Gunkhole Adventures 2002

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Gunkhole Adventure 2002

This trip was renamed the Roe-V-Wade cruise as it was cut short and we came home a month-and-a-half early. It was great while it lasted! Cliff and I (Pamela) headed up north and had a lovely time in the San Juan Islands for two-and-a-half weeks, including spending some time buddy boating with Glenn & Lorraine, and of course Uncle Fred. We had a great time trying out the new little kayaks I had purchased and put aboard the night before we left.

Tami flew into Roach Harbor to meet me after Cliff left for home and we immediately headed to Sidney to check into Canada, having a very rolly and bumpy ride across Haro Strait. After checking in with customs we sailed to Tod Inlet behind the famous Buchart Gardens of Victoria, BC. While anchored there we had an invasion of thousands of jellyfish...which would move as a single mass throughout the anchorage, holding us hostage. When we escaped from the jellyfish we wandered the Gulf Islands for another 10 days having various adventures along the way...mainly because my daughter-in-law Trish gave me the book "Pub Hopping in the Gulf Islands"! We of course used it as our primary cruising guide!

I wanted Tami to experience the famous "Humming Bird Inn" on Galliano Island, so we headed for there. The bus ride to the pub is as famous as the pub itself...something EVERYBODY needs to experience. Well, wouldn't you know it...the bus had broken down again! So there we were, standing beside the road, just dying to go to the pub. So we stuck out our thumbs and got picked up by three guys that were working for Canadian Hydrographic, doing soundings for chart updates! Cool! And they were on their way to the pub as well. At the pub we met up with a couple that lo and behold live right near me; nothing like having to cruise far from home to meet your neighbors! This is a scenario I encounter all the time. By the end of dinner the bus was fixed and we careened down the hills singing our lungs out to "Strawberry Hill" all the way back to the anchorage. Then into the dink to find our way back to White Swan in a blacker-than-black anchorage with about 50 anchor lights that look just like ours....so what to do? Whistle for the dog! I did, Buddy barked and we located home! About two hours later the winds picked up and the anchorage got lively! On watch in the cockpit I saw the most incredible falling star I have ever seen...in between watching lots of boats drag! What a night!

We had arranged to meet friend Trish (Patricia) in Ganges; and ended up staying in Ganges an extra two days due to the death of the refrigerator and an installation of a new exhaust hose which Tami brought with her. The one good thing about being "stranded" in Ganges, was that we were on the dock of "Mobey's Pub"...one of our planned destinations as per our new cruising guide! Leaving Ganges we had an awesome sail, with brisk (20+knot) winds on the nose, and beat our way out racing a couple of men in a 30' sloop to Montague Harbor on Galliano Island. The girls won, only because we refused to reef!

After leaving Montegue, we headed back to the States and San Juan Islands, checking into Roche Harbor customs and then heading off to Sucia. We got to Sucia late in the day, with the winds starting to pick up. And pick up they did...by nightfall it was blowing like hell and boats drug all night long. At daylight things were actually starting to get worse and the rollers coming into the anchorage were no fun at all. While the engine warmed up, I ran Buddy to shore (no mean feat in those conditions) while Tami and Trisha prepped the boat to leave. And leave we did...Calling it our escape from Sucia...huge waves on the bow, tide rips and fog rolling in...absolutely the worst conditions possible...but better than staying in Echo Bay! We headed for the shelter of Reid Harbor, Stuart Island, where we found, as usual, a totally protected and welcoming anchorage.

From Stuart we headed to San Juan Island and Roche Harbor where Mike, Tami's husband, met up with us (Tami missed him...awwww!) and helped bring White Swan back home for an early end to the 2002 Gunkhole Adventures Up North.

Clifford and I managed to sneak in another two weeks in September in South Puget Sound on what turned out to be our final cruise on White Swan.