A quick limer-ick!
The fella woke up with a bad cold,
It made him feel simply old.
With his head full of stuff
and feeling downright rough,
His blog thoughts were likely to go untold.
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Charter Season Update
This is an autopost from neverforever.ca but it still counts as a post 🙂
Last year I did a roundup of our first charter season so I thought I would briefly follow up again this year.
Disclaimer: I am a notorious “rounder” of numbers and the most incompetent accountant I know. None of this is intended to provide any more than a reasonably forthright account of how I view our financial outcomes. Your mileage, as they say, may vary.
Year 2
We originally booked Never for Ever for ourselves for all of April, May and June but a late booking was requested for mid-June which we agreed on. So we boarded our boat on April 20 and had it back in Nanaimo for her first charter by June 16.
I did return to the boat in October for a short week-long cruise with some friends, so all in all we used the boat for a total of ten and a half weeks.
The boat was in good shape when we showed up in April. The canvas over the arch hadn’t been removed (by agreement and due to poor design) over the winter so it was pretty cruddy. A bunch of the kitchenware had changed or been substituted and one of the winch handles was missing (which NYCSS promptly replaced). The only major irritant (and it was pretty minor) was our perfectly-sized dish rack was missing. It took us a month to find another —and it went into storage at the end of our season.
The dinghy painter was worn out so I replaced it and also replaced a few of the lines on fenders. We also had to hunt for a few things like the regulator knob off the BBQ and some of the canvas panels for the enclosure. All that stuff had been stripped and stored for the winter. There is more on this in my previous post called Whose Boat Is It?
The Numbers 2017
| Weeks | Net Income |
| 1 | $1600 |
| 2 | $2500 |
| 1 | $1700 |
| 1 | $1700 |
| 1 | $1400 |
| 1 | $900 |
| 1 | $1600 |
| 1 | $1600 |
| $13000 |
Overall we had the same number of weeks chartered as 2016 and basically the same revenue. The big difference this year was in costs.
| Winterize | |
| Trace and repair small leaks | |
| Windlass repair | |
| Fire extinguishers certified | |
| Ports & Passes 2017 | |
| Spring prep | |
| Tow and replace Engine Mounts | |
| Turn around (cleaning), new chain | |
| Moorage, insurance & locker rental | |
| Misc: thermocouple, light, small leak | |
| Leaks, sail repair | |
| $20000 | |
The costs were up almost $8000 from last year. There were 3 major factors: I had the windlass rebuilt over the winter as the seal had corroded and it was leaking into the vberth; I replaced the chain and I had that little incident with running over the dinghy painter and wrecking my motor mounts. That last little screwup cost me over $4000 and any hope of breaking even.
After it was all counted and totted up, I wrote out a a pretty hefty cheque. I have to admit it hurt a little bit since we weren’t expecting it. But then again I guess we got 10 weeks of sailing for less than $500/week so I really shouldn’t complain.
Next Year
We’ve already got 2 weeks booked for 2018 (one is at the end of May, which is a bummer). I don’t know how much we will get out this year as we are currently considering a series of shorter trips rather than one, big, long one. But so far there has been no talk of selling the boat (except when I start dreaming of a new one) and for us, putting the boat in charter has definitely been a good decision.
—Bruce #Charter
Instagram This Week (with commentary)
In recent years we have been doing a Shabu Shabu for New Year’s dinner. This year we were thinking of skipping due to general malaise but then realized it was on Sunday evening so we were going to gather to eat anyway so… I did a Kamikaze for cocktail (for those of you who don’t know we try to do weekly cocktails and document them on The BoozePhiles site).Several time during the planning stages my phone autocorrected Shabu to Shaun so there was a running joke about who this Shaun was and why he was invited.
Some Glass Images
Note: I am going to make an effort to post more on this site as I have been ignoring it. I won’t commit to everyday but it is a goal…
I took up my glass cutter again last year and have been busily making stained glass ever since. I started out with small suncatchers (feathers, starfish etc) and the pieces have been getting more and more complex ever since. I took a course in lead and have done three pieces in this more traditional format.
Here is a small gallery of some of my work to date. (Taking good pictures of stained glass is hard!)
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Books in my Life — the 2017 edition
Year 6. It was a good year…for reading anyway. I also added audio books to the repertoire although at this point I have no idea how to classify them. I continued to keep track by month and you will see them broken down thus after the list. So without further ado…
January
The Final Battle William C. Dietz (1993)
Legion of the Damned Book 2 – ebook; reread
Mercenary Mack Reynolds (1962)
– ebook; reread
Frigid Fracas Mack Reynolds (1963)
– ebook; reread
Imager L.E. Modesitt Jr. (2009)
The Imager Portfolio Book 1 – ebook; reread
Imager’s Challenge L.E. Modesitt Jr. (2009)
The Imager Portfolio Book 2 – ebook; reread
Imager’s Intrigue L.E. Modesitt Jr. (2010)
The Imager Portfolio Book 3 – ebook;
Penric’s Demon Lois McMaster Bujold (2015)
Penric and Desdemona Book 1 – ebook; reread
Penric and the Shaman Lois McMaster Bujold (2016)
Penric and Desdemona Book 2 – ebook;
Penric’s Mission Lois McMaster Bujold (2016)
Penric and Desdemona Book 4 – ebook;
Psion Joan D. Vinge (1981)
Cat Book 1 – ebook; reread
Psiren Joan D. Vinge (1982)
Cat Book 1.5 – ebook; reread
Catspaw Joan D. Vinge (1988)
Cat Book 2 – ebook; reread
February
Dreamfall Joan D. Vinge (1996)
Cat Book 3 – ebook; reread
At the Sign of Triumph David Weber (2016)
Safehold Book 9 – ebook;
Young Rissa F.M. Busby (1976)
Rissa Kerguelen Book 1 – ebook; reread
Red Shirts John Scalzi (2012)
– ebook; reread
March Upcountry David Weber & John Ringo (2001)
Empire of Man Book 1 – ebook; reread
March to the Sea David Weber & John Ringo (2001)
Empire of Man Book 2 – ebook; reread
March to the Stars David Weber & John Ringo (2003)
Empire of Man Book 3 – ebook; reread
We Few David Weber & John Ringo (2005)
Empire of Man Book 4 – ebook; reread
March
The Fifth Season N.K. Jemesin (2015)
The Broken Earth Book 1 – ebook;
The Obelisk Gate N.K. Jemesin (2016)
The Broken Earth Book 2 – ebook;
Bloodstar Ian Douglass (2012)
Star Corpsman Book 1 – ebook;
Fields of Fire Marcos Kloos (2017)
Frontlines Book 5 – ebook;
Last Train to Rigel Timothy Zahn (2005)
Quadrail Book 1 – ebook; reread
Third Lynx Timothy Zahn (2007)
Quadrail Book 2 – ebook; reread
Odd Girl Out Timothy Zahn (2008)
Quadrail Book 3 – ebook; reread
The Domino Pattern Timothy Zahn (2009)
Quadrail Book 4 – ebook; reread
April
Judgment at Proteus Timothy Zahn (2012)
Quadrail Book 5 – ebook; reread
Magi’i of Cyador L.E. Modesitt Jr. (2001)
Recluce Book 10 – ebook;
Scion of Cyador L.E. Modesitt Jr. (2001)
Recluce Book 11 – ebook;
Fall of Angels L.E. Modesitt Jr. (1996)
Recluce Book 6 – ebook;
The Chaos Balance L.E. Modesitt Jr. (1997)
Recluce Book 7 – ebook;
Arms-Commander L.E. Modesitt Jr. (2010)
Recluce Book 16 – ebook;
Hour of Judgement Susan R. Matthews (1999)
Under Jurisdiction Book 4 – ebook;
The Devil and Deep Space Susan R. Matthews (2002)
Under Jurisdiction Book 5 – ebook;
Warring States Susan R. Matthews (2006)
Under Jurisdiction Book 6 – ebook;
May
A Plague of All Cowards William Barton (1976)
– ebook; reread
The Space Pioneers Carey Rockwell (1953)
Tom Corbett Book 4 – ebook;
Friday Robert Heinlein (1982)
– ebook; reread
Stone Hunger N.K. Jemesin (2016)
The Broken Earth Book 0 – ebook;
Lock In John Scalzi (2014)
– ebook; reread
The Regiment John Dalmas (1987)
The Regiment Book 1 – ebook; reread
The White Regiment John Dalmas (1990)
The Regiment Book 2 – ebook; reread
The Regiment’s War John Dalmas (1993)
The Regiment Book 3 – ebook; reread
The Curse of Chalion Lois McMaster Bujold (2001)
Chalion Book 1 – ebook; reread
The Paladin of Souls Lois McMaster Bujold (2003)
Chalion Book 2 – ebook; reread
The White Order L.E. Modesitt Jr. (1998)
Recluce Book 8 – ebook;
The Magic Engineer L.E. Modesitt Jr. (1994)
Recluce Book 3 – ebook;
June
Colors of Chaos L.E. Modesitt Jr. (1999)
Recluce Book 9 – ebook;
Golden Fleece Robert J Sawyer (1990)
– ebook;
Ancillary Sword Ann Leckie (2013)
Imperial Radch Book 1 – ebook; reread
Ancillary Justice Ann Leckie (2014)
Imperial Radch Book 2 – ebook; reread
Ancillary Mercy Ann Leckie (2015)
Imperial Radch Book 3 – ebook; reread
The Lost Colony John Scalzi (2007)
Old Man’s War Book 3 – ebook; reread
Zoe’s Tale John Scalzi (2008)
Old Man’s War Book 4 – ebook; reread
Soulminder Timothy Zahn (2014)
– ebook;
Human Division John Scalzi (2013)
Old Man’s War Book 5 – ebook; reread
The End of All Things John Scalzi (2015)
Old Man’s War Book 6 – ebook; reread
July
The Paladin C.J. Cherryh (1988)
– ebook; reread
A Desert Called Peace Tom Kratman (2007)
A Desert Called Peace Book 1 – ebook; reread
Carnifex Tom Kratman (2007)
A Desert Called Peace Book 2 – ebook; reread
The Lotus Eaters Tom Kratman (2010)
A Desert Called Peace Book 3 – ebook; reread
The Amazon Legion Tom Kratman (2011)
A Desert Called Peace Book 4 – ebook; reread
Come and Take Them Tom Kratman (2013)
A Desert Called Peace Book 5 – ebook; reread
The Rods and the Axe Tom Kratman (2014)
A Desert Called Peace Book 6 – ebook;
August
Local Custom Sharon Lee and Steve Miller (2001)
Liaden Universe Book 1 – ebook; reread
Scouts Progress Sharon Lee and Steve Miller (2001)
Liaden Universe Book 2 – ebook; reread
Mouse & Dragon Sharon Lee and Steve Miller (2010)
Liaden Universe Book 3 – ebook; reread
Conflict of Honors Sharon Lee and Steve Miller (1988)
Liaden Universe Book 4 – ebook; reread
Agent of Change Sharon Lee and Steve Miller (1988)
Liaden Universe Book 5 – ebook; reread
Carpe Diem Sharon Lee and Steve Miller (1989)
Liaden Universe Book 6 – ebook; reread
Plan B Sharon Lee and Steve Miller (1999)
Liaden Universe Book 7 – ebook; reread
I Dare Sharon Lee and Steve Miller (2002)
Liaden Universe Book 8 – ebook; reread
Fledgling Sharon Lee and Steve Miller (2009)
Liaden Universe Book 9 – ebook; reread
Saltation Sharon Lee and Steve Miller (2010)
Liaden Universe Book 10 – ebook; reread
Ghost Ship Sharon Lee and Steve Miller (2011)
Liaden Universe Book 11 – ebook; reread
Dragon Ship Sharon Lee and Steve Miller (2012)
Liaden Universe Book 12 – ebook; reread
The Gathering Edge Sharon Lee and Steve Miller (2017)
Liaden Universe Book 16 – ebook;
Dragon in Exile Sharon Lee and Steve Miller (2016)
Liaden Universe Book 14 – ebook; reread
Alliance of Equals Sharon Lee and Steve Miller (2016)
Liaden Universe Book 15 – ebook; reread
Mira’s Last Dance Lois McMaster Bujold (2017)
Penric and Desdemona Book 5 – ebook;
The Collapsing Empire John Scalzi (2017)
Interdependency Book 1 – ebook;
September
Penric’s Fox Lois McMaster Bujold (2017)
Penric and Desdemona Book 3 – ebook;
Unbreakable W.C. Bauers (2015)
The Chronicles of Promise Paen Book 1 – ebook; reread
Indomitable W.C. Bauers (2016)
The Chronicles of Promise Paen Book 2 – ebook;
A Peace Divided Tanya Huff (2017)
Peacekeeper Book 2 – ebook;
Assassin’s Price L.E. Modesitt Jr. (2017)
The Imager Portfolio Book 11 – ebook;
The Incrementalists Steven Brust & Skyler White (2013)
Incrementalists Book 1 – ebook; reread
October
*The Skill of Our Hands *** Steven Brust & Skyler White (2017)
**Incrementalists Book 2 – ebook;
Provenance Ann Leckie (2017)
– ebook;
Balance of Trade Sharon Lee and Steve Miller (2004)
Jethri Goblyn Book 1 – ebook; reread
Trade Secret Sharon Lee and Steve Miller (2013)
Jethri Goblyn Book 2 – ebook; reread
Starplex Robert Sawyer (1996)
– ebook;
Envy of Angels Matt Wallace (2016)
Sin du Jour Book 1 – ebook;
Pride of Chanur C.J. Cherryh (1981)
Chanur Book 1 – ebook; reread
Nevernight Jay Kristoff (2016)
The Nevernight Chronicle Book 1 – ebook;
November
Godsgrave Jay Kristoff (2017)
The Nevernight Chronicle Book 2 – ebook;
The Stone Sky N.K.Jemesin (2017)
The Broken Earth Book 3 – ebook;
Strong-Arm Tactics Jody Lyne Nye (2005)
– ebook; reread
Poor Man’s Fight Elliot Kay (2013)
Poor Man’s Fight Book 1 – ebook; reread
Rich Man’s War Elliot Kay (2015)
Poor Man’s Fight Book 2 – ebook;
Dead Man’s Debt Elliot Kay (2016)
Poor Man’s Fight Book 3 – ebook;
December
No Medals for Secrets Elliot Kay (2017)
Poor Man’s Fight Book 4 – ebook;
Vallista Steven Brust (2017)
Vlad Taltos Book 15 – ebook;
Barbary Station R.E. Stearns (2017)
Shieldrunner Pirates Book 1 – ebook;
Jhereg Steven Brust (1983)
Vlad Taltos Book 1 – ebook; reread
Yendi Steven Brust (1984)
Vlad Taltos Book 2 – ebook; reread
Teckla Steven Brust (1987)
Vlad Taltos Book 3 – ebook; reread
Taltos Steven Brust (1988)
Vlad Taltos Book 4 – ebook; reread
Phoenix Steven Brust (1990)
Vlad Taltos Book 5 – ebook; reread
Athyra Steven Brust (1993)
Vlad Taltos Book 6 – ebook; reread
Orca Steven Brust (1996)
Vlad Taltos Book 7 – ebook; reread
Dragon Steven Brust (1998)
Vlad Taltos Book 8 – ebook; reread
Audio Books
Pride and Prejudice Jane Austen (1813)
– audiobook; reread (relisten?)
Emma Jane Austen (1815)
– audiobook;
Jane Eyre Charlotte Bronte (1847)
– audiobook;
Sense and Sensibility Jane Austen (1811)
– audiobook;
Persuasion Jane Austen (1817)
– audiobook;
The Return of Sherlock Holmes Arthur Conan Doyle (1903)
– audiobook;
((\
(-.-)
o_(“)(“)
Comments & Remarks
First off, let’s deal with the bunny. I had this bit of ascii art on my list all year and felt he needed to be let free into the internet universe. Enjoy and be free little bunny… 🙂
The numbers
114 books total (120 if you count the audiobooks): 9.5 (10) books per month; 2.19 (2.3) books per week; .312 (.329) books per day.
43 (48) new books
71 (72) re-reads
So that totals 114 ebooks, 5 audio books, 0 traditional books (although I did skim some kids books…). I guess I really am committed to ebook technology 🙂 I also did a month to month comparison to last year…you can see I tend to read heavily during the same months on a year to year basis.
| 2017 | 2016 | |
| January February March April May June July August September October November December |
12 8 8 9 12 10 7 17 6 8 6 11 |
11 5 5 2 12 18 6 8 6 12 6 10 |
Reading and Rereading
If you look at the above numbers you will see why I am considering quitting counting books. In April last year I read two very long, very complex books. One of them was Book 2 of Robin Hobb’s Fitz and the Fool Trilogy. I’ve owned Book 3 for almost a year now and haven’t read it (and one or two others like it) because it would take too long and screw with my annual totals… gasp! And ok, I admit it: that’s just weird. Of course I did make a habit of rereading whole series this year in order to read the new book and that might have meant me reading at least 8 Fitz books which would have really, really slowed me down. Still a weird reason to not read a book though.
Speaking of complete series, I reread:
- all of L.E. Modesitt’s Imager series (a great read)
- all three of Joan D.Vinge’s Cat books (classic Bruce stuff)
- all 4 of David Weber’s Empire of Man books (a fun read but nothing outstanding)
- all 3 of N.K Jemesin’s The Broken Earth (so good it’s almost literature)
- all 5 of Timothy Zahn’s Quadrail books (Inspector Poirot meets an alien Orient Express)
- all of John Dalmas Regiment series (solid, old school military SF)
- all Lois McMaster Bujold’s Chalion books and all her Penric novellas (Love, love, love, love…)
- all Ann Leckie’s Imperial Radch series (worth reading just for the use of non-gendered pronouns alone)
- all John Scalzi’s Old Man’s War universe books (a mixed bag, but always well written)
- all Tom Kratman’s A Desert Called Peace series (I hate Tom’s perspective on so much, but that in itself makes them worth reading)
- all Sharon Lee and Steve Miller’s Liaden books (classic space opera: I loved the first one when it came out and have stuck with them though all their trials and tribulations)
- both of W.C. Bauer’s The Chronicles of Promise Paen books (and look forward to more)
- all Elliot Kay’s Poor Man’s Fight series (along with Markos Kloos Frontline books, these are some of the best self-published military SF I have come across)
- and most of Steven Brust’s Vlad Taltos books (I still have a few to go which will take up January 2018. I discovered these books back in the early 80s when he started them and would recommend them to everyone and anyone.)
I also read much of L.E. Modesitt’s Recluce series (I bought two omnibuses). I have to admit they were a bit too much for me (he tends to repeat plots/viewpoints) and I wouldn’t recommend anyone slogging through them unless they really love the universe.
As a part of the above I also found myself re-buying books in ebook format. I am completely converted to ebooks now and with fading, old-guy eyes, I find reading print too much bother (I have to go find reading glasses and good light). So now I just re-buy the books in ebook format which can’t be bad for anyone in the industry, right?
Audio…
I have been working in my studio doing glass a lot and decided to give audio books a try rather than just listening to tunes. I went digging around in Librivox —which is the audio book version of Project Gutenberg— and found some classics i had always meant to read. All the books are free and read by volunteers so I found some good readers and started with Pride and Prejudice — which I had already read a few times. It went so well I downloaded a few more. The reader, Elizabeth Klett did a great job. I’d give it (and her) a try if you need something to think on while doing tasks with your hands.
It does bring up the question of whether or not I “read” these books. This year I kept the totals separate but I think if I continue I will just add them in and call them a read book.
Bad Book, Good Book
I mentioned above I have read some great self-published books. I also have read some dreck. And I have a strange quirk of finishing a book once I have started no matter how bad. I can count on one had the number of books I have not finished and I am never eager to add more to that count. But man, sometimes it is hard to slog through a badly written book, or worse, a badly edited one. I have a number of ebooks in my collection that I will never, ever read again and I often wonder if I should just delete them. But not getting rid of books, paper or digital, is another one of those strange quirks I have.
Be that as it may (more below), Barbary Station by R.E. Stearns was this year’s winner of the OMG Will This Never END? prize and, much to my surprise, it was not a badly, or more usually, un-edited self pub, but in fact published by Saga Press which is a very minor subsidiary of Simon and Schuster. I do not know what they were thinking. I think the idea of Lesbian Space Pirates just overwhelmed their better judgement.
So I apologize to self-publishers everywhere. It seems that the flaw of publisher arrogance is more insidious than previously assumed.
Paperback Decisions…
So last year I downloaded an app called Shelfie (See the end of 2016’s post). The theory was I could scan the barcodes of my books (or just take a picture of them on my shelf, hence the name) and submit it to Shelfie and possibly get a deeply discounted ebook version. I eventually unpacked and scanned all my paperbacks and ended up buying a dozen or so ebooks for around a dollar a piece. I also cataloged all of my books.
It turns out I have 863 science fiction and fantasy paperbacks (as well as 534 ebooks for those of you who are counting). Given I struggle to reread 70 books a year that means I likely have a dozen or so years of reading to reread them even once. And on top of that, I am just not going to—I think my paperback book days are done.
So what do I do? I have determined at least 5 times to just sell them (although many are in rough shape…ironically the best ones, although I guess that’s predictable) and so far have done nothing. It is so hard to contemplate parting with objects I have cherished since Junior High (my Burroughs’ Mars books). And I am guessing Wee Book Inn or their ilk wouldn’t take the 10 or so boxes of books at once. I could give them away, but at even $1/ book that’s a lot of money. And at ~$8/book replacement cost that’s almost $7000… which ain’t pocket change. I am considering flagging the ones I really want as ebooks and going on a spending spree but Even if it was only a 10th of them that would still add up to over $700.
So should I sell them?
It’s a conundrum. But I have a spreadsheet, so that’s a consolation. I think.
The Final Rant
I’ll end this with a final rant about and against DRM. I had an incident this year that had me trying to unravel Adobe’s drm system and it made me crazy. It took me weeks to regain access to things I had bought and payed for—I will make a separate post about it later but suffice it to say if I ever had anything good to say about drm (which I didn’t), it’s all gone now. Crack your books people…it is the only way to protect your investment.
If you wish to go back and look at previous year’s counts and rants you can find them here: 2012, 2013, 2014, 2015, 2016.
Leslie and Earl’s book counts and summaries can be found by following the links.
Instagram This Week
Instagram This Week
Instagram This Week
October in the Gulf Islands
I had been bugging a buddy of mine to go sailing for years now and he finally managed to get a week off…in the middle of October! But what the hell, Never for Ever has a heater…
We also talked another old buddy into tagging along—this would be the first “road trip” we had taken since just after high school—exciting stuff. As I had previously mentioned neither had much experience on boats so I was a tad nervous about making sure everything was right.
The Cruise
I arrived early to make sure everything was ready and to sort through our stuff in storage for anything I wanted on our short cruise. I walked over and met Brian S (did I mention both my friends are named Brian?) at the Seaair terminal and and brought him back to introduce him to the boat. Then we grabbed the courtesy car and made a provisioning run.
The next afternoon Brian R arrived and we finished off the “last minute” (insert the word booze) provisioning and, since we had missed slack at Dodd’s, went out for dinner.
We did spend an hour or so running around on some last minute errands. We couldn’t find the sides of the enclosure (they were stuffed in a locker) and the bloody Webasto wouldn’t fire up. This turned out to be one of the major flaws in my plan. The Webasto hadn’t been run since May and something had gummed it up. We tried again and again through the trip to get it running but in the end we did it without any heat.
Day One
We were off the dock at 1159 and hit Dodds just before the 1350 slack with Brian R at the helm. A half dozen or so sea lions were frolicking and hunting in the current and a few of them seemed like they playing chicken with us as we squeezed through the narrows. It was a sunny calm day and there was no wind so we motored all the way to Pirates Cove and I let the crew maneuver us around the shoals and in through the narrow entrance.
Apparently my instructions were clear and coherent because the two Brians managed to drop the anchor and get us secured in the centre of the cove with no issues. We crowded aboard Laughing Baby (three grown men apparently take up a lot more space than just Leslie and I) and rowed ashore to hike around. Unfortunately it was close to high tide so we didn’t see much along the shoreline but had a nice tromp though the woods regardless.
Day Two
We were off the anchor by 0945 and after just a few miles the winds started to climb and we hauled out the sails. They stayed a steady 12-15 knots as we tacked back and forth down Plyades Channel and into Trincomali. My stalwart crew kept the sails up and we beat right past Reid Island and into Houston Passage.
Eventually our tacks were getting broader and broader and the wind was dying enough that our progress south was almost non-existent. So we reluctantly hauled in the sails and started up the motor. The winds did pick up again but by that time it was getting late and we just wanted to get into Ganges.
We tied up on B dock at the Ganges Marina right at 4:30 and then headed into town to explore. There was some interest in real estate potential so we picked up some flyers and debated the pros and cons of living on Saltspring Island before heading to the Oystercatcher for dinner.
Day Three
It was another nice day as we cast off around 1130 hours and motored out of Ganges Harbour. An hour later with the Channel Islands just ahead we (I think it was Brian S) spotted a spout just ahead which we quickly identified as a pod of orca.
I took over the wheel and sent the crew forward with cameras rolling. For almost the next hour and half a pod of 8 or 9 orcas led the way as we rounded Beaver Point and headed to Portland Island. At one point they completely disappeared only to reemerge about 100 feet off our port side. Needless to say everyone was ecstatic. We didn’t lose sight of them until we angled away to head for Royal Cove and they seemingly headed into Fulford.
We stern tied in Royal Cove around 1400 and once again headed ashore to explore. A short walk took us the middens at Arbutus Point where poked around before heading back to the boat.
Day Four
It was slightly rainy as we raised the anchor and the winds were predicted to be up. We motored west as we wanted to catch the current up Sansum Narrows. All day the wind and waves built and we were treated to a pretty bouncy ride. Everyone seemed ok with motion (which was a relief). Eventually we had 20–25 knot winds from behind as we cleared the narrows into Stuart Channel. We decided to head for Telegraph hHarbour and I called ahead just make sure they were open.
What I failed to asked them was what services they still had. Because we had all been talking about a hot shower and it turns out they had turned the water off and the showers and toilet facilities were all closed. Bummer.
And in all the rain we had been having all day I discovered that what had been, 6 months ago, a small intermittent leak from somewhere near the mast was now a raging torrent. We cleverly rigged up some string to direct the water into a bucket which allowed me to sleep in the salon and stay relatively dry. In case you are wondering I had left the tarp in the storage unit (why on earth would I need that for just 5 days…) and yes, the leak is now fixed in time for winter.
Day Five
The weather was better when we cast off the next morning and headed for early slack at Dodds. The plan had been to spend the last night at anchor in Nanaimo Harbour, but the winds were predicted to build from the south and some of the crew were jonesing for a hot shower. So we headed to the fuel dock instead (Brian S successfully bringing us alongside) and then tied up in our slip for the last night.
The aftermath
The next day Brian S caught his flight out and Brian R and I cleaned up the boat and stored our gear. The plan had been for us to fly out by Seair the next morning but a fog set in and Seair wasn’t guaranteeing the flights would go on time. We ended up cancelling our flight and hopping on the ferry. It turns out our flight did go but by that time we were already at YVR waiting to fly back to Edmonton.
All in all it was a great, albeit rushed trip. The lack of heater wasn’t too much of an issue but something to keep in mind for next time. The leak was a bit more of an issue, but who could predict after such a long dry summer. And I successfully managed my first cruise with new crew. Hey, maybe I am good at this…
A static version of the map for prosperity:
—Bruce #Cruising
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