Photos:
1. They filmed a comercial right next to us for the Tall Ships Festival. Johnny Depp was there (or at least it looked like him)
2. Fireworks from the cockpit of the boat.
3. and 4. Lovely Coast Line
5. Logging
6. Dodds Narrows Pass
Departing Victoria to Nanaimo, British Colombia
The festivities continued including the procession of live bands all day long. Our groceries were delivered to the front door of the boat – which was a long way from the truck access and included two sets of stairs.
We put the refrigerator/freezer items away and dashed out toward West Marine. Apparently any time we are within reach of a West Marine we must stop there and hold open our wallet and purse until they are satisfied.
We needed a light bulb for the navigation lights. We took a taxi there, found the bulb and took the city bus back.
We typically like to utilize public transport when possible. It adds to the adventure because we never know where we will end up. We got off at a stop in the middle of the city and just enjoyed the excitement as we meandered our way back through the piles of people to the place with the live band, street vendors and street entertainers. We stopped to watch the guy juggling a chainsaw while riding a unicycle (fun like that is priceless), stopped to watch the band (which is on a platform just in front of the Parliament Building), and browsed the merchandise along the open markets. There were several booths featuring the native northern American tribal artisans. I like their work but just could not find a compelling item to purchase.
Once back at the marina, there were more boats and double rafting (boats tied to other boats) had begun - as they had run out of space. A medium sized cruise ship had arrived and tied up across the way and the big clipper ship left.
True to our typical 4th of July form, we had trouble staying up for the fireworks. So, we went to bed and set an alarm for 11pm. It is still light here until after 10pm so the fireworks would have to wait until late.
The alarm went off and we got up and were surprised to find our dock jammed with people. Right there - next to us - just outside our boat - the three foot wide dock was packed with people who were staged to see the firework show – and to stare into our portholes which were at eye level for them.
The band was so loud, I was surprised that we could sleep through it and wondered about the hearing of the people who were up the hill next to the speakers - future patients for MayJean’s deaf practice.
Jim waited a few minutes but went back to bed when the show did not start promptly. His comment, “Once you’ve seen one fireworks show – you’ve seen them all, Ohhhhh, Ahhhh, Ohhhh, Ahhhh Good Night”
A few minutes later, the show started and the band played and the crowd cheered, Ohhhhh, Ahhhhhh. It was really pretty neat with the music, the crowds and our front row seat.
GOOFY Boat Name of the day: “Kiss My Aft” ties with “Happy Hooker”
Wednesday July 2, 2008
We tried to slip out quietly as the entire town was up late last night. We had a great time in Victoria. What a very nice gift to arrive just in time for their party.
We are now motoring along at less than 2 knots in “thick as pea soup” fog on our way north. These tides are really something to understand – we are not there yet. A couple of days ago, the tide was in our favor with our speed at 12.5 knots.
When you are in such dense fog, the rules require boats to toot their horn with a single blast every two minutes. We flipped the switch on the panel to power the horn, braced ourselves for the aural assault and hit the horn and it went, “ERMmmmmm pfsssh” Totally embarrassing. Not much more than the pathetic sound of passing of gas. Rule 8 of boating: When one system has been fixed another equal and opposite system must stop working. Fixing the navigation light caused this failure. Add another item to the list of things to do. We dug out our canned air horn and ships bell. It’s hard to feel smug about our back up systems after that embarrassing horn – we hope the fog remains dense and no one sees us.
There are several narrows along the way north where one CANNOT attempt passage at ebb tide due to the speed of the tides coming out. These can over power the boat speed and spin the boat around and into the rocks.
The fog lifted around 10am and we are resisting eating a “second breakfast” which as become all too routine. We have replaced this second breakfast with a Tea and Biscuit break in honor of the Queen.
We are weaving through the San Juan Islands. It is lovely. The BC mainland shore lines are dotted with summer cottages and docks. The USA island side is far less populated.
Music from the 80’s is entertaining us. There are a variety of boats here. Big Boats, Little Boats, Fishing Boats, Cruise Ships, Sail Boats, Tug Boats, Power Boats. The radio chatter has picked up. Some poor sail boat is on the rocks and requesting assistance.
The day just got better and better. Jim found that the tide tables are on the GPS system chip. Once uploaded they all make good sense and will be very useful. The continued to pick up speed and averaged over 7.0 konts all day. It warmed up although it stayed kind of hazy. Jim took a nap, Lara worked on the blog and we read everything we could about the conditions of our upcoming passages.
Dodds Narrow – from the Waggoners Guide: “ At Dodds Narrow currents reach 8 to 10 knots (Our boat goes about 6.5 knots – so we would be going backwards). Tide rips occur at the northwestern entrance on the floor. Passage within one half hour of slack is advised”
This was the worst of the passages for the narrows (for today). It is interesting to see the boats lining up for passage during that small window of opportunity. We are one of them. Boats go both ways and announce their intentions over the radio with the following, “Securite, Securite. This is the 55’ foot motor vessel entering Dodd Narrows northbound. Any concerned vessels please advise”.
After the passage we ran into the logging industry. They use tug boats to push and pull large “rafts” of logs down the water ways. See photos.
We got tucked into our slip in Nanaimo. Our dock is full of beautiful large private boats.
There is a float plane airport and terminal here. It’s funny to see all of float planes lined up in their “slips”. Just watching them take off is great fun. It looks like they are playing “chicken” with the incoming boats.
The internet was poor so we put our computers in our packs and headed to the local “pub” for beer and internet time. Jim is working this week so he MUST connect and get some work done.
HOWEVER, it was Texas Hold ‘Em night as the Lighthouse Bistro and Pub – SO we took it as sign that we must play.
GOOFY Boat Name of the day: “Knotty Moments”
The festivities continued including the procession of live bands all day long. Our groceries were delivered to the front door of the boat – which was a long way from the truck access and included two sets of stairs.
We put the refrigerator/freezer items away and dashed out toward West Marine. Apparently any time we are within reach of a West Marine we must stop there and hold open our wallet and purse until they are satisfied.
We needed a light bulb for the navigation lights. We took a taxi there, found the bulb and took the city bus back.
We typically like to utilize public transport when possible. It adds to the adventure because we never know where we will end up. We got off at a stop in the middle of the city and just enjoyed the excitement as we meandered our way back through the piles of people to the place with the live band, street vendors and street entertainers. We stopped to watch the guy juggling a chainsaw while riding a unicycle (fun like that is priceless), stopped to watch the band (which is on a platform just in front of the Parliament Building), and browsed the merchandise along the open markets. There were several booths featuring the native northern American tribal artisans. I like their work but just could not find a compelling item to purchase.
Once back at the marina, there were more boats and double rafting (boats tied to other boats) had begun - as they had run out of space. A medium sized cruise ship had arrived and tied up across the way and the big clipper ship left.
True to our typical 4th of July form, we had trouble staying up for the fireworks. So, we went to bed and set an alarm for 11pm. It is still light here until after 10pm so the fireworks would have to wait until late.
The alarm went off and we got up and were surprised to find our dock jammed with people. Right there - next to us - just outside our boat - the three foot wide dock was packed with people who were staged to see the firework show – and to stare into our portholes which were at eye level for them.
The band was so loud, I was surprised that we could sleep through it and wondered about the hearing of the people who were up the hill next to the speakers - future patients for MayJean’s deaf practice.
Jim waited a few minutes but went back to bed when the show did not start promptly. His comment, “Once you’ve seen one fireworks show – you’ve seen them all, Ohhhhh, Ahhhh, Ohhhh, Ahhhh Good Night”
A few minutes later, the show started and the band played and the crowd cheered, Ohhhhh, Ahhhhhh. It was really pretty neat with the music, the crowds and our front row seat.
GOOFY Boat Name of the day: “Kiss My Aft” ties with “Happy Hooker”
Wednesday July 2, 2008
We tried to slip out quietly as the entire town was up late last night. We had a great time in Victoria. What a very nice gift to arrive just in time for their party.
We are now motoring along at less than 2 knots in “thick as pea soup” fog on our way north. These tides are really something to understand – we are not there yet. A couple of days ago, the tide was in our favor with our speed at 12.5 knots.
When you are in such dense fog, the rules require boats to toot their horn with a single blast every two minutes. We flipped the switch on the panel to power the horn, braced ourselves for the aural assault and hit the horn and it went, “ERMmmmmm pfsssh” Totally embarrassing. Not much more than the pathetic sound of passing of gas. Rule 8 of boating: When one system has been fixed another equal and opposite system must stop working. Fixing the navigation light caused this failure. Add another item to the list of things to do. We dug out our canned air horn and ships bell. It’s hard to feel smug about our back up systems after that embarrassing horn – we hope the fog remains dense and no one sees us.
There are several narrows along the way north where one CANNOT attempt passage at ebb tide due to the speed of the tides coming out. These can over power the boat speed and spin the boat around and into the rocks.
The fog lifted around 10am and we are resisting eating a “second breakfast” which as become all too routine. We have replaced this second breakfast with a Tea and Biscuit break in honor of the Queen.
We are weaving through the San Juan Islands. It is lovely. The BC mainland shore lines are dotted with summer cottages and docks. The USA island side is far less populated.
Music from the 80’s is entertaining us. There are a variety of boats here. Big Boats, Little Boats, Fishing Boats, Cruise Ships, Sail Boats, Tug Boats, Power Boats. The radio chatter has picked up. Some poor sail boat is on the rocks and requesting assistance.
The day just got better and better. Jim found that the tide tables are on the GPS system chip. Once uploaded they all make good sense and will be very useful. The continued to pick up speed and averaged over 7.0 konts all day. It warmed up although it stayed kind of hazy. Jim took a nap, Lara worked on the blog and we read everything we could about the conditions of our upcoming passages.
Dodds Narrow – from the Waggoners Guide: “ At Dodds Narrow currents reach 8 to 10 knots (Our boat goes about 6.5 knots – so we would be going backwards). Tide rips occur at the northwestern entrance on the floor. Passage within one half hour of slack is advised”
This was the worst of the passages for the narrows (for today). It is interesting to see the boats lining up for passage during that small window of opportunity. We are one of them. Boats go both ways and announce their intentions over the radio with the following, “Securite, Securite. This is the 55’ foot motor vessel entering Dodd Narrows northbound. Any concerned vessels please advise”.
After the passage we ran into the logging industry. They use tug boats to push and pull large “rafts” of logs down the water ways. See photos.
We got tucked into our slip in Nanaimo. Our dock is full of beautiful large private boats.
There is a float plane airport and terminal here. It’s funny to see all of float planes lined up in their “slips”. Just watching them take off is great fun. It looks like they are playing “chicken” with the incoming boats.
The internet was poor so we put our computers in our packs and headed to the local “pub” for beer and internet time. Jim is working this week so he MUST connect and get some work done.
HOWEVER, it was Texas Hold ‘Em night as the Lighthouse Bistro and Pub – SO we took it as sign that we must play.
GOOFY Boat Name of the day: “Knotty Moments”
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