In Port Hardy we hummed and hawed about going down the outside vs the inside of Vancouver Island, and it wasn’t until we were actually underway that we decided to go up to Bull Harbour “and just have a look”. Well, one thing led to another (good weather forecast, the sense of excitement jumping out into an unknown area) and we decided to head around. The feeling of camaraderie amongst the five boats in the anchorage was strong and the…
Well, it’s been another long hiatus from this site, but now that the dark and rainy season is here again, I can spend some time in front of the fire doing a bit of updating. As usual, things have been busy, with sailing, and with other adventures. The big event of 2018 was that we took the summer off and sailed up to the midcoast and around Vancouver Island. Below is a map using data imported from the Garmin InReach…
We were lucky to get two weeks away on the boat this summer and we decided to head north. Our first day was a big one, we left at 6am, motored to Porlier Pass (~2.5 hours) and then sailed for another 7.5 hours all the way to Jedidiah Island. Â Jedidiah is home to several old abandoned buildings and orchards, some feral sheep and goats, and an infinite number of mosquitos. Here we are on our first night there : …
It’s been a jam-packed summer (much like this blog post is going to be!) and here are a few highlights: We had such a good time in the San Juans last year that we went back for another week. Here’s Nyah botanizing at Sucia Island. Salt Spring also had a music festival!  The adults enjoyed watching a slate of great bands . . . . . . while the kids mostly ran around the field in packs. Construction…
It’s been a long time since I’ve posted here!  So long that I’m not even going to try to make this an update, but instead I’ll just start with this weekend and move forward from here. Never look back they say! We spent this weekend in Winter Cove, Saturna Island, which is truly a lovely place.  We didn’t mean to go there, but when we set sail friday evening there was such a nice northwesterly blowing that we didn’t want to…
We can live in our house!  On Oct 31 we got a conditional occupancy permit and are free to move in.  We still have a few things to do before the building inspector will give his final approval, but we can move in! (and who needs proper stair railings anyways?). In any case, we’re still living in the trailer while we do a few final jobs, but now that my sister is living with us and we have a dog, we’ve got…
At the beginning of August we went to the San Juan Islands for 10 days. Â We’d never been before, but we had a great time and we’ll certainly go back. We hit the beach a lot, hiked, explored some rocks and caves, Â We stopped in Friday Harbour for a night to see the big city, fill up on ice cream, and re-stock on fruits and veggies before we got scurvy (you can’t bring most produce across the border). Â While…
Just in case any one still checks on this very neglected corner of the web, I thought I’d put up a few photos to show how things are going around here. The house is coming along and we hope to be in this fall.  Not that the RV has been bad, but I won’t miss having to get a kid up before I can turn their bed back into our table. Here’s the current status (please focus on the lower right corner and not…
Over the last couple of months we have stopped the destruction (or at least slowed it down) and begun some construction around here! We’ve started with bathroom renos  (ie removing the horrible makeshift outdoor tub). and working on the w/c (why does Doug always pose for the the bathroom shots?!) The kids are getting into the construction. We even hosted the first meal in our house (-shaped object, it’s not a real house yet) and afterwards…
It’s been a busy few months. On March 1st we took possession of 5 gorgeous acres here on Salt Spring Island. It came with a few extras: . . . and on March 2nd we lit our first burn pile, ordered a dumpster, and put a trailer hitch on the Echo. For a brief time we owned this school bus, this cut-out of the USS Enterprise, several toilets, this hovel, and this hovel. We’ve borrowed trucks, had lots of help…