Desolation Sound with the Miller’s
From August 28 - September 9, Heather & Greg (sister & brother-in-law, yes, also named Greg!) joined us on their boat, Cougar Castaways! Here’s a picture of their boat, it’s a 1998 Riviera. It’s got a great layout, and has room for visitors!
All 4 members of their family graduated from WSU! Go Cougs!
Day 1: Reid Harbor on Stuart Island.
Day 2: Checked into Canada at Bedwell Harbour on South Pender Island. This was a very smooth process that took only 5 minutes! The next stop was in Ganges on Salt Spring Island for some grocery shopping and lunch. There is very good access to a grocery store, liquor store, restaurants, and shops. When we were done, we made our way to Montague Harbour on Galiano Island for the night. We had dinner onshore at The Crane and Robin Restaurant - we’ll definitely be back! Below is a picture of us at dinner and one of Lia at the dinghy dock.
Looks like Lia turned a bit & is trying to block the entrance!
Day 3: We were up early on August 30th so we could pass through Dodd Narrows. This is an area where we have to time it well to pass through during a slack tide (low current). Many boats aim to pass through here during this time and there was quite a bit of traffic. Below are a couple of pictures of the area, showing a log boom coming through and many boats going through at the same time we were. After we passed that hurdle, next was getting across the Strait of Georgia. Our path took us at an angle across the strait and was approximately 18 nautical miles (traveling at our normal 6 knots per hour meant a 3 hour crossing). Once we were out in the strait, it was a bit rolly, as you can see in the video below. But, we got to see a whale while we were crossing. We made our way into Pender Harbour on the Sechelt Peninsula and anchored in Gerrans Bay. Once settled, we dinghied to shore and made the steep hike up to the Grasshopper Pub (at the Pender Harbour Hotel). Below is a picture of the great view from our table. And, a picture of the beautiful sunset that night.
Day 4 & 5: On to Desolation Sound! We anchored in Prideaux Haven for 2 nights. Getting there was another long boating day (10 hours), so it was nice to stay for 2 nights and stay in one spot. We had a mix of calm conditions and a little lumpy water. As you can see in a picture below, it gets pretty deep in this area (we had 1,032 feet below our boat)! We saw another whale on the way - it’s always exciting to see them! Heather took a picture of us from behind when we were headed in to Desolation Sound. On September 1, we relaxed and did all the fun things we wanted to do - fishing, crabbing, paddle boarding, and kayaking. On one pull of the crab pot, we pulled up something that looked like a cross between a crab and a lobster. We sent the picture below to Brady (nephew, Heather & Greg’s son) to help identify it. He was also surprised to see such a creature! He informed us that it is a squat lobster and is closely related to hermit crabs. Cool! We had a great dinner on Aurelia’s flybridge. Then we got to have fun playing a game of Battleship mixed into a scratch ticket. So fun! :-)
see the depth in the bottom left corner
caught the whale tail!
That’s Aurelia!
Aurelia with Lia and Cougar Castaways with their dinghy
the squat lobster
some of us needed our reading glasses to play!
Day 6: On September 2 we left Prideaux Haven to and made the short trip to Roscoe Bay on West Redonda Island. From the anchorage there is a trail to Black Lake. After we were settled we made a trip to shore on the paddle boards and went for a dip in the lake. It was very nice to get a good rinse in fresh water! :-)
Day 7 & 8: We made our way into Von Donop Inlet on Cortes Island. It was another day of calm, sunny, warm weather. The more north we went though, there was more smoke in the air. It was definitely detectable, but not unbearable. We stopped at Refuge Cove to get rid of a bag of garbage and visit their store. We will NOT use their garbage barge again, it was $55 dollars for 1 large bag (he charged by weight)! We learned a few days later that we could go right across the water to Squirrel Cove and dump a large bag of garbage for $10. We spent some time fishing and collecting oysters for dinner as well as kayaking and paddle boarding. I caught a pretty big lingcod (similar to the one Greg M caught in the picture below), but it got off right at the boat! The last picture in this group shows our track while anchored in Von Donop Inlet - we barely moved!
Refuge Cove
Greg’s lingcod
Greg M foraging for oysters
Day 9 & 10: On September 5 we made our way to Eveleigh Anchorage. While on our way we saw a whale a little ways ahead of us so we took our boat out of gear and just floated. It ended up coming right up to our boat! Below is a picture of it about 10 feet from us. Greg was standing right by the railing and saw it turn sideways (like it was looking at him) and dove under our boat! It popped up close behind our boat and we got a short video. We explored via Lia the next day and saw orcas! In the early evening we went to Tenedos Bay and took a short hike to Unwin Lake.
seals
Day 11: We took our time making our way to Grace Harbour on the Gifford Peninsula of the mainland. Once there, we took Lia out for some exploring and fishing.
Aurelia and Cougar Castaways
Day 12: Our last full day with Heather & Greg. We saw a whale on the way back to Gerrans Bay in Pender Harbour on the Sechelt Peninsula. We had a bit of rain while we were underway, and, when it rains on a boat, you take advantage of that free fresh water & wash the boat! :-)
swim shorts, bare feet, and rain jacket!
Day 13: Heather & Greg left us on September 9th to start making their way back south. We had a fabulous time with them and are already looking forward to the next time.
