Author: zoebird2005

We are so thrilled with the outcome of our efforts today ! Well – of Mike’s efforts!

The reason we are in Powell River is to have Mike – who knows the Webasto heating system – to take a look at our Webasto and see if he could diagnose the reason it is not working. It stopped working in 2020 when we were in Seymour Inlet. Mike used to live in North Vancouver but before we could get him to check out our system he moved to Powell River. A lot of work had been done so far to figure out the problem. In 2020 COVID made getting parts from the US very difficult.

And then as we were traveling yesterday another system – engine heat – failed.

Engine heat is like turning on the car heater when you’re driving along on a cold winter day – except you get hot water too. And the Webasto is the same sort of heater but the engine is not running – so we can get heat and hot water at anchor. The Webasto is a little diesel powered furnace.

So today – Mike fixed both Engine heat and the Webasto ! FIXED ! We were just hoping to get information about what was wrong so we could order parts !

After all the work was done we walked up to Thaidal Zone Restaurant just across the street from the Marina office and the Ferry terminal. Dinner was really good ! Well worth the walk – and it was quite the walk ! Another success.

All in all a very good day ! Tomorrow morning we are heading to Prideaux Haven.

We might just come back to Powell River again !

If anyone is interested in following our route you can do that on the Marine Traffic App

And we are off! The start of the BIG ADVENTURE!

The plan this summer is to circumnavigate Vancouver Island. Not sure if I mentioned that already. I have a feeling I may have to read the previous posts before I blog! Haha.

This year we set up Star Link Satellite WiFi. Because the weather forecasts can be hard to get on the west coast and very important to have an accurate weather forecast before heading out with a cat that barfs in a 2 foot chop! We set the Star Link up at the home dock a week or so ago and it is amazing! We get faster wifi speed than we get at home. It was so incredibly easy to set up. Jim did it in less than an hour! And you just plug it in and poof – wifi! So with that I’m hoping to do more blogging as we go.

We left Steveston around 8:30 am and arrived at Garden Bay in Pender Harbour and dropped anchor around 4:30. We gave Lilly her pill at 7:30 and she was pretty chill most of the day. Although we had a brief bit of confused seas as we were travelling past How Sound and Lilly didn’t like that much.

Hmmm. It must be almost Happy Hour!

We had a nice trip to Sidney BC on the May Long weekend for a mini Krog In Rendezvous.

The weather was lovely and warm and sunny !

We stayed 3 nights at the Port of Sidney Marina. We had a great time catching up with some Krogen owners that we haven’t seen in a few years. And meeting new Krogen owners. Lots of discussions about the summer plans.

The weather was a little windy on the way home. We’ve got some medication to help Lilly with her sea sickness. We also got a new crate for her that is a little bigger and more open. She was pretty good on the return journey which was a little bumpy.

We are busy working away getting the boat ready for our summer trip. The plan is to circumnavigate Vancouver Island. and take Lilly! Could be an adventure!

Last year was a bit of a bust. We moved and that consumed our boating season. We managed only one week on the water.

We are getting the boat ready for the summer this month. We just had Phoenix Hunter up on the hard for a few days. A bit of cleaning. Changed the sacrificial anodes.

We have already been out for a couple nights – south to Anacortes. Fuelled up. The seas were a little rough on the way south. Lilly was not happy – unfortunately. But that aside it was a nice trip.

And this weekend we are heading to Sidney BC for a Krog In Rendezvous.

After rescuing Henry the Heron we motored around the corner to a small village that is on the map as New Vancouver.

We took a guided tour of the village by a lovely young woman that gave us a detailed history of her family and her grandfather that rebuilt the village mostly on his own with the help of his sons starting in the 1970’s

The story of her grandfather rebuilding the Big House and the meaning behind all the poles on the front of the house was really fascinating.

Her family is from Knight Inlet and Glendale and their last name is Glendale. In the spring they all go up to the head of Knight Inlet and fish for Eulachon. Spending a number of weeks processing and rendering them for their oil. The oil is used in cooking as well as valuable for trading.

The village docks are available for overnight moorage. There is a store that sells food and produce as well as gifts. And apparently some baking! But the store was not yet open. So no baking the day we went there much to my sister’s disappointment. The village is just starting to open up to visitors after the COVID closures. Well worth the stop !

And we were pretty sure we saw Henry on the dock when we were walking around the village.

The next anchorage we stayed at was Dead Point on Harbledown Island. We had never anchored up there before. It was a pretty little spot. Definitely would go back there again. There was some trails on the island for walking. Although we did not find the one trail we were looking for we did get off the boat and go for a short walk.

We had some excitement the next morning. While we were drinking our morning coffee we saw two eagles attacking a Blue Heron. The heron was in the water and to two eagles were dive bombing him and were surely going to kill him. Not really wanting to watch a couple of eagles murder a heron Jim yelled really loudly and scared the eagles off. The heron then flew directly to our boat. The heron was pretty wet and could barely fly but managed to first get close to the back of the boat and fell in the water. He then manage to get himself to the railing of the boat.

He sat on the railing of the boat for about 30 minutes or so. Drying off. He vomited up his morning meal of fish. We just let him rest.

After about 1/2 hour he flew off but did not go very far. He was still a little weak and the eagles were still hanging around. He flew right back to the boat and sat up on the boat deck – on top of the Life Sling. He stayed there for another 1/2 hour to 45 minutes. He then moved a little further up the boat deck. By then he was pretty dry. And pretty strong. I opened the door to check on him and when flew off with confidence. We saw an eagle fly after him but then give up and turn around. We were very pleased! We pulled the anchor after he left.

Heading back from Knight Inlet we pulled the pots. Teaching Sharon the finer points of prawn pot pulling.

We dropped the prawn pots in Tsakonu Cove and then motored up Knight Inlet to Glendale. We stayed the night at Glendale in hopes of seeing some grizzly bears.

We had a bit of a breeze in Glendale but the anchor held tight. No bears so that was a disappointment.

Sharon became our official photographer this trip. She took a lot of great photos.

July 8th

I am not getting a lot of cell service this trip. Mostly we are hanging around The Broughton’s. Just out of cell service. Or with a tiny bit of 3G floating in and out.

After two nights in Prideaux Haven we transited the three sets of rapids and spent the night at one of our favourites spots, Shoal Bay.

Sharon was able to go for a big long hike up to the gold mine. She took a few wrong turns and never found the gold mine but had quite the walk from the sounds of it.

Shoal Bay has a little outdoor pub operating this year. But not the night we were there! We were looking forward to a pub night. Happy hour in the cockpit instead. Beautiful weather and a beautiful view

It’s been a lot of work for Jim getting the boat ready for the 2021 year. There have been a number of issues that needed to be fixed – the windlass being the first one. With the border closure in March of 2020 getting parts for the Plath windlass from Portland Oregon has been an adventure to day the least! It was months of waiting and work and then retooling of parts.

Then the Generator – finally after months of work and trying to source parts it was decided that the generator really needed to be replaced. Many other boat projects were completed this past year.

We were set to head out in May. And then June. And in June we had to say good bye to our dearly loved Jenny. After 14 years. She lived to the age of 15 1/2 years old. Jenny didn’t come with us on the boat the last couple of years. She found the stairs and getting on and off the boat too difficult. We missed her on the boat. We miss her so much. She was such a wonderful dog. So loving and gentle. Our hearts are broken.

So we finally headed off July 5th. We brought my sister along for a couple of weeks. First stop was Pender Harbour for a night. And then two nights in Prideaux Haven.

The weather was hot and sunny and the water temp was 24c. We all went for a swim the night we arrived and the next day Jim and Sharon donned their snorkelling gear and changed a few zincs on the boat. Jim was pretty thrilled with that.