19 Jul 19

The wind died off during the night, but the swell continued to work into Plumper Cove all night long, so it was rock and roll all night long; not quite as bad as Smuttynose Island back in 2014, but a close second. Therefore, we were up early and off the buoy for a quick stop in at Gibson’s Landing for some groceries for the upcoming weekend. While there, the Admiral got her hair done and I found parts to repair two damaged solar showers. After an excellent BBQ brisket sandwich for lunch, we pumped out the HT and filled up the forward fresh water tank and got away from the Harbour Authority dock at 13:25. It was still blowing NW 15 in the Strait and looking a bit lumpy, so we took the scenic - and more calm - route around the north side of Bowen Island (it is only 2 N-m longer than the direct route. We motor-sailed all the way to Horseshoe Bay, when we were able to turn the engine off for half an hour. As we round Pt. Atkinson, the wind dropped to 6 kn and we put the engine back on to make a timely rendezvous with Laurie at the False Creek Fuels dock, where we arrived at 16:25. Laurie was there on time, so we were away at 16:34, after topping up the fuel tank. We motored through the 1st Narrows under Lions Gate Bridge on the flood, making 10.4 kn SOG. The RCMP boat came alongside and shouted to us to keep out of the middle of the channel as there was a cruise liner exiting the port, as if we could not see it; two or three thousand passengers waved to us as the steamed past. Vancouver was a hive of activity with ferries, float planes, tugs, container ships and numerous pleasure craft all buzzing about. The 2nd Narrows Bridge was open for us when we passed under it at 17:38, doing 10.8 kn SOG. A few hundred meters later, our ground speed was up to 12.4 kn. We turned north into Indian Arm at 18:00 and were welcomed by a gorgeous view up the inlet, complete with high, pine-covered mountains on both sides; this is an unexpected gem very near Vancouver and reminded us very much of Princess Louisa Inlet. We finally dropped the anchor, set up a shore line and rafted alongside “Pittsburgh Nelly”, just north of Granite Falls (which looks a lot like Lacey Falls up in the Broughtons), at 19:50. After a reunion with Josiah, Nicki, Matt and Julia (J2) (and Lucy), we had a late happy hour and dinner aboard, followed by a brief sing-along. Finally turned in about midnight; long day.

49.27.287’N, 122-51.807’W; Log = 42.4, Sum (2019) = 451.4 N-m

20 Jul 19

Wow, today is the 50th anniversary of the historic first manned lunar landing. The dawn came early, but we were shielded from intense sunlight until after 10:00, after which it started to heat up rapidly.  Late in the morning, we rowed over to the park adjacent to Granite Falls. At low water, there is a nice sandy beach adjacent to the river outfall. The seawater temperature in the inlet was 18.5 C (65 F), but the fresh water from the falls was significantly lower that that. About 13:15, Josiah came back from his boat to report that our rudder appeared to be aground. I rowed back and confirmed that this was true, started up the engine and was able to pull us off by simultaneously slackening the shore line, pulling in on the anchor rode and going slow ahead with the engine. A subsequent dive confirmed that there was no mechanical damage to the rudder, although the bottom paint has been scraped off at the bottom. We spent most of the afternoon enjoying the beach, only to find that it was more pleasant swimming by the boats, which were anchored 4 or 500 m away from the falls, where the water was pleasantly warm. Happy hour and dinner aboard. We played a bit of Obligato after dinner, but it was an early night after a day sunning on the beach.