June 8, 2004

Was about to go out cruising for a week when the wind came up lots as a high-pressure ridge moved in. Good thing about not having a schedule is that you can hunker down when you need to and wait it out. Next morning was beautiful when we left the marina at 10:30am. Ten knots over the ground was easy with all that water pushing us along. The new steering seems to be doing fine. After rounding Cape Mudge at the southern end of Quadra Island, the many white caps in the distance foretold of another strong wind blowing up. The seas weren't bad, and we put up the staysail to steady her. Did not try the main in this much wind as we would have to put the battens and reefing lines in that we had not gotten done. Too bad as it would have been a wonderful sail (low seas and strong wind on the beam). After passing several more islands and going down a narrow channel, we anchored in a beautiful little spot. I know, we say that about every anchorage we come into. There was one flat rock just above the waterline with about 8 harbor seals sunning themselves. Right after anchoring in 40 feet of water, we hoisted the main sail and added the reef lines and battens, then rowed ashore for a look around. Right near the path were two little snakes about 3 feet long, gray with a light stripe running lengthwise. By nightfall there were 2 other sailboats and two powerboats with us for the night. Since we were seeing hundreds of jellyfish, there must be billions in this harbor (Grace Harbor). I had prepared lunch and dinner the night before, so it made meals much easier while traveling. Just walked outside to see what was happening at 8:30pm. Surely glad we did. An osprey (we got out our identification book) flew from his perch in a tree and tried to get a fish in the water. He missed it but flew majestically away into another tree. When we looked at the water surface, we thought it was raining, but instead it was the unbelievable number of jellyfish that were touching the surface now that the sun had set. We identified them as Moon Jellies. How incredibly silent it is out here as the sun is going down. It does not get really dark until 10pm. Yawn! Good Night.