Left Last day of June for Vancouver Island. Figured a 3 day tow, about 1000
miles. Extra two days because I had to replace a trailer axle in Roseburg,
OR. Figured it is the California potholed I-5 that caused a Bearing Buddy
that even had Setscrews to hold it on to leave the hub. Lucked out as got
up in the morning after camping at a free Casino RV parking lot. and noticed
the leaning tire. A Sunday and tied the axle up and towed it the 30 miles
to Roseburg. Everyone was very helpful, including the guys at the North
River boats factory store, but no EZLoader trailer axle available. Monday
did a 300 mile roundtrip to Portland area to Century Wheel and Rim.
Fantastic service. They built up a new axle by welding on the spring pads
in the correct place, installed new rotors and calipers (Kodiak) and had the
axle ready to install. $299 out the door. Went back to the RV Park and guy
loaned me a floor jack and I installed the axle and was ready to roll
Tuesday morning. Entered Canada at Blaine, WA and took about 5 minutes
going through immigration this year. Opposed to about 1.5 hours last year.
Caught the Ferry to Duke Point and stayed at the Paradise RV park in
Parksville. Very nice reasonable park. Stayed there on the way back also.
Towed to Tofino the next day (July 5) and spent 5 days boating and fishing.
Salmon was slow and the outside ocean was rough, so no Halibut. Tried one
day, and gave up at about 4 miles. Caught a lot of rockcod and kept 4 for
dinner during the trip. Undersize salmon released to grow some more. Lots
of small islands to boat around and explore. Big tides, so have to be
careful when beaching the boat. Either you will be high and dry or floating
away if not anchored to the beach. Huge eelgrass flats in the area. So
have to be very careful of where you boat. Pay attention to channel markers
and follow a local or the crabpot buoy lines when entering or exiting
Tofino. May be 50' deep and 20' feet away , 3' deep. Whales were scarce,
and saw none from the boat. Listened to the whale watching boats and they
were also having a tough time finding whales. Did see a pod of Orcas when
were at the Pacific Rim Park visitor center, just offshore. The rangers
said they had never seen them in there before. As well as one humpback a
ways off shore. Very friendly people in the area. Gas $1.09 Liter. Forgot
to fill the boat before leaving the USA. $189 fill. After Leaving Tofino,
we went to Saltspring Island and rented a slip for the boat for 4 days.
$119. At Salt Spring Marina. Chuck may get familiar with this marina as
the Seattle Yacht Club has bought a 25% interest. Did a lot of boat touring
and a little fishing. Wallace Island is a park island and has free dockage
during the day. We stayed at the Always Welcome B&B in Ganges. Fantastic
breakfast each day. Wife said she probably gained 5#. Sunday pulled the
boat early morning to get ready for the 11:30 ferry to Swartz Bay as the
direct to Vancouver ferry was fully booked. At 44' was wise to make
reservations. Lost a fender while motoring from the slip to the trailer and
realized it after pulling the boat. Nice guy Stan from the SYC took me out
in his skiff, so I did not have to launch again. All in all a very nice
trip. Lots of helpful people all during the trip. Helpful with either info
or tools. Would also recommend the House Piccolo in Ganges for a nice
dinner. Best Lamb Chop dinner I have ever had. Both the presentation and
the food was great.

On Jul 17, 11:41?pm, "Calif Bill" wrote:
Left Last day of June for Vancouver Island. Figured a 3 day tow, about 1000
miles. Extra two days because I had to replace a trailer axle in Roseburg,
OR. Figured it is the California potholed I-5 that caused a Bearing Buddy
that even had Setscrews to hold it on to leave the hub. Lucked out as got
up in the morning after camping at a free Casino RV parking lot. and noticed
the leaning tire. A Sunday and tied the axle up and towed it the 30 miles
to Roseburg. Everyone was very helpful, including the guys at the North
River boats factory store, but no EZLoader trailer axle available. Monday
did a 300 mile roundtrip to Portland area to Century Wheel and Rim.
Fantastic service. They built up a new axle by welding on the spring pads
in the correct place, installed new rotors and calipers (Kodiak) and had the
axle ready to install. $299 out the door. Went back to the RV Park and guy
loaned me a floor jack and I installed the axle and was ready to roll
Tuesday morning. Entered Canada at Blaine, WA and took about 5 minutes
going through immigration this year. Opposed to about 1.5 hours last year.
Caught the Ferry to Duke Point and stayed at the Paradise RV park in
Parksville. Very nice reasonable park. Stayed there on the way back also.
Towed to Tofino the next day (July 5) and spent 5 days boating and fishing.
Salmon was slow and the outside ocean was rough, so no Halibut. Tried one
day, and gave up at about 4 miles. Caught a lot of rockcod and kept 4 for
dinner during the trip. Undersize salmon released to grow some more. Lots
of small islands to boat around and explore. Big tides, so have to be
careful when beaching the boat. Either you will be high and dry or floating
away if not anchored to the beach. Huge eelgrass flats in the area. So
have to be very careful of where you boat. Pay attention to channel markers
and follow a local or the crabpot buoy lines when entering or exiting
Tofino. May be 50' deep and 20' feet away , 3' deep. Whales were scarce,
and saw none from the boat. Listened to the whale watching boats and they
were also having a tough time finding whales. Did see a pod of Orcas when
were at the Pacific Rim Park visitor center, just offshore. The rangers
said they had never seen them in there before. As well as one humpback a
ways off shore. Very friendly people in the area. Gas $1.09 Liter. Forgot
to fill the boat before leaving the USA. $189 fill. After Leaving Tofino,
we went to Saltspring Island and rented a slip for the boat for 4 days.
$119. At Salt Spring Marina. Chuck may get familiar with this marina as
the Seattle Yacht Club has bought a 25% interest. Did a lot of boat touring
and a little fishing. Wallace Island is a park island and has free dockage
during the day. We stayed at the Always Welcome B&B in Ganges. Fantastic
breakfast each day. Wife said she probably gained 5#. Sunday pulled the
boat early morning to get ready for the 11:30 ferry to Swartz Bay as the
direct to Vancouver ferry was fully booked. At 44' was wise to make
reservations. Lost a fender while motoring from the slip to the trailer and
realized it after pulling the boat. Nice guy Stan from the SYC took me out
in his skiff, so I did not have to launch again. All in all a very nice
trip. Lots of helpful people all during the trip. Helpful with either info
or tools. Would also recommend the House Piccolo in Ganges for a nice
dinner. Best Lamb Chop dinner I have ever had. Both the presentation and
the food was great.

Sounds like you had a wonderful time.

Before you leave the Pacific NW you are supposed to see one of our
hypnotists who will compell you to repeat, "It rained every day, it
rained every day, it rained every day" whenever anybody asks you about
the weather up here. :-)

I belong to one of the other Seattle area yacht clubs, not SYC, and we
maintain an "outstation" at one of the marinas in Ganges. It's a long
stretch of dock where we can side-tie and raft up to three vessels
out.
Three day limit, $5 a day to cover shorepower and water. Between
overnights at our own outstations during the year and almost free
moorage at other clubs' reciprocal docks, we more than save our annual
dues.

Lamb was a good choice on Saltspring, or anywhere else in the Gulf
Islands. Sheep herding is one of the more active agricultures in the
Gulf Islands, although it undoubtedly lags well behind marijuana- the
largest cash crop in BC. Did you have a chance to stop by the
Treehouse? (my favorite hangout in Ganges).

Don't be too disappointed in the scarcity of whale sightings.
Sometimes we will take an entire two-week cruise and not see a single
orca...you need to be where they're at on a specific day and the pods
move through a wide range very quickly. That's why the commercial
whale watch guys employ aerial "spotters" to radio in the location of
pods at any given time and then use some pretty fast boats to get to
the scene before the whales move on.

"Chuck Gould" wrote in message
oups.com...
On Jul 17, 11:41?pm, "Calif Bill" wrote:
Left Last day of June for Vancouver Island. Figured a 3 day tow, about
1000
miles. Extra two days because I had to replace a trailer axle in
Roseburg,
OR. Figured it is the California potholed I-5 that caused a Bearing
Buddy
that even had Setscrews to hold it on to leave the hub. Lucked out as
got
up in the morning after camping at a free Casino RV parking lot. and
noticed
the leaning tire. A Sunday and tied the axle up and towed it the 30
miles
to Roseburg. Everyone was very helpful, including the guys at the North
River boats factory store, but no EZLoader trailer axle available.
Monday
did a 300 mile roundtrip to Portland area to Century Wheel and Rim.
Fantastic service. They built up a new axle by welding on the spring
pads
in the correct place, installed new rotors and calipers (Kodiak) and had
the
axle ready to install. $299 out the door. Went back to the RV Park and
guy
loaned me a floor jack and I installed the axle and was ready to roll
Tuesday morning. Entered Canada at Blaine, WA and took about 5 minutes
going through immigration this year. Opposed to about 1.5 hours last
year.
Caught the Ferry to Duke Point and stayed at the Paradise RV park in
Parksville. Very nice reasonable park. Stayed there on the way back
also.
Towed to Tofino the next day (July 5) and spent 5 days boating and
fishing.
Salmon was slow and the outside ocean was rough, so no Halibut. Tried
one
day, and gave up at about 4 miles. Caught a lot of rockcod and kept 4
for
dinner during the trip. Undersize salmon released to grow some more.
Lots
of small islands to boat around and explore. Big tides, so have to be
careful when beaching the boat. Either you will be high and dry or
floating
away if not anchored to the beach. Huge eelgrass flats in the area. So
have to be very careful of where you boat. Pay attention to channel
markers
and follow a local or the crabpot buoy lines when entering or exiting
Tofino. May be 50' deep and 20' feet away , 3' deep. Whales were
scarce,
and saw none from the boat. Listened to the whale watching boats and
they
were also having a tough time finding whales. Did see a pod of Orcas
when
were at the Pacific Rim Park visitor center, just offshore. The rangers
said they had never seen them in there before. As well as one humpback a
ways off shore. Very friendly people in the area. Gas $1.09 Liter.
Forgot
to fill the boat before leaving the USA. $189 fill. After Leaving
Tofino,
we went to Saltspring Island and rented a slip for the boat for 4 days.
$119. At Salt Spring Marina. Chuck may get familiar with this marina as
the Seattle Yacht Club has bought a 25% interest. Did a lot of boat
touring
and a little fishing. Wallace Island is a park island and has free
dockage
during the day. We stayed at the Always Welcome B&B in Ganges.
Fantastic
breakfast each day. Wife said she probably gained 5#. Sunday pulled the
boat early morning to get ready for the 11:30 ferry to Swartz Bay as the
direct to Vancouver ferry was fully booked. At 44' was wise to make
reservations. Lost a fender while motoring from the slip to the trailer
and
realized it after pulling the boat. Nice guy Stan from the SYC took me
out
in his skiff, so I did not have to launch again. All in all a very nice
trip. Lots of helpful people all during the trip. Helpful with either
info
or tools. Would also recommend the House Piccolo in Ganges for a nice
dinner. Best Lamb Chop dinner I have ever had. Both the presentation
and
the food was great.

Sounds like you had a wonderful time.

Before you leave the Pacific NW you are supposed to see one of our
hypnotists who will compell you to repeat, "It rained every day, it
rained every day, it rained every day" whenever anybody asks you about
the weather up here. :-)

I belong to one of the other Seattle area yacht clubs, not SYC, and we
maintain an "outstation" at one of the marinas in Ganges. It's a long
stretch of dock where we can side-tie and raft up to three vessels
out.
Three day limit, $5 a day to cover shorepower and water. Between
overnights at our own outstations during the year and almost free
moorage at other clubs' reciprocal docks, we more than save our annual
dues.

Lamb was a good choice on Saltspring, or anywhere else in the Gulf
Islands. Sheep herding is one of the more active agricultures in the
Gulf Islands, although it undoubtedly lags well behind marijuana- the
largest cash crop in BC. Did you have a chance to stop by the
Treehouse? (my favorite hangout in Ganges).

Don't be too disappointed in the scarcity of whale sightings.
Sometimes we will take an entire two-week cruise and not see a single
orca...you need to be where they're at on a specific day and the pods
move through a wide range very quickly. That's why the commercial
whale watch guys employ aerial "spotters" to radio in the location of
pods at any given time and then use some pretty fast boats to get to
the scene before the whales move on.


We stopped by the Treehouse, but the singer was boring. And the weather
was 103 F. Record temperature in recorded history. Went over to Aunti
Pestos for dinner. Another place to recommend. Was Vancouver Island, not
Gulf Island lamb. I paid $121 for 4 nights mooring. Rained a little
Saturday evening and strong shower Saturday morning. At least they said it
rained in the morning. We were still stuffing ourselves at the B&B. Had
nice weather the whole trip. Where do I send the bill for bringing good
weather to the North Wet?

On Jul 19, 11:41?am, "Calif Bill" wrote:


We stopped by the Treehouse, but the singer was boring.

A lot of it is local island entertainment. Better some nights than
others.
The food is very good there as well. You wouldn't expect to find
outstanding chicken mole' in a something ocassionally described as a
"hippie" restaurant, but they've got it on the menu and it's
fantastic.



? And the weather
was 103 F. Record temperature in recorded history. Went over to Aunti
Pestos for dinner. Another place to recommend. Was Vancouver Island, not
Gulf Island lamb. I paid $121 for 4 nights mooring. Rained a little
Saturday evening and strong shower Saturday morning. At least they said it
rained in the morning. We were still stuffing ourselves at the B&B. Had
nice weather the whole trip. Where do I send the bill for bringing good
weather to the North Wet?- Hide quoted text -


So it was you? I thought that hot streak was the result of my son
flying in from Vegas for a visit. :-)

You picked the right week for hot sunny weather, (it has rained a
couple of days this week and been no warmer than the 60's-70's).



- Show quoted text -