Crawford Anchorage near Erasmus Island is probably our second favorite anchorage. With only a new moon and a very low dew point we stayed up late to enjoy the amazing star watching.

From Erasmus we can easily take our tender to Blind Channel and we went over to see if we could find our friends Helen & Jeff of the “Tortoise.” We shared stories and cocktails before returning to the True Love, still quietly anchored in our private bay. When we have the opportunity to anchor in a quiet place by ourselves, we take advantage of the solitude.

The stars were spectacular so we stayed up late, slept in and then headed track to Blind Channel to resupply.

Although the winds were very strong just a mile a way in Johnstone Strait, the glassy calm waters at our anchorage made for lovely kayaking and we circumnavigated the little island in about 30 minutes. Earlier I had given the Captain a needed hair cut and we even found some of his hair on the other side of the Island.

Inspired by the stars the night before I began campaigning for another late night photo shoot. I can’t take long exposure shots on the True Love because of all the movement. Getting star photos requires solid ground.

It’s not the Captain’s favorite job, but we scoped out a location to take a photo of part of the Milky Way. He rightfully worries that one of us may end up in the cold 51 degree water, in the dark. But, we took the tender to two locations and found a good landing for a late night photo shoot that he felt, at least somewhat comfortable with trying around midnight.

While exploring the Captain spotted a little eel in the tide pool.

So after a day of kayaking and a late dinner we watched the sun set, the stars appear and the Milky Way bloom in the sky. Then we loaded the equipment in the tender, and with head lamps and of course life vests we headed to the flat rock at the previously explored landing on the north side of the bay. The tide was a little higher than we expected so we docked in a slightly different place, but I was able to capture a pretty good star shot. Even with my macro star lens that I used to photograph the Aurora Borealis in Norway, I could not capture the entire Milky Way. It’s just too big. But we got some good shots, the adventure was thrilling and satisfying and safe.

Of course we slept in, enjoyed some more kayaking, but you guessed it! I was inspired by the first night to try again at another location. The True Love has some cool underwater lights we installed a few years ago and I thought they would add to another star photo. I also spotted a cool flat rock easily accessible and very near to our anchorage. So I convinced the Captain (I’m very persuasive) to investigate it during the day, and it looked doable so he agreed to give it a shot that night.

Then it was off to Campbell River for a 2 hour stop for some refueling, groceries, some spare parts at a marine store and a visit to Canadian Tire. Canadian Tire has almost everything (not just tires) anyone needs in life, except groceries. It’s well stocked, well staffed and we love it!

We docked at April Point, on the other side of Discovery Passage from Campbell River. The old resort there is in complete disrepair and closed, but the marina still exists and is a quiet little spot with beautiful views. The docks aren’t in great shape, but with power and water are good enough. We had multiple zoom meetings the next day and needed to make sure our trusty starlink works best when the boat is either underway or stationery at a dock (and not spinning around an anchor).

Because the resort is now closed the road to it makes for perfect bicycling through the forest. So we rode our e-bikes to get some fish & chips near the ferry, about 2 miles away. Then we scoped out the nearby bakery for the next morning. “Aroma” is a perfect local bakery filled with locals and visitors all enjoying the yummy baked goods.

Then it was off to Gorge Harbour about 20 miles away for a stop over to meet our friends Carmie and Dena before heading further south to the Beach Gardens Marina (near Powell River) for a couple of days on our way back to our summer moorage in Pender Harbour. Gorge Harbour used to have a restaurant but they had to take it down because it wasn’t structurally sound. We decided to anchor in the protected harbour. The wind kicked up and the“ anchor held fine but we spun around quite a bit and the sound of the wind driven waves on the boat was intense overnight.

Gorge Harbour has free yoga daily every morning at a large patio next to the marina and we enjoyed a wonderful class, before raising the anchor and heading south. Jim has been doing yoga regularly with me for about a year and now he’s absolutely fine in a class. The teacher said a couple of things that we especially liked. First she said, “yoga is all about breathing, and we are just going to do some movements around that breathing.” She also said to think of yourself as having two ways to focus your attention: outward (projecting) and inward (observing). Yoga is about calming your mind so that you can focus on your breathing and inner self while meditating in the moment (not thinking about the past or the future). It spoke to us. The hour class went by quickly.

After docking at the Beach Gardens Marina, we had a little water pump problem, but it was easily fixed. The tube next to the water pressure gauge fell off again so I decided to cut off the end of the old, dried-out tubing there and reattach it. So far this little fix seems to be doing the job. The whole project from discovery of the problem to a lasting solution only took 30 minutes so we aren’t even counting it as a stoic challenge. I actually thought we should have done it before, but we were too tired at the end of the repair last time.

Our e-bikes came in handy once again to explore. Last time we were here we had a bear encounter on the coastline walking path. But, not this time. Instead we lucked into the last day of the Logger Sports event. We’ve seen this before with our friend Erika. It’s totally awesome.

Powell River is quite the foody place so eating out is a must. We began with dessert first, yummy ice cream at the Logger event, and then a lovely “linner” with great food and a view. At the restaurant we chatted with a man from Seattle. He heard us discussing the crazy political situation and we all found a lot of agreement about the mess we are in. He’s the head researcher at Children’s Hospital. We told him we are part of Dick’s and he thought that was amazing. He had met someone on the ferry coming over from Vancouver Island who told him that when he is in Seattle he always goes to Dick’s. Then he met up with us. We love hearing stories like that. Back at the True Love we did some necessary cleaning and enjoyed another wonderful sunset glowing off the Salish Sea.

First of all, everything is working now and we are starting our day anchored in beautiful Isabel Bay (on Lancelot Inlet, halfway down Okeover Inlet, in south Desolation Sound).

Although we so appreciate our summer moorage in Pender Harbour, we really love the peaceful experience of anchoring in a more secluded & beautiful spot. Last night we arrived and set the anchor. This spot is 70 feet deep, deeper than we prefer to anchor, but we have plenty of anchor chain and with almost no wind our anchor is holding beautifully.

The warm sun of summer has finally appeared, and it’s almost too warm in the late afternoon. The Captain kayaked and I paddle boarded to get some exercise and enjoy this special little anchorage before dusk and dinner. Although the sun set on our boat, Lancelot Inlet still had some late sun, so we went out for a ride in our tender and I played the Uke! It’s magical moments like these that make life so special.

OK, now I have to tell you about our recent water pump stoic challenge. We knew the water pump was having issues because it was represurizing itself every 5 minutes or so. Of course we searched for leaks, everywhere, but found none. I assumed it was reaching the end of its useful life (3-5 years). After calling the manufacturer in Florida and talking with a tech, we all decided it was a good idea to have a spare sent out along with another part that would be an even easier possible fix. But that would take at least a few days and possibly weeks, and after the call the problem got worse.

Our planned stay at John Henry’s Marina was for a few more days and we hoped we might get the water pump pretty quickly. Actually, because the part had to clear Canadian customs, the delivery time expanded from two days to two weeks! What happened to free trade within North America? We resigned ourselves to babying the water pump along and hoping for the best.

So we enjoyed our time there with our friends and dock mates Carmie and Dena, including a great dinner at the Painted Boat to celebrate our 43rd anniversary.

We kayaked around and found the place to dock to explore a beach front park on another day. Carmie deployed the sail on his super cute “Portland Pudgy” dinghy and it worked beautifully as he sailed it around Pender Harbour. The electric bikes also came in super handy as we used them to begin exploring the country roads nearby with all their rolling hills along the coastline, and we will do definitely do more of that in the future.

But, when we returned from our first long e-bike ride and gathered for evening happy hour, the water would not turn on at all. The Captain said, “OK, no worries, it’s just another stoic challenge!” And I thought it would be a snap to fix the water pump, as I’ve fixed it several times before, However, it was not easy and, although we did eventually fix it, the Captain was right: the project was another serous stoic challenge.

I went below and found a lot of water in the storage area. That was good. It meant I should be able to find the leak. The storage area is Tetris collection of equipment, supplies, spare parts and pantry. After removing the wet stuff and reorganizing, I spotted a water hose downstream of the pump that had detached. No problem, I thought, I’ll just re-attach it and our problem would be solved.

Unfortunately, it was not so easy. When the stabilizer was installed a few years ago the installers should have repositioned the hose but did not. Instead, the now ridiculously placed water pressure meter, is now in the far back corner, behind the stabilizer hydraulics and very difficult to reach . The Florida tech had asked us if we had a water presssure garage and we said no, because I had never seen it as it was completely hidden behind the stabilizer. I finally was able to re-attach the water hose on one side of the pressure gauge but the clamp that held it in place didn’t seem tight enough.

After a few unsuccessful tries to prime and restart the water pump, we realized it wasn’t working because the water tank was, of course, completely empty. When the pipe disconnected, the water pump noticed the drop in system pressure and must have run continuously until it emptied the 100 gallon water tank (which was half full before we went out for our e-bike exploration). All of that water drained into the bilge and the automatic bilge pumps cleared it, all during our two hour bicycle adventure!

Stoic challenges are often like this: a series of explorations, discoveries, attempted solutions, failures, learning and eventually accomplishment as the true underlying problem is finally discovered and repaired.

After refilling water the tank and going through the priming procedure again the pump worked. Yes!!!!! But….. the hose was still leaking just a little bit. Curses ensued. Then deep breathing.

All good, no problem, no worries, just hang loose after a two hour stoic challenge. Using the now wonderfully working water pump we showered and collapsed into bed.

It’s always good to make new discoveries about the True Love. When we get a chance we are going to replace the hose and move the water pressure meter to a more accessible location.

We persevered and are rewarded as our adventure continues. It looks like summer is here to stay with lots of warm, sunny days in the forecast. The next few days we will enjoy a bit of luxury at Dent Island followed by more exploring in the area north of Desolation Sound near the Blind Channel Resort.

Dent offers such caring service, exceptional food, fantastic docks and a nice way to meet new boating friends. We spent three days here and even got a little hiking in, lots of hot tubbing, exercising in the gym to work off all the food and some kayaking near the crazy rapids. But, we also enjoy our time in our “gunk holes” on the anchor, by ourselves. Currently, we are anchored near Blind Channel, next to the inside of Erasmus Island, all by ourselves.

On our way from Dent to Erasmus we connected with Jim’s childhood friend from Bellevue Julie (Jacobson) Saul and her new husband, John Boekholt. It turns out they met our friends Dena and Carmie earlier in the summer and somehow discovered that they both knew us. They were anchored in a special spot in Hemming Bay and we cruised over, where they met us on the True Love for some snacks and chats. You never know who you are going to run into while boating up here!

We thought we might head up to the Broughtons to escape the hot weather, but Johnstone Strait is predicted to have very strong winds. So, we’ve decided to enjoy this area for the next few days and then head South to Octopus Islands.

This anchorage offers calm waters, and fabulous star watching with expansive sky views and no light pollution! Last night we saw several shooting starts and the International Space Station!