Friday & Saturday, 7/26/13 & 7/27/13 Salt Springs, BC




Nuttie the Squirrel

With our good luck mascot, and with great weather and calm seas, it was an easy run from Sidney to Ganges Marina, on Salt Springs Island(a distance of 16.75 NM).

  

After docking and watching fellow tugs arriving, we walked into town and lunched at the Tree House Café.

Tugs lined up at Ganges

Time for making new friends and relaxing on day 1 of the trip

 



 

 

 

Saturday was the famous Ganges open air market, and the best thing we found there was our friends Scott and Lily!  They were delayed from meeting up with the group on Friday due to a very rough crossing from Vancouver over the Strait of Georgia.  Happily, they were able to join up with the group in Ganges today.

 

Preparing for Nanaimo--Captains (and First Mates) meeting on the dock.





Thursday 7/25/13 Sidney, B. C.

Sunny day in Sidney, B. C. 

On our way . . .

Wednesday July 24, 2013

We are officially off!  After a busy 4 days to drive up from CA, ready the Kenji Maru to our satisfaction, and prepare a few meals to freeze to take with us, we were finally off!

Left Anacortes at 10:28 a.m. in breezy but sunny conditions.  We quickly found ourselves in a fog bank and in 3 foot confused seas with intermittent 4-5 foot waves crossing Rosario Straits.  Sure glad Don paid attention to Captain Mac during our boat orientation and knew how to use the radar!

After passing through the San Juan Islands [no pictures available as the Admiral was busy trying not to lose her cookies] and crossing Haro Strait, we cleared Canadian customs in Sidney, B. C. at 1:48 p.m.

Where we will be . . .

The first week will be spent getting to Desolation Sound from Washington.  Here is where we will be going. 

 Anacortes to Desolation Sound

 

1. Anacortes, WA

2. Sidney, BC

3. Salt Spring Island, BC

4. Nanaimo, BC

5. Comox, BC

6. Cortes Island, BC

 

 

Once we arrive, we will be exploring Desolation Sound.

Desolation Sound

More to come . . .

Getting ready . . .

 
Purchasing a previously owned tug from the factory provided us a warranty period and the Ranger Tug delivery experience (2 days on-the-water training with the factory and with an experienced captain).  With all the comforts of home (shower, toilet, microwave, cooktop, oven, and BBQ), the Kenji Maru has enough fresh water to stay "on the hook" for 3-4 days, with a boating range of roughly 200 nautical miles. 

In order to increase our ready made meal options (and to ensure a supply of ice for cocktails!), we added a portable freezer. 

Because we plan on anchoring in quiet coves, we outfitted our tug with a larger anchor, dinghy and motor, and stern tie rope.

 

A stern tie enables us to run a line from the boat stern to shore, stabilizing the boat and permitting anchoring in tighter spaces that would otherwise be unsafe.


Because Don is a redundancy guy (translation: safety minded), we also carry an extra anchor, extra VHF radios, and even an EPIRB.  

An EPIRB is an emergency beacon that emits a distress signal to search and rescue teams.  While we hope to never need it, we are glad to have it as part of our safety inventory, and are happy that someone cares enough to want us to make it back (love you too, Glen).



So now we are ready to set off on our first extended boating voyage!




In the beginning. . .

2005 marked the beginning of our plans to explore the Pacific Northwest.

Intending on relocating to Washington in retirement, we found a house with an ocean view--something we had always dreamed of having.

Of course, seeing the water led to our thinking, hey, we should get a little boat to have fun on the water!  So in 2006 we purchased our first boat, a 1983 Larson runabout.

Anyone who is into boating knows that, sadly, it never stops with one boat.  We are now on our fourth boat, a 2011 Ranger Tug 27'.  I have been assured this will be our last and final boat (seems to me I've heard THAT before), since it has all the features for cruising the waters of the Pacific Northwest.  From my perspective, it also has the necessary creature comforts I desire!

I have to say in all honesty, I never thought I'd embrace boating to the extent that we now do.  The turning point was when we chartered a 64-foot yacht with our boating pals Scott and Lily, and ventured into southeast Alaska.

 

  

It was a fabulous trip, and one that fueled our desire to make our dream of boating in the Pacific Northwest and Alaska a reality.

 

 

This trip with fellow Ranger Tugs marks the kick off of our official Pacific Northwest adventures!