Our normal cruising pace has traditionally been pretty fast after we leave Seattle with the goal of getting us up to Pender Harbour and our favorite spots as soon as we can. But this season we’ve chosen a slower journey.

Due to the big tides and some fun grandchild activities our journey north began late Saturday afternoon on June 13th.

But the day before we left, we got to pick up James and Robert from their last day of school. Their custom for this important occassion has always been to head to Dick’s for a burger, fries and ice cream, so of course we did that first and then we went to the True Love where they helped us replace the battery in the tender.

We hadn’t tested the tender yet and given the calm winds and glorious weather we launched it for a fun trip to the floating World Cup soccer party dock on the nearby Seattle waterfront. James just wanted to chill but Robert wanted to drive the tender so they both got what they wanted. It was a perfect outing. When we got back we rested and made sure they ate before we dropped them both off at Robert’s baseball practice and James drove home with his Mom.

That evening we went back to the boat and watched the USA win its first World Cup match. Saul joined us on the boat for the end of the game, which made it extra special. Needless to say, we slept well that night.

Saturday morning we did our final errands and shopping before heading out. The few weeks prior to our departure were super busy and included a successful and extremely special ground breaking ceremony of Dick’s next restaurant (#11!) just north of Everett, next to Marysville, on the Tulalip tribal homeland.

So as we began cruising north, we were hoping for a slow and drama-free start. As we all know gas and diesel are super expensive this year. Our best option heading north was Kingston, at “only” $6.45 per gallon. Gulp. But we were entertained by the band playing at the nearby Pirate Festival. Normally, we would wind our way north and anchor at the Fort Flagler marine park (across the bay from Port Townsend), but we just weren’t up for the drama of dealing with the super low -4’ tide the next morning, so we got a slip at the Port Townsend marina instead. It wasn’t fancy, but it did the trick and we were treated to a great sunset.

Again, our goal was to take things slow, catch up on our sleep and make our lives easy. So we spent two lovely nights at Roche Harbor. Roche is the center of the boating universe on and near July 4, but in mid June, Roche is definitely in pre-season mode. Our stay included good food, donuts, e-bike riding and even pickleball. Every morning we awoke to bells and music at 9AM sharp. No one sleeps in late a Roche. Every evening there is a flag lowering ceremony for 4 flags (Roche, Canadian, British and US), complete with a canon blast and taps played by trumpet.

Before we left Roche we puzzled through creating a pulley to help us get our ebikes on and off the boat. It took us longer than we thought it should, but with a little help from ChatGPT, we ultimately were successful.

Because Roche is only 6 miles from the Canadian border, we could call Canadian customs from the dock at Roche and get clearance to enter Canada (using our Nexus cards) before we left.

Normally, we clear customs in Montague Harbour. Notice this Harbour is spelled with a “u” vs Roche Harbor. That’s what happens when you cross into Canada. But I digress. There weren’t a lot of people out on the water, probably because of the high price of fuel, and it’s early in the season. But I thought it would be fun for the same reasons to visit the world-famous Butchart Gardens now, rather than wait to the end of our cruise as we usually do. Our readers know that Butchart Gardens is truly one of our favorite places in the world.

Our first anchorage was a bit dicey. When we drop the anchor we usually aren’t satisfied until we get a good grab from the anchor with good scope. Unfortunately, we didn’t judge it well. The anchor grabbed and then released, but given our shallow depth we thought we were ok. The Captain decided to let it go even though we had dragged a bit. An eagle flew over us as we settled in for the night.

When we woke the next morning, we definitely had dragged some more and knew we were going to have to reset the anchor before we headed to the Gardens. But we weren’t in a rush, until we were! While drinking our coffee and reading the news, I looked up to see we had drifted almost to shore, and had to jump into action. It really wasn’t a stoic challenge. But it could have been. The second time we set the anchor in another location it grabbed perfectly. What can I say, we are out of practice.

This summer we are testing a new device for Jim called a Sidekick. The device is a first generation exo-skeleton that gives Jim’s calves an e-boost to help with walking. We read about it in the Wall Street Journal and decided to give it a try. When we first tried it Jim was disappointed. They are much heavier than they will be in the future and the ability to personalize the power assist is less than he hoped. In his head he thought it would be more robust. But we thought the walk through the hills and gardens would be a great second test. They aren’t perfect, but they really did help. He walked for a couple of hours and wasn’t extremely tired. After taking a break we even were able to walk the gardens again when we went back for lovely dinner.

This time of year many of the garden beds are less full, but the roses were magnificent. I wish I could send you the aroma through this blog. Unfortunately, that is not available. It’s funny that some roses are visually spectacular but have no aroma.

Yesterday, we left Tod Inlet and anchored at another of our favorite spots, about 20 miles away, on the north side of Montague Harbour. There is no place more beautiful for sunset views and there were only two other boats. Light winds and the warm sun made for a perfect afternoon.

Jim isn’t the only one needing to take it easy this summer. Over the winter I injured my shoulder starting the snowblower and I’ve scheduled surgery for August 18 to repair my right bicep ligament. The surgeon said I could go on our usual boat trip this summer because I really can’t damage it more. So we decided to give it a try. I’ve been using my left arm more, becoming more ambidextrous, and even playing pickleball left handed. It’s going pretty well. Last night I tried paddle boarding at Montague and although I’m not supper strong, I can still do it. Shoulders are complex. I can still do some things but not others.

While watching the sunset an interesting bird landed on the boat and began singing. ChatGBT couldn’t really identify it, but the Merlin bird App did. It was a female Purple Martin.

Last night the winds really picked up. It was a windy noisy night, but the anchor held beautifully. And we woke up at 2:30AM for our first star gazing of the cruise! Although it was windy, the sky was dark and clear, with the Milky Way bridging over us across the night sky. As is typical now, the night sky is filled with the movement of satellites, but we ended our star gazing with a small, but enchanting shooting star.

Today, we headed to Ganges on Salt Spring Island, in the Southern Gulf Islands on the east side of Vancouver Island.. Again, cruising the June preseason made finding a dock space easy. I absolutely love Ganges’ Farmers Market, which happens every Saturday, especially the fresh baked sourdough bread, special goat cheeses and other yummy goodies. We will stock up tomorrow and spend one more night here before continuing north, through the Dodd Narrows rapids (at slack tide) and probably spend the night in Nanaimo.

Yesterday we rooted for the big Canada win in the World Cup. On our way to Ganges we listened to the fabulous first half of the USA-Australia soccer game. During this World Cup we are all soccer fans. It’s fun to see people from around the world enjoy the sights, sounds and tastes of America. More sports, less politics and no terrorism makes for more enjoyable life. After we docked and settled a bit we walked to the local Pub (Moby’s) for great food and the second half of the game on a big screen TV. From what we could see, it looked like everyone at the game in Seattle had a great time.

Our slow and easy start to the cruising season meets our needs this summer. We hope to meet up with Vancouver Island friends over the next few days before meeting other friends at Dent Island, and later, Princess Louisa Inlet.

The Captain and the First Mate of the True Love