Pacific NW

Expeditions

Last night we had a tense moment sailing into Squitty Bay. The sun had just gone down and the light was fading fast. I am always apprehensive about coming into a harbor in the dark, especially an unknown one with as tight a fairway as Squitty Bay. Nevertheless, we made it in safely and rafted up to an old power boat on the dock crowded with empty boats. Lee fired up the wood stove and cooked an excellent meal of tomato soup and salad. He is very good at maintaining optimum stove heat output, and cooks great meals. We woke to a calm, spectacular sunrise that thrilled all of us first thing in the morning. As we wove through a chain of tall, rocky islands, three juvenile bald eagles flew over the boat, followed a minute later by an adult. It was a good omen. Then we saw the weirdest thing. Right down by the waterline at the base of a sheer cliff was a sheep! We don’t know what it was doing there or how it got down there, but it looked wet. Christoph and I composed sea chanties on the accordian as we traversed the Straight of Georgia. A ribbon of snow-white geese or swans, 50-60 of them, flew by. We are all still settling into our routines. There is still a lot to be done on board. It is getting easier for me as Christoph and Lee learn more of the boat’s systems, but I am still bombarded with many tasks, navigation, the need to be alert at all times, etc. I am grateful our weather has been calm and warm to this point. Today we wore T-shirts at midday. More porpoises and dolphins today, and tonight the stars are reflecting off the water in our anchorage.