Day 6 Roche Harbor, US

Today we ventured over to Roche Harbor and back to the US. The ride was eventful seeing lots of sea lions in the water and also getting pulled over by the US Customs Border Patrol. We were driving on the fly bridge, as it was a beautiful day and I saw a boat going really fast in the water way. I pulled out the binoculars to see who they were and chances are they were doing the same thing to us and next thing we knew, they were coming our way. We slowed down and I let Jason do the talking. We were asked a few simple questions – what was our nationality, where we were headed, where did we come from and if we had any firearms, etc. They said have a nice day and off we went. We headed right to Roche Harbor, cleared customs again and found our slip for the night. We had joined up with the StFYC crew again. Roche was hustling and bustling with people and I fell in love with the resort. We had spent our Valentine’s Day weekend there this year, but being there in the height of the season on a beautiful day was amazing. We walked around the resort, which consists of a hotel, a pool, spa, little shops, a grocery store, boats, boats, and more boats. I relaxed at the pool for a bit, which is a bit of a hike to get there. J was kind of enough to drive me over in the dinghy J We had cocktails on the fly bridge of his company’s 62 ft Hampton that’s there for the summer, we had a cocktail party on the dock with the StFYC crew and also ended up crashing their dinner, which was a pig roast and the food was impressive. We watched colors with the group and all the past and current Commodores of the club, as well as the Staff Commodore of the Royal Vancouver club were there to receive the flags. We all watched in our matching jackets and were a sight to see. The night went on with more drinking and spending time with friends. All in all, a wonderful evening!

I'm "driving" from the fly bridge

View of Roche from the customes dock

customs office

J on the fly bridge after clearning customs

boats

the resort - view from the fuel dock

Wayfare getting some more juice in her at her fuel dock

view from the pool. This is Jason's version of heaven.

the beautiful grounds

the hotel again

me in the cockpit getting ready for cocktails

Colors

in our matching jackets

such a beautiful place

I want this dogs life. He's just hanging out on the bow of his massive boat on his sun pad.

little Wayfare cozy in her slip

view from the fly bridge

I had to ad this. It's the Phecal Freak pump out boat. lol.

Day 5 - Prevost Island

Our favorite picture from the trip

Sun! We have sun! The trip was starting to turn around. We decided to do our own thing and we went to Prevost Island and anchored out for the night, while the StFYC went elsewhere. We cruised to Annette Inlette on Prevost Island, dropped the anchor and were one of 5 boats. We had all the privacy we could ask for. Around 2pm, the sun came out and so did my smile. I am surprised J hadn't sent me home on a sea plane for being too cranky. We had lunch, got the toys in the water and started to relax. We took a long kayak ride, discovered abalone, and horses on the island. We cruised in the dinghy over to the neighboring inlette, Secret Cove, and immediately regretted not dropping the anchor there. You couldn't go wrong with either place, but the view was breath taking in Secret Cove. As the evening went on, the calmer the water became. It was like glass. We sat on the fly bridge, enjoying the sunset and being in awe of the stillness of the world we were watching. We felt like we were disturbing the universe if we uttered a word. It was a special moment we were having and one that's hard to put into words. This was Jason's favorite day of the trip.



Stillness

Pretty much sums up Jason

Day 4 - Ganges, B.C.

Today we were off to Ganges in Canada. We cruised 20 nautical miles from Poet's Cove and took the long way to get there. We tied up at our out station in the Marina, while the memebers of StFYC tied up across the way. We ended up being next to the Comodore of the SYC and spent some time talking to him and his wife. The weather still hadn't turned on this day, and it was taking a toll on my mood. J and I both agreed that we didn't love the marina, as it was old and rickety and really surgey. People had raved about Ganges, but we couldn't understand why. We took the dinghy over to the main Marina and walked around all the shops, exchanged some money at the Banque of Montreal, got some ice cream and stocked up at the grocery store. I took a nap, feeling the gloom setting in. Later J and I attended the cocktail party at the Hastings House and had a really nice time. We met a sweet, older couple, who had been married for 3 years, but together for 27. Why rush things they said? They got married in Roche Harbor and their witness was their dear friend Warren Miller (yes, that Warren Miller). While everyone went to dine at the restaurant, we opted to eat chicken wings and drink beer at Mobey's Pub down the way. They were literally the BEST wings I have ever had. Amazing. The view wasn't bad either :)

Cocktails at Hastings House

At Mobey's Pub

View of Ganges Harbor