August 3, 2004

Barry finished installing the gauges on the diesel tank and holding tanks and 2 water tanks today. Nothing electrical, just measures air pressure. Lots easier now rather than taking up the floorboards, opening the tanks, and poking a stick inside. Barry went to a clinic tonight and had a small hard growth on the back of his head checked and frozen. Nothing bad. Having Lingcod saut�ed and rice with veggies tonight. Bakery at Superstore here makes great cookies. Wonderful to have internet coverage and cell phone this year to keep in contact with friends and family and look up needed information. Sitting in the canvas chair on the aft deck with warm sun, light breeze drying my hair (which is very long now), blue skies and loads of cumulus clouds. Watching all the boats come in and out. Small 2-5 person boats going out for salmon that are starting to run more now. The bright red and yellow rubber inflatable boats, 30' - high powered - go out to skim the rapids and search for whales - float plane flying overhead and eagle sitting on the breakwater. I could learn to like this. Of course when the high winds and clouds and snow comes, I'm outta here.

Barry made a trip with Tom, one of the local fishing guides and delivery boat captains, who was taking a work crew to the logging camp. He has a 32' aluminum boat, 3 diesels with outdrives - 27 knots - planning shallow V, pounds a little. He had a great time seeing new things and chatting with Tom.

Pacific Voyager's hull looks so pretty in her Forest Green Awlgrip, but the exterior teak has suffered from years of neglect. Out came the scrapers and sander. Just a few minutes work inspires you to keep at it for many hours as the reddish tint begins to show through. You instantly get a vision of how she is going to look. Teak oil or varnish or leave natural - we get as many opinions as people we ask. Brightwork - the Art of Finishing Wood also gives great advise. The problem we have is that we will be leaving our vessel in BC again from early Sept to mid April unattended and uncovered.

Left Campbell River at 11am to ride the last of the flood tide down to Cape Mudge then catch the whole ebb up between Quadra Island and Cortez Island. Breeze began to fill in so we raised the main and jib and went wing and wing from 3.5-5 knots all the way to our destination, Von Donop Inlet. Actually sailed a ways inside until we got to the narrow part. You have to hug the right hand shore within 15-20' in 37' of water to avoid a rock on the left side. At times you can get branches stuck in your shrouds, but we made clean passage then wiped the sweat from our brows and gave big sighs. It opened up a lot after that. We proceeded to the end and anchored in 27'. It is a popular, well protected place. There is a trail that leads to Squirrel Cove on the other side of the island. Barry napped in the cockpit as I watched all the goings on in the anchorage. After dinner, Barry rowed us around awhile, and we stopped to chat at one boat. He recognized a race boat near that had been featured in Ocean Navigator. The man was paddling his 3 year old daughter around in their inflatable kayak, mom stayed aboard to take care of the infant. After dishes and dark, I crept into the cockpit to listen to a strange bird call. The dinghy was rocking gently by Pacific Voyager's side in the waning twilight, and I felt safe in our new little spot with 17 other boats. Goodnight.

Pancakes for breakfast with fresh blueberries. Rowed ashore and began our hike, but just a few minutes into it, Barry, who was leading, stops motionless - points a finger. I stop, hardly breathing, to try to see what he is seeing. I silently inch towards him then cannot help but give a little gasp as a deer is feeding not 20' away. She clearly sees us but seems unafraid. She nibbles a little, looks up for reassurance that we are not moving, then nibbles some more. We stood there over 10 minutes before she slowly moved on. Wow, what a privilege. Thank you, Lord for answering that prayer. Continued the walk through a nicely maintained trail. Coolness of forest felt refreshing. Walked in silence in case other critters were about. Saw several huge army green slugs that did not care if we were quiet or not. The partial view of Squirrel Cove on the other side was filled with boats, too many to bother about counting, leaving for other parts. Glad we weren't there. On the return walk, a jogger met us and then passed again on his return trip. He had some great exercise on a beautiful trail, but we doubt if he saw any deer. Dinner was very late this night. As we sat in the cockpit in the dimming light, I spied 4 deer feeding along the shore stretching their necks up as high as possible to nibble off the lower branches of the cedar trees.

Next morning a 10am departure would put us through Yuculta Rapids, Gulliard Passage, and Dent Rapids safely. A rather large number of boats lined up to go through. Not a problem - just swirls near slack water. Anchored near the head of Frederick Arm in 80' of water. 200' feet of chain and 150' of line. Two other sailboats were already there rafted up. Spent the rest of the day and part of the next watching the logging operation very near. 1. water taxi - aluminum enclosed boat - carries men to and from logging camp and back home. 2. trucks - carries fuel and logs. 3. barges - deliver equipment and tank trucks, tows log booms to the mill. 4. tractors - huge - pushes logs off the trucks, lifts logs onto dumper, pushes logs into water. 5. Little tug - pushes log stacks to form log booms. 6. helicopters - delivers men and equipment, landed 5 times that day. It was all rather noisy and very exciting watching the helicopters land in seemingly unlandable spots. Learned lots about logging below, but not what was going on at the cutting site. Very interesting.

At mid flood tide, Barry pulled the dinghy about 50 yards up a stream coming out of a 5 mile long lagoon at the head of Frederick Arm. We both then got in and our little 2hp 4 stroke Honda engine took us in a couple of miles where we had a picnic on a little island sitting amongst the ferns and evergreens. A dip in the lagoon afterwards was a bit more than refreshing - it was still very nippy to us but sitting on the rock in the sun soon warmed us up again. There was plenty of water depth going out so we rode the stream and tried to steer. Great fun but hoping we did not hit an unseen rock. Powered over to have a very close up look at the log boom. It smelled good. Huge trees floating in the water all tied together. Too bad they have to be cut. The wind got up quite a bit towards evening, so a few more night hours were spent by Barry in the cockpit keeping watch at a lea shore and 80 ft of water that got near 50ft as the tide went out, and we wildly swung over the rocks. After a few hours, he was able to come inside and sleep as the wind eased. He called me up once to look at the hundreds of tiny fish and whatever that was darting through bioluminescence in the water. It was like underwater lightning. Barry and Kathryn on "Feliner" who had 2 cats aboard, came over and brought wine, cheese, and crackers. We gave them half of our crab catch. They had been rafted to "Moonbeard", a Marco Polo sloop. A 25' x 25" raft had broken loose from a fish farm operation after dinner and both boats kept a watchful eye as it slowly neared then went on past to be stranded on the rocks when the tide went out the next morning. 11am departure for Forward Harbour 27 miles away. First was Green Point Rapids, then 2 hours later, Whirlpool Rapids. Timing and weather is everything - again we timed the dangerous places for near slack water. All ok. At a low piece of land in the final channel, we slowed down to watch a huge black bear digging up something. He was very intent at it and ignored us and a powerboat who came even closer to him. Soon anchored with a few other boats already there in very gusty wind. Hook would not set the first time so pulled it all up while swinging in great arcs. Tried again with success. Watched a few people row or power their dogs ashore. Lots of people bring their dog or cats. Cats are a lot easier of course with their litter boxes aboard. Talked with a nice couple on the beach then took a walk through the forest to the other shore of this peninsula. It was well marked with the flotsom and jetsom (debris washed ashore) that people had hung in the trees. I ate huckleberries and Salal berries along the way as a few were still left on the bushes. There was really a white sand beach on the other side. Barry took his shoes off and wiggled his toes in it while I make a sand castle with shells and cones and twigs sticking out the tip. A beautiful Mariner 40 ketch came into the anchorage late the 2nd night but we did not get to meet the folks. The trip south to and in Johnstone Strait was uneventful and much calmer than usual for that area and as is usual for us, we hugged the shore for a close up look at things. Anchored at the head of Cameleon Cove on the 2nd try again. The Bruce anchor at times does not like the bigger rocks. Later the Mariner ketch came in also, so Barry went over and invited them to dinner. We, of course, tidied up the boat inside and out, then Barry snored in the cockpit on his comfy cushions as I did some food prep. Our time with Peter and DeAnne was really great. They are lots of fun. They came with wine, salmon pate, mandarin orange cake with whipped cream, and sun dried tomato bread. Barry bbq'd the chicken breasts and I tried a sautee of orange bell peppers, onions, cauliflower, and crab in garlic, spices, and butter. I forgot to take the lid back off so it came out over cooked and rather soupy but tasted ok, I guess. Set our alarm to wave bye to them at 6:30 next morning as they had to go. The day is bright and clear, and we wonder what adventures or naps will come our way today. I think we had a couple of naps before noon to make up for the lack of sleep last night. I fixed balogna, cheese, and onion sandwiches for our picnic lunch. We put our hiking shoes, long sleeved shirts, camera, binoculars, plant ID book, water, insect repellant, etc. in Barry's pack and headed off towards shore. We wore our water shoes in case we had to step in the water getting out of the dinghy, then changed for hiking. If it is an easy trail, we just wear our water sandals for both. We wore long pants today, because lots of berry bushes and downed trees can scratch your legs. Since the tide was coming in about 2 ft per hour, we tied our dinghy with an extra length of rope around a rock. After beach combing for about an hour, we tied it up higher still, being surprised at how much it was already floating. We find lots of things washed up on beaches. Today I found a 1 gallon neopolitan ice cream bucket. It came in handy to put my other treasures in - a sand dollar shell, 2 other shells, tree and flower samples to identify later, and an interesting piece of driftwood. We also found a blue rope and 2 small white buoys. We put it all in the dinghy, then headed up the stream with our hiking sticks. It was pretty easy going, a very shallow stream. Many water strider bugs skimmed across the water's surface. There were some 3 inch fish in a few places. We identified a new berry bush, then I tried it. Ok but not wonderful. It was called Stink Currant because the plant did not smell good. The berries were about the size of blueberries but had a whitish coating over the dark blue. About a half mile in, we sat on a big log that had fallen across the stream and had our lunch. I saw a squirrel run past on the bank but did not see him again. Saw one plant that had thorns on the top and bottom of giant leaves as well as the stem. Very strange. The evening brought two beautiful schooners into the cove. Barry remembers one of them in his early racing days in the 40's & 50's in Newport Beach, CA. They rafted together while we enjoyed staring at them for hours. On a second hike the next morning we watched a large river otter scamper a long way across a drying out section of another cove. On our way back to Campbell River, I steered through Seymour Narrows with little trouble. We are now much more comfortable with when and how to navigate these difficult parts.

Jim and Sue Reese arrived with their dog Joy to spend a few days with us. Jim used to teach in the Marine Science Dept. of Orange Coast College in Costa Mesa, CA. while Barry was a student there and later was his lab director. We all toured around Campbell River a little then headed off to Melanie Cove by boat. It rained much of the time this trip, but that brought its own beauty and challenges. The shrimp still tasted as good. On the way back we were treated to about an hour of fun by 3 whales. What beautiful creatures these Orcas (Killer Whales) are. After a wonderful meal at Painter's Lodge plus a gift to us of a tree identification book, we bade them a sad farewell. What a great time we had. We really want these folks to come again.

Our last voyage was a 5 day round trip to the town of Sydney. It was not really fun. They were all very long days into the wind and chop. We will be getting a hard dodger made for Pacific Voyager when we return next April and needed to talk to the folks who will build it for us. After our return, we found a used car and began the long process of getting the boat ready to leave for the winter. Exhaustion from the long summer's work and fun had set in. We headed for Washington and Oregon where we got to visit with El & Cindi Toko & Matthew and Hana, Chuck and Mitzi Christensen, Hank & Vicky Block, Vince & Grace Evans, Howard & Mary Ann Silva, Jack & Nancy Fullinwider, and Bob and Maureen Kruse & Maleah and family. It was great to see them again, but the time was so very short with them all.

The next 4 days were spent driving long hours as straight as we could to Pampa, Texas near Amarillo were we spent 3 weeks visiting with my Dad and Melba and working hard moving them into town and getting ready for a farm auction. Barry had no idea what the stuff he was towing around and lining up was used for. It was mostly old and rusty, and he hoped there were no rattlesnakes underneath. We then flew to Scottsdale, Arizona to visit Barry's two cousins, Tom and Earleen Ahrens & Jean-Paul & Doris Frignac, and their families, and attend his Aunt Florence Fullinwider's 100th birthday party. What a fun occasion that was. She is really marvelous. She still lives on her own, is extremely alert, and gets around rather swiftly on her walker. Her eyesight prevents her from reading now, but she gets around easily and recognizes everyone. She has no problem joining in on any conversation and eats a hardy meal including ice cream. What an inspiration she is. After our flight back to Tx. We drove to Wichita Falls area to visit my two aunts, Marie and Beulah. Again, the time was all too short, but it was so very good to see them and see a few of the cousins too. I really want to get to know all my cousins better some day. We next went to Montgomery, Texas to my brother's place on Lake Conroe. J.D., or Jerry Don as I know him, and his wife Belinda, have made a beautiful home here. Unfortunately they have not gotten to enjoy it so much lately as they practically live at MD Anderson Medical Center in Houston where she has undergone treatment for almost 4 years for cancer. I want to thank the many of you who have been faithful to pray for them for these many years and to say keep it up. A donor was recently found for her transplant, so pray that it will be successful as she awaits the results.

Well now it is a month later. We drove from Texas to San Diego where Barry stuck his feet in the water, which made him very happy. We changed all our reservations and shipped our car out of the Matson terminal in Long Beach, then flew from Los Angeles to Hilo. We had no physical and mental reserves left to continue on to Seattle as planned. It is really good to be home, but getting caught up from a seven month leave is very trying.

Thank you all for sharing our lives and journeys with us. We love you all and appreciate your prayers.

Aloha,
Barry & Pat Bolln