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

LouLou

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







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

Thank you Laura

Mommy

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