Friday
- 8am start from Whistler
- 9am Squamish to pick up Freya
- 10.25am Ferry from Horseshoe Bay to Nanaimo
Once in Nanaimo we had a debrief with the charter company discussing our route. We did our food shop for the week, as we likely wouldn’t dock somewhere all week. Got onto the boat. OMG!!
Saturday
- 5am start!! Full day of motoring as there was very little wind.
- An Orca was spotted but Adam and I were napping so we missed it :(
- Spent the night anchored at Copeland Island. Anchoring up for the first time was fucking cool, and learning how to put the stern rope out too.
Sunday
- Full day of motoring again.
- Did put the sails up a little bit, but there wasn’t much wind. It was good practice though.
- Saw a bloody seal.
- Went for a little hike to a neighbouring cove, Laura Cove.
- Spent the night in Melanie Cove
Monday
- Full day of motoring again
- A seal floated past our boat as were leaving in the morning. Super cool!!!
- Little break in Refuge Cove. This place was beautiful. It is a co-op, which means that the island is owned by 16 people. Convenience store a particular highlight.
- There was a waterfall at Teakerine Arm which was beautiful
- Spent the night at Teakerine Arm
- Saw a double rainbow
Tuesday
- We got woken up by someone shouting WHALE 🐳 OMG it spent the whole morning swimming around the cove. I learnt that whales come up every 10 minutes, do about 5 breaths before doing the big dive which is when you see their tail flap back into the water. SO COOL!!!
- Went for a little walk to the lake, had a great view of the waterfall from up high. Was hoping to go into the lake but because of my shoulder I wasn’t able to lower myself in.
- Saw a dolphin as we were leaving the cove
- Today we managed to sail for most of the morning!
- Chilled evening playing Cribbage
- We stayed in Galley Bay, Buff Cover
Wednesday
- We all slept in today which was nice
- My god the sailing today was a little scary, at times the boat was at a 40° angle. Things falling off the sides, bags falling off. I stayed inside to reduce the risk of me falling out the boat 😂
- Stopped at Manson’s Bay - no water in the lagoon. Did see a seal though!
- Stopped at Gorge Marine to refuel and fill up the water tanks, then decided to stay.
- There were 2, maybe 3 seals that kept popping out the water right by our boat. Super cute!!
- Tonight we had a chilled evening playing my favourite game, Settlers of Catan
Thursday
- Today I woke up early to have a shower. Whooo!! Felt so good.
- Saw some orcas and a humpback 🐋 so fucking cool. I love seeing animals in their natural environment.
- Pretty chill day, read a lot of my book.
- Docked at Muskeet Island, on Hardy Island
Friday
- Today we had to make our way back to Nanaimo
- It was a pretty chill day of motoring back. I did a fair amount of reading and sunbathing today. We’ve been so lucky with the weather.
- We picked up Kate at Nanaimo Bay, she couldn’t come on this trip because of work which was a shame. She did join us for our last night though.
- Just opposite the Marine is a pub called Dinghy Dock. So we docked up and went into here for some food and few beers to celebrate our last night.
Saturday
- Sailed the short distance back to Nanaimo Bay where we cleared out the book, cleaned it all and handed back the keys.
- I don’t want to leave.
- Got the ferry back over to Horseshoe Bay and drove back to Whistler.
- All in all a really great trip.
KC x
P.S I may not be able to bike but I can still hike. Read about one of Whistlers amazing hikes - The Train Wreck