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Island Dreams No. 922 - Salish Sea Sail

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Carl in LA
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Response Posted - 08/12/2019 : 21:24:13

Nanaimo...

A bigger city with even a couple higher rise buildings...

And apparently bigger industry... a large sawmill operation south of Nanaimo...

I had a few chores to do in Nanaimo so I pulled into the Harbor Authority public docks for fuel (Ladysmith did not have fuel). And using the radio to contact the harbormaster he said I could sidetie to a boat for a max of thee hours... perfect...

Can you find the little 250?

One chore was to replace my bow light... yes... hauling up the anchor too fast I had knocked the lense cover off... thankfully Nanaimo Harbor Chandlery had the exact unit in stock.

I also purchased a couple of charts... one for the northern coast of Vancouver Island and the second for the northern Straight of Georgia... Yes, Navionics is excellent and I use it all the time - but I'm old-school enough that it helps to pick up the chart and see what the big picture looks like.

The next chore was to go to a Tellus Celluar store and purchase a 4G prepaid plan... the 2G or LTE that T-Mobile had negotiated with Canadian carriers was not getting the job done. For instance - all of these posts being done from Canada are being done when WiFi is available... which is why I'm several days behind in posting. The clerk at the Tellus store could't offer much in the way of prepaid plans but she did switch me from LTE to 3G... so it's better - but not by much... still can't post pics via the phone.

So I was happy enough with my Namaimo visit... bow light - check, charts - check, 3G - check... all that and a Subway sandwich... not bad for a three hour window.

And a closing shot of Nanaimo Harbor public docks looking north.

Onward up the Vancouver Island coastline.

Catalina 250 - Pretty Good Boat

Carl in LA
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Response Posted - 08/13/2019 : 18:22:46

And what a sleigh ride it was... while still in the northern bounds of Nainamo Harbor turning the corner to the east I felt a steady head-on blast of 15-knot wind... the wind was from the southeast and thankfully I was headed northwest... but it was quite a ride... the wind on the Straight of Georgia had built up frequent little two foot waves with a three footer every now and then - perhaps the result of a wake on top of a wave.

The boat rolled side to side even with the main up. Eventually I gave up on downwind sailing and lowered the main and had to manually baby the rudder to find the sweet spot to minimize the rolling...

While I was not particulary loving the down wind ride I felt worse for those going the other direction... their boats were pounding along into the chop.

North of Nanaimo the the next two ports are Schooner Cove and French Creek.

Benson, my knowledgable boat neighbor back at Ladysmith, had mentioned both of these as destinations for overnight. Making good time rolling along I decided to bypass Schooner Cove and reach for French Creek. Overnighting at French Creek would also make the following days run to Comox more manageable... I believe it was an additional 11 nautical miles to French Creek.

When I arrived at French Creek it was noticed that the gate was very small. And, the fisherman were headed out for the evening... so I had to circle a lap waiting my turn to enter... worse than the narrow gate was the dog-leg to get from outside into the harbor. Interesting layout.

Once in it was obvious this was a crowded port. I had been forewarned that boats would be double and triple side tied. That was the case.

I took a chance and glided into the ferry dock which was empty in order to stop and pick my side tiw victim. There he was... only 30 feet away... a nice trawler that already had several fenders out - they know how it works at French Creek... I restarted and completed a very long and successful day on a side tie.

A couple of views inside French Creek Harbor...

A Coast Guard Station...

And the multipurpose ferry dock and the boat launch ramp...

Onward to Comox...

Catalina 250 - Pretty Good Boat

Edited by - Carl in LA on 08/13/2019 18:30:25

Carl in LA
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Response Posted - 08/13/2019 : 21:34:12

Comox...

The plan was to get more north before crossing from the Vancouver Island side of the Straight of Georgia to the mainland side. The first fellow that befriended me at Skyline Marina called crossing the Straight "big water". I did not bother to tell him of my many crossings between LA and Catalina which is also big water. I understand his concern - and I'm certain with wind the Straight of Georgia would be a handful... I already had a taste of the rolly poley from the easy southeast wind.

So I did not mind continuing to Comox as the jumping off point to cross the Straight. I could have continued along Vancouver Island all the way to Campbel River which is at the end of the Straight - but seeing how all those channels wrap around the clutch of islands up there did not thrill me either... I'd take my chances crossing from Comox.

I took a couple more pics leaving French Creek Harbor...

You can already tell what kind of morning it was... CALM... Much better than rolly rolly...

In the calm conditions I even picked up a hitch hiker... my wife commented on the translucent wings... Our world is such an amazing place.

Benson also said another good reason for staying on the Vancouver side would be the opportunity to slip behind Denman Island... Denman would give you protection from whaever the Straight was trying to do to you - which on this morning was nothing - but - again - Benson was looking out for my interests and I appreciate that... Here is the southern end of Denman with its lighthouse on Boyle Point...

After a few miles cruising on the inside of Denman I came up on a ferry...

Navionics had a note that this was a cable ferry??? I had to take a closer look...

Conveniently there is a public dock adjacient (which seems to be the case all across British Columbia) to the ferry terminal. It was lunch time so I made lunch before inspecting the ferry operation...

At the top of the dock were informational signs about Denman Island.

And another of these long gangways due to the significant tides in the area.

And I chatted with the BCFerries staff to get the backstory on a cable ferry...

More in the next post... running out of daylight just now...

Catalina 250 - Pretty Good Boat

cudamank
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Response Posted - 08/15/2019 : 16:32:46

Thank you for sharing. I have been to Vancouver and Victoria, and rode the ferry between. I look forward to being able to trailering Jenny, my 25' Catalina FK/SR up there to sail.

1982 Catalina 25 SR FK
"Jenny"

Carl in LA
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Response Posted - 08/15/2019 : 18:35:02

It's pretty good cruising up here so far... I'm doing this in August which may be the best weather month which also means many others are doing the same thing. I finally figured out to trust the weather and capacity to put miles under the keel and called ahead to reserve a spot in a marina... so a reservation has made arrival less stressful.

Also - I have learned there are many launch ramps throughout the area - if you dont mind dipping your trailer in the salt water - just haul closer to your desired cruising grounds to save time (being limited to launch points with travel lifts).

Also... in my observation this area favors motoring over sailing... I've noticed a couple sailboats of our size with 15 and 20-hp engines... wish I had 20-hp...

quote:
Originally posted by cudamank

Thank you for sharing. I have been to Vancouver and Victoria, and rode the ferry between. I look forward to being able to trailering Jenny, my 25' Catalina FK/SR up there to sail.

Catalina 250 - Pretty Good Boat

Edited by - Carl in LA on 08/15/2019 18:36:19

Carl in LA
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Response Posted - 08/15/2019 : 19:25:44

Back to blogging on a forum...

We were on our way to Comox and sidetracked to learn more about the cable ferry...

No decent pictures to explain - but... there are three cables involved on the cable ferry... these cables cross the channel and are anchored to the terminals on either side. Two of the cables trolly along the sides of the ferry... they are the guide cables... the third cable is threaded through the middle of the ferry and its onboard drive mechanism. This cable is - I guess - its traction cable...

And the ferry drives itself back and forth on the traction cable. Cool. The BCFerries worker said the traction system used one third the diesel than the regular prop ferry.

She also mentioned that the regular propeller ferry is still used at this location - when maintenance is performed on the cable version.

Here is a pic of the terminal for the propeller ferry...

As Bensen had mentioned - the benefit of going up behind Denman Island would be protection from whatever weather was happening in the Straight of Georgia... I don't know what was happening out there but I do know that nothing was happening in here... very impressive smooth as glass cruising...

Also observed along the northern segment of Denman Island were aquaculture operations... mussles maybe?

Sorry... no pics of the arrival to Comox Harbor... partly because I was observing the local yacht club manage at least 20 Optimist type youth sailboats teaching sailing and partly because the VHF radio in one hand and the tiller in the other leaves no hands for cell phone pics. Here is a pic of the inner public side of the harbor... can you find the little 250?

Here is the signage at the top of the gangway...

And here is the office building...

Very nice showers...

And clean laundry facilities...

Comox Harbour (every now and then I'll use the local spelling) is divided half and half east and west... the east is the public dock side as seen in the earlier pic. The west side appears to be permanent moorage... with the north half for pleasure boats and the south half for commercial...

While looking into the commercial side I noticed this tuff looking expedition sailboat there on the corner... and there was a second one of thse things along another dock - perhaps some sailors start their Northwest Passage sail from Comox???

Here is a pic of the pleasure boat side of Comox Harbour...

Ok... that's the ten pic limit... another post to continue the visit to Comox...

Catalina 250 - Pretty Good Boat

Carl in LA
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Response Posted - 08/15/2019 : 19:53:43

Continuing in Comox...

In the previous post I mentioned that there was a second expedition type aluminum sailboat in the commercial side of the Comox Harbour... you can kinda see it in this pic...

Ok... we can talk... many of us probably considered purchasing a MacGregor 26 when shopping for our Catalinas... I'v seen several up here... and with their 60-hp motors - I can say they have their place covering a lot of ground quickly or laughing at adverse currents... so no disrespect to the MacGreggors from me... especially these old X's... same interior layout as the 250. At the time back in the '90's they were dorect competetors...

This Mac is trawler-style... no rig.

And what made this X even more interesting was this nicely done dodger... I think someone has a pretty cool little cruiser...

(Earlier today I stared up at the floppy jib and thought to myself - why did you even bring the rig... should have left it in San Pedro and saved the effort raising/lowering/stowing...)

The marina development has a really nice park adjacent...

And I managed to find a barber on the way to the grocery store...

And found more health food (mental health)...

Which mostly ends the Comox part of the story...

The weather for crossing the Straight of Georgia was forecast to be fine for the following day. No issues there... and I did not want to stay on the Vancouver Island side all the way to Campbell River - so the next day would be crossing big water.

Catalina 250 - Pretty Good Boat

Carl in LA
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Response Posted - 08/15/2019 : 20:52:51

Crossing the Straight of Georgia...

The plan was to leave pretty early and first go to the moorage (west) side of the Comox Harbour to the fuel dock and top off all tanks... which I did.

The goal for the day was to make it to Lund. Lund is the last town before entering Desolation Sound.

I refer again to Benson and his help planning the route... Benson showed me that there was a long southerly bar between the point on Vancouver Island east of Comox and the northern tip of Denman Island. The bar must run three miles... I had watched other boats crossing and they all seemed to go southerly so I did the same... I did not log the least depth of my crossing but I would guess somewhere in the 30 foot deep range - plenty safe...

Benson also pointed the lengthy shoal running south from the eastern tip of Savary Island. That shoal has to be a couple miles long. Savory is way to the east in the Straight... so as Benson pointed out... you cant cut any corners... you have to go south to get out of Comox and you have to stay south to clear the shoal (and rock) off Savory.

So south I stayed...

Mid channel I bypassed a meterological bouy...

It was some very leisurly cruising...

An aside... and a risky one at that... weather... Being new to the area I just don't have a sense about how thing's work... where does the wind come from during August? Where does danger lurk? And I certainly learned the hard way about currents and tides... but Benson said something that may help - but needs verification by someone with local knowledge...

When we were looking at the forecast - there was a prediction for rain... and Benson said "If it's raining at least the wind won't be blowing"... and he said that in the context of not having a rough dangerous crossing due to wind. Wonder how true that is???

In any event, I received a stressful business phone call - mid channel - so in order to reduce stress I rolled out the jib and faked some sailing...

So after squaring off the corners to avoid the shoals and rocks I finally turned mostly north again, grinding along on my way to Lund.

It was beautiful...

Until I got to Lund... no pics again... there was a problem... Lund was packed and they were having boats wait for moorage by circling offshore... I would have been like eighth in line... considering that it was still kinda early in the day and I was aware that another set of docks were up ahead I went for it... I bypassed Lund...

Worn out just now... more to follow...

Catalina 250 - Pretty Good Boat

glivs
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Response Posted - 08/15/2019 : 21:41:10

Thanks for posting Carl....enjoying your journey.

Gerry & Leslie; Malletts Bay, VT
"Great Escape" 1989 C-25 SR/WK #5972

Stinkpotter
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Djibouti
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Response Posted - 08/16/2019 : 09:35:07

Regarding "expedition yachts", occasionally we have one or two big ones (more often power) docked here in Mystic, typically for a month or more... They look ready for the Southern Ocean, Antarctica, or the NW Passage. I think their "expeditions" are from here to Newport R.I, then Bar Harbor Maine, and then home to Ft. Lauderdale before it gets cold. But they turn heads in the harbors! (I never see anyone to ask where they've been.)

Dave Bristle
Association "Port Captain" for Mystic/Stonington CT
PO of 1985 C-25 SR/FK #5032 Passage, USCG "sixpack" (expired),
Now on Eastern 27 $+!nkp*+ Sarge

Carl in LA
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Response Posted - 08/16/2019 : 18:34:09

Gerry... my pleasure. Very much enjoyed so far...

quote:
Originally posted by glivs

Thanks for posting Carl....enjoying your journey.

Catalina 250 - Pretty Good Boat

Carl in LA
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Response Posted - 08/16/2019 : 18:36:27

Would not want to own one - wait a minute - sure... I'd love to own one. I'd use mine like you think they use theirs...

quote:
Originally posted by Stinkpotter

Regarding "expedition yachts", occasionally we have one or two big ones (more often power) docked here in Mystic, typically for a month or more... They look ready for the Southern Ocean, Antarctica, or the NW Passage. I think their "expeditions" are from here to Newport R.I, then Bar Harbor Maine, and then home to Ft. Lauderdale before it gets cold. But they turn heads in the harbors! (I never see anyone to ask where they've been.)

Catalina 250 - Pretty Good Boat

Carl in LA
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Response Posted - 08/16/2019 : 19:47:55

Onward to Desolation Sound.

As Lund was full and I was close to either Bliss Landing or actually entering Desolation Sound I kept motoring along north of Lund.

Leaving Lund you have a choice of going inside or outside the Copeland Islands. The Copelands may be a group of small islands but they are lined up such that going inside makes you feel like your travelling in a channel... going around the Copelands would not be a big deal as they are narrow and the outside route would only be a slight curve from going straight through the inside... I went up through the inside.

The price you pay for going inside is contending with boat wakes... during my 30 minutes travelling up Thulin Passage I must have been passed by twenty power boats, several of which were the 40 to 55 footer range just planning enough to toss two foot wakes... thrill.

The picture I took was during one of the quiet moments...

And these are a couple of islets as part of the Copelands. There appeared to be a couple nooks and crannys big enough to anchor in if you needed or wanted too.

This photo looking back toward Lund... it really is a straight passage.

The brief story of Bliss Landing... Navionics shows Bliss Landing as a marina... and there is a marina at Bliss Landing. And Bliss Landing is very close to the entry to Desolation Sound. So only looking at Navionics I expected to find a marina I could spend the night at...

But it was not to be... As I glided into this nice newer dock I did not see any shore side facilities... and there was a lady on the dock staring me down as I slowed and approached the dock... she took my line when I handed it to her but she made no effort to tie me off...

And then she explained why... Bliss Landing marina is a private marina for the property owners of Bliss Landing... no overnight moorage available...

I was destined to make Desolation Sound that day. Comox to Desolation at five knots... no cutting corners, no stopping - I'm going in!

And I did - and symphonies sounded and heavenly rays poured through cracks in the clouds and the burden of many years of thinking, reading, planning, preparing, expending, and ultimately doing were answered just by crossing an imaginary line... I was in Desolation Sound.

Now what...

Well... rather than continuing on ten more miles to Laura Cove I chose to go to starboard and find anchorage in Galley Bay...

Here is the cove on the west side of Galley Bay where I anchored.

There was this other boat already in there but there was room for both of us.

I was so moved and in the moment I became poetic...

At anchor
Green everywhere
Silence

Part of the reason for the silence was there was nobody on board the other boat... I dingied over for a visit and to verify I would not swing on anchor into their boat... nobody on board... knocked and knocked, companion way door was open... no answer??? Stolen boat? Owner dead onboard? Beats me...

No worries... I went back aboard Island Dreams to take stock of accomplishing a goal...

The little cove on Galley Bay in Desolation Sound was not deserted... even if the neighboring sailboat appeared deserted...

There were several small cabins along the cove as well as rounding the corner out into the bay.

And the anchorage that I thought was small for two boats ended up with four as the day wound down.

And a reminder to be careful sailing these waters... the rock guarding the cove became more visible as the tide went out...

Desolation Sound...

Epic.

Catalina 250 - Pretty Good Boat

Carl in LA
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Response Posted - 08/16/2019 : 20:48:01

Another day in the sound...

I had traveled several miles the previous day and did not have the opportunity to refuel at Lund or Bliss Landing... so before going into the Sound a bit deeper to Laura Cove I went over to Refuge Cove.

Refuge Cove is an icon (barely) within Desolation Sound. It advertises itself as the only grocery and fuel in Desolation Sound. Works for me. I've read about the place, seen many blog posts about the place, watched the videos about the place... you get the idea...

But sometimes you glance to the side and are awestruck by your surroundings. And that was the case travelling across the mouth of the Sound... the cell phone camera does absolutely no justice to scale of the place... But the iPhone tried...

My first mission at Refuge Cove was refueling... so first stop is the fuel dock.

And after fueling idle over to a spot on their docks...

And an explanation of what's going on at Refuge Cove... hope you can read the signs...

Should be easy enough to spot the 250 at this marina...

How many dozens of blogs have I seen this same pic... add mine to the list...

More of the docks and the nature of the cove... I thought it odd that a couple boats were anchored in the approach to the fuel dock but hey, anchoring is freedom - right?

Purchased a few items from the gallery...

And managed to pickup a splinter on my way out... crappie but sharp Harbor Freight Knife to the rescue...

So after thumb surgery its off to Laura Cove...

Catalina 250 - Pretty Good Boat

Edited by - Carl in LA on 08/17/2019 15:24:05

Carl in LA
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Response Posted - 08/17/2019 : 16:23:07

It may be a little hard to describe but I'll try... Laura Cove is part of a small archipelago on the south side of the Sound maybe seven miles in. There are a few islands that make up three anchorages. Laura Cove, Melanie Cove, and Prideaxu Haven. And there are a few little channels that connect each of these places - somewhat...

So as I had time and wanted to take the scenic route - I went through the smaller channels to better see the sights. There were rocks and shallow spots so I proceeded with caution.

And after navigating the tiny inlet to the first cove the anchorage was obvious... I believe this is the west side of Prideaxu Haven. The east side was similarly populated by power boats.

The entrance to Melanie Cove is offthe back side of Prideaxu Haven and I went back in there to check it out... pretty much a perfect anchorage.

Having satisfied my curiosity and confirming that Prideaxu Haven and Melanie Cove were perfect anchorages I continued on to Laura Cove. Two ways to get there... outside and around or through this absolutely narrow shallow pass... since we only draw four feet I took my chances and proceeded through the shallow pass... it was eight feet when I went through.

Along the way I noticed an island and a yacht with the dramatic backdrop of the mountains and thought it would make a good picture...

And finally, anchored in Laura Cove.

There were several other boats in Laura Cove although I did not take any pictures of them. They were all stern tied - I was the only anchorage hog but I also went way to the east end so I don't think I caused any loss of space with my swinging rather than a stern tie.

What is it they say? Cruising is repairing your boat in exotic places... yup - me too... remember that I mentioned I knocked off the bow light raising the anchor...

Perfect replacement...

A meloncholy moment. I'm leaving Desolation Sound the next day. Everybody is different and we each see things differently. For me, the goal of reaching Desolation Sound had been accomplished. I could declare victory and move on. Some may have been more patient and stayed a few days.

My face may reflect that while I'm moving on, Desolation Sound is everything it's reputed to be, at least the way I see it...

Headed to Lund.

Catalina 250 - Pretty Good Boat

Edited by - Carl in LA on 08/17/2019 16:25:31

Erik Cornelison
Navigator

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Response Posted - 08/18/2019 : 08:15:32

Excellent blog Carl.

Erik

Erik Cornelison
6th Generation Professional Sailor, First Gen Submarine Sailor.
1986 Standard Rig SW. #5234

Carl in LA
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Response Posted - 08/18/2019 : 08:56:14

Much appreciated...

Best,

Carl

quote:
Originally posted by Erik Cornelison

Excellent blog Carl.

Erik

Catalina 250 - Pretty Good Boat

Carl in LA
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Response Posted - 08/18/2019 : 17:47:46

Lund, B.C.

When you plan to go to Desolation Sound it's likely that you will also stop in at Lund. Lund is the closest "city" to the Sound... But I can't call it a city... I can barely call it a town... But it is a port and there are some shore side support services. Very helpful.

Lund advertises itself as the "end of the road" which it may be. When I watched youtube videos on Lund some points were made that its as far as you can get when you want to get away. I don't know if that's exactly true but I'm not going to argue.

As seen from the water - looks pretty good.

On this visit there was less boat traffic than the previous week... no boats circling outside the Lund Harbour breakwaters. But that is not the whole story. When I radioed in I was told to tie up to one of their breakwaters until space could be made...

The breakwaters look like docks and they have cleats for moorage. The breakwater docks are not connected to land. I believe there are three of these docks staggered to span maybe half of the cove... there is space in between them but not much. They can moor bigger yachts out there and they dinghy in if need be...

These floating breakwaters look like a pretty useful solution to a port without perfect protection.

Initially when I was told to tie up on the breakwater the Harbor Master told me it would be about an hour until the boat occupying the spot they wanted to put me would be clear. I subsequently learned that noon is check out time but they weren't sure that boat was going to leave - there was some discussion of an afternoon wind that might keep smaller boats in port - so they weren't able to move me in right away.

The hour came and went, then another 45 minutes go by... finally I see a mast moving over in direction that I would be headed... good... I was ready for them to scoot... why did they stay so long I wondered?

My instructions were to starboard tie to a forest service boat with a purple hull... huh? Purple hull? Well ok... let's go in and get tied up... and sure enough - a purple hull boat - but it must have been with the forest service decades ago.

I should first note that Lund Harbor Authority sent two dockhands to haul me in and tie me off - very helpful and greatly appreciated.

I went to the office and paid for the moorage and received the bathroom/shower door code. First things first - check the quality and cleanliness of the shower... perfect.

Then, to figure what makes Lund tick... why, even being at the end of the road, does it have a good reputation and seem to be a known place...

Ah ha. The Lund Hotel... ok, they call it a resort - looks a little small to be a resort but...

I wandered in not knowing what to do or where to go and I ended up in the gift shop - which has an ice cream bar...

And in the next room is the hotel bar...

The hotel restaurant...

Next door is a very well stocked General Store...

And a sign with some information...

So even though you are at the end of the road you still somewhere...

Pretty good start...

Catalina 250 - Pretty Good Boat

Carl in LA
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Response Posted - 08/18/2019 : 18:39:50

The Lund Harbour Master has a sense of humor - hope you can read the signs. ..

And...

We're not done with signs yet... this sign was in the Forest Service boat window... no way you're going to read it so I'll provide synopsis...

Decades ago the boat was floundering and about to be thrown up on a shoal... a blimp was in the area and saw the distress and flew close and dropped a line and pulled the boat to safety... that's what it says...

Now for a cruiser reality check... the laundry facilities are on the back side of the hotel... kinda gritty... not sketchy... just the working side of the hotel... oh well... I left my stuff in the machines while washing and went around to the bar... much better.

What could be better...

And then I saw the boat ramp... and I questioned my endeavor...

It dawned on me that I have invested too much energy and treasury in how I have prosecuted this cruise... if my goal was to get to Desolation Sound... just haul the Catalina 250 here to the "end of the road", back it down the ramp, launch, cruise around the corner, and boom, you're in... or even better, fly to Vancouver, take the bus to Lund, stay at the hotel, hire the water taxi to take you around the corner, and you're back in time for dinner in the restaurant.

Maybe you get more satisfaction out of doing things the hard way but that may not be the smartest way.

Enough of that... we're doing this the hard way so let's get to it.

An overview of Lund Harbor from land...

Continuing southerly on my walk around the Harbour takes you on this interesting path... do I see a palm tree on the left side??? I thought I was north of the 49th parrellel?

After another couple hundred feetI came to a point where the path turned into a boardwalk... and the boardwalk leads to the restaurant to the left in this panorama...

And the restaurant advertised that they had the best fish and chips on the Sunshine Coast... I challenged that statement and the waitress showed me the award stickers in the window - simp,e at this place - order fish and chips...

Which filled a day in Lund... pretty good.

Catalina 250 - Pretty Good Boat

Edited by - Carl in LA on 08/18/2019 19:18:18

Carl in LA
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Response Posted - 08/18/2019 : 19:36:28

The next morning in Lund...

When I looked out the tide was higher and made the ramp area look better to my eye.

I needed to stretch out and do some yoga... I studied the purple hull forest service boat aft deck but decided it would be too dirty. So no yoga today.

And a morning photo from the docks looking back across the shoals to the fish and chips restaurant.

I forgot to mention that there is a bakery along the path around the harbour... so I stepped in for a roll for breakfast and bought one for the road.

And that did it for me at Lund... time to move along.

Powell River up next.

Catalina 250 - Pretty Good Boat

Russ.Johnson
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Response Posted - 08/19/2019 : 13:05:40

Carl,
I sounds like you're having a great time.

Russ Johnson
2005 C250WB Hull 793

Carl in LA
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Response Posted - 08/20/2019 : 18:14:50

Thanks Russ... very good cruise so far...

Best,

Carl

quote:
Originally posted by Russ.Johnson

Carl,
I sounds like you're having a great time.

Catalina 250 - Pretty Good Boat

Carl in LA
Captain

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USA
284 Posts

Response Posted - 08/20/2019 : 21:19:55

The cruise from Lund to Powell River was pretty short - maybe 16 nautical miles. Which gave me all that extra time in Lund... and I see why those folks didn't want to leave the other day until after check out time - they wanted to maximize their time in Lund...

The weather was fine for this leg ando there were no issues with wind or waves.

This huge factory is the beginning of Powell River. I Google it and learned it is the Catalyst Paper Mill... apparently employees over 400... looked big from the water...

The ferry terminal, public docks, and marinas are just a couple miles south at an area named Westview.

I found open dock space just as I pulled in... very eas, and better, another boater took my lines and assisted with tie-up. Very much appreciated. I radioed in from the dock and the Harbour Authority said I could stay where I was for the night.

As the dock where I Ted up was at the south end of the public docks I unhitched the dinghy and motored to the other end to their office to pay up for the night.

At the office end of the marina was a good looking old cruiser... nice lines...

The Westview showers... As I was at the southern end of a lengthy marina, the showers I was told to use are slightly further south in a neighboring parking lot. The parking lot serves the Coast Guard unit that has facilities there.

The shower was clean enough and could be made spotless with just a couple minutes work... perhaps it was spotless at the beginning of the day.

As it was kinda away from the marina and kinda not too associated with the marina I got the impression that it may be used more by persons not associated with the marina... hey, the homeless have to keep clean too...

Worked fine for me...

Better upload quick... Internet connectivity issues...

Catalina 250 - Pretty Good Boat

JohnP
Master Marine Consultant

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1519 Posts

Response Posted - 08/21/2019 : 11:19:21

Hi Carl,
Wondering if you have tried any fishing along the way? There might be some tasty salmon in those waters!

JohnP
1978 C25 SR/FK "Gypsy"
Mill Creek off the Magothy River, Chesapeake Bay
Port Captain, northern Chesapeake Bay

Carl in LA
Captain

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USA
284 Posts

Response Posted - 08/21/2019 : 17:41:31

Hi John... no fishing for me... But I have seen dozens of other people fishing... I never got a good enough picture to post. Several fishing boats were grouped out in the middle of the Straight of Georgia off French Creek. Then, many single boats have been seen trolling near shore...

quote:
Originally posted by JohnP

Hi Carl,
Wondering if you have tried any fishing along the way? There might be some tasty salmon in those waters!

Catalina 250 - Pretty Good Boat

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