We entered Homfrey Channel which is over 2400 feet deep. It is the deepest sounding in coastal North America. The 2400 foot deep water is surrounded by sheer mountains that rise over 8000 feet high. It makes one feel very small and humble to be here.

We spent several nights at Toba Wildernest. Andrea, Rowan and dog Teddy made us feel right at home. Dad/husband Kyle was in Campbell River getting supplies. Rowan is four and what a talker. She took us on a tour of the grounds and told us to be careful of the goose poop. We also got fresh prawns as a welcome gift. Yum !!

Sittin' in the mornin' sun I'll be sittin' when the evenin' come

Watching the tide roll in And then I watch 'em roll away again

I'm sittin' on the dock of the bay Wastin' time Wastin' time

JUST LIKE THE SONG................

Waterfalls. Waterfalls. Waterfalls and more Waterfalls. And the runoff has not started.

Logging is everywhere you turn. Its almost impossible to find a hillside that is not being logged or is just recovering from a recent cut. The loggers live on large boats tucked in bays and commute by helicopter.

The porpoises found us several times during the day and played in the Freyja bow wave. They are so fast and dive under the boat and run along side trying to get Freyja to go faster so they can jump higher. So fun to watch.

Mornings are the favorite times. Mostly very calm water and heavy clouds and fog.

Freyja tucked in safe and sound at Gorge Harbor for a few days. 40-45 knot winds and rain. Think we will just tie up, connect to power, pop some corn and do movies.

Left Nanaimo in awesome weather. Wind was less than 10 knots and the sun was shining. Took about 3 1/2 hours to cross the Strait of Georgia. This is big water for us. We crossed here in January on the way back from Chatterbox Falls. The waves then were over six foot ~ today we had a ripple on the water. One night in Secret Cove where we caught one crab. We definately are not getting full of crab at this rate.

We ducked into Powell River for two nights as the weather was calling for 30-40 knot winds. We were right by the ferry dock and were entertained by watching the ferrys come and go. Powell River was once home to the worlds largest pulp and paper mill. It produces 2,000 metric ton of paper a day. The above picture shows 10 of the old liberty ships that were sunk and are now used as a breakwater for the paper mill. Liberty ships were used to haul troops during World War II. Tugs haul sawdust into the paper mills to make paper from lumber mills in the area.

As usual we just can not describe the scenery. We take hundreds of pictures because the islands and the inlets are everywhere. They say in the summer every inlet holds many anchored boats. We are lucky. We only saw one sailboat today.

We did however have quite a treat in watching a pod of Orcas.

It was so neat watching them we almost forgot to take pictures.

Arrived in Refuge Cove just before the mailman. The mail is delivered here by plane. The name Refuge Cove sounded so quaint we went out of our way to visit. Interesting is probably the best word for this small town. We were hoping for a bit more activity but it isn't tourist season yet and the 12 residents are still in winter mode. As you can see - not much going on.

Its amazing that around every corner there is a "wow". We are wondering in the Gulf Islands while the weather remains windy and unsettled. When the weather is calling for gale force winds its tuff to "head to sea". So we have enjoyed what this area has to offer and settled in to a much slower style where the big decision of the day is "do you want to play cribbage or farkle"? The marine life is so interesting. The stars are purple, orange and pink. The seals are everywhere. We have tried to crab. We would starve if we had to feed the family with our crabbing ability.The small marinas are very laid back and quaint. Yes, the wind blows and the waves roll the boat. There have been some interesting times where we are moored out and the weather turns real bad. Sleeping in the pilot house with all the alarms set is not our idea of the perfect quiet evening. But we seem to make it thru.

The weather is going to break and we will be ready and waiting. Headed to Nanaimo (like the chocolate bar) to wait out the wind. Looks like the winds will lay down some on friday and we will cross the Strait of Georgia to Secret Cove. Keep your fingers crossed for good weather.

Our first week in the San Juans has gone fast. We discovered some really quaint nooks and crannys in the Islands. We did some hiking on Jones Island and Stuart Island.
Tied to a mooring bouy in Provost Harbor-piece of cake.
Deer Harbor was movie night on the boat-since there was nothing to do in town

Mount Baker can be seen for miles.
At 10,778 feet it is the fourth highest mountain in Washington State.
It is the second most active volcano next to Mount St. Helens and is only about 80,000 to 90,000 year old.

We are impressed with the Madrona trees. They look a bit like the Manzanita that we have around St. George. The bark is really red and peels strangly.

There is lots of sea life to see. The colors of the various "animals" are amazing.



Cleared customs in Sidney. Becky seems to be a real "outlaw" as far as the Canadian's are concerned. They really don't like her. Canadian Officer Esplin was really having a bad day and his attitude left much to be desired. We will hold up here for a few days and let the weather settle down and then head further north.

What a cute and wonderful couple.

Time well spent
Thank you dear friends for taking your time to spend with us.

We Love Ya !!

The upside down picture (which really is not upside down) and the two headed duck show just how smooth and calm the water was. Our trip went as far north as Friday Harbor and thru the San Juans, Sucia Island, La Connor and south to Port Orchard for dinner with long time friends of Dan and Nancy. With urging ~ I ask the Coast Guard cutter Terapin if we could moor on their bouy. "Negative" was the answer so we tried our hand at the Clark Island bouy. What a beautiful spot and everyone slept well despite the giggles from the top bunk when a wave came by. You could not have ask for better weather. Dan was in charge of "log watch" and saved our Freyja many time. We only had one "smack" and we all still wonder how that happened.

Put Dan and Nancy on a plane and picked up brother in law Del for help with computer and radar. The man is a genius and all we have to do is promise him a Nickerson Burger. Radar back up and running and auto pilot computer fixed and several Nickerson Burgers (and a few raw oysters) we put Del back on a plane for home. Thank You Thank You.

We have only two months left and are headed north. There is a big presence of Coast Guard near the Canada/United States boarder (maybe because of the Olympics) Its awesome to see them and their beautiful cutter boats. Its nice to know they are on our side.

Time to see the Desolution Sound.

Lots to see and lots of time to see it.