September 1 -- Almost Home

We start out on the last leg of our journey, but in Georgia Strait we discover that the predicted northwest wind is actually southeast (and of course we’re traveling southeast) and the water is rather choppy. The sun is still shining, so why would we fight the wind and waves all day when we don’t have to get home tonight? Instead, we pull in to Smuggler Cove, and spend our last night in the same anchorage in which we spent the first night of the trip. We go ashore for a hike on the trails of this marine park, and Cliff enjoys running into Amanda, a woman he worked with 10 years ago.

Later, we have a delicious barbecued salmon dinner in this peaceful anchorage, with a spectacular starry sky and brilliant phosphorescent water. We throw breadcrumbs to the fish and see their sparkly outlines as they come to snap up the treats. We even flush the heads (into the holding tanks of course) in the dark and watch the lights flash in the plumbing pipes! Yes, yes, we know -- there is not a lot to do on a sailboat at night.