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  • Best. Day. Ever.

Best. Day. Ever.

Posted on April 22, 2024April 22, 2024 By Debbie Kochel
Gulf Islands, Pender Island

After church, we weighed anchor and headed out. We were bundled up and drove from the flybridge. We were in between Galiano and Wallace Island when we spotted splashing. WHALES!! Orcas to be exact. I literally lost my mind. They were jumping out of the water, slapping their tales. I only counted six, but Jim counted seven. We slowed to idle and enjoyed them playing for about 20 minutes. We were the only people in the channel and it was our own private showing. One was much larger than the rest and at least one was tiny enough that Jim was googling if Dall’s porpoises swim with an Orca pod. PURE MAGIC.

I eyed the insta360 before we started. I got sidetracked with something else and should have followed through because I would definitely have photos then. I tried to film them but they were just too far away to do any justice with my cell phone camera. By law, in BC you have to stay 200 meters away from killer whales (600 feet) I texted my friend John and he asked if I got any pictures. Nope. He laughed, it didn’t happen then.

Here is a video link with sound to prove I lost my mind. Don’t worry, no Orcas were filmed against their will.

https://drive.google.com/file/d/1ysVUB16hrc_z7K-5UQpZhVVo_2wZzEAG/view?usp=sharing

We played frogger with ferries in Swanson channel. You will never win my friend, just slow down and try to stay out of their way. Here is a link as well.

https://drive.google.com/file/d/1EjwPXUGds0p_R1flI6em1nLSoodGH91D/view?usp=sharing

The last leg of the trip, we were in a rain band and it was quite heavy. We drove from inside. The water was sporty and we were happy to get tucked away in the harbor. We followed a yacht in, it niggled at me for a while and eventually I remembered where I had seen it before. It was at the head of Cap Sante C-Dock the night of the Christmas Boat Parade quite decked out. I combed through my photos and shocker, I have one picture but it is super blurry.

Since we had been here one time before and still had our track, we knew exactly where to anchor. We set on the first try. We had leftovers, so we ate dinner early and watched some YouTube. The OKellys finally are under contract for a boat. What was that? 3 years? After the heavy rain, the sun came out. We enjoyed the sunshine up on the deck in our lawnchairs until the sun disappeared behind the clouds again and we couldn’t take the cold. I’m sure the sunset was glorious from Lyall. We can’t really see it in this cove.

Not a whisper of wind last night, it was such a quiet and peaceful night’s sleep on the hook. Supposed to be super windy today, so we are staying put. We’ll wander up to the grocery store a little later but that is our big plan for the day. Oh, and you guessed it. Some sort of boat chore.

Talk Soon.

Tags: Canada Gulf Islands liveaboard Nordic Tug Pender Island PNW travel blog

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