Dorothy's Wildlife Trip

Upon our arrival in Prince Rupert, northernmost city on the B.C. coast, we checked in to the Prince Rupert Rowing and Yacht Club.  Then Dorothy and I took off to check out to town.  We came across an office where tours were being advertised~  Dorothy has been dying to see bears and even imagined a couple on the shore as we traveled (rocks or shadows). A seven hour catamaran tour was offered for the next day, but the price was $199!  Then the lady said she would be willing to give a discount.  Alice spoke up and said, "Well, if it were $100 that would be fair." And the lady agreed to give Dorothy the tour for $100~ she was not disappointed, seeing a dozen bears, lots of harbor seals, and many, many bald eagles. The crew even fed chicken to the eagles so they would swoop down for photo opps.  Dorothy got great photos, as seen above!

Waterfalls Galore~

  One day as we were traveling through British Columbia, Dorothy spotted an article in our guide regarding waterfalls. Thus began our waterfall adventure ~ The next day we headed out in search of Lacy Falls. On our way we saw many other falls, unnamed on the map, but large enough to warrant photographing. THEN we came to Lacy Falls, and what a treat that was: bright sun, close up access thanks to Bill, and a feast for our eyes. Dorothy and Alice stood on the bow of the boat taking every possible angle of photo. By the time we left waterfall country we had named several of them: Firemen Falls, Lady Falls, Shoestring Falls, Baby Falls, Split Falls, Long Tall Sally Falls, etc.  What a show the snowmelt gave us!

The Great Adventure North Begins

On May 15, 2012, Grey Wolf and her crew of three pulled out of Chinook Landing Marina in Tacoma, WA, headed for Alaska and points in between!  Our first three nights on anchor were in Washington state.  Then we checked into Canada in Bedwell Harbour, So. Pender Island. We had U.S. potatoes on board and were told to hurry up and cook them all so we could keep them!  Nothing like eating a ten lb. bag in a hurry!! Since then we have been traveling north along the coast of British Columbia.  Even though Bill's new GPS was supposed to cover the coastal areas throughout, by the time we reached Campbell River it had given up on any details. We had to wait three days to pick up new GPS cards, since stores were not open on Sunday and the following Monday was a national holiday... We whiled away our time on anchor by working on a 1000 piece butterfly puzzle!  We really did do 2/3 of it, but the centers of the wings finally got to us and Alice just piled the remaining pieces in the middle and took a photo- looks pretty good, right?  After calculating tides and currents with a new tide book, we headed north again.  Some nights we anchored alone, with the most in one anchorage being five boats.  The night in Cutter Cove found us by ourselves in a most pristine and isolated place akin to a land when time began!  We bundled up and put the dinghy in the water so we could enjoy this solitary place~

Happy, Happy Birthday, Bill!

 Alice spent a lot of time planning a surprise 75th birthday party for Bill, and Carolyn offered to have it at her daughter's home in Burien, WA on May 6, just five days before the real big day.  As luck would have it, Bill 'smelled a rat', but went along with the plan to have dinner with them that night.  There were the seven boating friends shown below, plus Carolyn's daughter's family, in attendance.  Many friends and family members had sent greeting cards and emails and the captain was very well-remembered!  And, guess what?  He is STILL 29- imagine that!