Nanaimo – Riveted

Airship to Alaska | Day 3 | Newcastle Island to Lund, BC

Laura Domela — Tue, 10 May 2016 17:40:50 +0000

Airship Goes to Alaska 2016

Airship at dusk, last night at our Newcastle Island moorage (with Nanaimo in the background):

We left Newcastle Island this morning around 8am. We originally thought we'd head up the east side of Vancouver Island to Comox, but the weather was so beautiful and the conditions so calm, we opted to cross the Strait of Georgia today and headed for Lund, BC.

Wanna know how calm it was? This calm:

It was this calm the entire 8 hours 50 minutes and 62.6 nautical miles of our cruise.

Oh look! A cloud!!

While we were cruising along on this long calm stretch on the Strait of Georgia, our VHF on scan as usual, it stopped on Channel 16 for an announcement that said something very close to this:"This is Comox Coast Guard Radio…Comox Coast Guard Radio…Comox Coast Guard Radio. The integration of Comox Coast Guard Radio with Victoria Coast Guard Radio is now complete. This is the final broadcast from Comox Coast Guard Radio. It has been a pleasure serving the maritime community for the past 108 years. Comox Coast Guard Radio…Out."

Then…silence. Kevin and I looked at each other and said "Whoa!" We both teared up a little, even. He sounded so sad!! A few boats (including BC Ferries) came on the radio to thank them for the service. It was quite a thing to hear while out on the water. Read more about the history of Comox Coast Guard Radio here and news about the closure here. Total bummer.

We arrived in Lund around 4:30pm and got a spot in the Lund Small Yacht Harbor transient dock. (23.56 Canadian dollars, which is just over 18 bucks US…deal!)

We were in Lund on our way back from Alaska last year, but we didn't stay overnight. We'll probably go back over to Nancy's and pick up a cinnamon roll or two, and then head for Desolation Sound in the morning.

Here's today's track from Newcastle Island/Nanaimo to Lund:

Airship to Alaska | Day 2 | Roche Harbor to Newcastle Island, BC

Laura Domela — Tue, 10 May 2016 10:22:47 +0000

Airship Goes to Alaska 2016

We left Roche Harbor this morning after a lovely evening with near perfect weather. Check out the light on the chapel last night!

At sunset, the Roche Harbor Color Guard does a flag ceremony where they take down the flags (the Washington State flag, the Canadian flag, the British flag, and then the United States flag), complete with soundtrack: Oh Canada, God Save the Queen, Taps, etc. Oh, and a canon salute. They don't mess around here in Roche Harbor…they take their pageantry seriously. We watched from the top deck of Airship:

We popped up this morning and headed for Canada!

Totem pole on the shore (from the back) as we left Roche Harbor:

We called in to Canpass to get cleared through Canada Customs. (Canpass is cool! You get pre-approved as a low risk traveler, and most of the time you can just call in, answer a few questions, and get your clearance number and you're good to go.) We didn't have to stop at Customs or anything. Super convenient!

We headed for Ganges Harbour on Salt Spring Island for a little more provisioning (okay, for wine). You can't bring more than two bottles each across the border, so we stocked up for the next couple weeks. On the way into Ganges Harbour we saw this seal just hanging out like this. I'm not sure what he was doing…maybe getting a little sun on his fins?

We did a run through Mouat's but didn't find anything we needed (which is weird, because they have everything), so headed over to do our grocery and wine shopping. The public dock is so convenient for this!

After groceries we stopped for a burger at the Burger Bar. Delicious, with a terrific view of the harbour:

After our short stop in Ganges Harbour, we headed north toward Nanaimo. We figured we should make miles while it was calm.

We timed it so we could arrive at Dodd Narrows a little more than an hour before slack. The current was still running about 4.9 knots (with us) when we got there, which was no big deal. We just sort of coasted on the current and weren't too affected by all the swirlies. I took some video, but there's no way the internet will let me upload video right now, so I may add that to this post later.

Nice rock:

We decided to stay across from Nanaimo at Newcastle Island Marine Park. There are a bunch of mooring balls out front (and some dock space). We grabbed a mooring ball for twelve bucks Canadian for the night.

View across to the BC mainland from our moorage:

We took the dinghy to shore to pay up and explore a bit. We were here a couple years ago (with the Airstream, and our bikes) and highly recommend a stop.

Newcastle Island is populated with MANY purple martins. (Note the little birdhouses on most of the pilings.)

Baby geese! (Nanaimo in the background.)

We didn't go hiking this time on the island because it was getting late and we wanted to take the dinghy over to the Dinghy Dock Pub on Protection Island before dark.

You can grab a ferry over here from Nanaimo…sounds like they come back on the hour every hour to take you back to town.

We had a nice quiet evening…leftover risotto and caesar salad for dinner. I tried to get this blog post done but it wasn't happening. Internet was there, but super slow. So I'm finishing it up now as we head across the Strait of Georgia toward Lund. Another day with glorious weather (and calm seas)…we figured we should make miles while we can do so in such comfort!

Today's track from Roche Harbor to Newcastle Island BC (with a stopover in Salt Spring Island). 7 hours 54 minutes, 54.1 nautical miles:

Nanaimo to Courtenay and Comox

Laura Domela — Sun, 20 Jul 2014 01:57:39 +0000

Today we drove north to check out the towns of Courtenay and Comox. We took the oceanside route and we're glad we did. We got to see some really lovely towns, including Qualicum Beach. There are a bunch of oceanside RV resorts near here and we'd definitely come back and explore some waterfront camping!

Also, we found ourselves driving right through Deep Bay and Fanny Bay, home of Kusshi nd Fanny Bay oysters. We couldn't NOT stop, right? After a little research (Mac's Oysters vs. Fanny Bay Oyster Co.) we stopped at Fanny Bay. It's a tiny little store near the ferry landing and we picked up a dozen Fanny Bay, a dozen Kusshi, and a pound of fresh Qualicum Beach scallops (and a little container of smoked salmon pâté):

With a cooler full of ice and shellfish, we continued north to Comox. We stopped to have lunch at a spot near the marina called the Blackfin Pub. The food was great. We shared a one-piece halibut fish and chips and a seafood sandwich with a side caesar salad.

View from lunch:

We wandered down to the marina after lunch and saw this boat here selling fresh halibut. Too bad we are already stocked up, or we'd have gotten some!

We met some fabulous folks here at the Comox Marina! They are all on a cruise from Anacortes to Desolation Sound with about 30 boats…all Ranger Tugs. These boats are like the Airstream of trawlers…we fell in love and they invited us aboard a few of them and even to their bbq tonight (sadly, we passed though, because…oysters in the cooler!). It was just like a group of Airstreamers though…super friendly folks with recreational vehicles they love.

We even got to go out on a short ride in the bay on one of their 31' models! They've got solar, just like us!

Kevin at the controls:

Returning to the marina:

These are awesome boats!

On the way home we stopped in Courtenay to check out their 44th Annual Saturday Market. It was pretty much what we expected. Live music, booths selling handmade items, stuff from the downtown stores, etc. I don't know why they don't do it more often, actually. Why wait a whole year?

Back at camp we shucked some oysters and smoked some scallops and had a delicious seafood dinner.

Oysters were all raw on the half shell with a champagne/vinegar/shallot/pepper mignonette (delicious) and with the smoked scallops, I made a sauce using olive oil, garlic, tomatoes, red pepper flakes, capers, fresh local zucchini, and basil and put it all over a little bit of fresh angel hair pasta. It turned out great! This fabulous iPhone photo doesn't do it justice, but still…I thought I should show you.

Tomorrow we head over to Tofino, and we're really looking forward to it!

Living Forest Waterfront Campsites

Laura Domela — Sat, 19 Jul 2014 13:55:53 +0000

This is what the campsites along the waterfront look like here at Living Forest Oceanside Campground and RV Park:

Our spot is on the terrace right above (I took this from the dinette window). The park is terraced so in additional to all the waterfront sites there are plenty of water view sites as well.

The tide is out this morning so you can see a lot of land and marsh, but when the tide is in it's all waterfront. The non waterfront sites are forested and private and gorgeous. Most of the sites are full hookup, and the park has Wi-Fi available (it cost us $10 Canadian for a week). If you don't want to pay for Wi-Fi, the little cafe/snack bar just to the right of that open campsite there has free Wi-Fi. In the mornings you'll see five or six people sitting outside in little chairs with their phones and tablets. (We actually can get free Wi-Fi from the cafe from our site here, so if you're near the cafe, your chances are good.)

This is a beautiful park and an easy bike ride away from downtown Nanaimo. We would defintely stay here again!

Downtown Nanaimo

Laura Domela — Thu, 17 Jul 2014 18:05:53 +0000

We rode our bikes into town late this morning and did a little sightseeing and picked up a couple Canada pins for our collection. Check out my bike bag now!

We rode all over the waterfront, and stopped and had some gelato and some fish & chips (in that order).

Great fish & chips at Troller's! We had halibut and salmon and both were great. (Not as good as the Bandon Fish House, but still quite good!)

Here's our route:

We rode just over 10 miles. Now we're headed down to Ladysmith to meet a guy about a boat.