I have to stop having to swim for the dinghy! After Debra departed for the airport, I left the dock and headed for Ganges on Salt Spring Island as my jumping off point to reach Vancouver and the False Creek anchorage the following day. I secured Lion's Paw to the mooring ball just off of Bob and Brenda's condominium and went ashore in the dinghy, securing it to the dinghy dock with a bowline knot. Several hours later, after going for a delightful walk in a forest on the edge of Ganges and then doing a bit of shopping at the local farmer's market, I return to the condo. I thought it was worth checking up on the dinghy, so I looked off their balcony, and the dinghy was gone! Since the wind had been blowing all day towards the marinas, I rushed down looking for the dinghy which I hoped had not been stolen but had been found and secured by some friendly cruiser. It was nowhere to be found. At this point, I was highly suspecting theft, so I proceeded to the coast guard station and walked down to their dock for one final look. Sure enough, I saw the tail end of the dinghy sticking out from a tiny cove just about 100 feet from where I had secured it. In all the years I have tied bowlines, one has never come loose as this is one of the more secure knots that one can tie. Unfortunately, the cove was not reachable by land since it sat at the bottom of a small cliff, so I returned to the condo, emptied my pockets, took off my shirt, and I was off for the short swim. All was well as I returned the dinghy to the dock and re-secured it. So much for good seamanship.

I joined Bob, Brenda, their granddaughter and her friend for dinner with a commitment to teach them our version of Mexican Train that evening. All went well, and I even threw in a lesson with Brenda of all fives dominoes, something that I had taught to Bob on our Vancouver Island circumnavigation.

I released from the mooring ball promptly at 10am to time my passage through Gabriola Pass, the entry into the Strait of Georgia. It was a 4 hour journey mostly of motoring, but the wind did come up at times so that I could fly a poled genoa to help with speed.

I transited the pass without incident and set sail in about 10 knots of wind for a delightful sail across the Strait to English Bay which is the entrance to False Creek. Just as I was entering the Strait, I was treated to a buoy with a few seals aboard.

Winds peaked out at about 12 knots, and I was able to maintain speeds of 6-8 knots for the 3 hour crossing. They died as I entered the bay so I furled the sails and motored the remaining way into the anchorage and dropped anchor. Here is a photo of the view from my location looking back towards Granville Island.

It was a quiet night aboard Lion's Paw after I launched the dinghy and had dinner at a restaurant overlooking the anchorage.

I awoke this morning to overcast skies and intermittent, light rain. Things quieted down, so I took the dinghy ashore for a bit of shopping at the local Whole Foods. I picked up an edition of the "Strait," a free, local paper and read that there was a Monet exhibition at the Vancouver Art Gallery. I decided to take the electric bike ashore for an easy ride to the museum (Vancouver has great, isolated bike lanes transiting across the downtown area). The display consisted of numerous paintings supplied by the Monet Museum in Paris, and I was not disappointed. I am sharing two photos. The first is my favorite painting of the exhibit.

The second is a classic water lilies which I also enjoy.

I returned to Lion's Paw with an interim stop at Costco to start shopping for the remainder of our Canadian cruising season. The dock that I have used in the past which is only a few blocks away now has "No Mooring-Private Dock" painted on the deck, so the trip will now have to be from a dinghy dock much further away. Bike will therefore be the mode of transportation, and the amount one can carry on each trip is quite limited.