Sunday, July 12: Day 39: Waking up to a Calm Bay

Author: Bethanny Brooks

⛵ Glassy Mornings, Galley Magic, and Eyeing Lasqueti Island

The bay is calm, the sun is shining, and I can hear the birds chirping. People are walking on the shore, paddling in the bay, and there's a dog barking on the beach. Greg is currently down in the dinghy, swishing the French press clear of grounds and scooping out the remaining rainwater and seawater from yesterday’s adventure. Meanwhile, I've just finished yesterday’s post and am happily working on today’s. It is incredibly relaxing. I'm still finishing my coffee—yes, I'm a slow drinker when I'm multitasking, and it has gone completely cold now. It's a funny contrast to the warmth of the sun I can already feel radiating into the cockpit.

Here is a little piece of what I'm looking at right now:


Looking towards the northeast

Looking towards the southeast

Looking directly across to the shore from our stern

Looking from the starboard side of our cockpit towards the south side of the bay at the paddleboarders.

🧼 Galley Magic & Shifting Winds

I just realized that Greg just did my dishes for me! Wow! That frees me up to do something with him now. Maybe we'll go to shore, or maybe we'll head over to Lasqueti Island. The wind has already shifted around to the north, so if it picks up, this won't be the best place for us to stay. I've been wanting to experience Lasqueti Island for a while now—maybe today is the day.

🐟 A Change of Plans & Galley Secrets

We made the decision to pull up anchor and carry on to Lasqueti Island. But first, lunch!

I opened up a tin of some new sardines we just picked up at Costco the other day, and they are honestly the best sardines I've had in a long time. Greg won't touch them, but Artemus is always thrilled when I have them for lunch—he gladly helps me clean up. I am a huge salmon, tuna, and sardine lover (honestly, most seafood), but octopus is permanently off my diet. Ever since I watched the documentary My Octopus Teacher, I just can't do it!

⛵ Glassy Seas & Arriving Off-Grid

We lifted our anchor and set out for Lasqueti Island around 2:00 PM. There was no wind and no waves to speak of—just a beautiful, warm, sun-drenched day on the water.

We arrived at this gorgeous island around 4:30 PM, dropping anchor on the left side of False Bay. We made sure to stay well clear of the ferry dock where the boat comes in from French Creek on Vancouver Island. The spot we picked here is great. There are quite a few boats around, and some are tied up to these funny-looking mooring sticks instead of traditional buoys. I’ve never seen them before, but hey, whatever works, right?

This spot is definitely better than most. It's 40 feet deep and we've got out our minimum of 120 feet of rode, which should be perfectly fine considering the calm conditions. Quite often when we anchor, Greg drops the hook and then I back Lil' Ollie up to make sure it's set. A lot of the time, I feel like I'm backing right into another boat by the time we finally stop! Today, though, we have tons of room behind us—what a break!

From what I’ve read, the ferry doesn't come in too often. Tomorrow, we’ll either take the dinghy over or move the boat closer to explore the local hotel by the ferry dock and see the sights. Apparently, this entire island is completely off the grid—even the eight-room hotel! What an amazing way to live. There are a few houses scattered around this side of the bay; some of them are lovely, and one even looks like it has sheep grazing in the back forty.

Right now, it just turned 5:00 PM and we are settled in for happy hour. Greg is relaxing in the cockpit and I’m in the salon writing this post. He’s drinking a Sanpellegrino and I’m having a kombucha. You might have thought I was going to say an alcoholic beverage—but hey, we don't always need alcohol to celebrate! That said, I did just see Greg pulling a few beers out of the bilge (our trusty backup beverage cellar) and popping them in the fridge, so maybe later on. For now, I'm perfectly happy with my kombucha. Fermented drinks are supposed to be great for you, right?

🥗 Fresh Basil, Galley Teamwork & Movie Night

Tonight, we’re having spaghetti for dinner! The ground beef has been defrosting all day, and I can't wait to top the pasta with fresh basil leaves right from our onboard plant. I’m also going to whip up a Greek salad to go with it—I think I still have all the ingredients onboard, and hopefully, they are all still fresh enough to use.

As for the dishes, it turns out Greg didn't just wash them earlier; he left them in the racks to drip dry, so I happily took care of the drying. He'll probably give me a hand with the post-dinner cleanup later so we can quickly finish up and settle in to watch an episode of The Resident.

It’s been a beautiful, peaceful Sunday. Thanks for following along on our journey, and stay tuned to see what we discover on off-grid Lasqueti Island tomorrow!

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