09/23/2012, Olympia
We have arrived back in Olympia. We had initially been assigned to the guest dock until a slip came open. Upon our arrival, a slip was empty, so we moved right in. Our old mailbox number as available, so we moved right in. Les Schwab started texting me before we got into port, they had a guy quit and one was on vacation, "so could you hurry and get here". Our old life started as if we had never left. We are back to babysitting the grankids one day a week, working part-time three days a week and trying to resocialize Oliver. Oliver has developed a barking problem toward other dogs and toward people. I think he was on vacation for too long. We will winter over, do a few boat projects and plan next summers excursion. Our plan is still to get to Alaska, step by step at whatever pace we want. We will sign off of the blog for awhile and restart next year. Thanks for the comments and the following.
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Comments [2]
08/31/2012, Turn island outside Friday Harbor
We have arrived back in the States. Have limited internet. Hanging in the San Juan waiting for friends. Will finish last few posts when connection is better.
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08/24/2012, Ruxton Passage
We have enjoyed our time in Nanaimo, have done lots of urban hiking. They have great parks and trails that lead from downtown. I stopped in to the barber, haven't had a haircut since March. Took it right down and shaved off the Hulk Hogan mustache. Guess I might as well clean up if I am going back to Les Schwab. We headed out on a Friday morning toward Dodd Narrows, slack was at 10:38. To get thru these spots you have to go at slack or when the water stops flowing. There are usually a number of boats that are all waiting to go thru when the water stops, then we all get in line and take off. We headed to an anchorage that was near where we had been before, we knew that we would have good hiking. The cove was opposite Pirate Cove where we had stayed on the way up, we are getting into the busy summer season and knew the cove would be crowded. Our cove only had three boats anchored and some kayakers on the shore. We hiked the island around each way. Our next stop will be to the next marine park on Wallace Island.
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08/22/2012, Nanaimo
Well after much stress over the past couple of weeks we have firmed up our future marina. We will be moving back to Olympia and Swantown. Our plans for Blaine just couldn't come together and we were getting nervous waiting for a response. We learned a good lesson about slips, make sur your next one is firmly at hand before giving up on the last one. One phone call and our old marina was able to put us up on the guest dock and we are in line for the next slip on our old "F" dock. I contacted the place I worked last year and they could use part-time help. Maybe it was never meant to be. We are still in Nanaimo until Friday. Suzie is down getting a haircut and color, a little nerve racking, she has went to the same hairdresser for 20 years. We have enjoyed exploring the city, they have numerous trails, we did a 6 mile hike yesterday. We were here over the weekend and the place gets really busy. Right now it is noon Wednesday and pretty quiet. There are bagpipes playing up top and they shoot a cannon off at noon every day. The street musicians come out at night, there is a jazz trumpet player that is really good. We will be taking off Friday, to head back down the Gulf Islands. Our plan is to be back to Olympia around the middle of September and reestablish.
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08/15/2012, Boho Bay
We headed out of Scotty Bay to check out anchorages to the south. First one was Tucker Bay, looked good but fairly exposed. We headed to Boho expecting a large number of boats, the last time we were here there were about 8 boats anchored. Imagine our surprise when arriving to find only three. We snugged in the same spot we were in when we were here in June. Quick trip to shore for Ollie and the rest of the day resting up and reading. This anchorage is surrounded with steep rocks, we watched a deer work itself down to the top to get the best grass. One slip and it would have dropped 20 feet into the water. We have one more day here then reservations in Nanaimo at the downtown docks. Today we are going to go up the mast to check our VHF connection. Our broadcast and receive has seemed to degraded, plus we still aren't transmitting AIS. I am going to check the connection at the antennae, it hasn't probably been looked at for 12 years. We are going to go out later to charge the batteries and wow, maybe sail around for a while with no place to go.
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08/14/2012, Scotty Bay
We head across the Straits to Scotty Bay, first thing we hear are conversations between the Navy and mariners that have crossed into whiskey gulf. Since we had previously had experience with not paying attention, we felt for them. Our crossing was great, we put the mainsail up for most of the way. When we got to Scotty Bay if was packed, mostly with derelict local boats. We didn't even enter, but anchored outside of the bay. We dinghieed in later and was surprised how tight it was, and to our amazement we watched later three more boats enter and anchor. We have entered an area where the shore access is much easier than up north, though some of the islands are private property. You see and island you would like to explore, dinghy up to it and see a small sign "Private island No trespassing". More wind in the night here, limited sleep. Tomorrow on to Boho Bay, where we have anchored before.
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