Well, its still a little early yet but with the Seattle Boat Show coming in a couple of weeks and turning our thoughts to all things boating, we have started a preliminary list of where we will head to this summer.
Since we crossed Desolation Sound off our list this last summer (report to come soon), we will probably spend more time in local waters while still adding some new locations to our (hopeful) must do's.
In no particular order here is a list of where we hope to visit:
Victoria Harbour - So much to see and do all within walking distance of the harbour, the Royal BC Museum, Parliament Buildings, The Empress Hotel (must go for high tea), and lots of shops
Vancouver - Granville Island or Coal Harbour - we'll be tourists in our own town.
Smuggler's Cove - the prettiest cove, extremely protected, great swimming, we will take a few books and settle in.
Bowen Island - we haven't been here in years, a great pub we heard, a few stores and walking trails
Poets Cove - Pender Island - my favorite marina in the Gulf Islands
Roche Harbor - a great destination in the San Juan Islands, great restaurant and pub, good little gourmet grocery store, the biggest yachts, walks to the sculpture garden, sunset here is an occasion.
Garrison Bay San Juan Island - a historic site to see and good crabbing apparently, will combine with Roche
Sucia Island (of course) - gets pretty busy now but still the best of the best
La Conner, Washington - such a cute little town on the river, lots of stores and restaurants to check out, we hope to make it here this year by boat
Cabbage and Tumbo Islands- very unique, good crabbing, nice little sandy beach, interesting tidal walk, tie up to a mooring ball between the two islands and look out over the Salish Sea.
Wallace Island - love the peacefulness of Conover Cove
Denman and Hornby Islands ( we anchored for lunch but never went ashore so we would love to go for a weekend and explore)
Ganges harbour Saltspring Island (of course) - Artistry is in the air on Saltspring, love the Saturday market, enjoy walking through Mowatt's hardware store, sitting watching the seaplanes land in the busy harbour.
Steveston fishing village - we would like to visit by water with friends/family for lunch (fish and chips for sure)
Sidney Spit Island - a great spot to relax, wonderful beach, good crabbing too
Montague Harbour, Galiano Island - Great walks, pretty scenery, dinghy to the marina for ice cream, and hope the bakery barge will be there.
These are just some of the beautiful and interesting destinations along our coast! Right now there is snow on the ground and more in the forecast, but Spring will come eventually and all these places await.
Kalena
Monday, January 9, 2012
Sunday, January 1, 2012
Happy New Year 2012
Wishing everyone a happy, healthy year on the water.
My New Year's resolution for this year is to help more, help the world in whatever ways I can.
In this politically divided world maybe this is the year when more of us will realize that we are all in this together, it is our only world!
And in that spirit, I am passing on this story of helping....
Tom Satre told the Sitka Gazette that he was out with a charter group on his 62-foot fishing vessel
when four juvenile black-tailed deer swam directly toward his boat.
"Once the deer reached the boat, the four began to circle the boat, looking directly at us. We could tell right away that the young bucks were distressed.
I opened up my back gate and we helped the typically skittish and absolutely wild animals onto the boat.
In all my years fishing, I've never seen anything quite like it!
Once onboard, they collapsed with exhaustion, shivering."
"This is a picture I took of the rescued bucks on the back of my boat, The Alaska Quest.
We headed for Taku Harbour . Once we reached the dock, the first buck that we had pulled from the water hopped onto the dock, looked back as if to say 'thank you' and disappeared into the forest."
I am sure these deer knew that they had been helped.
Thank you Dave (Invicta) who emailed me this lovely story.
And Thank You to all the helpers of this world, there are many in all walks of life, an especially Happy New Year to you!
Kalena
Tuesday, December 27, 2011
Windlass or Windless
A word on the windlass. Treazure never had a windlass, Karma does.
Treazure had a shallow draft of 3 feet, we were able to anchor in fairly shallow waters, bearing in mind the tidal changes. We could usually snug in fairly close to shore and drop anchor, though we have anchored fairly deeply too. John would stand on the bow and hand over hand drop the anchor into the water. On a muddy bottom it could take a few attempts, and was tiring to pull it up again and again. Messy too. This could prove frustrating at times, especially in a crowded cove.
But ... when it bit you could feel it. There were many times John would call over his should to me at the helm as I was backing up, "She's got it" and he was right. The anchor had bit and Treazure never moved an inch, except to swing with the tides.
So on some occasions you might not be exactly where you wanted to be but you really did 'feel' that the boat wasn't going anywhere.
With Karma's electric windlass we realized pretty quickly that we could be quite fussy about where we anchored, after all John wasn't having to pull it up time after time. You just pushed a button.
At Rebecca Spit for instance, it wasn't crowded, there was good spacing between boats and we decided to haul anchor a couple of times and move a few feet over, and then over a bit more to get a better sunset view through a spacing in the trees, over the spit and out into the Sound. A push of the button, it felt so easy.
We were not too far from the beach but in 80 feet of water, without the windlass we would have stayed where we put down the first time. That would have been a heck of alot of chain to bring up by hand.
But on the other hand, with an electric windlass you don't often get the 'feel' of the bite. We tend to sit a little longer and watch our markers on the shore to make sure we are holding firm before heading ashore.
So while you don't necessarily need an electric windlass, you do need someone on board with a strong back. And after four years without one, a windlass feels like a very nice luxury to have.
Kalena
Thank you Johnny for your big heart and strong back!!
Treazure had a shallow draft of 3 feet, we were able to anchor in fairly shallow waters, bearing in mind the tidal changes. We could usually snug in fairly close to shore and drop anchor, though we have anchored fairly deeply too. John would stand on the bow and hand over hand drop the anchor into the water. On a muddy bottom it could take a few attempts, and was tiring to pull it up again and again. Messy too. This could prove frustrating at times, especially in a crowded cove.
But ... when it bit you could feel it. There were many times John would call over his should to me at the helm as I was backing up, "She's got it" and he was right. The anchor had bit and Treazure never moved an inch, except to swing with the tides.
So on some occasions you might not be exactly where you wanted to be but you really did 'feel' that the boat wasn't going anywhere.
With Karma's electric windlass we realized pretty quickly that we could be quite fussy about where we anchored, after all John wasn't having to pull it up time after time. You just pushed a button.
At Rebecca Spit for instance, it wasn't crowded, there was good spacing between boats and we decided to haul anchor a couple of times and move a few feet over, and then over a bit more to get a better sunset view through a spacing in the trees, over the spit and out into the Sound. A push of the button, it felt so easy.
We were not too far from the beach but in 80 feet of water, without the windlass we would have stayed where we put down the first time. That would have been a heck of alot of chain to bring up by hand.
But on the other hand, with an electric windlass you don't often get the 'feel' of the bite. We tend to sit a little longer and watch our markers on the shore to make sure we are holding firm before heading ashore.
So while you don't necessarily need an electric windlass, you do need someone on board with a strong back. And after four years without one, a windlass feels like a very nice luxury to have.
Kalena
Thank you Johnny for your big heart and strong back!!
Monday, November 21, 2011
Birch Bay
Hello,
I hope you all didn't think I went away. I'm sorry for the lapse in posts, life got busy in other areas for awhile. But I have lots to write about and hope you'll check back soon.
These photo were taken a couple of weeks ago when we joined good friends Mark and Maureen down at their cabin in Birch Bay. Lots of fun and laughter as always.
Crossing time was about half an hour on a perfectly calm day.
Cool weather but not freezing. Thank goodness for heat onboard, which we finally figured out how to work.
Had a great weekend M&M, thanks for your hospitality, great lasagna, and thanks for the photos Mark.
Thanks Andy for letting us buy gas (so much cheaper) at the marina.
Here's to Roche Harbor next summer!
Kalena
I hope you all didn't think I went away. I'm sorry for the lapse in posts, life got busy in other areas for awhile. But I have lots to write about and hope you'll check back soon.
These photo were taken a couple of weeks ago when we joined good friends Mark and Maureen down at their cabin in Birch Bay. Lots of fun and laughter as always.
Crossing time was about half an hour on a perfectly calm day.
Cool weather but not freezing. Thank goodness for heat onboard, which we finally figured out how to work.
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| Coming into Birch Bay Marina |
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| John and Maureen and appetizers |
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| Filling up with gas |
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| Heading home |
Had a great weekend M&M, thanks for your hospitality, great lasagna, and thanks for the photos Mark.
Thanks Andy for letting us buy gas (so much cheaper) at the marina.
Here's to Roche Harbor next summer!
Kalena
Wednesday, August 10, 2011
A New Boat...
Is there one out there for us we wondered...
We had gone back and forth on what kind of boat to buy next, a cabin cruiser style vs a bigger version of Treazure. Speed vs room. A big decision, when a storm is on its way it is nice to have the power to get out of there fast, I well remember outrunning lightning strikes on the ocean coming back from Pender and Saturna one stormy day and being thankful for Treazure's speed.
But more storage, bigger galley, and more seating were crucial elements to the new boat too.
We had seen one in the early part of spring down in Portland that just might fit both requirements.
A Bayliner 325 or 340 model - same boat design just different years. We found one for sale in Seattle, fairly new, and great price. I started packing for the weekend. A day later we found it had a pretty solid offer on it (just as we were delivering Treazure to Saltspring to the new owner) and it did sell.
But there were a couple of others around that were available including the one we had seen in Portland.
So away we went to Oregon. We fell in love with this boat once again, took it out for a run on the Columbia River (more about this interesting boating community later) and we were hooked. We made an offer and it was accepted! Hooray!
So let me tell you about Karma is 35ft overall with a 12.5 ft beam, in mint condition with only 35 hours on her at that point. We were thrilled. Plus it has a generator. She is blue and white like Treazure with loads of seating and headroom. We were in love.
We had Karma hauled out of the river (fresh water was a big plus too) and she checked out fine. Jerry the salesperson at Hayden Island yachts was such a help! A great big thank you Jerry, you are such a professional!
We had the boat transported by truck to Blaine Washinton, they were very professional and careful and were waiting for us at Blaine Marina at 7am on Friday morning. Now this is only five days after we had seen her on the Sunday. Can you believe it. Our new boat has been water tested, hauled out, checked out, delivered, and is in our water in five days. Boy were we feeling lucky!
We spent the Saturday and Sunday in Blaine cleaning and moving our stuff aboard and it began to feel like she was really ours.
Large V Berth, galley to right.
Stairs to top deck, the door leads to a spacious aft cabin, wrap around seating, the head is to left, galley to left as well.
The Galley
John's dad came down for lunch and gave her a big thumbs up. He even had his new boating shoes on, how cute is that?
Sunday evening we took her across to Point Roberts Marina to her new home and a new slip for us. We had to leave M dock and are now on T dock, timing again worked well but we had been on a wait list for a while.
We are thrilled with our new boat, and very thankful for all the help and support we received along the way. We are really looking forward to taking friends and family out for jaunts and we have plans for a week away on her.
Feeling mighty fortunate,
Kalena
We had gone back and forth on what kind of boat to buy next, a cabin cruiser style vs a bigger version of Treazure. Speed vs room. A big decision, when a storm is on its way it is nice to have the power to get out of there fast, I well remember outrunning lightning strikes on the ocean coming back from Pender and Saturna one stormy day and being thankful for Treazure's speed.
But more storage, bigger galley, and more seating were crucial elements to the new boat too.
We had seen one in the early part of spring down in Portland that just might fit both requirements.
A Bayliner 325 or 340 model - same boat design just different years. We found one for sale in Seattle, fairly new, and great price. I started packing for the weekend. A day later we found it had a pretty solid offer on it (just as we were delivering Treazure to Saltspring to the new owner) and it did sell.
But there were a couple of others around that were available including the one we had seen in Portland.
So away we went to Oregon. We fell in love with this boat once again, took it out for a run on the Columbia River (more about this interesting boating community later) and we were hooked. We made an offer and it was accepted! Hooray!
So let me tell you about Karma is 35ft overall with a 12.5 ft beam, in mint condition with only 35 hours on her at that point. We were thrilled. Plus it has a generator. She is blue and white like Treazure with loads of seating and headroom. We were in love.
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| Karma at dock in the Columbia River |
We had Karma hauled out of the river (fresh water was a big plus too) and she checked out fine. Jerry the salesperson at Hayden Island yachts was such a help! A great big thank you Jerry, you are such a professional!
We had the boat transported by truck to Blaine Washinton, they were very professional and careful and were waiting for us at Blaine Marina at 7am on Friday morning. Now this is only five days after we had seen her on the Sunday. Can you believe it. Our new boat has been water tested, hauled out, checked out, delivered, and is in our water in five days. Boy were we feeling lucky!
 |
| Putting in at Blaine Harbor |
We spent the Saturday and Sunday in Blaine cleaning and moving our stuff aboard and it began to feel like she was really ours.
Large V Berth, galley to right.
Stairs to top deck, the door leads to a spacious aft cabin, wrap around seating, the head is to left, galley to left as well.
The Galley
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| John on the rear swim grid, we just love the beam on this boat |
John's dad came down for lunch and gave her a big thumbs up. He even had his new boating shoes on, how cute is that?
Sunday evening we took her across to Point Roberts Marina to her new home and a new slip for us. We had to leave M dock and are now on T dock, timing again worked well but we had been on a wait list for a while.
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| Karma in Point Roberts |
We are thrilled with our new boat, and very thankful for all the help and support we received along the way. We are really looking forward to taking friends and family out for jaunts and we have plans for a week away on her.
Feeling mighty fortunate,
Kalena
Sunday, July 24, 2011
we've sold treazure
Well, with mixed feelings and a heavy heart we're saying good bye to Treazure tomorrow.
She is going to the Island and we will miss her. Our first boat and a life changing experience, she gave us adventure, peace, freedom, pride, new friends, family togetherness. Of course she will always have a huge part of our hearts.
We knew we had outgrown her and needed a bigger boat!
And so now we are boatless, a very strange feeling. And the search begins for a new one. We are pretty sure about what we want and need in the new one,what we like and don't like. But I won't let you know about that just yet.
Some things that are on our wish list though are a generator, larger water holding capacity, a bigger galley, more seating and entertaining room.
So wish us good luck in our search! As we wish Paul and his family good luck and happy times aboard Treazure,
if you have half the fun that we did, you will be lucky indeed.
Treasured memories forever
She is going to the Island and we will miss her. Our first boat and a life changing experience, she gave us adventure, peace, freedom, pride, new friends, family togetherness. Of course she will always have a huge part of our hearts.
We knew we had outgrown her and needed a bigger boat!
And so now we are boatless, a very strange feeling. And the search begins for a new one. We are pretty sure about what we want and need in the new one,what we like and don't like. But I won't let you know about that just yet.
Some things that are on our wish list though are a generator, larger water holding capacity, a bigger galley, more seating and entertaining room.
So wish us good luck in our search! As we wish Paul and his family good luck and happy times aboard Treazure,
if you have half the fun that we did, you will be lucky indeed.
Treasured memories forever
Saturday, July 23, 2011
Too close of an Encounter
Wow...
This would be a little too close for comfort!
Photo courtesy of Orca Network, J34 July 19th near San Juan Island.
Again Wow.
This would be a little too close for comfort!
Photo courtesy of Orca Network, J34 July 19th near San Juan Island.
Again Wow.
Sunday, July 17, 2011
Soaking up the Sun
In a rare break in the clouds and rain of this dismal summer, LouLou takes the opportunity to soak up some sunshine.
Sunday, June 12, 2011
Sidney Spit Marine Park
Gorgeous Sidney Spit Marine Park.....
We first visited Sidney Spit two summers ago on a week long cruise that included Roche Harbor, Pender Island, Princess Margaret Island, Sidney, and Sidney Spit.
For lucky boaters from Saanich area and Victoria, it is a quick getaway. For mainlanders, a little bit farther but most definitely worth it. It is unique and interesting with varied terrain, good wildlife viewing, lots of mooring buoys, a dock for those who prefer it, and good holding in the fairly shallow large bay.
The town of Sidney is a quick trip (10 minutes for our boat) to replenish supplies and an interesting stop in itself, day or overnight moorage is available at several marinas, and plenty of shopping is a walk away.
Map of Sidney Island.....
The Park is composed of the Spit, a shallow saltwater lagoon, and 140 hectares of the north end of Sidney Island. There is a scheduled foot passenger ferry to the Spit from the town of Sidney on Vancouver Island. The Spit has thousands of metres of beach, great for swimming and beachcombing. The Park features 26 site campground, 21 mooring buoys, and docking facilities.
It is a popular spot with lots of daytrippers especially on weekends, but an 11 am arrival will usually garner you a mooring buoy. If not, the holding is good and we anchored our first night with no problem. The bay can be exposed to easterlies making it a bit bumpy in those conditions, plus the ferry and comings and going of lots of boats can add to it. But over our three days there it was for the most part pretty calm with gloriously sunny weather and flat water. Absolutely perfect.
We had to leave after our third night as water and power onboard were getting low and so we headed to the docks and luxury of Poet's Cove on Pender Island. But not without some wistful backward glances.
For lucky boaters from Saanich area and Victoria, it is a quick getaway. For mainlanders, a little bit farther but most definitely worth it. It is unique and interesting with varied terrain, good wildlife viewing, lots of mooring buoys, a dock for those who prefer it, and good holding in the fairly shallow large bay.
The town of Sidney is a quick trip (10 minutes for our boat) to replenish supplies and an interesting stop in itself, day or overnight moorage is available at several marinas, and plenty of shopping is a walk away.
Map of Sidney Island.....
The Northern tip of the island is the Sidney Spit (in this photo the sliver of sand pointing to the other islands) and is part of the Gulf Islands National Parks Preserve.
The Park is composed of the Spit, a shallow saltwater lagoon, and 140 hectares of the north end of Sidney Island. There is a scheduled foot passenger ferry to the Spit from the town of Sidney on Vancouver Island. The Spit has thousands of metres of beach, great for swimming and beachcombing. The Park features 26 site campground, 21 mooring buoys, and docking facilities.
It is a popular spot with lots of daytrippers especially on weekends, but an 11 am arrival will usually garner you a mooring buoy. If not, the holding is good and we anchored our first night with no problem. The bay can be exposed to easterlies making it a bit bumpy in those conditions, plus the ferry and comings and going of lots of boats can add to it. But over our three days there it was for the most part pretty calm with gloriously sunny weather and flat water. Absolutely perfect.
We had to leave after our third night as water and power onboard were getting low and so we headed to the docks and luxury of Poet's Cove on Pender Island. But not without some wistful backward glances.
Beaching it on Sidney Spit
View out to Sidney Spit.....
If you are anchored in the bay it is easy to run your dinghy over to the spit. Tie up your tender and enjoy the soft sand, search for shells, admire the driftwood works of art, walk as far as you like, picnic, and swim.
All to ourselves
Our dinghy anchored into the beach and all the boats in bay.
A hot day on the beach for Daisy and LouLou so we had to make a canopy out of drift wood for them.
Happy in the shade with a bowl of water and dog cookies
It truly is a spit of sand, it can be walked from end to end in about half an hour.
You will never be cut off but you may have to take off your shoes when the tide is high.
A truly wonderful destination!
If you are anchored in the bay it is easy to run your dinghy over to the spit. Tie up your tender and enjoy the soft sand, search for shells, admire the driftwood works of art, walk as far as you like, picnic, and swim.
( all photos can be enlarged twice by clicking on them and clicking again)
All to ourselves
Our dinghy anchored into the beach and all the boats in bay.
A hot day on the beach for Daisy and LouLou so we had to make a canopy out of drift wood for them.
Happy in the shade with a bowl of water and dog cookies
Our picnic site with view of boats in behind
It truly is a spit of sand, it can be walked from end to end in about half an hour.
You will never be cut off but you may have to take off your shoes when the tide is high.
A truly wonderful destination!
Crabbing at Sidney
On our second day we decided to do some crabbing and boy did we luck out....
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| John showing off a prize specimen |
We had stocked up on some fresh ingredients in Sidney and decided to have a seafood feast.
Two kinds of crab, lemon, butter, white wine, and Old Bay Seasoning
Double wrapped in foil and onto the Bbq for 15 minutes
A royal feast perfectly cooked
Saturday, June 11, 2011
Walking Sidney
Sidney Island is made for walking, there are trails galore, and with something interesting around each bend.
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| From trailhead, looking south to Sidney, Treazure is just above the branch |
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| Bricks |
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| Brick stewn beach |
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| Trail heading North to the other side of the island |
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| Look closely , there is a deer hiding in the shade of the woods. |
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| More Deer |
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| Stairs to the beach northwest side of Sidney Island |
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| Heading down |
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| The very beautiful beach at the bottom |
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| Half a mile will bring you back to the Spit and protected bay. |
Most of the trails are easy and actually wheelchair accessible. It is beautiful walking among varied terrain, open grassland, lush forest, beaches... incredibly special!
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