2010 September Sail Cruise...

The 2010 September Cruise has been moved to:
http://fosterfanningaquila.blogspot.com/p/herman-melville-once-said-lifes-voyage.html
and is now a part of the new FOSTER'S SAILING BLOG. Please check it out...

Chapter 10: Ganges Harbour, Village & Market...

Ganges is the largest village on Saltspring Island. Tis also the business centre and, according to some, the hub of the Gulf Islands. I've made it a point to sail into this fine harbour during each of a dozen or more trips I've made into the Gulf Islands. Ganges Harbour provides a good anchorage for boaters wishing to explore the village. The town of Ganges is located on the east shore of Saltspring Island, at the head of a long natural harbor bounded by rocky islets. Keep a lookout for crab buoys, bustling boat traffic and the numerous seaplanes landing, taxiing & taking off as you approach from the south. The anchorage is very busy and crowded in summer, and if a southerly breeze kicks up in the afternoon mariners beware. The 1st photograph is the S/V AQUILA at anchor in Ganges Harbour on a late September day.

In this Robin Thom aerial image we see the southern approach to Ganges Harbour with the Three Sisters Islands in the foreground and Ganges in the back. Ganges and indeed Saltspring Island has a diverse and interesting history. The village was named after HMS Ganges, the flagship of the Royal Navy's Pacific Station between 1857 and 1860. Built in 1821 HMS Ganges was an 84-gun ship of 2,284 tons, carrying a crew of nearly 800, and is reported to be the last British sailing warship commissioned for duty in foreign waters.

This is an image Catherine caught of a wanderer in Ganges waterfront park. Because the village is built on Grace Point there are three distinct waterfront portions to the town.

Catherine enjoying part of the vast selection of used books at a waterfront shop in Ganges. We purchased books by local writers as well as a Ken Kesey novel and a couple of hard to find charts.

Continuing with the history of this fascinating island community; the Tsawout Band of the Salish First Nations still has holdings on the south coast portion of Saltspring Island. European exploration of the island began with the Spanish and British in the 18th century. Settlement started in the 1850’s by pioneers from the B.C. mainland. What may come as a surprise to some is that these early settlers were joined by groups of freed slaves who emigrated to Canada and Saltspring Island after leaving the United States. At that time Canada and particularly British Columbia was seen as a land of freedom and of opportunity for many blacks. In 1858, blacks from the United States were formally invited by British Columbia Governor James Douglas to take up land in the new colony. In the States, many blacks were denied rights such as citizenship rights, suffrage rights, and the right to homestead land, and they saw British Columbia as a place of freedom. Upon welcoming black settlers to Saltspring Island, James Douglas distributed land to the new settlers, allowed new black citizens the right to vote, and allowed black male citizens to become part of the local militia.
Saltspring Island today is home to artists, farmers, craftfolk, retirees, and vacationers who visit the island by B.C. ferry, private boat, and floatplane to enjoy a laid-back lifestyle in natural beauty.
Here Cathy is playing the role of "vacationer" and enjoying a late afternoon Irish coffee and pastry at the Treehouse Cafe' in Ganges.

This is a busy little town, at least in the fair weather part of the year. The streets are abuzz with pedestrians, cyclists and motorists. The marinas, restaurants, bakeries, craft stores and a multitude of quaint shops all do a brisk trade during 'on' season. An AQUILA crew favorite is the Treehouse Café, a mostly outdoor venue serving lunch, dinner and evening music.

This is another photograph of the Treehouse Cafe', this time after dark. We stopped in this evening for refreshments and to listen to a solo guitarist, singer, songwriter providing the evening entertainment.

This dawn, on the 26th of September was a beautiful, still morning. AQUILA has a small but very efficient wood burning stove/fireplace which I lit upon arising. As the warmth filled the cabin and while the water for the French press coffee boiled this photograph found it's way into the camera. We would be departing Ganges Harbour later this morning but first our mission ashore was to visit the celebrated Ganges Saturday Market.

What’s so special about the Ganges Market? It has an advertised and enforced HOMESPUN GUARANTEE ensuring all vendors "make it, bake it, or grow it" themselves, and all products must be "vendor produced and sold". This is the mandate which provides the essence of the special market in this unique waterfront Gulf Island village. Here is a collage of some of the photographs I took that morning while visiting the market.

We'll close this 10th installment of our visit to Ganges Harbour, Village and Market with this photograph Catherine shot on our way out of the anchorage. A local sailing vessel bedecked in colorful flags. And speaking of flags. Our next destination is Roche Harbor in the San Juan Islands, where we will clear U.S. Customs back into the United States and take in the renown sunset flag ceremony of Roche Harbor.
See you there...
Foster

Saltspring Island Saturday Market: http://www.saltspringmarket.com/

Ganges Harbour: http://www.vancouverisland.com/regions/towns/?townID=4067

Black History on Saltspring Island: http://www.blackpast.org/?q=gah/saltspring-island-british-columbia

Installment #7: Jedediah Island Marine Provincial Park

One of my favorite locations in the Strait of Georgia is Jedediah Island Marine Provincial Park located between Lasqueti and Texada islands. It is the largest and most diverse of a chain of more than 30 islands and rocky islets northwest of Lasqueti. Jedediah is home to a forest ecosystem with a variety of tree species, including Douglas fir, hemlock, cedar and arbutus. The vegetation grows throughout meadows, lowlands and rocky outcrops. Evidence human settlements are a homestead including the main house, shed and barn are located at Home Bay. Built around 1905 by the Foote Family, a reminder of a way of life once common along the BC Coast. A second house built in the 1980’s (pre park) still stands in Long Bay. A rich marine environment encircles Jedediah Island, which offers five secluded bays for safe harbour. But mariner beware, each of these bays have their weaknesses. A more detailed island map follows below.

In this photograph by Catherine Brown, the sailing vessel AQUILA finds not only safe haven but a secluded anchorage in Deep Bay with no other boats on this 2nd to last summer evening for 2009. While I have visited Jedediah numerous times this was the first trip for Catherine and the sailing vessel AQUILA.

Jedediah Island is part of a mild climate area centered in the southern Strait of Georgia and encompasses most of the Gulf Islands. This weather zone is influenced by the rainshadow effect of the Vancouver Island mountain ranges. In the summer, periods of drought and high temperatures are common, often lasting up to several weeks. Winters are typically rainy and mild receiving little or no snow.

Ever the beach comber and intrepid tide pool explorer Catherine, seen here perched on the portside gunnel of the dinghy, is delighted at her find in the Deep Bay anchorage off Jedediah…

A species of small fish that will eat right out of her hand…

These 'fry' who normally feed on shrimp larvae and other protozoa are the backbone of the food chain reaching up to the pollock, cod, herring, halibut and of course the salmon.

And speaking of species; when we look ashore the main mammal species occurring on Jedediah Island include black-tailed deer, raccoons, mink, river otter, mice, shrew, and voles. “Black-tailed deer,” as stated in the B.C. Ministry of Environment guide, “due to the absence of predators or hunting, may become numerous enough to have an adverse impact on the island's vegetation.” Hmm… Me thinks the 50+ sheep and 20 or so feral goats may have cornered that market. Again according to B.C. Ministry of Environment guide “The goats may be a unique breed. Former resident Al Palmer believes the goats were dropped off by the Spaniards during very early periods of exploration. Other Gulf Islands such as Saltspring, Galiano and Saturna have goat populations which were introduced as early as 1890.”
An Ochre Sea Star being attacked by a Sun Star, these competing echinoderms are typical of the starfish or sea stars found in the Pacific NW.

Here is a cool link to everything you’ve ever wanted to know about Phylum Echinodermata
Sea Stars, Brittle Stars, Sea Cucumbers, Sea Urchins, Sand Dollars, and Feather Stars: http://www.northwestwildlifeonline.com/Echinoderms.htm

On the last day of summer other vessels began arriving in Deep Bay of Jedediah and an anchoring fiasco started to develop. As much fun as it might have been to stay and watch the pecking order establish itself we exercised our prerogative as first boat and a properly anchored boat at that and continued with our plans for the day which were to circumnavigate Jedediah in our WM Zodiac dinghy. In terms of boats, our motor dinghy is a get-up-&-go vessel compared to her mother ship. The 8hp Merc outboard will ‘plane’ the dinghy with both Catherine and I aboard. So where AQUILA has a top motoring hull speed of 6mph, EAGLET (the dinghy) will do 15 mph. Although that burst of extra speed doesn’t come into play in this chapter it was a good time to record such data. In this photo by Catherine yours truly pilots EAGLET on the beginning of our day trip. We took our time traveling around the island. Sabine Channel had two foot, white capped wind waves running the length of it’s long fetch and we enjoyed reaching the point to shelter inside a shoulder of the island and visit with the seals.
“Yes Virginia, there is a Mother Goose Island…” And it’s located adjacent to Jedediah. Although I can’t tell you why the island is thus named (maybe one of the FIREWATER blog readers can). It’s rocky outcropped shoreline is part of the protection forming Home Bay (double click the image to see a larger version). This is a good point to offer a bit of history regarding Jedediah Island. This island is within the traditional territory of the Sliammon First Nation. The Sliammon people are part of the northern Coast Salish cultural group, and part of the Salishan linguistic group. Over the course of time and settlement Jedediah Island came to be privately owned. How it transferred from private landholding to a Provincial Marine Park follows: Albert and Mary Palmer farmed the island up to their decision in 1994 to sell. They offered it to the Province at a price well below market value in hope that the BC Government would purchase the property and designate the island a provincial park. While the government acknowledged an interest in Jedediah, they were unable to fund the entire 4.2 million dollar purchase. The Friends of Jedediah, an organization of citizens from Lasqueti Island, learned of the sale and became committed to seeing Jedediah protected as a provincial park. During the summer of 1994, they campaigned to lobby the provincial government and solicit private and corporate donations to purchase the island. A $1.1 million dollar donation came from the estate of Dan Culver, a BC resident who had died in 1993 while descending K2, the world's second highest mountain. Mr. Culver was the only Canadian in history to reach the summits of both Everest and K2. He had dedicated his climbs to the preservation of wilderness and in his will, had bequeathed that a portion of his estate be used to set aside an ecologically valuable coastal property in a protected and undeveloped state for the people of British Columbia. There is a plaque near the Home Bay homestead honoring Mr. Culver. Jedediah Island was officially established as a Class A Provincial Park in March of 1995.

A photograph of the homestead on the northern shore of Home Bay, Jedediah Island.

Little Bull Passage, between Bull Island & Jedediah Island is a rugged, seascape of tidal waters and steep cliffs. We timed our exploration to be against these south facing rocks during the height of the sun on the last day of summer 2009. Our reward was a warm sunny afternoon. As the tide was an incoming flood we killed the motor of the zodiac and gripping the rough rock surface of the cliffs we sort of pulled ourselves along scoping out the interface of marine life and drying rock.

In this image we see a islet in Little Bull Passage covered in mussels. The orange billed birds working this feeding field are Oystercatchers, their long orange or red bills are used to smash or pry open limpets, mussels, gastropos and other molluscs.

Here is the newer of the abandoned structures on the island. This one located in Long Bay which is a very shallow body of water on the inside or western shore of Jedediah.

While Catherine went off to photograph the wild goats of the island I remained in the dinghy enjoying a quiet and still moment in this wonderful marine park. She snapped this picture of me drifting carefree in the shallows of Long Bay.

I'll close this 7th segment of the AQUILA 2009 Cruise with this interesting look at the dynamics of anchoring in a small, deep bay. To give the attached photo collage context I'll mention one point I didn't note in the text embedded on the collage. When I sat in the dinghy and spoke with the 2nd to arrive vessel, who decided to anchor contrary of the customary cross bay pattern, he told me that he'd seen conditions where the northwesterly winds would blow into this anchorage and force the boats anchored like AQUILA into the rock walls. Thus he said he anchored facing out of the bay, to take the potential wind and waves on his bow. A little later as he was on that bow talking anchoring with the third boat to arrive I asked his wife if they had heard the weather. "Oh yes," she replied, "mild norwesterlie winds shifting to southerly tonight."

Hmm... I thought, so much for potential wind and waves...

Jedediah Island Marine Provincial Park: http://www.env.gov.bc.ca/bcparks/explore/parkpgs/jedediah_is/

Welcome to the Sliammon First Nation: http://www.sliammonfirstnation.com/

Dan Culver Follow Your Dream Foundation: http://www.followyourdreams.ca/

And for all my sea kayaking friends: http://www.bcseakayak.com/jedediah-tour.html

The Joy of Sailing, Life & Love…

Let’s start this 4th installment of our sailboat cruise story with a birthday cake. Admittedly not everyone thinks of birthday cakes when we speak of traveling under sail. But if the ninth month of the year is upon us the crew of AQUILA certainly gives thought to birthdays. Mine is early in September, Catherine’s a bit later and Clementine’s is near the mid-month mark. So we start this phase of our story off with an image of a birthday cake. Not just any birthday cake but one created in celebration of the passing someone’s first 17 years. You’re absolutely right – it wasn’t made for me!

Okay, we’ll use this special cake as our compass and take the topics as presented thereon; Sailing, Life & Love…
Sailing in our case, after leaving Patos Island, took the crew of AQUILA down the western shore of Orcas Island and back to Spencer Spit (see map) for a rendezvous with our good friend Richard Emery on his custom 30’ motorsailer CHAK CHAK. In the second image we have our two vessels rafted together while mooring off a state park mooring buoy. Our arrival at Spencer Spit marked a somewhat unplanned, counter-clock-wise circumnavigation of Orcas Island, the biggest ‘rock’ in the San Juan archipelago.

Our joining with CHAK CHAK marked the phase of our cruise I’ll call “Messing About” (see 'yellow' area on the map). Over the course of the next few days West Sound of Orcas Island was our home-base. As chance would have it we managed a rendezvous not only with Richard on CHAK CHAK, but our friends Janet & Jay Berube of the sailing vessel BLUE HERON. As well as another path crossing with Marjean on GRACE, and a surprise reunion with Slavek & Alicja on their Baba. That first night on the West Sound Marina dock our flotilla numbered five cruising sailboats. Jay & Janet are fellow members of Rickey Point Sail Club on Lake Roosevelt who were near wrapping up a six week cruise throughout the southern reaches of the Inside Passage. While we didn’t get a good picture of them under sail this year I’ll use a stock photo I took of BLUE HERON, a Kent Ranger 26, a couple of years ago as image #4.

In the next photo we see Alicja & Slavek approaching the fuel docks of West Sound Marina as a commercial seaplane taxies from the dock in preparation of take-off. Betwixt tides, shallows, seaplanes, other boats, kelp-beds, ferries, dinghies, crabpot floats, and whales, a skipper has a lot of moving parts to keep track of when navigating the islands.

Image #6 AQUILA dock-side and a gathering of sailors. Catherine had coordinated with our firefighting friends, Max & Jeff to stage a surprise birthday party for Clementine at their new East Sound home. As it worked out the day of our flotilla gathering coincided with the party and soon our island friends found their backyard filled with a salty (a few of us were approaching crusty) mix of sailors and firefighters. In the local jargon, “It was Skookum!”
There is a saying in reference to the idea that complex stories can be described with just a single still image, or that an image may be more influential than a substantial amount of text. It also aptly characterizes the goals of visualization where large amounts of data must be absorbed quickly; “A PICTURE IS WORTH A THOUSAND WORDS”. And in this case I have merged several photographs into one frame to tell the fun story of that special night in the backyard of Max & Jeff Jones…
But there are two photo images of that same event I will post separately and with little notation. This absolutely fun image of the birthday girl and Max…

And this one of mother & daughter. And thus we have all the elements of the birthday cake; “The Joy of SAILING, LIFE & LOVE…”

As the late, great George Harrison told us, “All things must pass” and so did our shore-side birthday party. The next day found our impromptu flotilla hoisting sail and heading off to varying points of the compass. In photograph #10 Catherine has captured an image of AQUILA hoisting her new spinnaker and ghosting along in very light air. In image #11, Marjean readies the sailing vessel GRACE for a run back to Bellingham.

In picture #12 Slavek & Alicja have the sails up and their beautiful vessel catching the breeze on a sun filled September morning as Catherine & I bid them farewell once again. Jay & Janet pointed their bow eastwards and toward the end of their very fine journey. It was great to cross wakes with them. Richard’s plan was to cruise CHAK CHAK with us for a week or so, into the Gulf Islands of southern British Columbia.

Often we have non-sailing friends ask us, “So what do you do all day long when your out on the boat?” Well along with the above we also row about exploring different bays, coves, anchorages and the like.

We visit different ports of call, like our excursion for homemade ice cream at Deer Harbor Marina (and what a nice looking crew AQUILA has been gifted with).

We visit with friends, take the time to have in-depth conversations, and often make new friends along the way.

And some evenings we play music. But rarely, hardly never are we bored...

That ends the "Messing About" phase of our cruise. In the next part of our adventure CHAK CHAK & AQUILA head north to clear Canadian Customs and the big question is, "What are we going to do with all this booze?"

Hope you join us then...

Foster

Here are some links to the places visited in this portion of the journey;

West Sound Marina: http://www.boattravel.com/westsound/

Deer Harbor Marina: http://www.deerharbor.org/category.php?category=03

S/V AQUILA '09 Sept. Cruise; Sucia to Patos - Part 3

This is the 3rd installment of our month long sail cruise in the San Juan & Gulf Islands

*Note: If you're just starting to read about this cruise I suggest you go to the navigation list on the right of this page & select the post IT TAKES A LOT OF WORK TO HAVE THIS MUCH FUN. That will get you to the start of things.

The last installment left the crew of AQUILA traveling the short distance between Sucia & Patos islands. See the map above.

Our approach to Patos was toward the small, shallow opening south of Little Patos where the waters flush out of Active Cove. Catherine had glassed the island and spotted a large land camp of what appeared to be pirates. Our guess told us we had discovered the camp of the Orcas Island firefighters flying the Jolly Roger. And then my cell phone rang. It was our good friend Max standing ashore waving and hailing us via the phone. "There's a sail boat just leaving the buoy," she told us. This was good news indeed. Active Cove is aptly named and other than the two mooring buoys maintained by Washington State Parks Department http://www.parks.wa.gov/
there is little options for anchoring in the small cove. Tis good news to have such timing as to be in the vicinity of Active Cove when a boat is leaving a mooring buoy (see map below). We motored around Little Patos ready to pick-up an overnight mooring buoy. Imagine our surprise when rounding the small island and finding that another sailboat had been incoming from the east, around Alden Point, initially unseen by us and was already picking up 'our' buoy. I grumbled a bit and told Cathy it was a ten minute shortfall on our part.
We worked AQUILA into Active Cove with a bit of optimism that we would find a way to anchor her therein. But it was not to be. After sounding the depths, consulting the tide tables and checking out the big powerboat on the inner buoy, and the newly arrived sailing vessel on the other, we readied our deck for anchoring. Almost immediately our anchor fouled in the eel grass and would not set. As we were hauling chain over the bow the gentleman on the buoyed sailboat called to me. "Raft up?" he offered. It was a tentative offer and I know at that moment we both would have preferred for my anchoring attempt to have succeeded. Catherine and I considered our options and called back, accepting the invitation to tie our vessel along side his. Pretty intimate accommodations for strangers but it is a common tactic in the boating community where buoy, moorage or dock space is limited. Image #2 above with the sailing vessel departing around the Patos lighthouse off Alden Point is by Catherine Brown.
It takes a bit to get two sailing vessels tied rail-to-rail off one mooring buoy. This is especially true when you are meeting your neighboring crew for the first time. But fate smiled on us that day. Our new & gracious neighbors were Slavek & Alicja Michalowski on a beautiful, older Baba sailing vessel (unnamed). While we didn't know it at the time Slavek & Alicja were to play a part in a later stage of our journey. In the meantime we enjoyed their company in Active Cove off Patos Island.

Photograph #4 has Clementine & Catherine Brown hiking happily along toward the norwestern tip of Alden Point. The image below is the Patos lighthouse with part of the Canadian Gulf Islands in the background. For more info on the lighthouse go to: http://www.lighthousefriends.com/light.asp?ID=103

Patos Island is roughly 210 acres running northwest to southeast. It is the northern most of the San Juan islands and mostly a Marine State Park. A lighthouse occupies two acres on Alden Point, the western tip. Mooring and camping facilities are available for visiting boaters at designated sites. Patos is the setting for Helene Glidden’s book, THE LIGHT ON THE ISLAND. Mrs. Glidden lived on Patos as a child in the early 1900's and vividly recalls the accounts of smugglers, native tribes, visits by Col. Teddy Roosevelt as well as general life on the island. Catherine found a copy & read this book during the rest of our cruise often laughing out loud, occasionally with a tear, usually with a smile. It was a book she enjoyed.

Catherine, Clementine & I on Patos for the first time. Photo by Max Jones. Our early sallie ashore was to greet friends, scope out the lighthouse (see above) and stretch our legs. Our arrival ashore was greeted by the baleful bleating of several kelp horns the firefighters had made. They had harvested some fresh kelp, cut the bulb off the root end and cut the remaining kelp tubes of varying lengths. Blowing a kelp horn is a bit like blowing a wrapping paper tube. If your good at it you might get a sound somewhere between a moose call and a melodic whale. The firefighters were good at their aquatic greeting of our crew.

I'd oft sailed by Patos and once poked the bow of my boat into the cove but had never made landfall on the island. I can now attest it is a fine but not easy location to visit.

Image #8 illustrates the unique & fascinating sandstone sculpting in the rocks found on Patos & throughout much of the northern San Juan Islands. This geologic feature is part of the much larger Nanimo Formation. The website of Anacortes Kayak Tours has a comprehensive look at the geology of the San Juan Islands at:http://www.anacorteskayaktours.com/sea_kayaking_tours/sanjuanislands_geology.html
After a late morning on Patos Island AQUILA'S crew retired to our boat for a light lunch and to get ready for the evening pirate party ashore. Twas during this time we shared a good visit with our neighbors Slavek & Alicja. They gave us a tour of their beautiful boat and we shared a conversation of islands, boats and life aboard. It was near the end of that hospitable visit I heard the kelp horns of the firefighters blowing their eerie call from the shore side camp. As we came on deck the 'music' of the multitude of kelp horns continued. "There! There! Look there!" someone cried from the powerboat astern of us, pointing to the open water beyond the entrance to Active Cove. "Orcas!" the shout went out. And indeed there were orca whales. Lots of orca whales swimming by the cove entrance. The photos I'm using here I found on-line, representing our orca sighting. The orcas were about a quarter mile off our bow, and no photos did we get. Still the sighting was amazing as the number of killer whales was more than any of us had ever seen. Line after line, group after group the orcas continued to pass the cove entrance. Some of the whales were displaying full dorsal fins, complete with saddle markings, others were swimming in tight clusters. We noted some calves and a few large males patrolling solo off the group. The procession lasted nearly ten minutes and all the while the kelp horns of the firefighters continued their strange and mournful baying. When I looked to the shore I could tell the firefighters were watching the orcas passing on the other side of Little Patos, a point we couldn't see from the moorage. Catherine and I loaded into the dinghy and headed to shore. We joined our friends standing atop a rock formation with over a mile long line of orca whales stretched out in the late afternoon sun. It was amazing! The guess was several pods had come together for fishing, hunting and mating. Conservatively we guessed at 40 plus orca whales in this group. Weeks later Catherine & I spoke with a Canadian based whale counting group who had heard of the large cluster of orca whales and flew down the day after we saw them off Patos and counted over 60 in the combined pod. For more info in ocra whales go to: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Killer_Whale If you do check out this site on Wikipedia scroll down to the vocalizations and play them. There are similarities to the kelp horn sounds.

Post orca whale sighting - here is a photo of Catherine decked out in her finest pirate regalia and ready to conduct a raid on the shore side camp of our firefighting friends (photo by Max Jones). Orcas Fire Department is partners with the WA Parks Department & Bureau of Land Management in an effort to clean-up Patos Island and eradicate some of the invasive species of plants introduced to the island years ago. More on Orcas Island Fire Department go to: http://www.orcasfire.org/

The pirate camp. Twice a year the Orcas Island firefighters come to Patos Island with large work parties conducting operations under the guidance of WA Parks Department. This partnership is of great benefit to the well being of the island and the park visitors. Actually it appears Patos Island is the beneficiary of several cooperative arrangements not only with the firefighters but with local Boy Scout groups, the Friends of the Lighthouse and probably more I'm not yet aware of.

Our good friends and firefighters Jeff (the orca caller) & Max Jones in the sunset off Patos Island.


In that same sunset, the Patos Island lighthouse. If ever you get the chance to visit this unique island of the San Juan group bring your camera, a good pair of binoculars, a copy of THE LIGHT ON THE ISLAND and the time to enjoy it all...

A BIG "Thank You!" to our friends with the Orcas Island Fire Department. Appreciate you hosting us on this great part of our September 2009 Cruise. I look forward to the Patos Island Fire Department sweatshirt!

I'll close this third installment of the 09' Cruise with a photograph of Slavek & Alicja's Baba sailing vessel leaving Patos. Little did we know it but our paths were soon to cross again in another chance encounter

So off we sailed, this time souwesterly weaving our way through the islands and toward another rendezvous with another old friend. The adventure continues in the upcoming fourth installment...

Foster