And We’re Off! (Written Monday, August 13, 2012)
After a morning of final preparations and business
communications, we finally untied mid day.
It was a beautiful day and the water was flat. Our first leg consisted of a 4 mile run to
Blakely Island Marina as Connor and I were having a nasty craving for a chili
cheese dog and a malt. The way the crab
has been washed down with salt and butter, this could be the perfect ending to
my pre-cholesterol pill life.
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After Blakely, we pushed the throttles down for about a 45
minute smooth ride to Poet’s Cove Resort to clear into customs. This was one of two times in all our years
cruising up here that we were actually boarded by a customs agent. They were mostly interested in guns and
alcohol, which I am also somewhat interested in but for different reasons, I
think. It turns out I forgot about my
two little bottles of home-made Dolphin Cove wine and Val forgot about her
Kahlua, Baileys, and Vermouth she uses to cook with. Of course, they did a thorough search of our
boat and then gave me a firm scolding but were gracious enough not to take our
Nexus status away (or our booze)….oops.
After finally clearing customs, we took the little cut
between North and South Pender Islands and then throttled up for about 40 more
miles through the Gulf Islands.
By 5:30
or so, we had the anchor set in a little cove somewhere in the northern Gulf
Islands and had a chicken roasting on the grille. As thankful as I am for our little Magma
grille, anyone who uses one knows your food will either be raw or completely on
fire…there’s no middle ground with these babies! Keep a fire extinguisher handy!
It was a perfect sunset and the layered mountains proclaimed
God’s glory exquisitely. Even the seals
seemed to be rejoicing frolicking around the little islets surrounding our
boat.
The days are getting shorter already. As I write this blog, I would guess the sun
will set by about 8:30 tonight and it wasn’t that long ago and it was around
10PM. The nights are really getting
cooler too. Val is writing a
letter. Connor is on shore brushing
Lucky and Tanner, a nightly ritual for them…it really keeps the shedding under
control. If he missed a few days, the
hair gets so bad it actually plugs up my scuppers! A big black dog and a white, wet boat…not a
good combination. (Actually, it
is!) When Connor gets back, it’ll be our
nightly game of his choosing and then we’ll all succumb to the gentle roll of
the sea beckoning us to our berths.
The boat has been working great with no problems whatsoever,
thank God. The forecast looks good for
our run up the Strait of Georgia tomorrow.
Hoping this finds you all well.
