Because we have Melissa's Aunt Char and husband Dan here with us this week for Dad's memorial, we figured it would be nice to do a bit of a sail as Char and Dan have never been aboard Apsaras before. Melissa had this bright idea on Wednesday while on the way to the airport to pick them up. Dave wa…
Blog posts : "2016 Apsaras Comes Home"
4 years in the making - Apsaras is back at Elliot Bay Marina
We pulled out of the bay behind the islands at Port Ludlow early this morning. Dave wanted to make tracks before the tide went out to make sure we had plenty of clearance on the way out. We stopped for diesel and then were off to Seattle. Against the currents it took us hours to make the crossing…
Port Ludlow
The plan this weekend was to bring Apsaras down to Elliot Bay so that Dave can do some maintenance on her - nights and weekends. There's a long list of stuff to be done - including replacing her generator - which you may recall caught fire in panama. So we made the 10 hour long trek down from Can…
Best Lamb Burger
Last night one of Dave's colleagues from work, who wanted a refresher on how to fly in and out of Canada, flew us to Nanaimo. After a quick provisioning trip to the store, we headed out to anchor in the bay just outside the Marina. Beautiful sunset! Yes, we are only 100 yards from the marina. Bu…
Apsaras gets a black bottom
The yard tells us that black bottom paint performs better. Dunno if that is the truth or if they just had a ton of black paint left over from the last bottom job they wanted to get rid of. Regardless, she looks great!
And on the way back to the Marina - 7.5 knots at 2500 RPM! Apsaras is …
Apsaras goes to the yard
Dave took off around 12:15 after updating Spike's software and mapping databases. He landed at Nanaimo around 1:00. Landing was fun (NOT!) - 10 knot cross wind gusting to 17 knots. It wasn't turbulent so he just did a no-flaps landing coming across the fence kind of hot so it was easier to align to …
Snow on the decks
Dave awoke this morning to snow covered decks. Brrr.... Thank goodness he has fixed the heaters that warm up the interior of the boat while underway, or it would be downright miserable. Back to Ladysmith Marina.
Dave was hoping to maybe fly home today and make this venture a two day deal. …
Just a paperwork thing
Apsaras' clearance into Canada was only good for 6 months. Since she cleared into Canada Sept 5, her clearance was up March 5. So last night, Dave flew up to Nanaimo in Spike, so that this morning he could head out to the USA. Since we got our Nexus cards, this meant he could sail across the boar…
Not sure Jim will fly with Dave again
Jim and Margaret had left their car at the ferry dock at Anacortes. The plan was for them to take the ferry back to Anacortes from Victoria. But Jim much loved the idea of flying home in Spike. So Melissa and Jim switched spots. Dave and Jim drove Melissa and Margaret down to Victoria and droppe…
Back to Ladysmith
An uneventful journey back from Montague Harbor to Ladysmith Marina where Apsaras will spend the winter. Along the way, we saw a whale, but not close enough to get any really great pictures.
Bus ride you'll never forget
Today we headed over to Montague Harbor. Dave had heard about a cafe there that served (what else!) burgers. But the real fun was the bus ride o the way there where the bus driver - Tommy - entertains the crowd. Tommy has written a book called "Tommy Transit's Bus Tales" all about how to chang…
Cheese & Wine Tour!
We headed over to Ganges Harbor. A favorite as we love to rent a car and drive out to Salt Spring Island Cheese Factory to see the goats and the cheese being made in the factory. Along the way we stopped a number of wineries including Salt Spring Vineyards and Mistaken Identity. But our favor…
Clean decks Captain!
We departed Friday Harbor for Bedwell Harbor. Along the way we swung round Brown Island to wave to Mark at his cabin. He called on the cell phone and we had a quick chat - he said to tell Dave that the deck's looked ship shape and clean. Ironic as we thought the boat a total mess as we hadn't yet…
Apsaras back in the USA
Dave and Melissa made a quick run to Friday Harbor to pick up Jim and Margaret who came over on the ferry. Below is a rare shot of us coming into the dock after having cleared customs. This is the first time Apsaras has been in the USA since October 28, 2013.
Looks like Apsaras needs some…
Apsaras heads out for a week
We headed up last night in Spike. Gotta love Canadian customs - you call them on the phone when we land and they say "welcome to Canada" and give us our clearance number. Then a short taxi ride to the store to pick up provisions. After spending last night just floating in the harbor outside the m…
She needs a little work
Today was all about getting the list of parts we need to do minor repairs. So we measured, looked up part numbers, and generally tried to make sure we knew the full list of what needs to be done aboard the boat this summer. Jim went to try and refill the propane only to find that the tank needs re…
Apsaras Settles In At Ladysmith Marina
We awoke to a warm and sunny morning. After a breakfast of oatmeal, greek yogurt, berries, and honey we were off!
Big excitement for the day was a radio call to the coast guard from a sailboat that had gone aground just outside Telegraph Harbor where we were headed. Several power boats res…
Do we remember how to sail?
After a quick breakfast of sausage and fruit, we scrambled around doing a few things to get ready to go. We got provisions, and Dave picked up a Rodgers’s SIM card for our WiFi device so that we would have internet access for the next few days. The Nanaimo marina WiFi was so bad that we haven’t be…
Apsaras is Home!
The email we were sent said that Apsaras would be the first to offload at 9am. Hooray! So we met for breakfast at 8am, figuring we would be on the road around 8:45 which would put us on the dock easy by 9:00. As we sat at breakfast, Dave asked about where the dock is that we are meeting the launc…
Flyby
Jim and Margaret drove up to Canada and took the ferry from Tsawwassen to Nanaimo. Meanwhile, Dave and Melissa worked till 5pm and then headed up to Paine Field and then headed up in Spike. Along the way we flew over the AAL Dalian and took pictures of Apsaras as she steamed for Nanaimo.
20 blog posts
« Newer | Older »