Today we had to begin the serious business of our return journey north, back to Nanaimo Harbour.

The day started very well with Mike bringing tea at 7am and watching the sunrise over Tortoise Islets up on deck.

This was followed by an excellent breakfast of banana pancakes with blueberries, yoghurt and maple syrup in the sunshine!

After breakfast, we changed into running kit and motored to the small dinghy dock in Princess Bay.

We left various bags and jumpers at the dock and set off to circumnavigate the island stopping at intervals for everyone to catch up and take photos. First stop was Shell beach where there was white sand and clear sparkling water that looked inviting for a swim to cool off. Lots of photo opportunities.
We ran on, around Kanaka Bluff For handstand practice and to Royal Cove where we admired a dramatic display of deep red sea anenomes waving their tentacles in the sunshine (until poked with a stick...), at the easternmost point we turned inland and ran to the centre of the island, through orchards and past a lovely looking campsite back to the Dinghy Dock. Here, there were two obvious ways to return to the yacht... and three of us chose to dive in off the end of the jetty to swim back. Unbelievably cold, but very refreshing!!

After hot (ish) showers we paused to retrieve the prawn trap (still no prawns...) before setting off at 11 am. We were soon under sail in a perfect 9.4 knot breeze, travelling at up to 7.5 knots with sails filling beautifully against bright blue skies. First stop today was Cowichan via Satellite Channel. We fancied cooking some more fresh fish for supper and the fishing harbour at Cowichan seemed a likely place to be able to buy fish.

We could not have been more wrong!

After mooring alongside the breakwater under the instruction of a half asleep/stoned harbour master we motored onto the dinghy dock and wandered along the harbour in search of fishing boats. We found two, neither of whom had any fish. Neither did the local supermarket or delicatessan!

What they did have, however was an excellent bakery and cheese shop where we shopped extravagantly for lunch! We also found plenty of vegetables with which to make a spanish omelette to use up our excess of eggs!

We sailed on, north up the Sansum Narrows, tacking back and forth through the channel. We even spotted a bald eagel and followed it, tack by tack until it perched co-operatively on a branch for photographs before swopping down and flying elegantly away.

As we tacked we were trying to find the increasingly smal patch of sunlight on the eastern side of the channel in order to take a team photograph. Chris finally accomplished this at the very last minute as the sun slowly fell behind the mountains in the west and the looming cloud bank suggested that we might have seen the last of the glorious warm sunshine that we have enjoyed throughout most of our trip.

It was time find an anchorage for the evening and Booth Inlet provided a fine spot overlooking the hills and sky where the last signs of the setting sun were still glowing. It also overlooks the chimneys of a huge wood pulp processing works to the south - sounds unattractive, but in fact quite dramatic and a contrast to the other scenery around us .

On arrival there was just enough time for a paddle board before dark, so whilst Bill sorted the boat and Mike nd Beth made Spanish Omelette, Chris and I set off on our boards to paddle up the Booth Inlet and followed the river upstream as far as we could with the evening light at our backs. Its was tranquil and beautiful. The water was really clear and we could see the pebbles on the river bed. We met a family coming downstream in their canoes, and, after turning around to return to th yacht, we met them again as we paddled back out into the bay. The sky was dramatic by now and we grabbed a camera to take phsotographs.

Back on board, the gin and nibbles were ready and we sat on deck, admiring the sky and waiting for the omelette to cook itself under its foil hat. It did this most deliciously and supper was the most delicious yet.

There followed another nosiy game of Dutch Blitz, interrupted bizarrely by a game of sardines during which the entire Bellamy family except Beth were crammed, giggling in the stern end of Mike and Beth's cabin, whilst Beth sat happily on deck enjoying the peace and quiet!