Don/Nice and sunny
01/01/2011, Victoria Inner Harbour, BC

Four pretty Grand Banks, from left to right: Change of Latitude, Deception, Alaskan Dream, Yukoner

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Don/ Light winds and cold
01/01/2011, On the way to Victoria

This photo is for my brother Dave, who loves warm weather cruising and hates the cold (anything below 70 degrees F!). It was beautiful at the upper helm station coming around the southern tip of Vancouver Island, on the way to Victoria. We were looking for Orcas, but no sightings.

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Don/ Light winds
01/01/2011, Victoria Inner Harbour, BC

Yesterday morning, five Grand Banks and a Nordhaven planned to travel together to Victoria to celebrate New Years together. Many of us had an association with Northwest Explorations, the Grand Banks charter company, and Brian Pemberton, the owner. Brian organized this gig and we were all looking forward to it. Boats in the fleet included: Deception, Spellbound, Eagles Gig, Alaskan Dream, Yukoner, and the Nordhaven, whose name I have forgotten.

Don fixed Debbie eggs for breakfast and then Debbie went into town for last minute shopping while Don cleaned up and put fresh water in the boat tanks. Away at 10 am, we found 10 knots of wind and 1 foot waves. It was a gentle trip around the southern corner of Vancouver Island and into Victoria's inner harbour. The harbour master put Change of Latitude in a special place, right at the foot of the Empress hotel. We handled a very tight turn around and docked the boat smartly. Brian, aboard Discovery, had rafted up, at a different place with Alaskan Dream but found that another boat needed their slip. So, both boats came over and rafted with us with Med. ties (stern to the dock). A little later we were pleased to discover that our good friends, Ron and Mary aboard Yukoner, were entering the inner harbour. We invited them to join us and raft up with us all. The four Grand Banks looked very smart together in the inner harbour: Change of Latitude, Deception, Alaskan Dream, and Yukoner.

At 6:30 the crews from the other two Grand Banks and the Nordhaven joined us on Deception for a pot luck dinner and drinks. It was a grand time with good food and great conversation. Don left early to go to bed but woke up, as happens each year, when the 12 am celebration goes off. Debbie made it to the magic hour.

Today is a lay day. We will remain here and watch the UConn bowl game on our sat TV and do odd jobs around the boat. Don needs to study the new chart plotter to explore all of its features. We also have a list of things that we want to check out on the boat during this trip. It should be a relaxing day. We think the wonderful museums here will be closed but high tea is being served at the Empress hotel, right outside our boat.

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12/31/2010, Sidney Harbour, BC

This is a Lagoon 400, slightly smaller than my brother Dave and Mary's Lagoon 440. They are in NZ now, sailing around the world. Their blog is linked on the left of this page.

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12/31/2010

You can see the ice on the dock at Roche Harbor as we left for Sidney. Brrrrr. My brother Dave is shaking his head. He loves hot weather; hates the cold. He and Mary are sailing around the world and are in New Zealand now.

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12/31/2010

This is the gate that takes you into the Marina at Sidney Harbour, BC., on Vancouver Island. They have great bakeries here!! Bookstores, too.

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Don/ Light winds and cold
12/31/2010, Sidney Harbour, BC

This photo is of Mt. Baker on the US side. It is from Sidney Harbour where we were today. We were up early in Roche yesterday morning in the dark. Don put in his morning exercise work on his knees. He has found the front cabin stairs perfect for stair stepping and the main salon great for his floor exercises. He moans and groans but knows this is a lifetime obligation with knee replacement surgery and it is especially important during this post surgery recovery period. While he worries about the lack of strength and flexibility, he also knows surgery was only 8 weeks ago. Don also got a new gizmo for aerobic work he has put in the front cabin. It is like a mini elliptical and really generates a burn on the legs.

After breakfast of oatmeal and cookies, we departed the icy docks of Roche Harbor and headed to meet our friends in Sidney, BC on Vancouver Island. It was only about a 90 minute cruise. Just before we crossed the border and lost our ATT signal, Debbie called her sister, Barb. They had a short chat and then we lost our cell signal.

We landed at the customs dock and Debbie checked us in. Then we went to our slip, a difficult, tight space and Don just missed hitting a pier but landed safe and sound. Our friends from other Grand Banks and Northwest Explorations helped us get tied up. There are about 5 boats in our group. We plan to travel to Victoria together and spend New Years in the city center marina.

At noon, we all went up to a restaurant in the marina and had a wonderful lunch together. Great fun and conversations. Then we headed to the grocery store for provisioning where we got fresh fruit, vegetables, and many other items. On the way back, we saw a Lagoon 400, a catamaran similar to my brother Dave and Mary's boat. They are in New Zealand right now, sailing around the world. Tomorrow morning, I will get a photo and post it.

After restocking our boat, Debbie fixed sandwiches and chicken soup. Don was developing a pretty bad cold and he really appreciated the soup. He also guzzled 4, 16 oz. bottles of cranberry juice to ward of the cold a bit.

As we had dinner, we watched the big game --- our UConn women's husky basketball team played Stanford, at Stanford. It was the game of the year for our young team, since we beat Stanford for the championship last year. Our women did not play together like they usually do. Stanford really had a plan to take them out of their game. They ended our streak of 91 wins in a row. It was sad. We sighed and went to bed early.

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Don/ Breezy
12/30/2010, Near Roche Harbor. WA

The snow covered sides of the islands were really beautiful on our cruise to Roche. We were glad our boat has 3-zone heating!

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Don/ Breezy
12/30/2010, San Juan Islands, WA

One of the more interesting sights as you travel trough the islands is Pole Pass, a passage about 40 feet in width with pretty good tide that usually flows.

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Don/Cold and Snow
12/30/2010, Roche Harbor, WA

Here is a shot from outside our starboard side, toward the restaurant. Many boats here have Xmas lights on them.

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