Our visit to Sidney was a success. The guys at Philbrook’s Boatyard at Van Isle Marina were amazing. Thank you Ben for the tip!

Of course, as in all boat repairs, it was a bigger deal than they thought. Just the prep work for putting plastic up to protect the engine and all the electronics was a work of art, including taping in a zipper to get in and out of the “work area” of our little engine room.

It turns out the fiberglass pipe coming out of the heat exchanger of our port engine was severely deteriorated and had to be cut way back. Using a heart surgery analogy, it wasn’t a simple stent, but a full bypass. They had to rebuild it, before putting in the metal sleeves on each side to attach to the new super strong silicon tube that can withstand over 300 degrees of heat (way more than we need). The metal sleeves allow the tube to be clamped down without worrying about crushing and damaging the underlying fiberglass pipe. We are pretty sure this repair will outlive the engine itself. On our way back we will probably have them do the same thing to the starboard engine fiberglass exhaust pipe, just to be safe.

Our two days at port unfortunately gave us time to catch up on some work, we hadn’t completed before we left. But that’s ok. So we engaged our work brains.

The Van Isle Marina is a family owned business. We met the 3rd generation granddaughter of the founder (same as Jasmine) who is now overseeing the business. It was great to meet her and work with another successful, multi-generational family business. The marina is very well run, clean and we used the free bicycles to bike into town.

Sidney itself is a perfect little sea town with lots of good restaurants, grocery stores and a stunning view of the water and Mt. Baker. It’s a fun place to visit and easy to get to from Anacortes by the special Anacortes-Sidney ferry. Jasmine, David, James and Lucas took that ferry last year to meet us at Sidney. From there its easy to get to Victoria and beautiful Butchart Gardens.

Our first day into town by bike we parked the bikes at one of the many bike racks and walked around. The First Mate was drawn to the Victoria Distillery on the waterfront, where they make a truly lovely gin. We are not big gin drinkers, but I loved their gin. It’s a fantastic purple color from the herbs and makes a yummy gin and tonic. I think that will be my new summer cocktail when I feel like a little extra relaxation after we anchor. The bar/showroom is beautifully set-up too.

FYI, while I’m writing this, the Captain informed me that we crossed over the 49th parallel while cruising north up the Strait of Georgia. This is the big strait that separates Vancouver Island from the BC mainland and the waves and wind here can be brutal. Today, however, the strait is almost calm. That’s two consecutive calm crossings of the Strait of Georgia! The sun is on my shoulders as I compose this and I’m feeling very blessed and lucky.

More about Sidney. Thursdays in the summer the town closes down 3 long blocks of their main street (Beacon Avenue) for an evening street fair. So yesterday after monitoring the repairs and doing work and calls, we headed into town. The fair was a cornucopia of food and art! We enjoyed ourselves thoroughly, bought some local goods and then headed to the top-rated sports bar to watch the 6th game of the NBA finals.

Needless to say, the Canadians were excited about the Toronto Raptors. But there were some Golden State fans in the bar too. What a game! Clay Thompson was a true beast coming back to shoot his free throws after tearing his ACL. Despite all the adversity Golden State almost won. Although our team lost, we congratulate our Canadian friends on their the first ever NBA Championship. It was a true pleasure watching those stunning athletes do what they do.

Yesterday, we still were unsure if the repair would be complete in time for us to leave before the weekend. If not, we wouldn’t be able to leave until Monday. We didn’t know for sure until the super strong tubing arrived by UPS at around 3. I took the bike into town again to buy some final perishables for the next week. With the repairs complete we left Sidney around 6:30PM and headed back to Montague to watch the sunset, say our prayers and light the Sabbath candles.

Tonight, we’ll dock at the Back Eddy Resort in Egmont, the last possible stop before heading down a 40-mile long fjord to the entrance of Princess Louisa Inlet. We plan to enjoy dinner at the pub and then walk to the “bakery in the woods” tomorrow morning before riding the big flood tide into PLI.

It’s still early in the season so we expect more and larger waterfalls to cascade down the many cliff faces of PLI in spectacular fullness. However, we are not sure how warm the water will be this early. This is one of our favorite places for its beauty and isolation, enhanced by a complete lack of cell phone or internet service. It’s a wonderful place to enjoy the tranquility, peace and quiet of nature, with the only sounds coming from the various waterfalls that are all around us.

Happy Father’s Day to all the amazing Father’s out there! We also want to ask all of you to send healing prayers to our dear friend Alan Middleton. Jim has known Alan since kindergarten and he’s been very ill and in the hospital for almost month with acute pancreatitis and other complications.

We will check back in with everyone after we exit PLI. Have a fabulous week everyone!

The Captain and the First Mate of the True Love ❤️