We are back home! We did an overnighter and made the whole trip from the Heriot Bay Marina on Quadra Island to Whaler Bay on Galiano Island in a little under 26 hours. Our trip back started uneventfully as we powered out of the Heriot Bay Marina on Sunday morning at 7am to catch a lovely Northwest wind south. This lasted until about noon then it died and the middle of the Strait of Georgia remained as placid as a millpond until about 10 pm in the evening, this despite the continued consistent forecast of 10-15 NW. We could only use the engine at a very low speed and were  not making good time and this left us in a quandary. If we overnighted near Comox the long range wind forecast suggested we might end up facing more light winds and even a South East wind in a few days. But the forecast for the night was "Strong Wind Warning late in the evening - Winds NorthWest 15-25". Now that was more like it so we decided to go for an overnighter and get it over with.

As darkness fell we were entertained by the passage of three cruise ships which seemed to be moving at a glacial speed but generated a gigantic wake we really had to watch out for.  

I figured with the forecaster predicting 10-15 earlier in the day and us actually getting zero the prediction of 15-25 that evening would be a lot less anyhow. Actually the forecaster was dead on. Late evening turned out to be about midnight but from then on all the way to Galiano the wind seldom dropped below 20 knots - what a ride! We tied up at the Whaler Bay Dock at about 8:30 Monday morning. One baton in the mainsail will need to be replaced. We arrived dead tired but triumphant and elated. An hour's sleep and two stiff cups of coffee over at Peter and Dorothy's place have got us going again.

Tomorrow I will make an appointment to take Galiander over to Canoe Cove for repairs.

When I last sent a report way back in August we had just finished our 26 hour overnight run from Desolation Sound to Whaler Bay (our home port), nursing an engine with a leaking head gasket. A couple of weeks later John and extremely capable helper Tom Bennett took Galiander over to Canoe Cove to have things put right, again never getting the engine much above an idle. Power sailing all the way we arrived in a mere 4 hours, which is about normal for that trip. The weather conditions were uncertain. At times we were in fog. The wind was generally against us. On the left you see Galiander sitting at the Service Dock.

I told Canoe Cove to take their time as we had commitments (and I really did want it to be done right this time). Then Eleanor and I headed off to Edmonton for my sister's 70th birthday party (a surprise) and an opportunity to see my old home town, Jasper and Banff.

Today we retrieved Galiander and I think they really did do it right. My impression is that they really did go the extra mile (there was no charge). Canoe Cove has a very good reputation and have every motivation to want to keep it. My initial impressions are good. The engine has never run so smoothly. It is very satisfying to watch the engine temperature rise smoothly to 160 and then stay there rock solid under different powering conditions.

Not that I got much opportunity to test it. Starting out it was so calm I thought we would be powering all the way. But mother nature was having nothing of that. It was a beautiful day and a nice breeze built up from the stern. Reluctantly (?) we shut down the iron genoa and put up the sails. In the end we only managed to put a mere two hours on the engine. But what a wonderful day!

Galiander is back home now. Over the next week we will be putting her down for the winter. The sails will be coming off. She will be plugged in and a little heat will be applied.

Eleanor and I are busy now with choir and other island life.

We are looking forward to a more normal cruising summer next year.

John & Eleanor.