(Read more about Pender Harbour & view the photos.)
Some owners in the Grand Tour have made this crossing more than twenty times. None have ever seen the Strait of Georgia more calm and wlecoming than they did today. The sun was brillliant, the dolphins were jumping, and folks on the Tour were smiling like kids at Christmas at the good fortune of our wonderful weather as we begin our northward trek...
In yesterday's post we noted that much of the story of the Grand Tour will best be told in through the words and experiences of the owners on this trip.
So as we begin our journey, perhaps we can get a taste of what's to come from the "prizes" bestowed on our voyagers during last night's awards dinner at the Dinghy Dock Pub in Nanaimo. Winners were recognized for their performance at the official Sail Past before a lineup of visiting BC owners for the opening morning off the Tour.
What, for instance, to make of the "Best O-Fender" prize awarded to Chataway -a 42 Heritage CL owned by Caroline Ryan and Blake Cowan, with guests Barnie and Bill Cowan aboard as well - for their Morning Moons Over Poets Cove "salute" to the BC boats? (If you ask us, it was a little chilly this morning for this kind of half-mast salute.) The prize, of course, was an old fender.
A more dignified presentation was made by Pelican, a 42CL owned by Buck Thompson and his wife Joanne. They won in the Best Dressed category, while the folks aboard the beautiful GB66-01, Christina - Christina and Gunther Weiss, along with visiting owners Inge and Wolfgang Kritzler - were awarded a blanket for showing up as the Bedtime Boaters, looking to the BC folks as thought they cast off in their pajamas.
The Canadian Spirit award went to Sanctuary, the 70 Aleutian CP owned by Susan and Jeff Bland, who dipped a large Maple Leaf flag from their bedecked boat. On the other end of the spectrum Best Ever, Connie and Bill Buckingham's 54 Eastbay SX, won the Awful Airhorn award for what apparently was a less-than-robust toot of the horn as they passed by.
Sam and Sig Wilson, flying the flag for GB36 owners everywhere aboard S&S Colt 45, were awarded a prize as well, but nobody is quite sure if it was for Best Dressed (runner up) or Worst Dressed. Whatever the case, let's give them and all our winners a big round of applause.
The prizes were courtesy of Jim Connolly and Brian Kell from Grand Yachts Vancouver, GB's Authorized Dealer in British Columbia. Afterwards, all the GB captains met for their daily Skippers Briefing, where news of possible gale force winds in the morning threatened to impact the day's crossing of the Strait of Georgia.
But when the sun broke over the mountains across the Strait, owners looked out upon a passage that was almost glassy calm. The front moved through while we slept, and some owners who had made this trek more than a dozen times said they had never seen it looking so quiet.
Bright blue skies, summertime temperatures and the gentle waters made for a scenic and serene crossing. As we pulled into Pender Harbour and tossed our lines to Dockmaster David and his able mates at Fisherman's Resort and Marina (thanks guys!), there was a palpable sense of leaving the busy life behind. Everyone walked the docks with smiles like a kid at Christmas, marveling at the good fortune Mother Nature had brought and looking forward more than ever to the days ahead.
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> GRAND TOUR HOME
> ROUTE MAP
> LOG BLOG
- Day 1: Nanaimo
- Day 2: Pender Harbour
- Day 3: Prideaux Haven
- Day 4: Shoal Bay
- Day 5: Lagoon Cove
- Day 6: Sullivan Bay
- Day 7: Sullivan Bay
- Day 8: Sullivan Bay
- Day 9: Duncanby Landing
- Day 10: Shearwater
- Day 11: Khutze Inlet
- Day 12: Klewnuggit Inlet
- Day 13: Prince Rupert
- Day 14: Foggy Bay
- Day 15: Ketchikan
- Day 16: Ketchikan
- Day 17: Meyers Chuck
- Day 18: Santa Anna Inlet
- Day 19: Wrangell
- Day 20: Wrangell
> DESTINATIONS
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