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

Howe Sound, Snug Cove to Squamish BC

Fantastic day in Howe Sound, maybe the best weather of the summer today, +30C and either calm or just the slightest breeze. Clear blue skies most of the day, dark green hills and stark grey mountains complete with snow covered peaks and hanging glaciers.

Does it get any better than this????

Cruising Howe Sound

All within an hour or two boat ride from Vancouver

Sun and snow at the same time

Vivian in command, heading up Howe Sound

We left Snug Cove marina at 11:15 and cruised up the Sound at 1000 revs giving 9.5 to 10.5 Knots depending on the state of the tide, we were up on the Flying Bridge all day and the scenery can only be described as FANTASTIC. Hardly any other boats even though it is Saturday and within a few miles of Vancouver.

Look real close and you can see the helicopter and the log below it

En route we watched a helicopter logging operation  picking up and transporting logs down the mountainside and saw lots of seals but no other wildlife. You could see the “Sea to Sky highway” that runs between Vancouver and  Whistler all along the Sound and it did seem to be pretty busy ,  mostly with campers and  motor homes, not too many transport trucks, but of course it is the weekend.

First mate and deck swabbie Bob

Got back to the Snug Cove marina about 5:15PM and today have a different slip from yesterday. It was right at the shore side end of the marina and pretty tight to get into so we had to spin around and reverse in. As we did so some half-pissed yahoo who was drinking on a 16 foot bow rider on the dock decided that since we were “rich’ enough to own a big boat we must be “too stupid” to dock it and proceeded to issue “instructions” to Vivian and to the marina dock employee and to loudly comment on all we were doing “wrong”

Just what I needed to hear!! Anyway I got ashore pretty quick and gave him some “good advice “and he left right away and we tied up in our usual way with no problems. The marina kid was very apologetic but it certainly wasn’t his fault that some of their customers are assholes.

Other than that little incident I have to say that today was one of our best days this summer.

Still at Granville Island

Well we were supposed to leave Granville Island on Thursday morning but when I powered up the NEW auto pilot there was an error message and when I called the installers it transpired that the tech was out of town and not back till Friday morning. We elected to wait as we REALLY need to have this problem fixed once and for all.

Today, Friday, Levi from CMC called first thing in the morning and assured me that the AP error

" calibration required” was purely a software glich due to the extra seconds it takes for the new course computer to recognize the heading sensor???

I suppose it could be true (NOT) but I have sent an email to  the Raymarine Factory to double check and will hopefully hear from them on Monday.

Meanwhile we left the dock at 1:15PM and went for fuel at the new Fuel station under the  Burrard  Street Bridge. Took on 1642 liters @$1.225 for a total of $2010.78 and left there around 1:45.

Went into the main harbour under Lions gate Bridge and cruised around past Coal harbour, Canada Place and the various Container and commercial docks for a couple of hours to check out the freighters and cruise ships , went as far as the Second Narrows bridge then turned around.



Lions Gate Bridge from English Bay





Coal Harbour Marina

We headed over to  Snug Cove on Bowen Island , just 10 miles away, to spend 2 nights at the Union Steamship Marina. We will stay there tonight, cruise up and around Howe Sound tomorrow, stay at the same Marina on Saturday night then unfortunately head back to Granville Island for MORE  REPAIRS as the new equipment is STILL NOT WORKING RIGHT!!!

As soon as we departed from False creek the NEW DSM module started acting up again , exactly as it has been all along . I immediately phoned CMC and was advised that all it needed was a ‘Factory reset” of the equipment. I did this and not only did it NOT fix the problem but I lost the depth sounder entirely. No more alarms but also no more depth sounder.

Additionally when I try to engage the Auto Pilot it immediately puts the rudder hard to starboard, kind of scary when it happened in the narrow , busy, channel  underneath Lyons Gate Bridge. Of course by the time this happened the Raymarine service dealer was closed for the weekend.

Needless to say we are now  less than impressed  with Raymarine service

On the bright side it was a lovely day and a lovely trip around Vancouver harbour and over to Snug Cove. The marina here is very scenic and the staff seem very nice. Had fish and chips at the local pub but it was crap as usual, we should know better by now!!

Last day at Granville Island

False creek looking over Burrard street bridge out  to English bay

Nice breeze and 25C by 2 PM, another really nice day here in False Creek.

The late local news last night had the rest of the story about the missing 8 year old that the police were searching for yesterday. Apparently he was at Granville Island play park with a day camp group from some child care centre. When it was time to leave the folks in charge evidently did not count the kids in their care  and left without him. They did not notice he was missing till later by which time the abandoned , shirtless,  8 year old walked home to his parents house by himself with half of Vancouver's finest still searching the city for him.

An interesting  story of BC bureacracy in the local paper today. Apparently an entrepenuerial local obtained a permit to set up a seasonal fresh fruit stand somewhere in the city but one of the conditions was that she couldn't sell more fruit than the local corner store sold. Since the amount,condition  and quality of the stand produce was more enticing to the local residents than the corner store variety, the worst happened and she was successful and sold too much locally grown, fresh BC produce. The predictable result being that the bureaucrats shut her down and cancelled her permit.

Welcome to the twilight zone !!

Went up to the market again for a supply of fresh veggies and fruit, it is a wonderfull fresh market but, boy, is it expensive!! Everything is about double the price we pay in Arizona.

Washed the boat as we leave here tomorrow morning.

You  probably know this but if you double click on the photos they will enlarge to full screen.

Granville Island

Vancouver and Stanley Park as seen from English Bay

Another beautiful day, sunny with a few scattered clouds. Was 29C  by 3 PM

Burrard Street Bridge over False Creek

Yellow building is restaurant on Granville island and towers are downtown condos on other side of false creek

Despite being right in the downtown heart of a major city it was surprisingly quiet here overnight and we had a great night’s sleep to make up for last night at Buccaneer Bay. We heard some yelling and screaming around 11Pm but it all must have settled down quickly because I didn’t hear another peep till after 7AM this morning.

Bicycle powered raft

The technician from CMC phoned at 8AM to confirm that he was leaving his office  and arrived promptly as promised at 9AM. His name is Levy Manuel, born in Winnipeg to Filipino immigrants and he is a very personable and professional young man.

We replaced the depth sounder module with a new one and went out for a sea trial in English Bay. It was lovely and calm and the DSM alarms seem to have stopped but , like me , he was unable to stop or disable the autopilot “watch alarm”. After a long discussion with his boss and with the Raymarine factory and various tests etc ,it was decided that the “Course computer” was faulty and needed to be replaced.

Back to the dock, obtained and replaced the “course computer” then back out to English bay for another sea trial and a bunch of maneuvers to set up and integrate the new hardware. This time all seemed to work perfectly, no” beeping” alarms going off every five minutes so it looks like we are good to go. (Less a  few more ‘boat units” as we boaters like to call thousand dollar bills!!!)

Another good service experience like this and I may have to grudgingly soften my opinion of BC, still , better wait till we get out to sea again and be totally sure that everything IS FINALLY repaired and working as it should before I do anything that drastic.

We were all done by 2PM and decided to go check out the gift stores and have dinner out. No point missing a “gift store” opportunity since we are here anyway. Just leaving the boat now at 4PM so hopefully the stores might close at 5 or 6PM.

Much Later!!

Had a nice tour of the gift shops etc and a really nice dinner at The Keg, had forgotten how good that Billy Miner Pie tastes.

Granville Island was teeming with police officers and it turned out that an 8 year old kid had gone missing earlier from a ‘Day camp” in the play area. The 911 call was made at 2PM after the staff had searched and couldn’t find him and he was still missing ar 6PM when we spoke to a Police officer.

We are all hoping that he just wandered off and will turn up soon.

Will stay here tonight and tomorrow night as well  so we can do some grocery shopping for fresh veggies and fruit and will leave here Thursday but will probably tour around Indian Arm and Howe Sound since we are on this side of the Strait of Georgia anyway.

Also want to be sure all the electronics are good before we leave the area for good.

Remember to click on the link for our current location!!

Leaving Buccaneer Bay-------

Last night in Buccaneer Bay for now and a beautiful sunset.

Noisy night with not too much sleep due to waves banging on the hull. Must be the direction we are swinging and combination of the wind and small waves. This is absolutely the worst night yet for sleeping.

The good news is that it is a beautiful sunny morning, breeze from the Northwest and marine forecast looks perfect for the trip down the coast. Approximately 40 Nautical miles to Vancouver. Have never been there on our own boat before so looking forward to it.

LATER!!

Perfect trip down the coast, no wind or seas to speak of, spent the whole trip on the flybridge for the first time this summer, every other trip was either too windy or too cold. It was not very busy coming into Vancouver, a few freighters anchored in English bay and maybe a dozen sailboats between here and Buccaneer Bay.

The harbour itself in False Creek is usually very busy but we had no problem booking a space and there are empty spots on the dock. We gave up on the Blue Pacific docks right on Granville island since they did not call us back even after two calls. We are at the False Creek Fisherman’s dock but it is only a five minute walk over to Granville island anyway.

We arrived and were tied up by 15:30 so after a shower we went for a walk, the market is open till 19:00 every night so we managed to get some bread and some fresh berries today. Will do a full shopping on Wednesday before we leave on Thursday

Raymarine repairman will be here at 09:00 tomorrow so will see what he can figure out . This will be the 3^rd different tech this year to look at it this year plus 2 last fall so sooner or later someone will come up with the right answer ?????

Remember to click on the link below for a position update.

Weekend warriers arriving.................

Sunny and 19C this morning, no wind and looks like a beautiful day. I imagine it may get busier here on the weekend , starting  today.

It is close enough to Vancouver for the yahoos with their speedboats and water toys.

Later…………………….. Sure enough, Searays, seadoos, wakeboarders and waterskiers…………………. And this is only Friday afternoon!!!! We went from 3 or 4 boats overnight to about 30 this afternoon and will not be surprised if more arrive this evening.

And what a beautiful afternoon it is, best so far this year 28C +, light breeze and a cloudless sky.

Still trying to set up a slip in Vancouver and then a repair appointment, unfortunately we need the slip confirmed first and looks like that will not happen today, maybe will get confirmation tomorrow but the repair guys will be closed on the weekend???

There is a reason that BC is a “have not” province, maybe something to do with the work ethic and the attitude to customer “service’ displayed by just about anybody you need to deal with!!

Anyway, we are retired so no big deal if it takes a few days longer but I can imagine if someone was on a 2 or 3 week vacation and lost a week like this that they would not be happy.

Will stay here another day or two until we get a plan sorted out then go to Vancouver hopefully on Monday.

Finally may have figured out how to do this................

Most days while we are on the boat I write up a short log book listing where we are or where we are going that day as well as mentioning whatever else may be worth (to me ) noting.

Up till now I have always just written this in my Outlook calendar which I open anyway to check my email most days, at least when we have Internet access. . It has occurred to me that if I lost my laptop, or it crashed or whatever, that I would then lose all that history and , after reading various boating blogs, decided that a blog would be a good way to store the information as well as any worthwhile photographs.
I just today also discovered that I can also identify a location on Google Maps, see below!!

While it is unlikely that my writings will be of interest to anyone else, if anyone does stumble across it please feel free to comment and/or criticize at will.