Allow us to introduce you to the flotilla boats and crews. First, Brian and Carol Pemberton, our lead boat owners, owners of NW Explorations and serious workaholics:
Brian and Carol's boat is "Deception," a 49 foot Grand Banks Classic:
Also aboard Deception are Mikey and Meisha, Brian and Carol's special dog-people. They are very sweet and great boat pets:
Next is Harry and Josie Clark. Harry and Josie are charterers from North Carolina:
Harry and Josie will be aboard "Victoria," a 42 ft. Grand Banks Europa model for the cruise:
And here we are (had to include everybody):
And "Grand Adventure," our charter boat, a 42 ft. Grand Banks Motor Yacht (the full aft cabin makes her a "motor yacht" -- a marketing gimmick). We had to copy this picture off the internet site:
OK, we were underway at 8:00 a.m. (or so), and passed by "Deception" still in her slip (Brian and Carol were helping the rest of us get underway):
We passed by "Northern Song," the 84 foot steel "ship" owned by NW Explorations. This boat is chartered as a crewed charter and carries eight passengers with four crew. They go to Alaska and Mexico:
We headed westward to thread our way through the San Juan Islands of Washington. Soon, we spotted our first eagle on this small island. Look closely:
Since we were traveling together, we cruised in a loose line behind Deception. This was our typical formation for the entire trip. Here is Deception, then Victoria and our bow in the picture. Note the perfect weather:
Of course, since we were going into Canada from the U.S., we had to clear customs. The customs station at Bedwell Harbor, BC was our stop. It was very busy with boats checking in:
We finally got an empty space at the dock in front of the customs office. We cleared by phone:
The terrain as we passed through the Gulf Islands of Canada was impressive, reminding us of Georgian Bay in Ontario, only this was on salt water. The homes at the top had a great view:
We arrived at our marina for the night in Ganges, on Salt Spring Island in the Gulf Islands. Everyone, except Bill, went in Deception's dinghy to the little town of Ganges. Ruth snapped this sculpture along one of the streets:
Back at the marina, Josie and Harry fed the local swans:
They (the swans) were really pretty:
We shared supper aboard Deception and had a lot of fun getting to know everyone better.
