Chatterbox Falls

As is now almost expected, it is another beautiful  sunny  day. We are so spoiled!!

Looking South to Vancouver Island from the South entrance to Agamemnon Channel

It was a beautiful scenic 45 mile trip up Agamemnon channel and Jervis inlet to Chatterbox Falls, no wind , cloudless skies, surrounded by towering mountains with snow capped peaks  Not too many boats around today, wilderness cruising at it's best !!

Fish farm in Agamemnon Channel

"The Admiral" surveying the territory

Left Pender Harbour at 12:40 pm so as to  reach Malibu rapids, at the entrance to Princess Louisa Inlet,  at 4:30 to 4:45pm which is the predicted time of “slack tide” at the rapids.


Entrance to Malibu Rapids lower foreground about 5 miles away



It is really important to transit these rapids at the correct time as flood or ebb tides can reach current rates of 9 to 10 knots and create standing waves 6 to 8 feet tall. It  a very dangerous place to be when that happens as the rapids are narrow and the channel zig zags so you don’t need the current pushing you around. The transit only takes 5 minutes but needs all of your attention even at slack.

Looking over Patrick Point to 5000+ feet  Mount Helena (5th daughter of Queen Victoria)

Making a big wake in Queen's Reach

We arrived at the Rapids at 4:40 , just after the turn to ebb tide and had an effortless passage, it is another ½ hour past the rapids to Chatterbox Falls at the head of Princess Louisa Inlet. This is a BC park and there is a Parks float at the end which is restricted to boats under 55 feet and to 72 hour maximum stay. We have stayed on the float during past visits but tonight it was already full up when we got there so we had to anchor.

15 to 20 seals met us at Malibu Rapids

The inlet is extremely deep, too deep to anchor, right up to very close to shore. Our preferred anchorage is right in front of the falls, you can nose your bow up close to the stream coming off the falls, drop your anchor close inshore and let the stream flow  push you back and hold the boat facing into the current.

 In any event , this prize spot was already taken so we had to settle for a deeper spot along the shoreline. We had trouble getting the anchor to set as the bottom drops from 35 feet close inshore to 200+ feet a couple of boat lengths back but eventually it seemed to hold and we settled in for the night.

Inbound Malibu Rapids just after HW slack, note water ripples as tide turns to ebb



Looking back out the rapids it is a blind turn to right to exit



Next morning when we went to hoist the anchor, it dragged up a piece of rusty steel cable, probably left over from logging here 50 or even 100 odd years ago. We were well hooked to the cable so our overnight worries of anchor dragging were unfounded. It was not too difficult to free the anchor from the cable as it was almost rusted through and ten minutes later we were on our way.

Low water slack tide was just after 10 AM and high water slack at 5:25 PM. With  a  4 hour trip  back to Pender Harbour , if we waited for afternoon slack at 5:25 we would be arriving at Pender in the dark so we decided to leave right away after breakfast and do some sightseeing on the way back.

Inbound rapids at HW slack, lodge kids at poolside

We checked out Harmony islands  in Hotham Sound, it is recommended as an anchorage in some guidebooks but we did not find it very inviting. Kipling Cove is nestled inside 3 little islands, two of which are private with at least one home and a dock and there was one boat already anchored. It was about a 30 footer but seemed to take up most of the cove with the private dock.

Outside between the islands and the mainland it is possible to anchor close in to shore but it was all in shadow and not at all appealing.


Deserted Bay
on Princess Royale Reach



Our idea of anchoring is to get some views and some  privacy and these close quarters  overlooked by a  home close by on shore would not provide that. We do notice that lots of the anchorages mentioned in the various guidebooks seem more suited to smaller boats than ours or for braver souls  than us that don’t mind getting up close and personal with the shore and the rocks.

Arrived back at Pender Harbour around 4:00PM and anchored in the large sheltered Garden bay where the shoreside homes and other boats are far enough away to give everyone their privacy.

:Captain Bob" on duty Sept 7th 2011



Click on location link below for a Google Earth view of where we are now.









Labour day sunshine

This weather is really fantastic, can’t believe how long it has held on without and rain or cold and the forecast looks good throughout Western Canada for the next week almost.

Had to wait till tuesday after the long weekend for Vivian’s medicine to arrive at the local drugstore, picked it up  Tuesday afternoon along with some last minute groceries and will be good to go tomorrow (Wednesday)

Could'nt resist taking more pictures of Pender Harbour sunsets!! Double click to enlarge pictures!

Laundry day at Pender Harbour

Another lovely day but quite a bit of dew in the mornings so it is starting to feel like Fall. Mind you , according to the TV weather report, it was frosty and  zero Celsius  in Cochrane last night  so I guess we are Ok here yet.

It really warms up nicely in the afternoons and is clear and sunny so we are not complaining .

Vivian fired up the washing machine this morning, we usually do that when we are at a marina with shore water and  50 Amp power but have not had that since we left Port Sidney so the laundry has been piling up. We have never tried the washer and dryer on the generator before but it seems to work fine and since we need to run the generator to recharge the batteries anyway we may as well make full use of the power.

Now that the water maker is finally working, we can also run that at the same time as the laundry does take a fair amount of water.

We need to be self sufficient for our trip to S.E. Alaska next year so it is good to get all the bugs ironed out now.

In the afternoon we took a dinghy ride to Madeira Park and a walk to the grocery store , drugstore and the local bookstore for a rake around. The drugstore was all out of Vivian’s medication so we will have to stay here till at least Tuesday till it arrives.

That is no hardship as we really like it here.

There was a live band playing in the parking lot today and lots of locals and tourists just sitting around enjoying it.   Pender Harbour is apparently a pretty musical town with several small music festivals throughout the summer and Fall. They have a Chamber Music Festival, a Blues festival and a big Jazz festival later this month.

Later we toured around the harbour area checking out the boats and cottages and stopped for an ice cream at John Henry’s General store. The sign at the entrance reminds you that it is a ‘general “ store so not to look for anything "specific" ?? Fisherman’s humour!!

Back to Pender Harbour again

Left Granville Island at 12:30 and arrived Pender Harbour entrance at 5:00PM.  En route was a mix of sun and cloud and even a few sprinkles of rain for a while.

As soon as we anchored at Pender Harbour, the sun came out in earnest and it turned into a beautiful evening, we even anchored in a different part of the bay so we could maximize our sunset viewing.

The cruise up was uneventful and pleasant. And NO DSM ALARMS!!! So maybe it is finally fixed and was, as suspected all along, an electrical supply problem. It was always getting about 13 volts but I suspect there was a fluctuation in the amperage supply which was just enough to screw up the DSM’s computer brain.

Happy to leave civilization (and repair shops ) behind for a little while so will stay here for 2 nights then head up to Princess Louisa Inlet and the lovely Chatterbox Falls for a few days. It should be much quieter now that September is here.

Hopefully the last stop at Vancouver this year

Cloudy and a couple of showers in the morning but brightened right up by lunchtime and looks like a good afternoon and an excellent forecast for the rest of the week .

Will check the latest marine forecast in the morning before deciding whether to go or stay another day, the beauty of having no schedule means we can stay or go as the whim , and the weather, takes us. Right now the marine forecast also looks good for the next few days.

The CMC technician arrived promptly this morning and rewired the DSM directly to its own breaker on the 12 volt panel, the belief being that this will solve all the power fluctuation problems.

I remain to be convinced!!

"Painters Cove"  at E dock, Fisherman's Wharf, False creek, vancouver

Later!!!!

Did some fresh veggie and fruit shopping at Granville public market this afternoon, the food and the variety and selection are great but for a couple of reasons I will try hard not to come back here if I can help it.

(1) A tiny screw fell out of my reading glasses and I  had to take them to the local opticians for repair. Now any optician in Calgary or Cochrane or Arizona  or just about anywhere in the civilized world ,will be happy to do this at NO charge but here they charged $25.00 PLUS 12% HST= $28.00

                               AND WE EVEN HAD THE SCREW!!

(2) We bought some veggies at a stand and they had some Chinese “Golden gooseberries” that we had never seen or heard of before, now even though we bought over $50 of stuff from them, the Chinese proprietor would not give us a taste sample of a tiny berry unless we paid $0.25 for the privilege. Needless to say we declined!!

And Vancouver is wondering why their tourist numbers are declining despite their Olympic legacy.

Later we went back to local, Granville Island  Keg, one of our favourite restaurants, we had 2 excellent meals there in the last couple of weeks so were looking forward to a repeat, unfortunately it was not to be, the regular chef must have been off tonight so the meal was so-so forgettable!! A big disappointment!!

Anyway, we are out of here tomorrow, heading North at last for Desolation Sound.

Bob with Burrard street Bridge and North Vancouver in the background

Back to Vancouver----AGAIN !!

A little windy this morning, actually there is a high wind warning in effect  for the Strait of Georgia where we are going. Last night they called for Southeast winds which would NOT be good for us as we are going South but the forecast changed overnight to Northwest winds which will be behind us so we are going to go for it.

Checked with CMC, the Raymarine dealer, this morning  and they have the parts to hopefully repair our depth sounder tomorrow so all looks good to go.

Hoisted the anchor at 10:30AM but it took 15 minutes to wash all the heavy mud off the chain and anchor so we got under way at 10:45. All the mud is a good thing as it proves that our new anchor is doing its job and really sinking into the sea bottom to hold us in place.

It was another pleasant  flybridge trip as, with the wind behind us , there was no apparent wind where we were sitting. It was nice and warm, not too many other boats around and, with the tide pushing us as well we made good time.

Arrived at Vancouver False creek entrance at 3PM and were all secure by 3:30.

The auto pilot is now working well but the DSM alarm is still driving us crazy, we will see what tomorrows “repairs” achieve!!!

Inside the harbour there is no wind, just a slight breeze and it is quite hot in here ,much hotter than expected as they had forecast showers and overcast for this afternoon. Not complaining!!!

Planning to stay aboard tonight as we  checked out all of the  Granville Island gift shops last time we were here.

Pender Harbour Sunsets

Pender Harbour, about 40 nautical miles North of Vancouver , on the so-called Sunshine Coast, is one of our favourite places. It has a lovely sheltered harbour with several marinas and lots of places to anchor. There is no "town' as such but lots of homes and cottages and little stores in various different areas,

Today we launched our dinghy and went to the Madeira Park area where there is a marina and, a few hundred yards inland, there is a decent sized IGA grocery store as well as a bookstore and a Government liquor store.

We topped up on some groceries that we could not find in the fresh market at Granville Island but will wait for more fresh veggies and fruit till midweek when we go back to Vancouver again.

Granville island market IS expensive but is hard to beat for choice,  quality and freshness.

As you can see , the sunsets are hard to beat in Pender Harbour.



Painters Cove at anchor in Garden Bay, Pender Harbour

After supper,we went for a dinghy tour of the various bays around the harbour to check out the other boats and to take some photos, I wanted some new ones of the boat after we had it all polished up this spring, it absolutely looks like new now. Also just had to take some new sunset photos as well as every one is different.

Was another fantastic day today , cloudless sky, light breeze and 25 to 27C, sure could get used to this.

Porpoises and Pender Harbour

Another nice hot day Thursday

Still same problems with the depth sounder alarm going constantly , spoke to CMC, they will order a 12 volt transformer to try to even out the power surges?? And we will return to Vancouver next week for install. Waiting for confirmation of date.

Truck ferry Gibson's to Bowen Island

Stayed over a second night at Gibson’s and walked ashore for an ice cream in the afternoon but otherwise had a lazy day reading and lounging.
Going by the truck ferries pictured, not much has changed here in the last 50 years since "The Beachcombers" TV show.
The guys inside the truck must be awful brave or awful stupid in my opinion.

There is a driver and a passenger sitting in the truck

It is now Friday and this weather is incredible, yet another beautiful sunny day with just enough breeze to be comfortable.

The Raymarine people confirmed an appointment for next Wednesday in Vancouver as it will take a few days to get the parts from USA so we decided to go up to Pender Harbour till then, it is only another 30 miles from Gibson’s and  we really like it there.

Left Gibson’s  just after lunch at 12:30PM and took the direct, though very shallow , route over Gibson Bar then turned North. The water depth goes from 125 feet to 10 feet and back to 125 feet in just over ¼ of a mile as you cross over the bar. No problem on a nice calm  day like today but with a wind over tide situation it can be life-threatening and must be treated with respect.

Porpoises in Hafmoon Bay

The cruise up was very pleasant, we were up on the flybridge all the way, then just as we entered Halfmoon Bay we saw a Government Fisheries boat and another small boat just drifting around. All of a sudden a school of about 30 to 40 Porpoises surrounded us, all jumping and diving, obviously feeding. They churned the water up like a washing machine and came within a few feet of our boat, we shut off the engines and just drifted around watching them for at least a half hour. It was a fantastic show!!

Must have been 30 to 40 Porpoises

Arrived at Pender Harbour at 4:00PM and anchored in Garden Bay, there are a few boats around but it is not too busy, lots of room to anchor and swing.

7PM and still 27C, expecting another memorable sunset tonight.

Remember to click on the location link below and to double click on the pictures.

Gibson's Landing

Beautiful sunny day, not much wind.

Left at  10:45 and did the Autopilot Sea trial  in English Bay which took till 11:30 to get the compass sorted out etc then we set out for Gibson’s Landing.

The Autopilot finally worked as it is supposed to and we had a good trip over arriving at  1:15 PM. Had lunch aboard then went for a walk up the town to see “Molly’s Reach” a local dockside pub made “famous” by a 1960’s TV series called ‘The Beachcombers” which was filmed here way back then.



Gibson's Landing Marina



BC ferry in Howe Sound heading for Horseshoe Bay terminal

The scenery here at the entrance to Howe Sound is fabulous and it is easy to see why it was picked for a TV series.

The rest of the town was not much, the usual gift shops, fish and chip places and used bookstores but it was a place I had always wanted to see and it seemed a shame to miss it when we were so close by.




Gibson's Landing marina

 

Bob with backpack



Painters Cove on E dock at Gibson's landing



When we arrived back at the boat we found the DSM alarm still sounding off so that part is definitely NOT fixed. I am still convince that it is some kind of an electrical supply issue and since we have already spent most of the summer trying to fix it I do not want to leave the area here till we solve the problem once and for all. Will call the Raymarine dealer in Vancouver in the morning and head back there as soon as they can work on it again.





Sunset in Gibson's Laning

"The Admiral"

Back to Granville Island

Back at Granville Island dock last night after our Indian Arm cruise. We are back for more electronics repairs, hopefully they can fix it right this time.

Pouring rain this morning and supposed to rain all day, up to an inch (25 mm).

The tech from CMC  arrived promptly at 10AM as promised , took out the new (last week) course computer and installed a warranty replacement. At the dock that did seem to fix the problem of the rudder going hard over but it was too rainy and crappy to do a sea trial so I will reserve judgment till we actually see it in action.

As far as the DSM, he replaced a cable and  a couple of plugs and re made some electrical connections (again). Again it is stable for now at the dock but we can only hope that the problem is fixed this time.

Weather should be better tomorrow so we will do a full sea trial and compass linearization then try again. The tech, Levy Manuel,  is a really nice professional guy and I am sure he is doing his best for us

Decided to stay here for 2 more nights, wait out the bad weather and do some more fresh food shopping, we sure went through the last  fresh veggies and fruit pretty fast. We sure eat good while we are boating<

Sad news today , Jack Layton ,NDP leader and leader of the official opposition in parliament died this morning aged 61,  only 4 weeks after a cancer diagnosis. While  I never agreed  with his politics it was obvious that he was a committed and energetic leader who did great things for his party and worked hard for what he believed in .  It is so  sad to see his life cut short so soon after  achieving  his greatest electoral victories and the best showing the NDP has ever had in parliament.

Vancouver Harbour and Indian Arm

Northbound in Indian Arm

Northbound in Indian Arm

Another beautiful sunny day with a bit of a breeze out in the open.

We left Snug Cove just before 11:00AM and headed for Vancouver Harbour and Indian Arm which is an inlet or fiord which meanders about 20 miles inland past the harbour. It is lined with million+ dollar homes and cottages, a lot of which must only be accessible by boat, there are also summer camps and lots and lots of speedboats, canoes, Seadoos etc  and no end of yahoos to operate them!!



Approaching Second Narrows Bridges



Once past Vancouver harbour and into the sheltered channels there was no wind and the temperature zoomed to 38C, it was HOT!!

The scenery is fantastic, 5000 foot mountains, some snow covered in the distance and , for most of the day, a cloudless blue sky.

We went right up to the end where there are a couple of small boat docks but minimal anchoring room as the water is several hundred feet deep right up to the shoreline. Vancouverites are surely blessed, with such fantastic wilderness areas so close to the big city.

The homes and cottages I mentioned are mostly  at the end closest to Vancouver and once you get further up the inlet it is quite wild with only the few occasional shoreline cottages.

We returned to False creek about 5PM, the slip was empty but the water was alive with Kayaks, rafts and Seadoos all fiddling about enjoying the unexpected bonus good weather. The dock is too high for Vivian to step up from the swim step so she has to jump down from the gunwale and of course there is never anybody around to catch lines when you need them.

Anyhow we landed safely, tired and sunburned from our enjoyable cruise and relaxed aboard for the evening.  All in all it was an interesting cruise although we both agreed that Howe sound was the better of the two trips.

North end of Indian Arm looking Northeast