2000 Cruise to the
San Juan Islands and British Columbia Gulf Islands

Narrows Marina, Tacoma, to Ganges, Saltspring Island

Skipper and Guests
Thursday, June 29: Departed Narrows Marina at 8:35 a.m. heading for Des Moines Marina. Arrived Des Moines Marina at 10:35 a.m. and tied up overnight in Slip No. 8 for $16 plus $3 for electric power. Spent the night at home. Friday, June 30: That morning, fueled up the AFT tank with 38.9 US gal. Both tanks now full. Switched to FWD tank. Departed Des Moines Marina at 8:10 a.m. Passing Edmonds, I made some macaroni and cheese for lunch. Crossing Possession Sound there was essentially no wind. The only waves were from other boats. Some large swells from tug boats and commercial shipping. Arrived Langley Boat Harbor at 2:25 p.m. with an average speed of 6.6 knots. Fuel burn: 35.1 gal. Distance traveled: 41.2 nm. for 1.17 nm per gallon. Moorage was $16.5 plus $2.00 for electricity. There were five other open spaces for boats over 30 feet and five for smaller boats. I washed the upper deck and deck chairs. Dinner at 6:00 p.m. consisted of tossed lettuce, tomato, and green pepper salad with Italian dressing; baked snapper with boiled red potato and whole kernel corn. Chardonnay white wine. Saturday, July 1: Awake at 5:30 a.m. Bacon and eggs for breakfast with coffee and bread. Departed Langley Boat Harbor at 7:07 a.m. One to two foot wind waves from the north. Spotted lots of eagles in Skagit Bay. Arrived at Cornet Bay, 12:05 p.m. at an average speed of 5.5 knots. Fuel burn: 30.9 gal. Distance traveled: 27.4 nm. for 0.89 nm per gallon. Had to buck the current the whole way. Made lunch at 1:00 p.m. from leftovers. Walked to the main highway, about one mile and visited the Visitor Information Center. They have a free island bus system that operates Monday though Friday. If you call Island Transit at 306-678-7771, they will pick up at Deception Pass Marina. The bus operates approximately once per hour at 35 to 40 minutes past the hour. Fixed hamburger goulash for dinner with onions and green pepper.	Sunday, July 2: Up at 5:30 a.m. The temperature in the boat got down to 55°F this morning. Started the heater and the temperature was up 70°F by 6:30 a.m. For breakfast, had cold cereal (Swiss Muesli) and coffee. Several boats left at 9:30 a.m. to catch the outgoing tide before slack at 10:15 a.m. in Deception Pass. Low tide today in Cornet Bay is -3.5 ft. at 12:23 p.m. Made a BLT sandwich for lunch. After lunch, took out the dinghy and cruised around the bay. The park has free hot showers, so I took one. For dinner, made meat balls, mashed potatoes, and gravy. Monday, July 3: Up at 5:45 a.m. It was colder last night. The temperature inside the boat got down to 50°F. With the heater on it got up to 68°F inside the boat. Pulled off the State Park dock at 8:20 a.m. and cruised around the bay. Pulled into Deception Pass Marina at 9:00 a.m. Two nights moorage with electric power, $49.90. Very sheltered here. There is a little marine supply store here. Replaced the oar locks on the dinghy. Lunch at noon; fried ham and cheese sandwich. Dinner at 6:00 p.m. was tossed lettuce and tomato salad with Italian dressing and leftover goulash with bread and butter, accompanied by the last of the dry red wine. Tuesday, July 4: Awake at 5:30 a.m. Kept the electric heater on at 750 watts all night. The cabin temperature in the morning was a comfortable 66°F. Had cold cereal (Swiss Muesli) and coffee for breakfast. The low tide today is -2.7 ft. at 1:58 p.m. Made a sliced meatball sandwich for lunch. Linda and Jim arrived on time, arriving in Cornet Bay at 2:50 p.m.
Gloria's New Curtains
Wednesday, July 5: Off the dock at 6:15 a.m. with donuts and coffee.
Helmsman and navigator
Refuel at Orcas, 87.2 gal. at $2.14 per gallon. Discovered an oil leak. The alternator drive belt was rubbing against the oil filter hose. The oil had sprayed all over the engine compartment. I cut the hose at the place of the leak and clamped in a section of brass pipe. We got underway again and proceeded through Pole Pass and over to Jones Island. Just as we approached the moorage area, two boats pulled off of the dock and we pulled in to the dock, arriving at 12:30 p.m. Steak Barbecue for dinner.
Deer on Jones Island among trees fallen by storm.
Thursday, July 6: Up at 5:45 a.m. Headed for fishing south of White Rock. No luck. Abandoned the fishing at 9:50 a.m. and headed for Bedwell Harbour. Arrived Bedwell Harbour 11:20 a.m. and cleared customs. Gasoline here in Bedwell Harbour is 88.7 cents per liter, the equivalent of $2.18 US Dollars per gallon. Moorage with electric power was $40.30 Canadian ($27.41 USD equivalent). It includes use of the showers and pool. Friday, July 7: Up at 6:00 a.m. Off the dock in Bedwell Harbour at 7:45 a.m. Heading through Pender Canal. Stopped in Hope Bay to buy crab, but the commercial crab fisherman was not there. Proceded up Navy Channel and across Swanson Channel where we saw a large B.C. Ferry. Along Prevost Island, we spotted a goat climbing along the rocky shoreline. Arrived Ganges Marina at 11:00 a.m. Gasoline here was .795 liter ($1.95 USD equivalent per gallon). Found an automotive repair that could make a complete new hose for the oil cooler; $56.15 Canadian. Installed the new hose. Also found the fittings to make a permanent repair to the old hose to save as a spare.	Some pretty big boats come in here. The "Cellular I" looked to be about 100 feet. There was also the "Great Escape" which must be around 80 feet. Had Jim's ling cod for dinner with cracked crab and green beans. Saturday, July 8: Jim got up at 5:00 a.m. to go out fishing with the neighbor boat and returned at noon. Multiple disasters happened, including almost running aground and losing one of the two down rigger lead balls, and a flood in the head. No luck fishing, just two dogfish. There was a "Saturday Market" in town with local crafts people showing their wares in little booths. There is also a nice little fish market next to the Ganges Marina. Got $2.40 worth of smoked salmon, which was pretty good.
Saturday Market in Ganges, Saltspring Island
Linda prepared pork chops for dinner with mashed potatoes and gravy, plus a spinach and shrimp salad. After dinner, Jim went out fishing with an employee of the marina. He brought back a ling cod and two crab. The marina employee got a much larger ling cod. He did a beautiful job of filleting the fish.	Sunday, July 9: Up at 6:30 a.m. Bacon and eggs for breakfast. Off the dock at 9:50 a.m. heading for Otter Bay. Arrived at 11:30 a.m. Moorage was $37.04 with 15-amp electric power. At 4:00 p.m. we went up to hear the piano player. He played until almost 6:00 p.m. It included a lot of sing-along.
Sing along at Otter Bay
Ham and scalloped potatoes for dinner with crab and prawns for appetizers. Monday, July 10: Up at 6:45 a.m. Out of Otter Bay at 8:00 a.m. heading for Tod Inlet (Butchart Gardens). Arrived Butchart Gardens at 10:50 a.m. and dropped off Linda and Jim. Leave Tod Inlet heading for Sidney. Arrived Sidney at 1:05 p.m. slip H5.	Jim and Linda toured Butchart Gardens for about three hours and then got a ride into Victoria, arriving back at the boat about 6:00 p.m. Tuesday, July 11: Up at 7:00 a.m. Bacon, eggs, and hash brown potatoes for breakfast. Off the dock in Sidney at 11:00 a.m. heading for Roche Harbor. Came into a pod of Dall's Porpoise crossing Haro Strait. They gave a 20 minute performance of diving and surfacing around the boat.
Dall's Porpoise around bow of boat
Cleared Roche Harbor customs at 1:05 p.m. Moorage with electric power was $36.00. Wednesday, July 12: Up at 7:00 a.m. Had pancakes aboard the boat for breakfast. Sunny and dead calm. The fuel price here was $2.099 per gallon. Out of Roche Harbor at 10:00 a.m. heading for Friday Harbor. Reservation in Friday Harbor is slip H15. Arrived 12:10 p.m. Slip was open. Reserved moorage was $34.65 plus $3.30 for electric power (total $37.95).	Thursday, July 13: Up at 7:30 a.m. Made bacon and eggs for breakfast and moved to slip H35. Moorage for tonight (unreserved) was $24.75 plus $3.30 for electric power. Gloria arrived at 11:45 a.m. on the Island Commuter from Bellingham. Jim and Linda left on the 1:00 p.m. ferry for Anacortes. Did the laundry. Friday, July 14: Up at 7:00 a.m. Oatmeal with fresh blueberries for breakfast. Over to the fuel dock at 11:00 a.m. Filled the port side propane tank and put in 40.0 gal in FWD tank. Out of Friday Harbor at 11:30 a.m. Arrived Reid Harbor 1:30 p.m. on the dock. Moved to mooring buoy at 3:45 p.m. Fried fish for dinner.
Cruising on autopilot.
Saturday, July 15: Up at 6:45 a.m. Beautiful sunny day. Out of Reid Harbor at 8:20 a.m. heading for Bedwell Harbour Canada Customs. Arrived Customs dock at 9:50 a.m. Off the customs dock at 10:10 a.m. after eating breakfast there. Arrived Ganges 12:15 p.m. Sunday, July 16: Refueled in Ganges; .795 CAD per litre ($1.93 US per gallon). Out of Ganges at 8:50 a.m. heading for Roche Harbor. Cleared US Customs at 12:20 p.m. heading for Cornet Bay. Arrived Cornet Bay at 4:45 p.m. Monday, July 17: Up at 6:00 a.m. Baked some blueberry muffins. Started engine at 7:15 a.m. Out of Cornet Bay at 7:25 a.m. Arrive Langley Boat Harbor at 11:45 a.m.	Tuesday, July 18: Up at 6:00 a.m. Off the dock in Langley Boat Harbor at 7:00 a.m. heading for Poulsbo. Got kind of rough, so headed into Edmonds, arriving at 9:10 a.m. Fueled up while we were there. Out of Edmonds at 10:15 a.m. heading for Poulsbo. Arrived Port of Poulsbo at 1:15 p.m. slip E17, $16.50 including electric power. The weather was very hot. Wednesday, July 19: Up at 6:00 a.m. Out of Poulsbo at 7:40 a.m. Breakfast in-route to Narrows Marina. Arrive Narrows Marina at 2:00 p.m.