BLAKELY ISLAND TO BELLEVUE (MEYDENBAUER BAY YACHT CLUB) - THE END OF OUR TRIP

 Sunday, August 24, 2025 

Today’s agenda is to head for the barn. We were going to stay out one more night to avoid the weekend crowds going through the locks, but John decided we should just suffer through it and get home tonight. Our nemesis, Point Wilson, was in our path so we timed our arrival at PW to a tee to avoid an unpleasant encounter – something we’ve experienced more that we care to admit. Anyway, the straits of Juan de Fuca were glassy smooth the entire way, the sun was out, it was so enjoyable. The passage by Point Wilson was a nonevent, and we made our way to the locks arriving at 4PM. There was already a huge lineup at the locks and it was abundantly clear we weren’t going to make that cycle so made the decision to tie off to the wood pilings in the locks staging area and wait our turn. The locks are always a sh*t show because so many people don’t know the protocol, or there is the occasional idiot that crowds the line, and we had both today – I have three stories to tell. First off as we were motoring slowly (which you are required to do) down the Shilshole channel at the entrance, a huge Hatteras (brand of boat) behind us peeled off and went between the red buoy and the shore which is a very shallow shoal. You non-boaters may have heard the term “red right returning” and that means always keep the red buoy to your right when returning to port. The fact that this big boat took the chance of running aground was truly reckless, but he made it, and threw us a nice wave in a no-wake zone to boot. He ended up tying off to the same pilings in the staging area, but made sure he was ‘ahead’ of us again. My second story is there is a train trestle that spans across the waterway leading to the locks and some boats are too tall to transit and need to wait for the bridge to raise. We were the third boat to arrive at the locks for this round, and for the last 2 hours various boats have been arriving and hovering behind us waiting their turn, including one large sailboat, who was at least 10 boats behind in the order of arrival. A big commercial vessel arrived and they have priority boarding, so up went the bridge and in followed the sailboat who apparently thought he was next in line to go into the locks so positioned himself so. Now sailboats, no matter the size, don’t typically get the wall position because of their oval shape, they normally raft. So for this guy to think he was at the front of the line spelled another kind of idiot. My third lock story. As we waited for the next large lock opening we watched another idiot in a small boat decide to jump in the water in the lock entrance staging area! This is a HUGE safety issue and he should have been cited. Darwin awards are calling. FINALLY around 6:30PM the large locks opened for boarding. The rule is, if a boat is larger than you, let them in first because the large boats tie off on the wall, then the smaller boats raft off the larger boats, that’s how they load the locks.  Two smaller boats that were tied up ahead of us on the pilings decided that it was time to cast off their lines only to be told by locks staff “if it’s bigger than you, let them through” so they became mere obstacles for us to dodge around. Mr. Hatteras idiot was slow casting off the pilings so we slipped right past him as payback for his earlier idiot move. Mr. huge sailboat also had to stand down as he was told to wait as well. Anyway, we got ourselves tied down in the locks and waited as the rest of the locks were loaded. It was high tide so a pretty quick trip up and out, and by now it was 7:30 and dusk was setting in. Being a Sunday on the lake, it is very crowded with small boats, kayaks, paddle boarders, and lots of boat traffic. The speed limit is 7 knots for about an hour as we weave our way through Lake Union, through the Montlake Cut, and finally under the 520 bridge where the slow speed limit ends. But by now it’s getting fairly dark so we don’t want to go fast either. We arrived at our home port, Meydenbauer Bay Yacht Club, only to find our subletter forgot to get his boat out in time, so after a couple of phone calls we were given permission by our neighbor to use his slip overnight. Using flashlights John was able to guide the boat to the dock with ease, and we were finally at our home port. We grabbed the essentials and took a Lyft home to our townhouse, collapsing into bed without dinner, a fact neither of us seemed to care about. Another trip in the books, and this 2025 Boat Trip Blog is now complete. Thanks for following along, hopefully I didn’t bore you to absolute tears. Love to All, Sincerely….Denise

Straits of Juan de Fuca, flat calm

Boat in the locks. Took this picture because our grand daughter's name is Emma

Commercial boat entering the locks

The sailboat that decided he was first in line

One of the many crazy floating toys in the lake

VANCOUVER TO BLAKELY ISLAND

 Saturday, August 23, 2025

Today we are heading back across the border to stop at Blakely for one night. We have a small aluminum boat there that John wanted to try towing behind our big boat to see if it would be viable to take that with us next year to Alaska. Also, John’s parents and sister Kelli’s family were all staying at the Blakely cabin celebrating Kelli’s 60^th birthday – and we wanted to celebrate with them! So back to departure, it’s about a 5 hour run down to Blakely and we had planned to depart around 6AM to get following seas with wind, which wasn’t predicted to be much. Unfortunately the forecasters were wrong again and we had a solid 15mph wind and waves on our beam, another rough ride. The Canadian mainland coastline due to the convergence with the Fraser River is such that there is a shallow shoal that stretches at least a couple miles offshore so we had to take the waves broadside for two hours before we could turn south and join the following seas. Such a relief when we could finally turn and we had a much more pleasant journey from there on, as the water calmed even more as the day progressed. We arrived at Blakely Island and John ran in to fetch the aluminum boat while I held down the fort on Esperança. After hooking up the other boat and trying to tow he quickly determined that it wasn’t going to work for us, so we made our way into the marina with both boats and got settled. We have a very full freezer on the boat and very little freezer space at our townhouse in Bellevue, so we offloaded the entire chest freezer into the Blakely freezer for storage. We had a wonderful day with John’s family, visiting on the deck all afternoon, and a big family dinner in the evening, then made our way back to the boat for the night.

Leaving Vancouver Harbour at first light, this huge vessel "Grace" anchored outside the main Vancouver Harbour, so pretty against the morning sky

Rough waters out in the Georgia Straits

The Madden clan, from Left to Right -- us (of course), John's sister Kelli, Kelli's daughter Karissa and partner Paul, John's parents, then Kelli's son Chad. Missing is Dave, Kelli's long time partner who volunteered to take the photo

Some brothers never change

FALSE CREEK FISHERMAN'S WHARF, VANCOUVER

 Friday, August 22, 2025

Not much to report about today, I think we are both out of gas. I did make one more trip to the Granville Island market because I had already eaten most of the INCREDIBLE and enormous Rainier Cherries I had bought on Wednesday, and needed more! I also bought some bagels and a couple pastries, like we really needed that. I did feel very righteous that I passed up Apple Fritters from the famous local donut place, Lee’s Donuts, which boasts a line out the door at all times of the day. I spent 5 minutes outside the line wistfully gazing at the fresh glazed donuts they were pulling out of the kitchen to display, having a real debate about whether to cave or not. Being out on the boat somehow releases all of our inhibitions on how we should eat right and all that. Fresh cinnamon buns? Sure! French Fries with our meals? Sure! It’s endless. We were both weary of restaurants so I decided to cook on the boat tonight, just our standard comfort meal of grilled chicken with roasted sweet potates and roasted broccoli. Like I said, not much to report for today.

So this is my only photo of the day, and I'm sure you can't miss the thong bathing suits front and center. This group is getting coached on their jet ski rental. I just cannot imagine the level of comfort sitting on a jet ski for hours with let's say...not much protection for either the jet ski or the body. Anyway, just my amusing photo of the day.

FALSE CREEK FISHERMAN'S WHARF, VANCOUVER

 Thursday, August 21, 2025

This is the busiest little harbour. Across from us they rent paddle boards and jet skis and there’s a constant flow of people rotating through. The local tour boats come back into our harbor announcing the sights as they pass by. There is an AquaBus service that serves the harbour and there are about 8 AquaBus boats zipping around, I think they only hold about 10-15 people tops. Locals in their boats go in and out of the waterway to and from their moorages, dodging all of the above. Today John continued his patch repairs on the exhaust and needed some sealant so off we went via Lyft to Canadian Tire (again, an upscale Walmart type store with everything you could possibly imagine). After that mission and patch job, we decided to walk the Granville Island Market again taking time for all the shops along the way, with an agreement that at the end of our walk I would get my farmer’s market time and John would peel off. Had lunch along the way at the Tap & Barrel, a huge tourist attraction but what the heck – food turned out to be great! The big purchase of the day was a new fillet knife for fishing from a merchant who is brand new to the scene but has been a chef for 40 years so knew what he wanted out of knives. He now makes the most beautiful wood handled knives from Swiss steel which he claims is the most dense or durable or perfect application for knives, and so we took the leap. Tonight we decided to go check out Royal Vancouver Yacht Club, one of the oldest yacht clubs around with an inception date of 1903! They have a gorgeous clubhouse in the West End of Vancouver and they welcomed us with wonderful hospitality along with fantastic cocktails and scrumptious food. After cooking 3x day for most of the summer, John has been kind enough to embrace going out for meals as much as possible while we are in the city!

Our dock at False Creek Fisherman's Wharf, we are at the end on the left but you can't see us from this photo

Who could resist Rainier Cherries like this?!! Huge, plump and sweet

Such a beautiful display

OK, so BBQing on an inflatable just goes against all common sense!

One of the tour boats cruising in front of our boat, this one a pirate themed cruise

Sunset at Royal Vancouver Yacht Club

COAL HARBOUR TO FALSE CREEK, STILL IN VANCOUVER

 Wednesday, August 20, 2025

Moving day today (Wednesday) from Coal Harbour to False Creek, still in Vancouver just a different bay and perspective – and right next door to Granville Island! False Creek Fisherman’s Wharf is a working marina catering to the fishing industry, so nothing fancy like Coal Harbour. The docks are tired but functional and there’s an awesome Fish and Chips stand at the top of the dock, GO FISH. Once we were settled in our slip and registered with the marina, that was our next stop and it didn’t disappoint. Beautifully prepared beer battered cod and halibut and 1 piece was plenty (huge). Afterwards we set out to explore Granville Island which is a combination of shops, restaurants, and boutiques with a huge farmer’s market in the center of the action. The farmer’s market has everything you can think of, like the most amazing produce, cheesemongers, bakeries, butchers, confectioneries, the list is endless. Being a foodie of course I wanted to see everything and go up and down every aisle. Soon John asked me “is there something in particular you’re looking for?” which was my clue that he wasn’t digging it as much as me, so I decided to come back later by myself and take my time! We went on a whaler cruise this afternoon to explore False Creek, super fun.

We both love Dim Sum so I found a place called “Little Bird Dim Sum and Craft Beer” nearby but not really walking distance so we hailed a Lyft and went there for an early dinner. Normally it’s a brunch meal for us but hey, brunch for dinner sounded good to both of us! It was a hole in the wall, long and narrow, and reminded me of someplace you’d find in New York City. As we entered the restaurant I noticed they were displaying Michelin rating signs for the past 3 years which is a huge acknowledgement of excellence, that was a good omen! We sat down for dinner and ordered from a paper pad where we circled the items you wanted then handed it to a server to fulfill. The craft beers we chose were delicious and the dim sum was spectacular! It was freshly made on the spot and just exceeded my expectations. After dinner it was such a pleasant evening we decided to walk to our next destination about 1.2 miles away. We had tickets for a show at the Planetarium featuring the music of Pink Floyd set to visuals of the atmosphere along with intermittent lasers. It was kind of hokey but only lasted 45 minutes and the sound system was fantastic. The walk to to the Planetarium took us through the most beautiful neighborhoods in the Point Grey district, which I later discovered is where you find $30m homes – it reminded me of our Madison Park neighborhood, beautiful stately traditional homes with remarkable mature landscaping and tall hedges. It seemed all of Vancouver was out enjoying the beautiful weather. Numerous groups of bikers went whizzing past us, lots of folks walking their dogs or pushing a baby carriage (and in some cases pushing a doggie carriage). On our route was Kitsilano Beach which had an enormous public pool on one side of the walking path and a beautiful golden sand beach packed with sunbathers on the other side. This was one of those nights where it was still 80 degrees at 7PM which is rare especially when the beach faces the Georgia straits where the cool wind normally prevails. After the show we decided to walk all the way back to the marina to get more steps in but now it was dark. I have to say Apple Maps was disappointingly wrong on a number of occasions for walking purposes, but we managed to find our way back to the harbor anyway, logging 4.8 miles of walking for the day – much needed!

View looking north from our moorage

One of the Shuttle Boats in False Creek

Looking Northwest out of False Creek, Burrard Bridge in the foreground, I think....

Interesting Building in the Harbor

The Aqua Bus Service

Many derelict liveaboards are anchored in False Creek

The dome was built for World Expo 1986, and now houses "Science World"

This is at the end or head of False Creek inlet

A very cheerful liveaboard!

COAL HARBOUR, VANCOUVER

 Tuesday, August 19, 2025

Today John decided to tear into the exhaust system to see if he can diagnose the location of the leak and figure out a solution. It is a very VERY dirty job, because due to the leak, a layer of soot is now draped through the engine room. He did find the culprit which was an exhaust pipe that simply wore out, a stainless steel pipe with a hole. He took off for a local parts store to get what he needed to patch the hole. In the meantime, I decided to go walk Stanley Park and go to the aquarium, but upon arrival there was a line out the door 100 people deep which didn’t appeal to me. Not only because of the crowd factor, I reminisced about our COVID period in June and thought it best to stay away from thick crowds for fear of reliving that period in time. There was a cruise ship in town this morning so pretty sure that’s the cause of the crowds. The walking and biking paths were both choked with people – doesn’t anyone work? It’s a Tuesday! Along my walking route I ran into the beautiful Totem Pole park sponsored by First Nations. Very impressive! Back to the boat for lunch and check up with John Boy. He finally finished his patch job, and basic cleanup of the engine room around 3PM and went straight to the showers, being both soaked with sweat from working in the engine room, and covered in soot. After his refreshment, he was READY for Happy Hour, so off we went for cocktails back at Lift, followed by dinner at Cardero’s – another waterfront restaurant. The food was just ok at Cardero’s, I don’t think we will go back. Started a new series on Netflix recommended by the Abells called “Untamed” which I think is going to be good. Similar to Joe Pickett or Longmire.

Below: Pictures from the Totem Park in Stanley Park

SECRET COVE TO COAL HARBOUR, VANCOUVER

 Monday, August 18, 2025

We’ve sprung a leak. An exhaust leak but nonetheless a leak. We discovered it yesterday enroute to Secret Cove. At first I just smelled something that wasn’t right but couldn’t place it. The dryer was going, so was the diesel furnace but after checking both of those things, it still wasn’t the culprit. John went into the engine room a couple different times and couldn’t find anything. One more trip to the engine room and he finally discovered that a plastic bucket was leaned up against the exhaust pipe and it was melting. Furthermore he discovered that the exhaust was leaking out into the engine room thus heating things up in the engine room. His melamine table down there was also getting disfigured. The exhaust began to infiltrate the cabin which started to give me a headache. The water was so rough yesterday that we couldn’t have portholes or windows open because we were getting spray over the bow. Ugh. Emails to a couple of repair yards were made requesting bids for the work, so we wait and see today if they will answer. Cruising at 7AM with the windows and doors open this morning makes for a chilly ride.

Last night’s dinner was FABulous! They billed it as a 5 course tasting menu but I think the first course alone was 5 different things. With two pasta courses in the middle, and duck 4 ways as the main, we could barely eat the dessert plate before us and waddle back to the boat! I do highly recommend this experience though, it was really outstanding! 

We had hoped to leave at 5AM this morning and were up at 4:30 to drink some coffee and pry the eyes open. Sunrise wasn’t until around 6 so we ended up having to wait until 5:45 to be able to see enough to depart. It’s a dead calm morning and the straits are flat. We are enroute to Vancouver for five nights to explore the city from the water and looking forward to a new chapter in our book of adventures! We had to time our arrival for 9AM slack at the Lion’s Gate Bridge which is called “First Narrows” so we don’t hit the currents.

Arrived! Great location right adjacent to Stanley Park! We are also on the seaplane path so they are ascending and descending right over our heads. Once settled I was exhausted from the early morning departure, so John went walking through the park while I napped most of the afternoon. We hit a local restaurant “Lift” for Happy Hour/appetizers for dinner, which was located right on the waterfront just down the path. Vancouver has a wonderful pedestrian and bike trail system, with separated paths for each so bikes and walkers/joggers aren’t dodging each other. After dinner we took the whaler out and had a wonderful evening cruise through the vast harbor, weaving through Royal Vancouver Yacht Club’s docks and boathouses, and along the main Coal Harbour Marina slips. Great evening.

The melted bucket

Leaving Secret Cove at dawn

Approaching Vancouver BC

Lion's Gate Bridge (First Narrows)

Entering Coal Harbour, downtown Vancouver

LIFT, our restaurant for dinner

Dusk in the float plane path

GORGE HARBOUR TO SECRET COVE

 Sunday, August 17, 2025

Today we are scheduled to transit down to Secret Cove and Abells had reservations at John Henry in Garden Bay (Pender Harbour) – about 6 hour runs for both of us. John originally planned for us to leave around 10:30 so we could catch slack tide at Malaspina Strait which can be wicked under poor conditions. Upon looking at the weather this morning, he decided not to wait after all as the wind was already whipped up at 8:30AM. We all departed and headed for our respective destinations. The conditions just got worse and we found ourselves with indeed wicked conditions with big rollers stacking up against the wind, making it a very rough ride. The only redeeming part of the journey were the humpback whales! They were everywhere. First a giant one in the distance hurled himself out of the water and put on quite the show with breeching, rolling, fin slapping, super fun to watch. A little while later we ran into a group of 4 humpbacks hunting right in front of us, and we had to cut the engines and glide by as they made their way past our bow. Whales are such a thrill, it is always so special. I didn’t try to take pictures because we were rocking so much, I could barely stand still anyway, so I just watched and enjoyed. We made it to Secret Cove around 3PM and effortlessly slid onto the dock for the night and now await our dinner reservation at La Bettolina – the Italian Restaurant right here on the dock next to us! Very excited to be served and not cooking! We’ve signed up for the 5 course tasting menu so it should be a great evening. 

Yes, another picture of the back of a Humpback Whale, ho hum

GORGE HARBOUR

 Saturday, August 16, 2025

Today was windy and rainy again, at least in the morning – it did taper off early afternoon. We were all going a bit stir crazy and determined to go on an adventure so after lunch we piled into the whaler and made our way over to Manson’s Landing, which is normally a short dinghy ride to the next cove just outside the entrance to Gorge Harbour. However, not today. We knew it was going to be rough and we told one another that any one of us could say “turn around!” and we’d go back. But even though the waves were big and it was slow going, the air was warm and we were having fun (life jackets on of course.)  Plenty of dock space was available at Manson’s Landing so that was a relief, no rafting up. Meanwhile the rain started back up but it was just a light rain and didn’t last long. We had a nice one mile walk uphill to the Co-Op, Burger Barn, and Grocery Store and even visited the Cortes Museum which was quite interesting. This month’s exhibits focus on how different tracts of land were acquired and passed down through the years, including land at Refuge Cove on the neighboring island. On the way back to the boat we picked blackberries which were plentiful, quickly filling a couple of bags full. Tonight we had cocktails and cards before dinner, then I made Jambalaya with hot sausage and spot prawns from our catch earlier this summer. It was our last night together with the Abells so it became our farewell dinner! Another fun day.

One of the Liveaboards in Gorge Harbour, we thought it looked like Noah's Ark, such a pretty paint job!

This liveaboard compound utilized an old cruise ship transport vessel, which has to be excellent application

Cocktail hour, our last night together!

GORGE HARBOUR

 Friday, August 15, 2025

We got the call around 11:30AM that we could proceed to the dock! And just as soon as we got over there and tied down the wind whipped up into a frenzy – we were getting gusts over 20! The halyards on the neighboring sailboats were alternately singing and banging on the mast, flags and burgees were whipping, and at least one person’s canvas came loose! Add in rain and you have such a delightful day (NOT!)  Actually, it didn’t rain as heavily as was predicted but the wind did.not.stop. Abells hunkered down on their boat and we hunkered down on ours, not doing much of anything. Tonight was taco night and I decided to make both fish tacos and sheet pan short rib tacos. I had previously in the spring roasted up the short ribs, shredded the meat and vacuum sealed so it was all ready to go. I tried something new which was corn tortillas in the oven, which worked so well! Instead of making a mess stovetop frying two tacos at a time with grease spattering everywhere, I mad sheet pan tacos. Prep is the same as if you were going to fry, but instead I laid them out on parchment, stuffed with meat and cheese and folded over, then brushed oil on both sides. Cooked at 425 for 8-9 minutes then flipped and did another 8-9 minutes, and voila! They came out as crispy and delicious as fried tacos! With lime crema and pickled onions the masterpiece was complete. I also did ling cod fish tacos, baking seasoned fillets in the oven, then flour tortillas topped with spicy slaw, guacamole and salsa. It was a feast and a great end to the day!

NO PICS TODAY!

GRACE HARBOUR TO GORGE HARBOUR

 Thursday, August 14, 2025

A stretch of bad weather is on the way and we’ve been trying to get on the dock tonight at Gorge Harbour so we can be tied to a dock when it hits. The rain is supposed to be a real soaker for at least 2 days, but the more worrisome issue is high winds, with gusts into the 40s. That’s supposed to hit us potentially tonight but by tomorrow afternoon it’s supposed to be really bad. Anyway, we can’t get on the dock today at Gorge but did already have reservations for Friday and Saturday nights, so we decided to get over there and throw down anchors for the night so we are poised to get on the dock first thing Friday when available. The smoke has arrived today from the Port Alberni fire and it is SO THICK the air is blue, my eyes are burning, and my lungs hurt. The rainstorm will be welcome. We arrived in Gorge and found great spots to hunker down until tomorrow, but are not rafted together. Connie and Greg are on their own anchor and we are on our own. If the winds are truly heinous it’s best this way. We decided to do dinner on our own boats since neither one of us wants to commute to the other boat in the pouring rain – which as I write this it is indeed POURING buckets. Our dinner is in the oven and we aren’t going anywhere tonight. 

Humpback sighting!

At anchor in Gorge Harbour around 10AM, and this is how thick the smoke was

GRACE HARBOUR

 Wednesday, August 13, 2025

Woke up to beautiful clear skies in Grace Harbour and the temps are already in the 70s. Late morning, Connie and I went on a hike to the lake, which turned out to be just a half mile each way so was a quick one. Along the way there is abandoned logging equipment amongst the beautiful old growth forest. The lake was quite warm and had we been prepared we could have brought our floaties up there and swam. The water is brackish and the shoreline marshy, but no signs of wildlife except the occasional kingfisher – and a snake on the trail. Back at the boat we all decided to go on an adventure to explore the neighboring Lancelot Inlet and Theodosia Inlet so the four of us took off in the whaler for our adventure! Theodosia still has signs of an active logging operation, along with a native community of some sort. Both inlets are really pretty and peaceful and a great place to tuck away from the Desolation Sound crowds. On our way back to Grace Harbour we came upon a pod of Orcas swimming north past Grace Harbour up Malaspina Inlet. We watched for awhile but decided not to continue to follow them, as you’re really not supposed to do that – it is always a thrill to see whales! After our adventure we had just enough time for a quick float behind the boat before it was time for showers and departure to Laughing Oyster for dinner, about a 15 minute run back down Okeover Inlet. We are cruising along about halfway there when all of a sudden we see whale spouts and there they are right in front of us and heading right at us! John cut the power to the boat and we just floated as they steadily approached our boat, surfacing and breathing – about 4 of them – probably the same ones we saw earlier but they had moved farther south in the inlet from where we first saw them. They were so close to us we could see their eyes and almost feel them breath. It was so incredible to be so close. Normally you are supposed to be 1000 yards away from them, but if they surface right in front of you all you can do is shut down the engine and wait for them to pass. Lucky us! Dinner at the Laughing Oyster is always a fun outing, the views are unmatched. We sat outside at a great table with a view up Okeover Inlet and very slow service but a nice meal, great ambience. We motored back at sunset and tried to play Hearts but we were all tired and only made it through 4 hands before calling it quits.

Our boats at Grace Harbour

View from shore of Grace Harbour

Pretty Lily Pads at the Lake

Abandoned caterpillar in the woods on our hike 

Abells on their boat

Looking up Lancelot Inlet

Scenes from our whale encounter

View from our table at Laughing Oyster, looking up Okeover Inlet

Dinner at Laughing Oyster, not sure why it's so overexposed

One of the cool homes outside of Grace Harbour

Sunset on the ride back from dinner

Connie took this video of the whale encounter

Another cool home at the entrance to Grace Harbour, love their float collection and display