Don/29 degrees
01/03/2011, Ganges, BC (The Gulf Islands)

Ron, Mary, and Debbie enjoying dinner on Change of Latitude

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Don/29 degrees
01/03/2011, Ganges, BC (The Gulf Islands)

The photo above shows the sunrise this morning at our location, Ganges, BC, in the Gulf Islands. Ganges is a quiet town in the winter. In the summer, it is a buzz of activity with many commuters flying in and out each day as they travel back and forth to Vancouver for work and then return to their summer home at night via float planes. There is also a lot of harbour traffic with many boats anchored and docked at the marina. There is even a bakery boat to service all the boaters' bakery needs. In the winter, it is very quiet and nearly deserted. That is when we like it best.

Yesterday, the fleet departed from Victoria in the morning. Deception, Spellbound, Yukoner, and Change of Latitude left together until we hit Haro Straight. Then Deception and Spellbound headed for Mosquito Pass and US customs at Roche Harbor. Yukoner and our boat stayed in Canada and headed for Ganges, BC, in the Gulf Islands.

As we headed north, we ran into the ferry traffic that goes between Vancouver and Sidney. Two huge ferries and our two little boats converged in a narrow pass at the same time. Needless to say, we gave way. It is never good to mess with the big boys, especially when they are doing 17 knots! Our AIS came in handy for spotting traffic. We are still getting used to using this.

After arriving, I modestly offered to make the world's best clam chowder for dinner. I stayed at the boat and began cooking up a storm while Debbie, Ron, and Mary headed to town for some fresh bread and a few odds and ends. I cooked and cooked, toiled and toiled, chopped and chopped and behold......the best clam chowder slowly emerged. Now, I have to tell you that I never follow a recipe so each chowder is always different and yet by magic, it always turns out to be the world's best chowder! This one was no different. It was great! It had a huge amount of clams and was very thick and creamy.

Later, Ron and Mary came over and joined us for dinner. We had a wonderful time together downing some excellent Pino Grigio and Granville Island Ale. Ron and Mary had picked up some dessert in town so we devoured that, too. Then Ron and Mary, avid Seahawk fans, asked if we could get the local Seattle channel on our sat TV since the Seahawks were playing for the divisional championship. Sure enough, we could pick it up so we watched the 2nd half and a Seattle victory together. It was a great evening.

Debbie was kind enough to clean up my mess. I was exhausted from all the hard kitchen labor and headed to bed to try to shake this cold.

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Don/Dark outside
01/02/2011, Victoria Inner Harbour, BC

I am writing this in the early morning of January 2nd and I am not at all certain that Jan. 1 ever existed. I recall doing nothing all day. I hope it is not an omen for how the rest of the year will go. Goodness!

I recall exercising, for sure. Then we got Alaskan Dream out of our raft so they could return home and get the kids to school on Monday. A little more work getting Yukoner back in the raft after Alaskan Dream departed. And then I made breakfast for Debbie and me. Nothing fancy just cereal and pastries. Then, the cold I have developed got the better of me; I was feeling very tired so I lay down for a rest. Next thing I knew Ron and Mary had come over to watch the Rose Bowl with us. As the afternoon wore on, more an more people from the various boats joined us for beers and conversation.

Reservations were made for drinks at the Empress Hotel and dinner at the Irish restaurant just down the main street from us. (Thanks, Sheldon, for the tip. We got your note after someone had already made reservations for the crew. We plan to go there the next time we are in town. It looks like an outstanding restaurant. Very quaint, too!)

Then we took off for the hotel. Ron, Mary, Debbie, and I shared a table and recalled various adventures from previous cruises - from an anchor dragging in a storm at night in Fury Bay to our boat keys disappearing at the Grand Banks Rendezvous in Roche Harbour and mysteriously ending up in Ron's jacket pocket three weeks later. It was good times all the way around!

Everyone headed up to the Irish restaurant but I was feeling pretty crummy so I returned to the boat. I flipped on the TV and saw that UConn was losing big time to Oklahoma in the Fiesta Bowl and went to bed with another loss for the Huskies in my thoughts.

I hope I can shake this cold. I think I must have kept Debbie up all night with my coughing, last night. I've been feeling pretty crummy for the past several days.

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Don/Cold and Snow
01/01/2011, Victoria Inner Harbour, BC

Here is the view of the government building in Victoria, looking along the dock area of the inner harbour.

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Don/Libations Flowing Freely
01/01/2011, Victoria Inner Harbour, BC

Carol (Deception), Greg (SpellBound), and Mary (Yukoner) at the New Year's Eve party aboard Deception.

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

This shows you how our sterns are tied. This is how they dock boats in the Mediterranean.

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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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