Two lazy weeks in the Gulf Islands

After spending a few days at Sucia, we headed over to Sydney, BC to check into Canada. Clearing in was very easy and quick, and done over the phone once we were at the customs dock. From there, we headed up to Van Isle Marina on the north end of Sydney for the night to take care of getting a few groceries ashore.

From Van Isle Marina, we headed up to Ganges Harbour, Saltspring Island and spent several days enjoying life at anchor and going into town. The Saturday Farmer’s Market was especially good, as was True Love Pizza and Cassette Dive Bar.

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Two more weeks!

I’m elbows-deep in final boat work, but we are on schedule, we’ve given notice at our jobs, and will be untying the lines on April 24th. The next update (probably in a week, week-and-a-half) will actually have pictures and more details, but for now: the mast-track & whisker pole has been installed, the watermaker is about halfway installed, and the freezer is also getting pretty close. Most of the things on our final checklists have been completed, at this point we’re just finishing up dealing with storage and sorting out final items to bring or leave.

Coming soon…

I’ll be making more regular updates in the coming months, but recently have been busy getting caught up and settled in with my new job at Tableau Software, and have been prevented from doing much in the way of bird photography by all the gray, rainy weather we’ve been having.I know, I never did write an entry for the Texas birding trip, and I may try to do that in the next few days.

But, coming soon:

  • Sailing in Mexico! Some friends and I set up a somewhat last-minute sailing trip to La Paz, Mexico (same place I got my ASA104/114 certifications) from January 9th-12th and I’ll be skippering a 41ft (12.5m) Morgan ‘Out Island’ Ketch. I’ll be buying a full GoPro Hero4 Silver bundle before the trip and will be compiling lots of footage into a video to go onto the upcoming Wing on Wing YouTube channel (along with learning to use Adobe Premier)
  • I’ve got tentative plans with another friend to head down to Costa Rica for a long weekend in late March or early April as well for several days of surfing, lounging, and birding (the birding in Costa Rica should be amazing)
  • And of course, more bird photography from the Seattle area (once the weather gives me a break!)

Lots of adventures coming in 2016!

Aside

Sailing video series on YouTube to follow

One of the great things about the internet is how easy it is to share our lives and experiences with others, whether through blog form like this, social media, or videos on YouTube (or Vimeo, or others). I’ve been watching a lot of these over the past few months and have even become a patron on Patreon for several as well. I’ll list the best ones I’ve found here for you to check out and enjoy.

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