Archives for July 2018

It’s summer holiday season now and could I ever use a holiday?! This summer of sailing is more like a trip than a holiday or vacation. There is very little relaxing and it is definitely more work than just staying at home.

About a week ago, we were feeling sooo good, loving this life and then bam! We are currently deep into some parenting challenges and feel pretty shattered.

I realized we have been with our girls 24/7 for nearly 2 months now. We have had a few visitors but no real break. Thankfully we have a few coping mechanisms and one of them is coffee. My wonderful husband makes coffee first thing for us every morning. I know for sure that I couldn’t do this adventure with anyone else. A good partner in parenting is so important.

We do trade off occasionally so one of us gets a break but it’s usually to go ashore and have a shower or some other self care activity. Sometimes I just need someone else to entertain my girls, which is why we go on adventures off the boat all the time. The world entertains them, whether it is a coffee shop, a playground or just a walk along a quiet island road collecting berries.

I also like to seek out locals to talk to as they have a wealth of information on the area we are in but also most people like kids and capture their attention for a moment. Even if the attention is fleeting, I am grateful for the wee mental break. I’ve definitely considered trying to find a babysitter but I tell myself that this is just a summer. In a month we will be home and we hopefully have more help either from daycare, family or I’ll be looking for a babysitter for real.

We do choose to spend a lot of time together as a family because that is what this trip is about for us. We are trying to create and build bonds with our girls now. We are also trying to instill resilience and grit into our girls subconscious so they can draw on it later in life. These traits come from experiencing challenges and working through them to move forward. This is something that we do everyday out here.

Living on a boat isn’t easy. When we are tied to a dock the boat is relatively still, when we are at anchor the boat moves with the wind, currents and passing boat wake. When we are sailing the boat is moving side to side as we tack or gybe our way along. All of these are more challenging than living at home where the ground stays still.

We do have some home comforts like refrigeration but we don’t have pressure water or hot water. We have just enough space for the 4 of us and often the boat feels too small. We use the cockpit and deck space under the Bimini to extend our living space in the evening. Maddie is a growing boisterous toddler who can fill our small salon easily with her movements, voice and toys.

Many of our challenges are ones we would have at home. We are trying to encourage independence in Maddie but then everything takes longer. Like getting dressed or in our case, every time she goes into the cockpit she has to put on her life jacket. She has also recently figured out how to escape out of her bunk, which is quite frustrating. She can be quite a jack-the-box escaping multiple times in a couple of minutes. We have googled ways to prevent this and are now armed with a plan. We will see how it goes…

Maddie also practices yelling and running at times and this is when I wish I could just open the door and send her into the backyard to run around. This is one reason we are always on a quest to find a playground.

Amelia is nearly 7 months old and has grown a lot on this trip. At first she would just lay on her back, roll and play with toys. Then she started crawling. We had her in a round bassinet but then a couple weeks ago she nearly escaped out it. Now she is pulling to stand and cruising around. The only fully safe place for her is in her bunk in the main cabin because the lee cloth is quite high. I just feel like I’m just barely keeping up with her development.

Now that Amelia is eating solids, meals take longer and are way messier. This is when I wish we were at home with a tub and I’d just give her a bath afterwards.

Of course the other aspect is the interaction between the two girls. One minute everyone is happy playing peekaboo and the next Maddie is screaming because Amelia took her toy. Maddie doesn’t fully grasp sharing yet and Amelia just wants anything and everything in her mouth.

At this point we are knee deep in dirty laundry, out of fresh produce and short on patience.

We have been making our way down the Sunshine Coast and I couldn’t be more excited to get to Gibsons!

From Teakerne Arm, we sailed the spinnaker to Refuge Cove again as we needed more water and fresh produce.

We decided to anchor off Refuge Cove that night as we spent the latter part of the day on shore, walking the docks, having showers and getting a bite to eat at the cafe Upcoast Summers.

Our next destination was Laura Cove, near Prixdeux Haven where we ended up staying 3 nights. This was a first on this trip but it felt wonderful to relax a bit more. As any parents out there know, there is limited relaxing when you have young children. We really enjoyed the warm water swimming in the ocean, the great views and the secure anchorage. We finally inflated the SUP again and spent lots of time paddling around, usually with Maddie sitting onboard.

We also had extra time so we went fishing and caught our first fish, a greenling. Maddie seemed to enjoy the whole fishing experience, even the chowder Ellery made that evening. Now we are excited to catch more fish!

At this point, we finally started to get accustomed to a routine of eating, swimming, rest/nap and repeat.

After Laura Cove, we headed to Refuge Cove one final time for more fresh produce and a load of laundry. We didn’t stay the night at Refuge Cove and instead we continued on to Tenedos Bay, where we anchored with a stern-tie to shore.

The weather has been really warm and we have had to be creative to beat the heat. Some of our ways include: setting up the bimini for more shade, securing a hammock under the boom for some real relaxing and filling a Tupperware bin with saltwater for Maddie to play in, in our cockpit. This keeps her cool and occupied. We also have a water bag sitting out in the sun so later in the day we can all have warm fresh water showers on deck.

During our rest day at Tenedos Bay, we got in the dinghy just after 0800 in the morning to go ashore and hike to Unwin lake to swim. It took us going to three spots by the lake to find one that was flat-ish, hence toddler and baby friendly. We got all ready to swim and then the wasps showed up. They wouldn’t leave us alone and even though Ellery used his ninja skills to kill them, more wasps just kept showing up. After we all got a short swim in, we decided it was time to go. It sure was beautiful and without the wasps, we may have been tempted to stay all day.

From Tenedos Bay we headed south to the Copeland Islsnds. We had decided it was time to start the journey back towards home. We sailed out of Desolation Sound in a light westerly wind with main and jib up for most of the day. The started dying around 1430, so Ellery started the engine and we motored south into Thulin pass.

Very shortly afterwards we heard a pan-pan on the VHF radio. A pan-pan is an international radio message that someone onboard a vessel uses to declare that they have a situation that is urgent but not life threatening; it is a state urgency.

A motor vessel was in the Copeland Islands taking on water and their bilge pump was not keeping up. We listened to the radio conversation and wondered if they were nearby because we were just heading to our anchorage in the Copeland Islands. When the coast guard asked if any nearby vessels could help, Ellery figured out we were close by radioed and said that we would be on scene in 7 minutes.

Amelia was sleeping on me at this point and Maddie was napping but we headed toward the motor vessel. When we arrived, all 5 passengers were outside on the aft deck. The skipper told us that their water problem had stabilized and that the coast guard was 10 minutes away. We stayed with the vessel on standby until the Coast Guard fast rescue craft arrived, just in case. The Coast Guard arrived promptly and we watched for a few minutes before radioing them we were on our way. We were thanked and we all waved bye.

We went straight to anchor and could actually still see the motor vessel from our anchorage. It was interesting to see that after a second Coast Guard vessel arrived, another large Coast Guard vessel arrived as well. Shortly after C-Tow arrived and towed the vessel away. I found the whole situation super interesting and was glad we were around to help and experience it.

The following morning we woke up in the Copeland Islands and decided to go exploring after a slow morning. We did a short hike to a beach and to a bluff overlooking our anchorage.

Next, we went on a dinghy ride to explore the rest of the Copeland Islands. Maddie loved zooming around in the dinghy with her hair blowing in the wind.

Once back at the boat, we wondered what we would do for the rest of the day. We decided to motor a few miles into Lund and spend the night at the dock.

We had a lovely afternoon walking around Lund. We had lunch at Nancy’s Bakery, checked out the shops, had showers and ran into some new and old friends.

I think we got a little over zealous because we decided to go out for dinner, which we rarely do. We felt so good after our showers, so we even put in a little effort, I mean I wore a dress with my hair down. Anyway, in the first 15 minutes of sitting at the table, Maddie has her crayons in her water, has coloured on the chair, I bumped Ellery’s beer and spilled a bit of it and then Amelia grabbed my beer glass and spilled it all over me! Well, at least we were sitting in the corner and no one noticed and our table was on a dock so no clean up was even needed. It was just me that felt gutted. Oh well! I guess you can’t expect too much with small kids around. At least the food was good and the company entertaining!

I wonder what kind of adventures await us as we sail down the Sunshine Coast?!

– Chari

After our first week in Desolation Sound, we were running out of fresh produce so on July 5th, we sailed to Heriot Bay on Quadra Island to reprovision. We pulled up to the Heriot Bay Inn and Marina to get fuel and then tied up at a slip in the marina as we planned to stay the night. Ellery filled up our water tanks, while Amelia and I walked a short distance to the Heriot Bay Tru Value Foods. This was the biggest grocery store we’d been to in a while so we stocked up on everything. Tru Value even drove our groceries back to the marina. At this point we decided that we’d rather go to anchor in Drew Harbour a short motor away. Ellery went to ask for a refund and then we were on our way.

We are getting pretty quick at reprovisioning now and find it works best if we each take a kid and divide and conquer. We used to always tie up at the dock to reprovision but this costs money. It can be anywhere from $0.74 to $1.65 per foot. We are kind of proud of ourselves as we haven’t tied up as much as we did in June, which saves us money.

We found a spot at the head of Drew Harbour to anchor. It was quite windy but we went for a quick dinghy ride ashore to the beach as Maddie hadn’t been off the boat yet that day.

The next day we decided to head back to Gorge Harbour on Cortes Island for the weekly market and some more time in the pool.

We made it to the market in time and enjoyed chatting with the locals and eating some yummy food. We spent the afternoon in the pool and finished the day with beer and appies at the restaurant overlooking the harbour. Later that night and the next night, we listened to some great live music from our boat as it was being played on the patio at Gorge Harbour Marina. What a treat!

We spent a couple days at Gorge Harbour, mainly because of the pool and the space for Maddie to run around, we didn’t have to entertain her much. She was happy just out doing things with us, even if it was just colouring at the restaurant while we enjoyed a beer. Gorge Harbour was also a really easy place to do laundry and we enjoyed talking to lots of other boaters and campers.

We actually met a couple, Laura & Mike from Orcas Island who had their 4 kids onboard their 36ft sailboat Cascadia. They did have grandparents with them to help but I sure was impressed. We hope to meet up with them again in the future!

After Gorge Harbour we headed to to Teakerne Arm via Sutil and Lewis channels. Ellery had been to Teakerne Arm a couple times before and was really excited to take me there.

On the way we saw Humpback Whales in Sutil Channel. We watched the Humpbacks breach and splash for about an hour while we drifted in the calm weather and ate lunch. Maddie saw them and I know Amelia heard a splash at one point too.

Teakerne Arm was beautiful. We recognized another sailboat, Cariba and anchored with a stern-tie next to them. It was late in the day so we quickly got in the dinghy for a short ride to see Cassel Falls. I think this may have been Maddie’s first waterfall.

When we returned, we invited Susan & Brian from Cariba over to our boat for appies. It was great to see familiar faces and fun to socialize as well.

The next day, we all slept in and had a yummy egg breakfast before getting in the dinghy to head to shore. We planned to do the short hike to Cassel Lake, which is known for having warm water for swimming. We were so proud as Maddie hiked the whole way there, up a steep trail, although she did need Ellery’s hand for help quite a few times. Ellery and I took turns swimming in the lake as the girls didn’t come in. It was sort of overcast and there was a bit of a sloping rock to scramble down to get to the water so it wasn’t very toddler friendly. We did have the whole lake to ourselves though, which was wonderful!

Teakerne Arm was so peaceful and definitely one of our favourite places so far.

We arrived in Lund about a week ago and have been exploring Desolation Sound and Cortes Island since then. Lund is a quaint little village on the Sunshine Coast and is the gateway and launching point for exploring Desolation Sound. It’s also the end of the road on the Sunshine Coast.

We arrived in Lund and quickly found Nancy’s Bakery for a snack. We ended up walking the 1 km Lund Loop, searching for a kids playground for Maddie. The only one in the area was in the yard of a preschool but we were told she could go in and play. Maddie spent all of her time in the sandbox making us ‘stir fry.’ We also found some Salmon Berries to pick and eat. Yum!

We enjoyed the bustle of Lund as everyone is going or returning from a trip so the atmosphere is really festive. There were landing craft boats taking people and their cars to islands not serviced by BC Ferries, people going on sea kayaking trips and boaters like us stopping for provisions. I had to mail a letter and found the Canada Post office just before it closed and the woman working there was so friendly!

We headed to Grace Harbour the next day under cloudy skies and rain showers. Grace Harbour is one of the popular places in Desolation Sound park. We did a short forest walk in Grace Harbour but it was very buggy and still spitting rain.

From there we went to Squirrel Cove on Cortes Island. We had a nice quiet anchorage and checked out the community of Squirrel Cove. We had fish tacos at the Flying Squirrel for lunch and looked in the Cortes Island Craft Co-op at all the locally made goods.

The next day was Canada Day and we decided to go to Refuge Cove as we heard they do fireworks at night. It was a great decision and we had an awesome day. Refuge Cove is on West Redonda Island and is only accessible by boat. It is a small community where everyone lives in a land co-op. About 20 people live there in the summer and 8 in the winter. There is a well stocked general store, a cafe/pub and an art gallery. We decided to tie up and enjoy the festivities.

Ellery and Maddie had met a cruising couple, Courtenay & Rich earlier in the day. We enjoyed chatting with them and decided to meet at the pub for beers at happy hour.

Maddie enjoyed an ice cream cone, we explored the village and then headed to the pub. We enjoyed discussing sailing and Desolation Sound with Courtenay & Rich over beers. Courtenay held Amelia a couple of times, which was a wee break for me. We showed them our boat afterwards and Maddie convinced Courtenay to read her a couple books.

We ran into a couple other people sailing with kids and even gave one woman and her daughter a tour of our boat to show her the lee cloths that act as a play pen for Amelia.

The day ended with spectacular fireworks that we could see right from our boat! Neither of the girls woke up so we had a few moments to ourselves to bask in the excellent day.

From Refuge Cove we headed back over to Cortes Island in search of beaches for Maddie to play on. We spent one night in Cortes Bay and then headed to Mansons Landing.

We anchored in a beautiful spot with a great view. From the public dock at Mansons Landing, it is a 20 min walk to Hague Lake, which has a lovely sand beach. We went to the beach twice and we all enjoyed a fresh water swim and a picnic. We also met and chatted with some locals and Maddie had some little kids to play with.

From the lake, it was a little further walk into the village to the grocery store and cafe. We really enjoyed the village and found everyone super friendly and welcoming. We carried the girls and all of our beach gear just so we could get a bit of fresh produce as we were running out. We felt like awesome, strong parents as we hauled the kids and everything 25 minutes walk back to the boat.

We met some American sailors at anchor in Mansons Landing and we ever got invited aboard their boat for some wine! What a treat. They had sailed in the South Pacific and had some great stories to tell. I just love meeting other cruisers!

From Mansons Landing, we motored a couple miles to Gorge Harbour on Cortes Island as we had heard about a pool and hot tub!

We anchored quickly and headed in to do laundry and use the pool. It felt so refreshing to have a swim and Maddie really enjoyed jumping into the pool. After the pool, we went to the restaurant for chowder and beer. Maddie was given some markers and a colouring book, while Amelia napped on me. It’s these moments when we really feel like we are winning as parents.

We also finally got out the fishing rod and have tried a little jigging but so far we haven’t caught anything.

We can’t believe how busy life is here on the boat. Although we get a little bit of time in the evenings now, we usually use it for passage planning. I have found a few stolen moments to read a book though, The Curve of Time by M. Wylie Blanchet. I am really enjoying it as she writes about a lot of the places we are sailing.

Since Amelia turned 6 months recently, we have been feeding her solids which is so messy! It is fun to see her enjoying food so much though.

We are so grateful to have this time out here with our girls, exploring the coast. The connectivity is very spotty but I will write more soon as we have more of Desolation Sound to see.