Ganges Harbour, BC to Anacortes, WA

Laura Domela — Tue, 22 Sep 2015 02:55:59 +0000

We left Ganges Harbour on Salt Spring Island this morning around 7:30am. Last night's dinner at the Hastings House Bistro with our friends Michael and Nancy was a great time! I'm so glad we were able to stop here and meet up with them before heading home.

The sky was clear and blue and the water was still as we began our cruise back to Anacortes. Ganges Harbour was the first stop on Day 1 of our trip to Alaska with the Waggoner Flotilla in May, so it's cool that we're here for the last night before going back to Anacortes.

No waterspouts today!

Oh right, I think I only posted the waterspout thing on facebook. Yesterday when I refreshed the weather forecast, this popped up:

Eeeek!

Our cruise today was beautiful and chill the whole way. We may have missed the high season in the San Juan Islands, but there were still quite a few pleasure boats out for a Monday at the end of September. I'm sure the gorgeous weather today had something to do with that.

Today's route (45 nautical miles):

(The break in the path is when the iPad crashed. Awwwww.)

We cleared customs this time by phone, thanks to our new I-68 we completed before we left in May. I just called the 800 number, gave some info, answered some questions, got the clearance number, and just like that we were cleared and we scooted into our marina just like we'd never left. Pretty neat!

We had such an amazing trip north, and we're so grateful to have had you guys following along with us. More to come…soon!

Day 2 – Ganges Harbour to Silva Bay

Laura Domela — Mon, 18 May 2015 18:22:47 +0000

Airship Goes to Alaska – Day 2

Beautiful morning at Salt Spring Marina:

Heading out of Ganges Harbour at 7am sharp. That's another Nordic Tug called Dorothy on our starboard side, and a Monk trawler called Thelonius on our left:

Here's a better shot of Thelonius:

We opted not to do breakfast or shower until we were under way so we could get up a little later (like…6:30am). While under way I made us a spinach, cheese, and chorizo omelet topped with salsa (I forgot the avocado), and then we took turns showering while the other watched the helm.

Two from our flotilla (on the left, an American Tug named Adagio and a Kady Krogen called Cabernet) coming through Gabriola Pass just before slack:

Our intrepid leader, Mark Bunzel from the Waggoner Guide in his Tollycraft called Sea Raven:

Canadian boating snack: dill pickle potato chips:

And now here we all are at Page's Resort and Marina in Silva Bay on Gabriola Island, just east of Nanaimo. We're officially the most north we've ever been on Airship.

Another shot from up at the marina office. We're all on the second dock back:

Here's today's track (28 nautical miles, 4 hours, 24 minutes):

We were supposed to have Wi-Fi at Salt Spring Marina (but didn't), so we're making up for lost time now, working instead of renting scooters to explore the island (which we still might do if we have time). There's a potluck dinner here with the rest of the group at 6:30pm, and I think the plan is to leave at 6am tomorrow morning to take advantage of the light winds for our crossing of the Strait of Georgia.

Here's the 96 hour surface forecast, if you wanna see what the next couple days look like along our overall route. (Look at all those high pressure systems! Hope it stays that way!):

Ganges Harbour – Riveted

Ganges Harbour, BC to Anacortes, WA

Day 2 – Ganges Harbour to Silva Bay