ULTREIA

Sunset as seen from Ganges Marina,

We left Ovens early, Predict wind had us facing building winds mid day. The distance by sea on the route we were taking was abouy 34 nautical miles. At 8 knots per hour and a favorable current, we anticipated about a 3 hour trip to Ganges. We made good time.

Ovens Island in our review mirror.

The trip was a zig zag coures that took us south of Penelakut Island round the bottom of the island, and then north east to until we cleared the north west end of Saltspring Island. We headed south on the east side of Saltspring Island until cleared Athol Peninsula, past Scott Point and then north west again until we entered the Seattle Yacht Club Outstation piers at the Ganges Marina.

Ganges Harbour is a busy place. In additon to the boats coming and going, there are islands and rocks in the harbour and float planes landing and taking off.

Ganges Harbour as seen from our berth in the Ganges Marina.

We had expected high winds the first night in Ganges, these didn't materialize. Folks were battening down hatches in expectation of 20-40 mile and hour winds. The wind orginally from the north clocked around to the south bringing a cool breeze. The next day and the day after, we felt the full force of summer in Ganges. There was a moderate breeze that felt delicious when you were in the shade but did not much alter the discomfort of the hot sun in a cloudless sky. The winds built throughout the day and unlike the night before did not clock around to bring cool air off water, instead it was a steady hot wind. Unfortunately, we did not have access to 50 amp power so that we could run the air conditioner and quite hours for generators is generally accepted to be at 10 pm. I stayed up hoping to have the boat cool down so that I could close the boat for the night. 2 am and the wind was relentlessly hot.

Today the winds remained warm and from the north all day but this evening right about dinner time, when we had decided to start the generator to run the AC, the wind clocked around to the south and brought fresh breeze that was cooled by the waters of the harbour.

As the temperatures were so high, and the boat is like HOT HOUSE, when closed up, I didn't want to leave the dogs alone. My goldens are my sweet spoiled fur babies. They also suffred from the heat. The temperature in the salon was about 92 degrees with all the doors and windows open, imagine what it would have been had I closed up the boat with my pups in it.

The girls were walked frequently to exercise them and to allow them to eliminate and urinate. On my iPhone, I measured that we walked about 12000 steps during the hottest day we had experienced since starting the voyage.

As per usual, the crew went off to do their own thing. Stever and Ed helped me walk the dogs several times per day. They are getting plenty of exercise, meaning that I am also getting plenty of walking with Ed or Steve.

As I mentioned earlier, the marina is a busy place, boats coming and going all the time. We were pleased to run into folks we had met at other Outstations. We ran into a friend from the Olympic Yacht Club, Betty, who recently retired and came up as soon as she could to visit friends who live on Salt Spring Island. We chatted and promised to reach out to her when we plan to be boating in the north sound, San Juans or Salish Sea. Our friend Rob and Kelly's boat, Miss Maui, showed up with Greg one of the new owners and Courtney. I hope to see more of them once we return to the Puget Sound, our old familiar stomping/boating grounds.

So tomorrow we head off to a resort near Victoria. We will have ample power and I won't feel bad, okay I will feel bad about leaving the dogs, but I will be more relaxed knowing that we will have enough power to run the AC while we are gone off to see Buchart Garden

I almost forgot!!!

As I was walking back, with the dogs, to the boat yesterday, I spied a boat from the Seattle Yacht Club with the name ULTREIA -> . As they were getting the last of the lines secured I asked, where is the clam shell? The woman on the boat, Sarah, immediately recognized me, by my question, as a fellow Camino de Santiago pilgrim. As we commisereated, we discovered we did the Camino the same year, same month only one week apart. It was great to reminsce over our experience. She told me that since she has been back, I am the seconed pilgrim she has run into since being back to the US. We did the Camino in 2019.

I could go on and on about El Camino de Santiago, but that is a story for another day.

My Pilgrim Passport. Me in front of the Catherdral of Santiago de Compostela,16 May 2019

ULTREIA ->