices, tea and coffee to start.

Just some basics for the Spring, the more exotic spreads and things like olives, pickles, and condiments I will buy next month for May trips.

-checked the medicine cabinet, just need a few things - bandaids and benedryl, fresh bug spray and sunscreen.

-brought home the Suzuki Dinghy outboard for an oil change and lube, John will change the zincs too.

-brought home the Seabbq. We will give it a thorough going over and polish.

-checked cleaning supplies - we will need more wax and boat soap, some new cleaning rags.

-the cabin has stayed nice and dry, thanks to the heaters and dehumidifyers. No mould thank goodness, but I will give everything a good wipeover with a mild bleach cleaner just to be sure.

Things that need to be done in the next month...

Clean our Walkerbay dingy. It needs a good scrub and a thorough going over to check for any damage.

Change the oil on Treazure, we will need to check the zincs as well, have to check about a haul out.

Definitely clean the canvas, a winter of heron and seagull poop Yuck. We will use sudsy ammonia. A big job and we will need a few days of nice weather to undertake this .

Clean the fenders, they are not that bad but we like everything Bristol

It's nice to be posting again. Lots of new places and old favorites to visit, please check back often.

Just writing about getting ready makes me anticipate the coming season, can't wait for the better weather.

Kalena