2019 Trip Round-up
Where we were
Happy Father’s Day!
I know I have blogged the whole trip with overly-lengthy and oft boring trip reports but I thought I would add a wrap-up for those who just couldn’t stomach all those words. And a map of course…
Some Stats
- 35 days total
- 27 nights at anchor
- 8 nights at marinas (2 at our home port)
- 5 new anchorages
- 4 lunch stops
- 2 raft-ups
- 1 day of rain
- 0 nights on a mooring ball
- 20 days travelling
- 77.5 hours at sea
- 421.5 nautical miles travelled (780.6 kilometres)
Interesting Wildlife
- 2 pods of orca
- 3 tube-snout fish
- lots of sealions (even one sleeping at sea)
- 1 immature bald eagle
- a dozen or so oystercatchers
- 2 deer
- 1 market squid
- and a clam digging back into the sand
Most Interesting Sight
- 1 display of extraordinary local knowledge
“Local knowledge” is the term used when a boater navigates a dangerous area using prior experience (and not through ignorance). The image above was taken in the Copeland Islands. The pass which this Bayliner just transited is completely dry at low water and this image was shot about mid tide. We were holding our breathes as we saw him come through anticipating some sort of horrible scraping as he bounced off the rocky bottom. But fortunately he motored casually through, barely slowing down. Extraordinary.
In Summary
We’ve almost kicked the marina habit. Without the flotilla and good management, I bet we could have gotten our total number of nights at a marina down to 5 or 6. And that really makes my wanting to shell out $1000 for a portable generator a non-starter. Oh well.
And once again we reaffirmed our decision to sail in the early season—awesome weather, minimal mosquitos and rarely too hot & sweaty. And, except when we sought out the company (the CYC flotilla), minimal crowding at some of the prettiest anchorages around.
Not tons of wildlife this trip but some interesting new anchorages (Ballet Bay, Tenedos Bay, midway down Von Donop and Pendrell Sound). And I learned a lot about sail trim from watching the other boats on the flotilla. So all in all a great trip. Hopefully enough of one to last me until next year…
As always a jpeg of the map in case Google ever gets mad enough at me to block my access:
Great trip stats! Definitely sounded like a relaxing and fun time on the water.
I’m heading out July 11th – August 11th from Seattle -> Gulf Islands -> Sunshine Coast -> Desolation for 10-12 days, and then back to Seattle. Looking forward to exploring some of the same locations you visited.
After having a sailboat for 25+ years and only one with a generator years ago, I can say the freedom, privacy and marina cost savings that the power boat + generator has already realized even in the short trips this year are quite big. Not having to worry about close quarters maneuvering in a marina you remember being at last year, but can’t quite remember if you have the slip numbers right is a thing of the past. Arriving, dropping the hook, and being able to do that day after day with the water maker, LiFePO4 battery bank, bigger alternators to charge those back up is a godsend.
Well if you need a cabin boy, keep me in mind 😉
I hear what you are saying about the freedom. If and when we ever trade in for a new boat I think I will be looking at the kind of capital investment you were and make sure the power and water is looked after—because we are definitely not marina people. 🙂