After another early start in Montague Harbor, we checked into the USA in Friday Harbor at 11 AM.

We did a quick bunch of laundry, some provisioning and headed back out to one of of favorite spots, Spencer Spit.

We will stay here a couple of days, doing some crabbing, as the season here opens tomorrow.

After that we will head around the island, to Fisherman's bay for a few days to meet up with Jeanne's Mom and Dad.

We should have some decent wi-fi there and can get some pictures posted

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We left Princess Bay on Wallace Island at 6:30 to be able to catch a little bit of the tide before it switches around and against us. The weather guessers were calling for NW winds, s we were headed to Port Browning, to spend the night before crossing back into the States.

Once we stuck our bow out of the bay, we were surprised with 10 knot winds right out of the south. We were not really in a hurry, as we had all day to go the 30 miles, so we set the sails and began tacking our way south. The wind slowly built to 18 knots and looked to get heavy soon, so we opted for plan "B" and pulled into Montague Harbor. Contrary to Port Browning, it is well protected from the strong south wind.

We are really in no big hurry to get south, and saw no need to keep bashing along in that sort of wind. We needed to send out some e-mails, and get some business done on the internet so Montague will do just fine. This is a huge anchorage, especially compared to what we have been used to, as I heard stories of over 100 boats anchored in here. Even with the protection of the harbor, we have 12-14 knots steady blowing thru here.

If the weather man is right, again just a guess, we will have light winds to sail south with, and really large tide to push us along. The plan "A" for tomorrow will have us in Friday Harbor at 11-12:00 o'clock, if we get another early start. Sometimes it is good to have a plan "B"

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Now that Jeanne and I are with out a full time income, we are pretty careful with our budgeting. In that same vein, we are careful to know what we are spending, and what some thing costs. Here in Canada, we have been in for some real surprises, as every thing is quite inflated, compared to prices back in the states.

If you have been following this blog for a while, you might remember our excitement about the music that was played on Sunday afternoons at the Garden Bay Pub, in Pender Harbor. It is an open mike/jam session, where anybody can play. It has turned into a huge success for the owner as the place is packed, and he gets entertainment for free.

The real reason for this little story, is all from a glass of ice tea. We were enjoying the music, and after several hours of great music, we decided to call it a day. We had been at the pub the night before for drinks and dinner, as well as the afternoon, the day before that. When we got our bill, it seemed a bit high. I am sure my mouth dropped open when I found the ice tea to be $4.50 a glass, at that again for each refill. Now we drink a lot of tea, and Jeanne makes a pot of sun tea every now and then, so I have a pretty good idea of what a hand full of tea bags cost. Accounting for all of the overhead he faces, with insurance labor and etc, I fully understand his wanting make a profit. But...almost $10.00 for two glasses of iced tea? The well drinks we had the night before were only $4.75. Instead of ice tea it appears we should have been drinking rum and coke.

I just could not let this set...I had to at least ask the owner if there was a mistake. We had spent over $200.00 in his establishment on this weekend alone, just did not feel that that his pricing was justified. Kevin from Andante was there with us, and I am pretty sure he was madder than I was. When the owner showed up at the table, you would have thought we had insulted his Mother. He was several levels of indigent. He informed us that we obviously did not understand business, and that no one had every complained about it his pricing.

There is no one to blame but ourselves, as it is our responsibility to know the pricing, and at $4.50 for the glass, with free refills, I would not have even blinked. If he had offered to give us a free refill, we might have sat there for a while longer and spent another $50.00. I guess we are just transient boaters, so why have good customer service...

Oh well, like they say, buyer beware!! Just don't drink tea at the Garden Bay Pub

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We left Pirates Cove early this morning, 6:30 AM and made the short run down to Wallace Island. It was flat calm, and very little wind.

We motored for a couple of hours and made some water, then set the sails, in a 3-4 knot breeze.

We are stern tied again, along with 21 other boats

We will leave tomorrow for Port Browning, getting ready to cross over to the states on Thursday morning. we will check in at Friday Harbor

Tom

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Eagle and her hearty band of pyrates hoisted the colors of Brethren of the Puget Sound, as we sailed into Pirates Cove on De Courcy Island in the Gulf Islands of British Columbia.

We are traveling south, with a stop at Wallace island scheduled for tomorrow.

We had a very easy crossing of the Straight of Georgia, and motored through Dodd Narrows with no problems. The traffic at Dodd was pretty incredible, with over 20 boats going thru ahead of us on their way north, and 12 boats going south. We also had three tugs with log booms being pulled thru right behinds us!

More tomorrow from Wallace Island

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Here's a savings plan for you!

Get yourself a stopwatch type timer and an empty jar. Take it into the bathroom with you, and prepare yourself for a shower. Set the jar aside for now. Just before you turn on the water- any water- start the timer. Take your normal shower, however long that is, then as you turn off the water, stop the timer. Let's say you spend an average of 8 or nine minutes. The soaping, shampooing, shaving, scrubbing, and letting the water run super hot on that aching back...... hey, it all adds up!
Now, let's turn that into a cruisers shower.

With a pay as you go shower, three minutes worth of 'water' is averaging about $1.00. Keep in mind that the timer starts from the moment the coin drops, hot water or cold. Now if you have to wait 40 seconds for the water to get hot...well, now, that doesn't leave you much time, does it? It's usually just long enough to get yourself wet, throw some shampoo in your hair and get your body fully soaped. Times up! Now what! Well, since you're in Canada the coin box doesn't take quarters, it takes the one dollar coin, or a "loonie", and you've just used your last one. It looks like it's going to be a cold water rinse.

That was the scenario when we cruised up the Gulf Islands several weeks ago. Tom and I had opted for one three minute shower apiece, because the selling point was 'they're really powerful'. Wouldn't that help to wash the stuff off quicker? Neither one of us thought to turn on the water in the sink to get the hot water at least to that point. Oh, and I don't think I mentioned this was back when it was still 40 degrees inside the shower rooms! That cold water rinse was really brisk! BRRRRRR!

So, here's The Shower Savings Plan. For every three minutes of shower you take, put a dollar into the jar beside the timer. See how quick that adds up, or how much shorter your showers become. You'll be saving either way! Add to that the decrease in 'products' you'll be purchasing, because you won't have time to use them, and you'll be saving your way towards whatever it is your heart desires. Hmm, could it be a longer shower?



Savings Plan, Part 2:
I'm currently sitting in the laundry room of a 'resort' that caters to Rvers, boaters and other vacationers.
It's about average as far as cleanliness and equipment. Three washers, one that doesn't work, and two large commercial type dryers. $1.50 per wash load, runs about 30 minutes. The dryers run for 3 minutes per each quarter..... cha ching, cha ching. Then, of course, you get the dryer that doesn't dry...... more quarters or the laundry shuffle............but there's an answer to this craziness!
Move to someplace were you don't have wear clothes or very little!

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