After our crazy windy evening in Powell River the winds calmed enough the next day for us to leave the marina there so we did. Our journey back to PLI included clouds, some wind, and some rain but generally was no problem and we turned into Jervis Inlet heading to our our favorite place. We all hoped the rain would clear out the smoke. Here is a photo our new friends from Aluel Winery in Seattle took of us leaving.

We were trying to time our arrival at Malibu Rapids (the entrance to PLI) with the slack current before high tide; that way we can ride the flood tide up the fjord, clear the rapids and then secure our shore tie when its easiest to do that (at high tide). It looked like we were going to arrive at the rapids too early so as we were cruising the First Mate remembered reading about Friel Falls in Hotham Sound. Turns out it was less than 5 miles away from us so we decided to do a detour and spend our “waiting” time there on a new exploration.

Friel Falls plunges 1,400 feet and even late in the season there was a lot of water coming down (we plan to begin our summer boating trip next year in June so we can see all the waterfalls in their full glory). It falls from Friel Lake and we even lucked out with light winds and some sunshine so the First Mate deployed the paddle board.

After playing for about an hour we headed again toward PLI, about 30 miles up the fjord. Everything went according to plan; our favorite anchorage was available and after we secured the shore tie and dropped the anchor we felt the calm and magic of PLI. Because of the rain the waterfalls were temporarily flowing like it was early summer, but it was cloudy so we were not able to watch the Perseids meteor shower. But we were rewarded with three days of remarkable phosphorescence in the water.

The first night of phosphorescence were pretty normal, if you can call this unusual phenomenon normal. As we experienced the one night the year before, I looked out behind the True Love and there was a glow where a nearby waterfall hit the surface of the inlet. So I snapped the stern line on the water and ohhhh there it was! The Captain and I then disturbed the water around us with paddles and ropes to create glowing shapes on the water. We laughed and giggled and enjoyed it as if we were children playing with sparklers on Independence Day.

The next day we woke hoping that the clouds had cleared and they had but unfortunately the clouds were replaced by a smoky haze from distant forest fires. The waterfalls were really very small compared to our visit a month earlier despite yesterday’s rain. Amazingly or maybe predictably, the water was about 70 degrees, 3 degrees cooler from the shorter days in mid-August compared to mid-July. The warm water is created by the limited tidal exchange with the Pacific and from the hot summer sun and the long, 17+ hour long early summer days in the inlet. The first mate still took a swim or two. And the Captain tried the paddle board successfully. We were also visited by a heron that was fishing along the shore. Harry (yes Harry Heron) visited us every day. Also on our way into our anchorage we spotted the mother seal with two pups we saw in July. We were worried then that the second, smaller pup wouldn’t survive. But it turns out it did! Still smaller, but it looked healthy and much better than the month before.

During the day we met some new friends, Bridget and Bill and helped them with some shore tie advice because this was their first visit to PLI on their boat “Aimless.” Our day was filled the usual PLI way with meditation, reading, kayaking and now paddle boarding. When night descended we knew the smoke was not going to allow us to see peak Perseids, but would we get phosphorescence again? Boy did we! This time there was a large school of small fish around us and as the fish swam around the water all around us was glowing and sparkling at different depths intermittently like the lights at a concert. As we walked out on the True Love’s swim platform the door thunked shut behind us and the low drum sound vibrated the water so all the fish moved at once . . . and voila! fireworks in the water! We were enchanted, astonished and giggling with each thunk. Alas, although I tried, it was too dark to photograph or video.

Our third day was spent much the same. The smoke unfortunately thickened. When a sea plane landed we went over to get information on how widespread the smoke was now. It turns out it was everywhere, from Seattle north, as our readers in Seattle know.

Later in the day we enjoyed cocktails with Bridget and Bill, and shared our combined joyful phosphorescence discovery. They experienced the same thing. The Captain and First Mate decided if we got the phosphorescence an unprecedented third night we would take the tender out to see how the propeller on the outboard engine looked in the water. Well they were there again, glowing all around with the movement of the fish and driving the tender through the water created a comet tail behind the boat. While moving we played with glowing feet in the water and glowing paddles at different depths, all filling us with joy and laughter.

The next day the smoke was even thicker. Unfortunately, the smoke was flowing into our little inlet like a funnel into a bottle. Despite the sunrise the temperature wasn’t very warm and we departed PLI with the slack current that morning and rode the ebb tide back toward civilization. We shared info with passing yacht cruising toward PLI and he said the smoke wasn’t as bad further south near Nanaimo so we decided to do a long day cruising and end in Nanaimo, depending on the winds in the Georgia Strait.

We weren’t in any rush so we cruised close to the west shore looking for future waterfalls and gunk holes. We stopped along the way for a floating meditation and I tried to reach out to the creatures in the water for an orca sighting. We were told by a whale guide that orcas had entered Jervis a couple of weeks ago, something we had never seen.

A fellow boater told us about a good iPhone app a lot of sailboaters use called “Predict Wind.” It is very helpful and seems to be accurate. It predicted a calm crossing of the Georgia Strait and so we did continue to Nanaimo. That is where we saw the orcas!

A pod of around 5 or 6 were fishing all around us. It appeared they were catching. One orca surfaced right in front of the True Love and we had to quickly cut the engines. Our next hour was spent with the orcas. I turned on the music and we tried to capture some photos with the telephoto. Orcas are truly hard to photograph because unlike humpbacks you need to capture them coming up out of the water, not descending like the humpbacks. I thanked the water creatures for responding to my meditation and prayers and we headed on to Nanaimo, leaving the orcas fishing behind us.

In Nanaimo we felt very lucky at first because we got the last spot on the Cameron Island pier. Unfortunately, it was on the outside of the pier. We have never been on the outside and we soon learned we would never stop there again. The outside is rocked heavily by the ferry waves every hour or so. And rocked doesn’t describe the motion quite enough. It’s more like the scene in Mary Poppins where the cannon goes off on a regular schedule and the household has to prepare to catch everything as it falls screaming “places everyone”! But we tied down, cleaned up and headed into town for our annual Greek dinner at Astera Taverna. We ordered our usual combo plate dinner with yummy calamari, ate half and enjoyed the rest for lunch yesterday.

In Nanaimo we were docked behind the 200′ “Huntress”, a $75 million mega yacht that can be rented for $450,000 a week in high season, plus expenses. It was quite the draw at the docks and it didn’t get knocked around by the waves. It only sleeps 10, but it does have 20 crew to take care of its passengers.

After arriving back at the True Love satiated and experiencing more rocking, we knew we would be leaving first thing the next morning. No need to set an alarm of course, the rocking woke us and we left to cruise through Dodd Narrows with the slack current to a place I’ve read about often, but had never stopped at in the southern gulf islands: the mural town of Chamainus. The description in the Waggoner Cruising Guide sounded delightful but we had never visited it before because we are always heading north or south with great purpose, quickly. Now we had time, so we stopped for a stroll and some baked goods and it was worth it. It’s adorable with over 30 murals depicting the history of the town, cute little restaurants and three bakeries. We will stop there again.

Feeling really tired from three late nights of phosphorescence entertainment, and a super early start in Nanaimo we decided we needed a sure thing anchorage and a couple of nights somewhere fun and easy. So we are currently anchored in the little inlet behind Butchart Gardens in Victoria. We slept great last night and today we will kayak, paddle board, enjoy the gardens, share a lovely dinner at the restaurant there and end with an evening jazz concert near the restaurant.

It looks like we will be able to cross the Strait of Juan de Fuca with the calm winds predicted for Friday so we will do another long cruise tomorrow and take our time the last 4 days in northern Puget Sound before heading home. We will anchor the True Love in Fort Flaggler near Port Townsend for two nights and then spend two nights in Port Ludlow where we will take advantage of the “boat and golf package” and ease slowly back into reality. That is the plan anyway. Let’s see if the wind predictions are accurate.

The Captain and the First Mate of the True Love