Airship Goes to Alaska – Day 3
Yesterday after we got to Silva Bay (Gabriola Island) and got most our work done (we did not rent scooters), we took the dinghy out for a spin to explore the bay.
We got pretty close to an eagle sitting in a tree and I was able to get a good series of action shots of it taking off and flying over to another tree. (It's an eagle flip book!):
New tree:
Back at Airship in time to make a dish to bring to last night's potluck dinner. That's Dorothy, another Nordic Tug on our left, and Adagio, an American Tug on our right.
Yesterday's weather was just gorgeous…sunny and in the mid to high 70s. Nice night to sit on the top deck and watch the sunset:
Our alarm went off at 5:30am so we could be up and ready for a 6am departure.
This flotilla of 7 boats is a lot like the Airstream caravan we did up to Banff a couple years ago. We all monitor VHF channel 68 so we can talk to each other (just like we all had walkie talkies on Channel 5 for the caravan). It's fun, and nice to travel as a group into waters that are unfamiliar to most.
Here's Cabernet, a Krogen 48:
And Dorothy, an older Nordic Tug the same size as ours:
Today's route involved crossing the Strait of Georgia, and the wind was not as light as promised once we got out there, but it wasn't bad at all.
Thelonius (the Monk trawler) and Adagio (American Tug) after we'd crossed the strait:
Entering Pender Harbour:
We are staying at the Garden Bay Pub Restaurant & Marina in Pender Harbour, and we're all on the same dock, so that's fun!
Our new view up toward the pub (where we had dinner tonight):
We inflated our kayak and headed out for a paddle. All was lovely until Kevin pointed out the snake, SWIMMING in the water. I got a photo of it as it slithered up onto the rocks. I thought snakes only swam in the south!
Also, starfish:
It was a gorgeous paddle around the harbour. This is heading back to our dock:
Cabernet on the left, Thelonius on the right:
I definitely did not pack for 80 degree weather…which is what it turned out to be today! If the weather doesn't cool down a bit as we head north, I'm going to need to pick up a few gift shop t-shirts!
We did a bunch more work back at the boat (super fast Wi-Fi here!!) and then had fun socializing with our group for a bit before showering and getting ready for dinner. We topped off our water tank, threw away the garbage we've accumulated, and we're ready to go for a 7am departure tomorrow morning.
Here's our route from today (35.5 nautical miles, 5 hours 17 minutes). The torpedo testing range Whiskey Golf was not active today, so we got to cut through the corner of it.
Tomorrow we'll be headed (54 nautical miles) north to Teakerne Arm in Desolation Sound, which is here. We'll be anchoring in front of a waterfall, and taking the dinghies ashore so we can hike up to Cassel Lake after we get settled. I'm pretty certain we won't have internet, but you never know! If we don't I'll be sure to take a bunch of photos and post them at the next opportunity. We're really looking forward to this next stop!
Glad to see Yuculta, Gillard and Dent were a “non-events” for the most part! We’ll be transiting those with Mark in the beginning of July.
Looks like fun!