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SOUND BOUND ©2003-4 Jeff Lindeman July 19 thru 27, 2003 Vessel: Juanderer - 26ft Ciera 2651 Express Cruiser Captain: Jeff Lindeman First Mate: Steve Noe Be sure to read the Pre-Voyage Patter Timely Preamble Started June 17th 2004 Completed July 12th 2004 Well, here we are fast approaching the Next Great Seadogs Adventure... and I have yet to write a damn thing about the last! And not that it wasn't a Great One. Part of the problem has admittedly been just plain and simple procrastination. And part has been the speed of life in the early 21st century - I can hear a 22nd century reader laughing now. However, there's one other part that has been a rather gruesome adventure, bloody details with which I will not bore the gentle reader. But the short and ugly of it is I had my first major surgery in April and though almost completely recovered, it was not something easy for one to forget. Let's just say it was a swollen colon kinda-thang and we'll leave it at that. It was surprisingly painful, unexpected in nature, and certainly a call-to-meetin', personal epiphany. I lost 20 pounds during the ordeal and decided to continue in changing my ways by losing an additional 30 pounds. I should write a book - Jeff's New Colorectal Diet - Be Less of an Asshole! (a reference to the fact that they cut out ten inches of my colon). I also celebrated my first anniversary for being a non-smoker! So things are looking good right now. I'm 50 pounds lighter and only 15 pounds over my high school weight of 180 and I'm turning 50 this year (50 years minus 50 pounds). My best bud Gilligan is also staring down the barrel of 50 this year - and has lost a whopping 30+ pounds as well. Hell, we might be friends for another 30 years or more and then YOU would have to read these self-absorbed drivelings for the rest of your life. Ha! Well, enough of that. What prompted me to start writing is a letter from a Seadog Sagas reader. We actually have readers!!! Wow! I might try to post the exchange later. Anyway, I so enjoyed writing the reply and getting his response that I realized I was jonesin' for my yearly writing fix. It was also time to start the route-making and planning for the 2004 adventure and if I didn't write this before then it would never be written. So here goes. Day 1 - Where Tidelines Go To Die This years voyage started out from a different marina than usual. The day before our departure, I brought the boat from Bellingham up to Blaine Marina. We had a plan baby, and it included a helluva run on day one. Steve arrived at my place in Birch Bay the afternoon before, and proceed to victual and load the boat for an early morning departure. At 7am we pulled away from the dock in Blaine and immediately phoned into Canadian Customs to get our clearance out of the way. By around 8am we were on our way to The North. Our hope was to make it most-of-the-way to Desolation Sound by late afternoon. Blaine being at the southern end of the Strait of Georgia and Desolation being just past the northern end. Our ambitions relied most heavily upon wind and wave - but don't they always. Fortunately Neptune and his minions were on our side that day and aside from a firm chop just off the Fraser River outlet we had damn near perfect water all the way. We did perceive a rather interesting phenomena early in the day. And that was the Tidelines of the Southern Strait. I give this a proper name because it truly appears to be the way it is. We crossed tideline after tideline for nearly an hour as we proceed north! As if they were crusty old leviathans headed south toward their graveyard down at Blaine. For those unfamiliar, a tideline is a demarcation of flotsam and jetsam in the water caused by wind and the ebb and flood of the tide. In other words, it's a bunch of crap in the water waiting to ruin your trip, so you have to be careful. As we carefully negotiated each we eventually snagged a chewed up two-by-four that barely marked the prop and if I remember correctly, was the impetuous for the first ration of grog on the voyage. After gassing at Pender Harbor (not to be confused with North or South Pender Island) and having a great round of fish and chips at Colonel Flounders, we saluted to the east at our beloved Princess Louisa and continued our northern slog. The day tended toward a drizzle the further north we traveled yet our spirits remained undampened and the waters of the Strait remained smooth as a baby's behind. A blessedly uneventful journey continued until we reached Lund about 4pm. We looked into spending the night but found the harbormaster to be a few degrees past Done (she was a *itch and a battleaxe to boot). She practically barked when she told us we'd have to raft-up (tie up to another boat at the quay) to spend the night here. It was drizzling pretty heavily yet the prospect of a night in this rather ugly pitstop overseen by this pitbull of a woman was even less attractive then moving on. So we gassed up and decided to make the run for Refuge Cove. (Incidentally, Steve's credit card was subsequently hijacked from this stop and used to purchase cell phone time for some crass, cheatin' cheesehead!)  After Lund, the magic began! Just north of there is a little group of small islets named Copeland Islands - right off the west side of Malispina Peninsula (or Malice Penis as we prefer to call it). The water was so smooth and the drizzle so fine and mystical that we slowed 'er down and toasted our good fortune at just being alive to enjoy the beautiful moment. Ten minutes beyond we rounded the corner at Sarah Point and into Desolation Sound proper. We'd done the entire Strait of Georgia from south to north in one day - not as much a testament to our seamanship as a grant of grace from the goddess Georgia.
 Luck continued to ride shotgun when twenty minutes later we pulled into Refuge Cove and nabbed the last space with power at the dock. And what a charming place Refuge Cove is without a doubt - located on the southern tip of West Redonda Island. As we hooked up power and settled in for the night the sky began to clear and so we poured a couple drinks and jumped in the dinghy for spin around the area in search of the lost lagoon (a rather large body of water on the chart, but not quite accessible without carrying the dinghy over a piece of land; which was far beyond our current energy level). All and all it was an incredible day topped off by a lovely evening dinghy cruise. This was also our first encounter with Don, a luckless sailor literally drifting from port to port for several weeks after the recent demise of his marriage. After his rather melancholy visit we were visited by Owen who informed us that if we shared some of our single-barrel rum with his wife, she would "dance naked on our bow," which he proceeded to tell us had happened the night before. We never took him (or her) up on the offer but later noticed that the "wife" seemed to be keeping to herself and looked a little under-the-weather; possibly from the bow dancing the night before. I can't remember if Don was involved with Owen and his wife or not.
Day 2 - Blue Skies, Brews and Bivalves  We awoke to promising skies (cloud cover but clearing by the moment). Life cereal and a latte from the 'new' espresso stand. Before leaving port we ran into Don again and he being a sailboater and us on our "stinkpot," he pointed out that the term "stinkpot" must exist because powerboats "go like stink, eh?" Canuckian terminology - "Canuckian," I just made that up. *hehheh* By 9am we headed out to explore the area looking for oysters but it was high tide so ended up going north up Homefray (Home Fry) Channel and had lunch on the hook in Forbes Bay off the east side of the channel. After lunch we started south, but after looking at the chart decided to go over the top of East Redonda Island. Making a large u-turn in the channel Steve commented that we had "crossed the wake of our indecision." We continued north and then east, taking a peek up Toba Inlet which had some gorgeous falls ringing the mouth. Finally we headed back south through the tiny pass at Dean Point and into Waddington Channel between West and East Redonda Islands. It was mid-afternoon by this point and so we tried to anchor in Walsh Cove. The waters in these parts can be pretty deep so anchoring can be problematic at best. After trying for around twenty minutes to 'catch the edge' we decided to move on which is how we found Shirley Point midway down the channel on the East Redonda side. Now at low tide this little cove around the south tip of the point is a free marketplace for oysters - self-serve! We knew we had found dinner baby!
With a tub of oysters aboard we decide to head back to Refuge Cove and try for another night at the dock to cook up our catch in comfort. After our bivalve feast we nodded to Spongebob Squarepants DVD's on my newly purchased 17-inch Macintosh Powerbook laptop. Ain't technology great?! $3000 worth of computer to watch Spongebob. Speaking of which, this was also the first iPod Tour this year. We both had our iPod's with us with well over 300 CD's worth of music on board. But no amount of entertainment technology could stave off our fate and by 11pm we were still out cold! Day 3 - Jambalaya Point and Octopus Islands  Cloudless and warm. Hot showers in Refuge Cove at 6am (Skip) and 7am (Gil). Then we had a great breakfast of "real" back-bacon (Canadian Bacon) at this neat little grill in a shack on dock. We also ordered 'regular' coffee this morning after the proprietor pointed out that he didn't have "no stinkin' yuppie coffee." Boats go like stink; coffee's a stinkin'; does everything stink up here? Not us, we just showered.
 So we dropped our garbage, for $3, at the little barge in the bay and headed up Lewis Channel on the west side of West Redonda. After a stop in Teakerne Arm to check out a freshwater falls spilling off of Cassel Lake in the corner of the arm we continued up past Rendevous Islands and into Hole in the Wall. We had managed to time it close to slack tide so the shot through Hole in the Wall was nice and calm, which from the eddies and whirlpools present even that close to slack showed our prudence was well guided.
There are only three ways into the Octopus Islands; Hole in the Wall, Okisollo Channel or Surge Narrows. All involve small passages where large amounts of water must ebb and flow upon the whims of the tides. In other words, be fricking careful in here and choose your times for movement in and out carefully - ahem, more on this later. Once in the island group there are a number of rocks and shoals so keep an eye on your chart and move slowly. Winding our way in we found a beautiful little cove with only a few boats anchored within and we slipped past them into the shallows just off an unnamed point - until we christened it Jambalaya Point a little later that day when we had the traditional once-per-trip dinner of Hot Link and Prawn Jambalaya.  After anchoring in the dead calm of this little cove we took the dinghy and headed out on a fairly daring dinghy-trip across the rougher waters of Okisollo Channel to Francisco Island. As we crossed the channel we spotted an eagle coming straight across from the island to check us out. He circled us a few times and headed back to the island. When we arrived on the beach he sat in a tree and watched us intently as we ate our lunch and had a pleasant walkabout. After bidding our watchful friend a goodbye we headed back across the channel and spent the afternoon exploring Waiatt Bay and what one chart named Kayak Islands. As an aside, several other charts have no name for these little islands. but Kayak seems right onsidering how protected they are, not to mention that we actual DID see several kayakers - or "speed bumps" as we powerboaters like to call them.
Back at Juanderer we had our Jambalaya dinner and waded in the warm tidal pools off of Jambalaya Point. At dusk there wasn't even a ripple on the water - so much so that I'm told by Gilligan that when he awoke very early in the morning and relieved himself over the stern, the boat actually started to swing on the anchor. How's that for a fish story... er, boating story. No, I believe ya buddy. It really was THAT calm. Day 4 - What Day Is It? The catch phrase for today would have to be, "What day is it? Tuesday right?" It must have been said 10 times during the day. Which just goes to show you how relaxed two old farts can actually get. Either that or Alzheimer's isn't far behind. An unbelievably beautiful morning at any rate, and our only regret from this trip would be that we should of spent one more day in this magic place.  After some fresh bacon and scrambled eggs for breakfast we pulled anchor and headed up Okisollo Channel and to the west over the top of Quadra Island. It was here that we learned that powerboats are NOT immune to tidal currents in all cases. While transiting the Upper Rapids portion of the channel the water was really starting to boil and I was a tad concerned that we hadn't really minded the tide table for this passage. All of a sudden not 25 feet off the starboard bow the water boiled up in a huge mound at least four feet higher than the surrounding water. Very disconcerting. There were whirlpools everywhere and the feeling of being carried along on a very tenuous cloud that might swallow you at any moment could not be escaped. You could actually feel yourself drop several feet here and rise several there, like it could suck the boat under at a whim. I was most happy when it all started to calm down.
I have to say just a little more about this passage. If you've read the other Seadog Sagas you know that we fear no passage - not that we don't highly respect each! We regularly do the 7 or 8 knot currents at Deception Pass in the San Juans and we've done 9+ knots at Dodd Narrows a few times in the Canadian Gulf Islands. Speed-wise the Okisollo Channel currents were maybe 5 knots, but there character is definitely on the squirrelly side. Not rough and ride-'em-cowboy like Deception Pass, or even rushing and just plain fast like Dodd Narrows. These were scary in a very subtle and almost insidious and evil way. It's hard to explain the feeling but it definitely impressed me. Gil's comments? I'll try and find out before I post this... After the channel calmed momentarily we turned into Discovery Passage, which is essentially the southern end of the infamous Johnstone Strait. I had originally hoped to head up Johnstone Strait 'a ways' and see if we could maybe spot an Orca pod or two up there, but the prevailing summertime north winds would have none of that. We were promptly spanked and sent whimpering to the south down Discover Passage. We quickly turned into Kanish Bay on the northwest tip of Quadra, tucking in behind the Chained Islands to regroup and make a plan. Ah, another one of our Plans - by which I mean, a course of action that precludes our survival. Small case "p" plans are made on the couch. Capital "P" Plans, on the other hand, are made in the saddle. With the northwest winds there was no-going north. Period. There was hardly any protection here in the Chained Islands, so our choice was simple - continue south down Discovery Passage. So back into the maw we headed, literally, since we had to beat back into it to get out of Kanish Bay. Once we turned to the south down Discovery Passage things "appeared" to calm a bit. Mind you it was still blowing a good 25 knots but we were doing 25 knots in the same direction, so it "felt" like no wind at all. I always say, big following seas "go whoosh-whoosh instead of bang-bang." So looking at the current tables we would hit Seymour Narrows about 30 minutes before full slack so we should be OK. Since there was a gaggle of other boats moving the same direction on the same timetable we had lucked out on the timing. and as we transited the narrows I calculated around a 5 knot southerly flow. Big, wide and a piece of pie. About halfway down Discovery we decided it would be prudent to gas up so we ducked into April Point... and found they had no gas. ?!?! So as we were going to Campbell River for our gas we decided to spend the night back at April Point. It was still midday and so tucking Juanderer in at April Point we took the water-taxi across to Painters Lodge on the west side and went for a swim at the pool. Neat set-up, restaurant and marina on one side at April Point and full-service resort and fishing operation on the other. And after the swim and a pleasant ride back to the marina/restaurant side we treated ourselves to a fine meal of hor'derves and sushi. Over martinis we watch The Love Birds at a nearby table implode. From kissy-kissy to spat to rolled eyes and dirty looks - the salads go undelivered, the promise of their evening broken. We order more drinks and pour ourselves into the last water-taxi of the night. What day is it? Tuesday, right?  Day 5 - Another Day in Paradise
So over dinner the night before we had discussed chartering a plane to go back over the area we had just covered in Desolation Sound and the Octopus Islands. We had grabbed several brochures over at the restaurant and now we made our decision to call one. We chose Parallel Aviation out of Campbell River, which said they could accommodate us for an hour or so flight for $125 (Canadian) a piece. So off we went on the water-taxi and a free shuttle bus to the airport.  Our ACE pilot was a young fellow named Nathan, whose first words to us were, "You're a couple of well fed boys - like them loggers." To which Steve replied, "Yeah, well the last plane we rode together on they asked us both to leave." (Incidentally, the duo is not so well-fed in 2004 since we've lost more than 80 pounds between us!) And so we regaled him with skydiving stories and he the same with beach landing stories. It was a great time. I told Nathan of my flying experience and so after he checked me out with a few coordinated turns etc, I ended up doing most of the flying. Of course, the aerial pics above came from the flight.
 After the flight we made our way back to the boat and were underway to the south by 1pm. Discovery Passage was much calmer today and we had a pleasant hour before rounding Cape Mudge into the 'sludge' of the Strait of Georgia. The winds of the day before had shifted a bit to the east so our short reprieve down Discovery Passage had been but an illusion of calm. Once south of Cape Mudge and out of the protecting lee of Quadra Island, the Strait presented us with a manageable albeit uncomfortable ride.  The slog was around an hour (25 miles) with 6 and 7 foot following seas that made for a constant fight against an endless parade of stern lifting swells. Finally we slipped in behind Denman and Hornby Islands for a respite. I was so tired from the fight that I only gave the chart a cursory look-see and was just happy to be cruising along in calmer waters. Fortunately it was Steve who looking up from a chart innocently said, "Should we fix drinks before the bar or after?" My reply was to bring her off-plane immediately. "The bar?" I said. One look at the chart revealed that had we continued on our current course we would of run aground on Comox Bar within minutes. Lesson learned: Don't be too tired to keep your wits about you.
Our destination was Schooner Cove Marina and so we enjoyed our 30 minutes of reprieve and then were only briefly tossed before entering the marina. Phew. and as we called the harbormaster and cruised to our slip, who should resurface but that good old women-hating, divorcee, "Goes Like Stink Don." Don appears a little more lucid at first but sinks very quickly into morose. Ya can't blame the guy too much though. Problems of the heart are always pretty debilitating. Not to mention Steve remembers that he had a couple health issues also.  So this is where Gilligan's maniacal web research pays off. Moored in this unassuming marina is one of the three actual boats that portrayed the SS Minnow on the Gilligan's Island TV series. Pretty Cool. Gil was going to keep it a surprise and spring it on me when we arrived, but he couldn't keep his mouth shut. *hehheh* So we had to take some pics. You could start to feel the trip winding down at this point. not that we weren't ready for more fun, but the energy definitely plateaus and the groove drops a key or two. We start to drink less and lounge more. Speak less and grunt more. Hell, a couple weeks like this and we'd be completely devolved. Which might not be so bad.
Day 6 - Chillin' in Maple Bay Good Morning. And yes, Don appears more lucid... but than again, it's early - see picture. More snaps of the Minnow and we're outta here. Steve says, "Its gonna be rough out there, should we fix drinks now or..." drum-rooollll... "...RUN SOBER?" My reply? "What did you say?" I was reaching for me cat-o-nine... aaarrrggh! "Badges? We ain't got no badges. We don't need no stinking badges!" And so we bid Schooners Cove a fond farewell. Goodbye SS Minnow. Don waves forlornly from the stern of his sailboat. Hope life is treating you better now Don ole'boy! Hey Gilligan, check to make sure Don isn't following us as we exit the harbor.  Hang a right into North Umberland Channel. Rough as hell - not just from wind and Strait but where the hell did all these 50 footers come from? Crash, bang, bam. Off of plane further in - remember that North Umberland has it's very own deadhead and log manufacturing plant - paid for by the local boat repairmen I bet. Ha Ha Ha. Made the run up Dodd Narrows against the flow and paused for lunch and a raconteur in Stuart Channel. Decided to run the scenic route through the Gulf and down to our traditional night in Maple Bay. Busted for excessive speed by the Maple Bay Yacht Club upon arrival - we weren't going THAT fast but those old farts had to bitch at somebody I guess. Fish and chips at Maple Bay this time - cod for me, halibut for Steve and of course we picked up gifts for the wives at the little gift shop.
As we had tried every night, we attempted to watch a couple Spongebob Squarepants episodes on my laptop, but couldn't make it past numero uno. And I'd brought 5 DVD's with 10 episodes on each. Fun anyway but man it's just hard to keep your eyes open after 11pm... yawn. Day 7 - One Last Night in Montague Harbour - Galiano Island  Rising in Maple Bay; Bacon and Omelets in the cockpit; showers all around; Steve and I, not the rain kind. We meandered down our favorite Samsun Narrows, reading the Explorer Chart historical notes - Murder Island... arrrghhh! Damn those BC ferries are big. Out Active Pass for a look-see at the Strait. And finally we snagged a buoy at the park in Montague Harbour.
Anchored in the center of the bay is the Atrevida, a 1928 ferry from Naniamo. Now based out of Maple Bay and converted to a home and bakery for a very friendly couple (whose names I don't recall). We dinghied over and put in an order for cinnamon rolls in the morning and picked up some homemade buns for Hot Links tonight baby. We had some coffee at a table a nd chairs set-up on what used to be the loading deck. The owner showed us around with pride for the 'world' he'd created. And rightfully so. His wife did the baking and he minded the ship. Back at the Juanderer we enjoyed an absolutely stunning sunset and a toast of Absinthe to this year's trip. A blurry-eyed Jeff said, "Wow, went away for a little while there." While a nearly comotose Steve replied, "Are you back now?" Half an episode of Spongebob was all we could manage before sailing into the ethereal mists of er... Slumberland Channel, yea that's it. Day 8 - The Too Much Fun To Remember It All Tour Rising in Montague Harbour; fresh cinnimon buns from the Atrevida; dumps all around; Steve and I, not the garbage kind. And it's comments like that, that make you realize it has been far too long since we've been in the company of our women. So to-home it will be. We cleaned the boat up in Montague and headed for home. And that's all there is to tell. Or all my notes can do to jar my memory. The important thing being 'it is now written.' Today is Monday, July 12th, 2004 and in two weeks exactly, on Monday July 26th 2004, we will begin the 2004 edition of our fine, yearly, boys-week adventure. If I hadn't gotten this written NOW, it never would have been; so I'm happy. I'll put together a few pics and upload the whole thing and be done with it. The 2004 edition should prove to be quite exciting. As a change of pace we will be trailering Juanderer up to Port Alberni on Vancouver Island and then going down the river and into Barkley Sound on the west side of the island. If the Pacific looks good we will actually do some fishing in THE OCEAN baby. If not there's quite a bit of protected water and we should be able to have a good time anyway. And as a contingency plan we can always run her back to Naniamo and putz around in the Gulf Islands, but you'll have to wait until it's over to find out gentle reader. Until then, fair winds and following seas. Gil's Final Quote: "There and back again. We have traveled far and faired well." - some other boat guys after a big journey somewhere - quote-unquote. Cheers, Jeff 
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