Friday the 21st, we left Nanny Cay. Our boat projects were finished enough to let us go out and start enjoying ourselves. Don’t get me wrong: Nanny Cay is a lovely spot, and if Jonas and I didn’t associate it with the work of decommissioning and recommisioning Sea Otter, we would love to spend time here. But, it was time to move on to more peaceful places.

Our first choice for a destination was Manchioneel Bay, on Cooper Island, but a forecast for a northerly swell nixed that idea. Instead, we chose to spend our first night at Marina Cay. It’s a lovely spot, and fairly sheltered, with decent snorkeling, and halfway to North Sound, which is where we want to spend Christmas. We had a good trip there, had a pleasant afternoon on a mooring, and actually cooked dinner on board. The restaurant is good enough, that’s almost a travesty, but we had chicken breasts in the fridge that needed to be eaten soon! Our only disappointment was when we tried to walk Stormy on shore, we were told that there are no dogs allowed on the island. I hadn’t seen the sign to that effect, and the staff was fairly snarky about it, so I’m still in a snit. Oh, well, Stormy remembered the purpose of the Astroturf so we didn’t have take her ashore there again.

Saturday the 22nd, we moved to Leverick Bay, in North Sound. Just before we departed, a couple hailed us, as they had recognized one of our burgees. It turned out to be Ken and Leslie Collins from the Sidney North Saanich Yacht Club, here on a charter vacation. It’s a small world!

In Leverick Bay, just after we arrived, a dinghy drove by, and the couple and their dog looked familiar. I hailed them, and it turned out to be Lou and Lydia from s/v Secondhand Rose, with their dog Bugs, whom we had last seen in Martinique, almost two years ago. We had a nice visit, and agreed to meet up later for a dog walk. The walk turned out to be on a spectacular beach on Mosquito Island, which is owned by Richard Branson. We didn’t see Richard, but the dogs had a great time and so did we.

This morning, after a rolly night at Leverick Bay, we decided to move Sea Otter to the other side of North Sound. There’s less fetch (room for the wind waves to build up) there, so we are hoping to get a better night’s sleep than last night. We picked up a mooring ball right off Saba Rock, and a short dinghy ride to the Bitter End Yacht Club. Jonas discovered another good beach for a dog walk, this time on Prickly Pear Island, and Stormy had a good time. Lots of hoofprints from the island’s resident goats; not sure what they would think of having a small hairless dog invading their island, but we didn’t see them today. Jonas also went for a snorkel, and found three cannons on the sea floor, while I began setting up the lifeline netting. It’s usually a two day job, so I wanted to get started on it, now that we will be in the same spot for a couple of days. All in all, a good day.