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The “Don’t You Ever Work?” Cruise, Continued…

If you’ve been following along, you know that I’ve been out cruising a bit this summer, leading to speculation among friends that I’ve retired, quit my job, or been fired. None are true, that I’m aware of anyway.

I’ve been cruising through the San Juans and Gulf Islands with an ultimate destination of Telegraph Harbor for the 25th annual Canadian Tollycruisers Rendezvous, which deserved a post of its own. Now, I’m on my way home, but in no hurry. If you click back through some of my previous posts, you’ll see what I’ve been up to.

Sunday, September 15

Woke up to skies that were nearly as foggy as my gin-clouded head, after a long weekend of fun and everything that goes along with it. As much fun as the weekend was, I’m plain worn out and ready for some quiet. I’m happy to have several days to make my way home.

By the time I was ready to go, after a shower and getting the boat ready, the fog had pretty much lifted (from the sky). Most of the boats had already left by this time, so I said some last good byes and pushed away from the dock. Briar Patch had a head start on me, but we hoped to meet up somewhere for the evening.

I made a slow run through Sansum Narrows and met up with Briar Patch at Musgrave Landing (Saltspring Island) at the community dock. A friend spoke of this as a nice spot, so we decided to check it out. Aside from some rollers that come in from passing boats, it is a very nice, mellow spot.

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25th Annual Canadian Tollycruisers Rendezvous

“It’s time to drink the Tolly Kool-Aid,” said Kathy Bell of Bell Elaff.

“I’m pretty sure I did that about ten years ago,” I replied, referring to my indoctrination into what some might refer to as the cult-like following Tollycrafts enjoy. I reached to take a small paper cup filled to the brim with a “Tolly teal”-colored adult beverage concoction, and down the hatch it goes. I’m not certain what I just drank, but apparently I took yet another swig of the Tolly Kool-Aid.

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Don’t You Ever Work?

No, really… Do you ever work?

I’ve been hearing that a lot, lately, and to that my answer is always all things in moderation.

I recently returned from a wonderful trip to Desolation Sound and beyond, which I wrote about here, and here. I’ve been home a week; enough time to go to work for a few days, do my laundry, and mow the lawn before taking off again.

Yes, I know I’m a lucky man to have the time to do the things I love to do.

This time, I’m heading back up to the Gulf Islands, with an ultimate destination of Telegraph Harbour for the annual Canadian Tollycraft rendezvous. This will be my seventh Canadian rendezvous, which is always a good time. I’ll be taking my time going there and returning, with plans to visit some of my favorite spots and hope to check out some new ones.

Sunday, September 8

I was definitively outnumbered, one of only a boat or two heading out Guemes Channel, while others were returning from the weekend. Remnants of Rosario Strait’s fog remained in the distance – holdouts early for the evening gathering. Once out of the boat traffic, the ride was smooth all the way to Blind Bay (Shaw Island), where I dropped the anchor in a familiar spot.

As the sun was setting, fog began to collect. You can tell fall is knocking at the door – looks like it’s time to add a blanket to the bed. After some dinner off the grill washed down with a cold Molson Canadian left over from the last trip, I relaxed in the vee berth. I turned on the TV to find a Burt Bacharach tribute show on PBS, one of the few channels the antenna could pull in. I didn’t realize he wrote as many songs as he did…

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Today’s total: 16.5 Nm
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Turning Toward Home

In my previous post, I wrote about the journey north to Desolation Sound and beyond. This will be a continuation of that trip, although now we have turned our bows toward home, and are slowly making our way south.

Day 16: Sunday, August 25

We enjoyed a calm night at Anchor in Roscoe Bay and awoke to clearing skies and sunshine. I’m pretty certain I had my fair share of clams and Scotch and guitar playing last night, but I was up and out of bed fairly early. Wind Walker is beginning their trip toward home today. Todd wants a few extra days in a weather window for a comfortable trip home. A slower-moving sailboat, Wind Walker can’t just speed up to run ahead of weather like the power boats in the group. We saw them off, leaving us onJolly Mon, Briar Patch, and Enough Time behind. Perhaps we’ll run into them down the line. We’re hoping to spend a few more days gunkholing in Desolation Sound.

After taking care of a few things, we left Roscoe Bay and made the short run to Refuge Cove for water and ice, with plans to decide our next destination over a burger. During the run, a check of the updated weather forecast predicting big winds and rain on the way, made us re-think our plans. Winds of up to thirty knots would be coming in tomorrow, followed by rain for the next several days. Even though we have a week to get home, maybe it’s best to slowly head that direction. Wherever we decided to go today, we would probably be there for at least two days. After considering our options, we decided Westview at Powell River would be a good choice – we could tie to the dock and have power and water, and would have a town to help pass the time. We contacted Westview Marina by phone, and although they do not take reservations, they advised they had plenty of room, and didn’t anticipate filling up.

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Going North

This year will be a first for me… The first time I’ve taken my boat to Desolation Sound. While I’ve spent a lot of time in the Canadian Gulf Islands, I’ve never made the leap across the Strait of Georgia and and ventured north to add to my cruising pedigree. I’m excited, the boat is ready, and time off from work secured.

I’ll be traveling with Briar Patch, Enough Time, Little Bear, and Wind Walker; all Desolation Sound veterans. Big Sky and Jolly Mon are first-timers. We have no real itinerary, other than a date we need to return by.

I’ll do my best to keep a log of my travels and things we do and see along the way. This post will contain several days.

Day 1: Saturday, August 10

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Briar Patch, Enough Time, and Jolly Mon departed Anacortes at about 5:30 am – just before daylight. The several mornings prior, Anacortes was socked in with fog, but this morning was the exception, so we were thrilled when we had the opportunity to leave early with clear skies. Wind Walker, the lone sailboat in the group, left the day before. Our plans were to make Nanaimo by evening.

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