The 8th Chapter of the '09 AQUILA Cruise...

Hauling South Into the Gulf Islands and a Great Canadian Encounter...

Lets start this 8th segment of the '09 AQUILA Cruise out with some sailing. Tis the first full day of autumn and Aquila is again close-hauled across the Strait of Georgia. This was a great day on the open water of the straits. Catherine is deep in her book "Light on the Island". The boat is tuned in and I'm enjoying just being on the water. To see a short sailing video from this day go to: http://www.youtube.com/user/Fosterfanning?gl=CA&hl=en#p/a/u/0/csqjnC7zdXE
We departed Jedediah Island fairly early in the morning, realizing the anchorage in Deep Bay was as far north as we would get on this cruise. There are so many other great places I'd like to take Catherine but the Solstice had passed and the plan was to haul the boat on the first of October. I didn't want to be in a rush on our return trip so south we turned her bow and as the winds of fate blew upon us, I am glad we did.

As can be seen in the attached photographs the early autumn weather was near perfect. In this picture the near land is the southern Upwood Point of Texada Island with mainland British Columbia as the backdrop. The area is known as The Sunshine Coast and is a beautiful portion of the lower Inside Passage to cruise.

I had to edit these pictures together to illustrate a most unusual cloud development formation which occurred while we were under way this early autumn day. Check out how the clouds build over these islands through the following pictures. Then the clouds bluffed out making strange formations. While they may be more common than I think, I certainly hadn't seen anything like it when cruising this area before.

Here' a picture Catherine caught of me intensely focused on piloting AQUILA though a somewhat rocky maze into Silva Bay. Let me take you back to Installment #5 North to Nanaimo and the meeting with the Silva Bay Yacht Club. As it worked out we sought out their docks to take Commodore Sorrenti up on his offer of visiting their docks "if ever we were in their area". Indeed we were and we did. As it worked out it was a fateful experience for AQUILA and her crew. Unfortunately we did not get to see the good commodore or any of the other members of the club but there was another visiting boat there, the older sister of our boat. Eric and Cathy were guests at the Silva Bay Yacht Club on their sailing vessel the MAGGIE K. When I say "older sister" I mean that MAGGIE K is an S-2 like our own boat but she is a 35 footer. And a beautiful craft as well. We were invited aboard by Eric & Cathy and ended up spending three nights in their company. But the best was yet to come...

The Silva Bay Yacht Club: http://www.silvabayyachtclub.com/

Here's Catherine in the early morning light, freshly showered, with a mug of steaming hot coffee in hand, checking out the chart book and confirming my piloting through the isletts outside Silva Bay. We were enroute for the slack waters of Gabrolia Pass.

And here is the sailing vessel MAGGIE K steaming along on a fine early autumn morning bound as well for Gabrolia Pass. We had made arrangements with Eric & Cathy to catch up with them again on the evening of this new day if there was room in Canover Cove on Wallace Island.

Catherine contemplating one of my favorite spots - the cliffs of Valdes Island. Rising vertical out of the salty waters these cliffs are fascinating.
Home to abundant wildlife, and flora these lichen faces vertical rises are sculpted works of art shaped by the tectonic collision forces millions of years ago and eroded into their current shape. I hope to someday kayak their base end to end. For now we made due with bringing AQUILA to a stop on this calm day and admiring the landmass in front of us...

For more info on Valdes Island: http://www.vancouverisland.com/Regions/towns/?townID=4115
A mid-morning break at the cliffs of Valdes and we were ready to be underway. Our friends on the vessel MAGGIE K had long since vanished into the maze of the Gulf Islands by the time we continued onward...

Onward indeed toward one of our favorite destinations in the Gulf Islands, The British Columbia Marine Provincial Park of Wallace Island and Canover Cove. And I'll tell you this much about the next upcoming segment. Our arrival was nothing short of a delightful event is several differing ways. See you then...

Foster