Gunkhole Adventure 2001

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Gunkhole Adventures 2001

Pamela: This was a summer that can never be duplicated. I had friends from all over visit and crew on White Swan II, spending three months exploring the San Juan Island and Gulf Islands, and still needing more time! It was probably the most enjoyable time ever spent, with some of the nicest people you will ever sail with!

I was joined by Judy, Stacy & TC, Julie (of Caesar Salad Fame), Mark and Donna...all "local" from Washington. MaryBeth flew in from the east coast U.S., Marie France and France from eastern Canada. The first two weeks was spent with Cliff including a week of buddy boating with Mom and Dad (Glenn & Lorraine), after the FYC Fourth of July at Spencer Spit. When Cliff flew home, crew began to arrive! I had some excellent singlehanding time as well...enjoying the "mellow" time with my dog Buddy, including one unforgettable afternoon spent quietly drifting and dozing...until a Minke whale decided to visit the boat. When it blew right next to us, I don't know who was more scared, the dog or me! Cliff flew back up and sailed for another week with me, and then reluctantly headed back home...it looked like he was starting to get hooked.

Mark was the last crew to join me and Buddy and was with me on that fateful day 9/11. We heard the news when I dinghied ashore with Buddy. We then hunkered down for two days at Stuart Island (U.S.) realizing that we would most likely not be able to enter Canada. It was almost eerie; no commercial shipping, no air traffic...just a primeval hush over the islands. Everybody and everything was still. We heard only one airliner, and then immediately some fighter jets, which we later learned was an Air China flight who insisted on attempting to land in Vancouver so Canadian Fighters were launched to "escort" the Air China flight in.

On our arrival back into Puget Sound, we were met by BJ & Trish, Glenn & Lorraine and Doug & Nancy on Halcyon...all meeting in Blakely Harbor. I think it was done to prevent me from dropping off Mark and turning back around! It was tempting!!

If you have a dialup connection, you might find some of these photo's very slow to load...they have not all been optimized as of yet, so you may just want to strain your eyes and look at the thumbnails without enlarging.

Part 1