23 Jun 18

We were both up relatively early for a light breakfast and coffee and had the anchor aweigh just after 09:00. From Diver Bay, we ran over to Active Pass, between Galiano and Mayne Islands, dodging ferries and other pleasure craft and tied up at the public dock beside the ferry dock just after 10:00. The ferry arrived at 10:40 and we collected John’s son Matt and 3 friends of his, all of whom came over to “help” us sail across the Strait of Georgia to Vancouver. Graham and David came with me and Josiah and Matt went with John. We were away from the dock by 11:00 and motored out into the strait. Unfortunately, there was virtually no wind, so we motored all the way to English Bay. Graham had brought his fishing rod and a down-rigger and we tried all the way across to catch a salmon; although we had one big bite, nothing got hooked and we had nothing to show for a day of fishing. The weather was fine and as we rounded the corner and turned into English Bay, we had NW 5-8, so we reeled in the fishing gear and ran up the spinnaker. “Massilia” and “c’est le bon” had another little duel all the way into the entrance to False Creek. We were tied up at the slip at False Creek Yacht Club by 17:20 and finally got away from the boat some time after 22:30, after an extended crossing celebration. I crashed in bed as soon as we arrived home.

49-16.418’N, 123-08.015’W; Log = 36.6, Sum (2018) = 113.3 N-m

24 Jun 18

John and I went back to the boats to do boat chores while the girls went back to continue to clear out Laurie’s office. I got the old (non-functioning A/C) raw-water centrifugal pump pulled out and planned the installation of the replacement, which I collected last week. Quiet dinner back at John and Laurie’s house.

25 Jun 18

John had to go to work again - a meeting back on Vancouver Island. I dropped the girls off at Laurie’s office and spent the day collecting plumbing parts and completing the installation of the new raw-water pump. Miracle of miracles, it worked the first time and did not leak a bit; we now have air-conditioning (heating and cooling) should the need ever arise. Except for a bit of tidying up and a big provisioning run, the boat is finally ready to go cruising. The girls and I had a quiet dinner at home, while John spent the night on the island.  

26 Jun 18

I rode into town with the girls, on their way to the office and did a bit of shopping for guitar strings and a bit of touristy stuff at Granville Island Market, arriving at the boat just after noon. After lunch, I did a bit more tidying up down below, called Raymarine to try to sort out my AIS issue (I am receiving AIS signals, but not transmitting one) - no luck, and applied another coat of Le Tonkinois to the starboard side toe-rail. Another gorgeous day in Vancouver. The girls were at golf in the evening, so John and I had a quiet dinner, played in the wood-working shop, and a sail-planning session.

27 Jun 18

John and I were up at 06:00 to make a quick run down to Bellingham to pick up essential marine equipment from LFS, Inc. On the way back home, we stopped off at Lee Valley Tools - the ultimate shop of big toys for big boys, sort of an Ace Hardware on steroids. I managed to get out without spending $1000, but it took a HUGE effort of will-power. We spent the afternoon on the boats. I got another coat of Le Tonkinois on the starboard rail and have the first coat on the ends of the two companionway rails (which were suffering a bit from the winter’s exposure). A quick inventory of boat spares indicates I need a few oil and fuel filters for the main engine. We went to dinner at Rocky Mountain Flatbread and Bard on the Beach (clever interpretation of Shakespeare’s “As You Like It”, with lots of Beatles songs peppered throughout the play) with John and Laurie and a couple of friends, Keith and Ann. We have decided to stay in Vancouver through Saturday night and now plan to depart on Sunday morning.

28 Jun 18

Today was a loading day. I finished preparing the fog-bell support, which will fit on a seldom used cleat on the mast; when I attach a long string from the clapper, I will be able to ring the bell from the cockpit. John and I bought little planters from Lee Valley Tools to house our planned herb gardens for the boats; we also bought the herbs and got them planted. We also hauled away stuff from Laurie’s office. Dinner at home.

29 Jun 18

Another day of loading and prepping the boats and hauling away more stuff from Laurie’s office. I got another coat of Le Tonkinois on the companionway rails; looking quite good now. Also got a coat and a half of Le Tonkinois on the new fog-bell support. Late dinner at home.

30 Jun 18

Another big loading day; kayaks for both boats and anchor and rodes for “Massilia”. We managed to push our departure date back again, this time until Monday, 2 July. We did the first rounds of grocery shopping and got that squared away on the boat. Afterward, we picked up another load of stuff from Laurie’s office, then rushed home for showers before heading to a lovely dinner with Laurie’s soon-to-be-former partners.

1 Jul 18

Oh, Canada. Happy Canada Day, y’all. The weather finally showed some sign of improvement. Another round of grocery shopping was completed and John spent the morning packing up miscellaneous supplies for the boat from all corners of the house. We also made one last run to Laurie’s office for the final cleanup. She is officially out of her practice now.