Cruising in British Columbia

We had the best time this summer cruising the Canadian Gulf Islands and Princess Louisa Inlet (PLI). We were traveling with friends Ed and Connie Bruette on their boat Makin Do.

Here we are anchored out together in Pirate's Cove. Migo is over visiting Ed & Connie on their boat. She thinks they are her 2nd family.

Seattle Yacht Club

Out of this World is the Opening Day of Boating season.

Home at Last!

We spent last night at Oak Harbor and were fortunate to find a reciprocal slip, right next to our friends Wally & Linda aboard their boat, Hobbit. They too are heading home today. We are both feeling a little sad to be going to our land home after some really nice times out on the water, meeting new people and seeing new places. My unexpected surgery and our subsequent stay in Victoria kept us from doing the exploring we really wanted to do. I can already see Al trying to figure out when he can get me out on our next boating adventure. I'll be ready to go.

Another beautiful day in the San Juans

We will leave Friday Harbor this morning and head towards home,
probably stopping at Oak Harbor. Al has come down with a cold, poor
thing. He wants to be so strong for me. I am feeling better each day.

Tranquil Friday Harbor

Arrived about noon at Friday Harbor and snagged a reciprocal slip.
Horray! Today's savings $40. Weather is perfect and the view can't be
beat. We came from our boat by dinghy to shore as it is a long walk on
the docks.

I am feeling fabulous today with no further need for Tylenol. It only
hurts when I bend over so Al helps tie shoes, etc. Hard to believe it
is just 6 days since my surgery.

Orcas! Lots and lots of Orcas!

How fun! We were on our way the short 7 mile trip from Roche Harbor to our destination for the night at Deer Harbor. Al was looking off to his right and mentioned that there sure were a lot of boats up that way. He is such a curious guy so was looking with his binoculars to see if anything interesting was going on and sure enough, he spotted them. Orcas! Only one other time in all our travels have we been fortunate enough to see any of these beautiful whales.

Making a course correction, we headed over to what we now recognized was a bevy of whale watching boats, a sure sign of whale activity. The whales were all around us. There were so many of them, probably 10 or more. They tended to run in groups of 2 or 3 whales, regularly going up and down in the water, occasionally spyhopping and occasionally jumping out of the water and crashing back in. We took photos, watched with binoculars and without, and followed them north in Spieden Channel for about 45 minutes. It was great fun.

There were 7 whale watching boats there and about as many pleasure boats. We also spotted a Coast Guard boat and a NOAA boat. The NOAA boat stayed closer than any others and had a guy on the bow with a long handled net. What could that be for, you wonder? I believe I've read that they scoop the whale poop and study it to learn about their diet and their health. They were doing a lot of scooping.

We arrived safely at Deer Harbor Marina and are settled for the night. We have great bbx internet connections here.

Back in the USA!

It was a great trip across Haro Strait this morning from Victoria to Roche Harbor to check in for Customs. It feels great to be back in the States. We can turn our cell phones on again! We mostly kept them off in Canada as it is soooooo expensive to use them there on our US plan.

We will stay at Deer Harbor tonight, one of our favorite spots in the San Juan Islands. It is a short 7 miles from Roche Harbor, so no big deal.