Tuesday, July 21: Day 48: Leaving Newcastle Island today

⛵ Day 48: Morning Reflections, Flag Protocol Musings, and Moving On

Good morning, friends!

It was scorching yesterday, but thankfully it cooled down a bit last night to a pleasing, comfortable temperature. This morning there's a gentle breeze blowing and it's already quite warm in the sun—a huge contrast to the chilly mornings we’ve been having earlier in the trip!

I guess Artemus was up all night and still needs his beauty rest.

Isn't that a beautiful sight - so calm and summer warm.

We enjoyed our usual coffee and some avocado toast in the cockpit today. We’re definitely starting to reach the bottom of our provisions as we near the end of this leg! We switched over to our second water tank a day or two ago (still showing a full 9 dots on the gauge, thankfully), and we have just enough avocados left and two crusts of bread. We’re also down to the last bit of our homemade granola, but I brought all the fixings to whip up another batch when it runs out—which always makes the cabin smell amazing.

We are slowly working our way back toward our home port, savouring every single day. I think I'll be ready to venture back to shore for the rest of the summer when the time comes. We still have two big events on the horizon: the C&C rendezvous the first weekend of August, and the Bluewater Cruising Association (BCA) rendezvous the following weekend. After that, it’s prep, prep, prep for Italy!

Yes, we’re heading to Italy at the end of August for three weeks with our good friends Brian and Donna (whom we met up with in Lund for dinner!). They’ve done a ton of traveling, and Greg has been to Europe once before, but this will be my very first time across the pond. I’m getting so excited—and a little anxious about getting my packing started!

There are going to be so many new adventures to experience, and honestly, this sailing trip has been great training. I’m learning to take things in stride and roll with the punches. (I know, I know—you'd think at 70-something I'd have that completely figured out by now!). It doesn't always work, so Italy will be a fantastic test for me. At least I’ll have Greg and our good friends to share it with.

A Quick Word on Nautical Etiquette

On a completely different note, Greg just reminded me of something we spotted through the window at the Dinghy Dock Pub yesterday across the anchorage.

There was a sailboat flying two flags off their mast. Standard nautical protocol says you fly your home country's flag off the stern, and a smaller courtesy flag of the country you’re visiting off your starboard spreader on the mast. But this boat was flying an enormous US flag directly above a smaller Canadian flag right on their mast.

I’m not sure what their intention was, but Greg thought they were making a deliberate statement that the US was "above" Canada. That was my initial reaction when he pointed it out, too! But who knows—maybe they were just completely oblivious to flag etiquette?

On the flip side, another boat we passed on our way to the dinghy dock had no flag on the stern, but flew a massive Canadian flag from the mast. Now that one, I applaud! I’d like to think it was an American sailboat that secretly wishes they were Canadian. That’s my story and I’m sticking to it! (I guess you can tell my bias...)

I don't usually get many comments on my blog, but I have a feeling mentioning flag politics might spark a few! Personally, I’d usually rather avoid politics altogether. Growing up, it always felt like politics was a rival for my parents' attention, so unless it's something I can directly do something about, I prefer to keep my dander down.

We’ll be slipping the lines from the mooring buoy and heading off from Saysutshun today. We didn't get our shore walk in this morning, but that’s totally fine—we’ve walked here many times before, and we know we’ll be back next year anyway. (And even if we don't bring Lil' Ollie, we can always drive up and take the little ferry taxi across for the day!).

Stay tuned for the rest of today’s journey over to Kendrick Island!

⚓ Change of Plans & Timing the Narrows

Well, as any sailor knows, plans made in the cockpit are always written in the sand at low tide!

We realized the slack tide going our way through Dodd Narrows was at about 11:10 AM, giving us plenty of time to make the transit with a comfortable bit of leeway. So, instead of pointing our bow toward Kendrick Island as originally planned, we pivoted, dropped the mooring ball, and departed Saysutshun at 9:50 AM.

While we were underway, I even got in some piano practice. I played The Entertainer, and its bouncy rhythm matched the boat’s motion perfectly as we rode over the wakes left by all the powerboats rushing to and from the Narrows! There was a serious fleet on the water today—we actually overheard Wind Chelsea Control Operator who deals with the boats going through the Whiskey Golf area (a military exercise area) on the VHF say they had counted 25 American boats heading north, even asking if there was some kind of race going on! It almost felt like an invasion.

It was interesting observing the flag situations again—some US boats carried no flags at all, while others flew gigantic ones. When a boat flies a Canadian flag in the visiting courtesy spot but no home flag on the stern, you have to wonder if they're a bit shy about showing their home port! But that’s just my wild guess.

As we approached Dodd Narrows, I was on high alert scanning the shore of Mudge Island. A friend and business associate of mine lives right by the Narrows, and while I wasn't 100% sure which house was hers, I was scanning the shoreline for her bright orange patio umbrella (which she folds down whenever she's out). I was all set to give her a big wave as we passed by and shot her a text, but it turns out she was down in Chemainus at her silver jewellery store! I didn't spot the umbrella, but the intention was certainly there as we glided through right on schedule.

 📞 A Surprise Call & An Impromptu Turn

After clearing the Narrows, we initially considered ducking into the anchorage on the south side of De Courcy Island, but it looked a bit tight on space, so we set our course toward Clam Bay on Thetis Island instead.

While I was at the helm, my phone rang. It was our friend Heather, a fellow Bluewater Cruising Association (BCA) sailor from Vancouver! I don't get calls from people I know very often, so I figured I’d better answer. As it turned out, she was anchored right there on the south side of De Courcy and had just watched Lil' Ollie pass by! She was calling in hopes we were pulling in to join her. By the time we finished catching up, though, we were already halfway to Clam Bay. We decided to keep pushing ahead—we just couldn't bring ourselves to turn around at that point!

However, as we approached North Cove (Thetis Island)—a spot I had mentioned earlier as a potential option—I turned to Greg and asked if he was open to stopping there instead.

Since we were motoring in a grand total of 1 knot of wind, I made an abrupt, 90-degree right turn as if we were tacking, and we headed straight into North Cove. There was no point in burning fuel all the way down to Clam Bay when we had a gorgeous spot right in front of us, plus Artemus could get ashore for a proper walk!

🏊‍♀️ Summer Fun at North Cove

We dropped anchor, checked the water temp, and I couldn't believe my eyes: 71°F (almost 22°C)! Wow. I am definitely taking a swim today—you just can't pass up water that warm in the Pacific Northwest!

Looking ashore, there’s a bible camp and resort on the west side of the beach right near the point. I remembered walking through there last summer searching for Artemus when he went on an unscheduled "walkabout" while we were tied up at the dock during the May rendezvous! Luckily, there are a couple of great spots here to pull Big Mack up on the beach so he can get his land legs back today without any drama.

The cove is buzzing with quintessential summer energy. A small powerboat from the resort has been zipping around pulling three kids on a giant inflatable towable—they are having the absolute time of their lives screaming and laughing! They also have one of those floating inflatable water park setups anchored off the shore.

Between the warm water, the piano tunes, and the afternoon sun, it feels like pure summer aboard Lil' Ollie. Time for that swim!