Our wild adventures are starting to wind down. We had a great couple of weeks with our daughters and are now on our own again.

Paul and Ellie hiked all the way up to the infamous Trapper’s cabin in Princess Louisa Inlet. It is a very steep, rough climb where several people have fallen and ended up with serious injuries. Paul and Ellie were both sore and very hot when they got back but were glad they made it to the top for a cool dip in the waterfall there.

After Princess Louisa we had to take Ellie to Powell River for her air flight home. As we pondered what to do next we saw that there were predictions of high winds all week. That didn’t sound like much fun for our crossing of Strait of Georgia! Since things were predicting to get even worse in the next week, we decided to work our way as far as we could towards Nanaimo until it got too rough. We got a late start of about 11:30 am due to waiting for Ellie’s air departure. It was pretty crazy because we had calm seas all the way across except for the last hour or so. It also turned out that we hit the tides perfectly for Dodd Narrows so we kept on going. We finally anchored in Ladysmith harbor around 7:30 that night.

We heard the next morning that things were very rough around Nanaimo so we were glad we had pushed through. Ladysmith was a good place to wait for the next weather window although we were trying to get down to Friday Harbor area to meet up with our good friends, Michael and Krissi from Logum. Once again the weather mostly cooperated and we were able get back into the USA and to anchor with Logum side-tied to us. What a great couple of days eating, drinking and having a great time with great friends.

Unfortunately, we have to shift gears now and think about the timing of getting everything off the boat before and after the Port Townsend Wooden Boat Show and then Ellie K will be put on the hard (stored on land on support blocks) in Anacortes for the winter. We will really miss being able to cruise during the winter months in the Columbia River area but it will be less of an ordeal to head out next summer for more adventures, whatever they may be. Also the slip we have kept our boat in for the last several years is being sold so we don’t have a place to keep her in Portland this winter.

By Kassia

10 year reunion tour has commenced! I, Kassia, am a little grayer. Ellie is a lot taller. All four of us are, of course, 10 years wiser and exponentially funnier. Some things, however, have not changed. Routine game night is full of laughter. Watching passing scenery and pointing out breathtakingly beautiful nature moments remains a favorite pastime. The collective genius brainstorming the next art piece of culinary delights continues to impress and leave everyone feeling sated and content. Life is lovely in a boat with loved ones in Canada!

By Ellie

It’s great to be back on the boat in salty water! After busy months full of working, I’m relishing the downtime that cruising entails. I can’t ask for a better excuse to cozy up with a good book and a morning scone, and watch the mountains pass by. After long days on the water, I’m antsy to get out and stretch my legs. Hiking through moss covered forests, jumping in crystal clear waters, or kayaking at sunset is the perfect way to cap off the days up here. After spying some tempting cliffs as we sailed into Doctor Bay, Papa and I motored over in the dinghy and I got do some rock climbing over deep water. The rock was great and it felt great to stretch my climbing muscles, although there are far fewer barnacles in the gyms where I usually climb 🙂 Looking forward to another week full of adventures in this beautiful place!! -Ellie

By Becky

It is so much fun having our daughters here to share our adventures. They bring a new energy and focus to the trip that is like a breath of fresh air (even though we have LOTS of fresh air up here). On this section of the trip, we have seen whales and different birds and even had a blue heron land on our forward deck as we were playing cards. We all had huge eyes as we got such a close up look of him. I started to take a picture of him but the movement scared him away. So many unique adventures with birds on our boat!

As we head south towards Desolation Sound, there are more and more boats everyday. Some anchorages and docks are so full we can’t even get in the harbor. We are so thankful for all the amazing adventures and people we have encountered so far and look forward to even more.

By Becky – Paul and I were awed by the incredible beauty of the many fiords we were able to explore. They was otherworldly and felt sacred. We wanted to be able to share them with others but enjoyed that it was just the two of us sharing these very special places. We could stay there for at least a month enjoying the changing weather and different mountains and anchorages. Sometimes dropping or pulling anchor in the rain or clouds or sunshine.

We finally had to go back to Shearwater to get water and ice before heading towards Cape Caution. The weather window caused us to make the crossing a day or two before we wanted. On to new adventures with new people.