Tonight is the Annual General Meeting of the Blue Heron Basin Pyrate Fleet, otherwise known as a Full Moon Party. We were going to host it last Friday and call it an End of the World Party, but a serious, life threatening 'Man Cold' got in the way! Our fleet of four will get together, let off a little steam and make some cruising plans for next summer. Our main cruise, a 2 to 3 week sail in Desolation Sound is top of the agenda. It's always a little tricky getting everyone's timetables to jive so the AGM (party) is the most popular way. New grandchildren popping up during the summer months has been an important common item we all have to plan around. Oh well, we all gladly suffer! What / who will it be this season? Gaie and I wish you all a safe and happy new cruising year!

We are so looking forward to cruising next season, now that the world hasn't come to a crashing end! Will this be the year of a drifter sail? I've been sort of good this year. We'll see. We wish all our friends, new, old and those we haven't met yet a very merry christmas and a happy holiday season!! Sit back, enjoy a fire and have a hot rum for me. Best wishes for the next season from Glenn & Gaie, Bacchus V.

Bacchus V and Invitation II shared the end of the wharf, and a few drinks and laughs, at Musgrave Landing. Gaie fondly remembers fishing for shiners off this wharf as a kid. We were on our way to Tod Inlet to watch the fireworks set off by Butchart Gardens every Saturday night. Betty and Kees had sailed past here many times but never stopped in. They were surprised at the view and even more impressed by the sunset. A lightning display rounded off the evening. The Landing is located on the sw corner of Saltspring Island and has no services, just a good stable wharf. As it’s only about an hour away from our home berth, it’s an easy goal when you get away late on a Friday night.

I thought I would post this photo just to show how close the American islands are to us. Stewart Island, in the distance, is one of the American San Juans. We took this shot while at the wharf in Poet's Cove on Pender Island, one of the Canadian Gulf Islands. It is always a fun trip to cross Haro Strait to Roche Harbor Resort on San Juan Island. It takes less than 2 hours but it is a world away! You might also notice a freighter in the picture off Turn Point on Stewart Island. They travel along the border heading for Vancouver. There can sometimes be three or four in sight at any one time, traveling at about 15 - 20 knots. It is definitely boater beware crossing their path!

Gaie and I made a fast trip across up through the Gulf Islands, across Georgia Strait and up Agamemnon Channel to West's Resort in early June. The occasion was a memorial for a late uncle, sad but... It was good reconnecting with all the family. The picture has Bacchus at the wharf showing off her new sun / rain cover. We lovingly refer to it as our 'African Queen'! Do you remember the boat in the Bogart / Hepburn movie by the same name? It was designed to keep some sun off the cockpit but with our wet spring it was just as effective at keeping us dry! One boat unit well spent.

We found ourselves alone for the weekend and headed over to nearby Russell Island. There is a small anchorage on the north side for about a dozen boats. The island is a provincial park and has an interesting history that dates back to the times of the fur trade. As the signboard at the head of the dinghy wharf says....Welcome to the Hawaiian Islands! Russell was settled by some Hawaiian natives that were brought to our shores by the Hudson Bay Company to work in one of the trading posts. They intermarried with some of our natives and the rest is history. The original house still stands and is cared for by the descendants during the summer season. The picture is just after sunrise there with just enough mist to turn it into a Kodak moment!