Always Onward Adventures

We got a late start from Shearwater - I think the last couple of days have caught up with us. We ended up leaving around 9a from Shearwater - making our way for 35 nm to Eucott Bay (where the hot springs are). It was going to be a long day - probably 6-7 hours. Sara spent a couple of hour reading to me, it was raining in the morning so she tucked herself on the top step of the companionway to stay dry but still keep me company.

Monday was our rest day in Port McNeill - we considered leaving early (marina life is far less enjoyable than being on anchor somewhere beautiful), but we still needed groceries and the weather looked much better for rounding Cape Caution on Tuesday/Wednesday than it did Monday/Tuesday. Either way, we got some delicious coffee from Mugz, did some laundry, and then purchased ferry tickets over to Alert Bay - which was advertised as the place to learn about the native peoples (called “first nation” people in Canada).

Our final rest day in Garden Bay was 6/19 - the heater finally arrived at around 5p. We started the day with a provisioning stop at the local IGA - this was our first grocery shopping by dinghy, kinda fun thing to do. We went on a hike to the nearby park (Garden Bay Provential Park) and found a fun loop trail & beach hike. We also spent a few hours up in the Sunshine Room, doing watercoloring and playing games.

We have officially entered Canada - perhaps the most anti-climactic event of our trip. We left Henry island at around 11:30a and headed for Bedwell harbor. Henry island was a magical place in the morning and we wished we could have stayed another day, but we were eager to keep going - and it will be relatively easy for us to come back to Henry island in the future. We headed for a customs clearance point called Poets Cove and docked at the dedicated customs dock.

We are off! We left Elliott bay on Thursday (6/8) around 4p and made our way up to the Blue Ridge neighborhood to anchor for the night. Our friends, Derek and Diane, recently purchased a new home there and it was closing day so we came by to celebrate with them. Pizza and 30ish year old Yamazaki whiskey was the perfect way to celebrate a new chapter for both them in their new house and us heading off on our sailing trip!

Success at last! This was my third attempt at the Palouse to Cascades state park trail. The trail runs for ~300 miles from Cedar Falls (near north bend) all the way to the border with Idaho (near Tekoa). This trail is a beast - but after three attempts, I finally made it. Before I jump into this trip, a bit of history. There is a bridge that goes over I-90 as you are going east from Seattle.

It was of course bitter sweet to be leaving the Galapagos. We had an amazing trip and the Sea Lions saw fit to give us a great send-off. Today was our last full day and tomorrow would be a morning departure from the boat and early afternoon flight back to Equador. The day called for a morning hike to Punta Pitt and an afternoon trip to the beautiful white beach on Cerro Brujo.

Today was to be our most metropolitan day of the trip - spending the day in one of the few towns in the Galapagos - Puerto Ayora. We were to spend the day at the Charles Darwin research center learning how they are protecting/preserving the giant tortoises (primarily). Then we were to head to a coffee plantation and finally a protected tortoise feeding area to take pictures of tortoises. Lots of tortoises today!