We just spent two days in Naniamo B.C. exploring
the waterfront. Our marina, Waterfront Suites and Marina, is at the
end of a grand esplanade that skirts the waterfront from our marina
to the boat basin about a mile and a half away. In the middle is
Maffeo Sutton Park. The whole waterfront is clean attractive and
well used by the locals. There are hundreds of upscale, (read
expensive,) apartments and condos all along the waterfront.
We also took the shuttle boat to Newcastle Island
Park and hiked another 2.5 miles there. This island is just across
the channel from our marina so we got a nice picture of Abby Normal
from the island through the trees.
Barb on Newcastle Island on a Perfect Day.
We are long on time on this end of the morning. We must take ourselves back south through Dodd Narrows later today. This is a tiny slot between Vancouver Island and Mudge Island of the Gulf Islands. This is similar to our Deception Pass between Whidbey and Fidalgo Islands. The tidal currents are on the order of 7 or 8 knots and reverse twice daily. The prediction table Tells us to be ready at 3:55 pm this afternoon, so we are napping and reading and writing a blog while we wait for the right time and the right tide. Remember the sailors adage, “Time and tide wait for no man.”
Abby Normal and Eye Gor
If you go to my website you will get to see several of the photos we have taken here in Naniamo.
Dodd Narrows from the South on Our Trip North
Gary, Judy and Glen Hiding from the Dragonfly in Maffeo Sutton Park
We had one more adventure on the way to
Ladysmith. Ed and Phil, my old sailing buddies, will identify with
this. We painted Abby Normal’s keel paint on a submerged rock not
two boat lengths from our slip. Apparently without further
complications. We went back to our slip and checked keel bolts and
bilges and found no evidence of damage. I got the wind knocked out of
me when I fell down the hatchway to the main cabin when the boat
literally bounced off the rock. Glen is planning at least a diver
inspection when we get back to Brownsville.
Yes, we made our date with Dodd Narrows with an
hour to spare.
On Thursday, August 2, we got serious about getting back to Brownsville Marina and Seabeck. We have been gone exactly 3 weeks now. We gathered our resources for the quick run behind Whidbey Island down to Kingston. Then it is a quick hop around the corner to Abby Normal’s home in Brownsville Marina.
Gary (Papa or Skipper Emeritus)
Skipper Glen
Bryce, (Swab and Deck Hand)
Judy and Barb kept this whole thing together. (What can I say!}
On Friday I took a full length video of our transit of Deception Pass. It is “boring.” so you will only get to see clips of it. I really needed to get a video of the North bound trip. There we rushed the timing to pass through the rapids a few minutes early, and the ride was wild. This time we rushed the timing by a full 20 minutes and it was flat water and a light following wind. The difference is due to three factors, the phase of the moon, it was a week after a full moon. We are having “neap tides” and the tide simply doesn’t go up and down very much. Second: we chose the high slack time period to pass through Deception Pass. So the water is full depth and the rocky bottom doesn’t throw up the big standing waves we get on the low ebb. Finally there was little wind outside the pass to throw wind waves at the cliffs. “Boring.” It was a little chilly this morning at 7 am with s threat of
rain. In the afternoon that cleared away and we are set for more idyllic warm weather.
One of the things that Judy, Glen and I found fun to do has been a bird walk each morning. The sun rises early these days we’re not inclined to sleep in. About 5:30 a.m. We gather up the camera and my cell phone and choose a so called “Hot Spot.” Recently Judy has been doing all of the camera work. I keep track of the identified birds in an application called e-birds. The e birds app is a free application for tracking your bird finds and helping you identify birds. It does more than that. You start by identifying where you are going go birding. You then indicate if you’re going to move or stay in one spot. You then pick a spot that other people have birded at, or create one of your own spots, like your own back yard. E-bird sets up a bird list containing birds that would be expected in your area.
While the app is running, it tracks where you go by GPS, and how much time you spend. You add new birds by scrolling to the correct species and tapping the counter. You can search out species by typing a few letters of the name.
If you are unsure of the bird’s identity, you click on the name and a page is opened with access to photos and details about the bird. Things like range and voice help narrow down the possible choices. When you finish your walk you check off a couple of information blanks and submit the report right from your smart phone.
This next part you might want to do first. Go to ebird.org and sign up for an account. You link your mobile app to this account. When you submit a list it shows up in your account here. You can then edit your check-lists, add photos, add or delete species etc.
As I write this, we are on the last leg of “The Grand Adventure.” When we pass through Agate Pass, we will enters Abby Normal’s home waters. That will be the sign that we are finished. The next task is to pack all the gear up the ramp to the cars and clean up Abby Normal.
I didn’t get this posted on Sunday, but the thought is the same. Here are photos of our motley crew.
On Thursday, August 2, we got serious about getting back to Brownsville Marina and Seabeck. We have been gone exactly 3 weeks now. We gathered our resources for the quick run behind Whidbey Island down to Kingston. Then it is a quick hop around the corner to Abby Normal’s home in Brownsville Marina. On Friday I took a full length video of our transit of Deception Pass. It is “boring.” so you will only get to see clips of it. I really needed to get a video of the North bound trip. There we rushed the timing to pass through the rapids a few minutes early, and the ride was wild. This time we rushed the timing by a full 20 minutes and it was flat water and a light following wind. The difference is due to three factors, the phase of the moon, it was a week after a full moon. We are having “neap tides” and the tide simply doesn’t go up and down very much. Second: we chose the high slack time period to pass through Deception Pass. So the water is full depth and the rocky bottom doesn’t throw up the big standing waves we get on the low ebb. Finally there was little wind outside the pass to throw wind waves at the cliffs. “Boring.” It was a little chilly this morning at 7 am with s threat of
rain. In the afternoon that cleared away and we are set for more idyllic warm weather.
One of the things that Judy, Glen and I found fun to do has been a bird walk each morning. The sun rises early these days we’re not inclined to sleep in. About 5:30 a.m. We gather up the camera and my cell phone and choose a so called “Hot Spot.” Recently Judy has been doing all of the camera work. I keep track of the identified birds in an application called e-birds. The e birds app is a free application for tracking your bird finds and helping you identify birds. It does more than that. You start by identifying where you are going go birding. You then indicate if you’re going to move or stay in one spot. You then pick a spot that other people have birded at, or create one of your own spots, like your own back yard. E-bird sets up a bird list containing birds that would be expected in your area.
While the app is running, it tracks where you go by GPS, and how much time you spend. You add new birds by scrolling to the correct species and tapping the counter. You can search out species by typing a few letters of the name.
If you are unsure of the bird’s identity, you click on the name and a page is opened with access to photos and details about the bird. Things like range and voice help narrow down the possible choices. When you finish your walk you check off a couple of information blanks and submit the report right from your smart phone.
This next part you might want to do first. Go to ebird.org and sign up for an account. You link your mobile app to this account. When you submit a list it shows up in your account here
. You can then edit your check-lists, add photos, add or delete species etc.
As I write this, we are on the last leg of “The Grand Adventure.” When we pass through Agate Pass, we will enters Abby Normal’s home waters. That will be the sign that we are finished. The next task is to pack all the gear up the ramp to the cars and clean up Abby Normal.
I didn’t get this posted on Sunday, but the thought is the same. Here are photos of our motley crew.
We were having just another one of those perfect days of sailing in the Gulf Islands. You know, the winds are about 5 to 6 miles per hour coming from exactly were we were going. This simply means we get to tack a lot, (that is turn into the wind and sail close to the wind in a zig zag up wind direction.) Unfortunately familiarity breeds contempt. We have gotten so good at tacking that we decided we needed to spice it up a little. Continue reading 20180728 The Grand Adventure – Part 3→
The Saanich Peninsula and the Saanich Inlet: Genoa Bay and Samsung Narrows,
We have arrived in Canada stayed at a very ritzy marina, The Van Isle Marina in Tsehum Harbor. There were many yachts over seventy five foot long. Hundreds more in the 35 to 50 foot range. We made good use of our time there with a birding walk around the edge of Roberts Bay. Lots of crows, Great Blue Herons and several Cormorants. We saw both Double Crested and Pelagic Cormorants. Continue reading 20180722 The Grand Adventure – Part 2→
