We had a couple of rainy days at the dock at Refuge Cove after Erik left.  We had about a week to spend before we were scheduled to meet up with my Mom and Bob, my step-dad.  We decided to head to Rebecca Spit Marine Park, which is another favorite place of ours.  We anchored in the park and spent several nice days there – some rain and some sun. 

Rebecca Spit Park beach

Hiking on the trails at Rebecca Spit

Fall is here

View of Desolation Sound area

Foggy morning

Foggy morning

At anchor

Beautiful color this time of year

We headed around Cape Mudge, being careful to watch for the correct tides as we had read that the conditions can be severe there.  We encountered no problems, and it was”smooth sailing” – except we were motoring.  No wind to speak of.  We pulled into April Point Marina a day early and had the dock to ourselves.  The next day our family arrived and we were able to have several days of fun on Quadra Island. 

Cape Mudge

Mom and I at Rebecca Spit

More hiking at Rebecca Spit

Trail to Chinese Mountains

Mom and Bob

Good times with Mama

❤️

We hiked to Morte Lake – really beautiful trail

Pretty fungi

Again, our time with our family went by so quickly.  Mom and Bob went off to continue their tour of Vancouver Island and it was time for Ralph and I to head south for the year.  We decided to head to our familiar stop at Texada Island in the rain and stayed for two nights.  We had a fair day in the forecast so we spent a long day at sea and stayed for 2 nights at Gibsons Landing on the mainland, which we really liked.  Even though it was only a few miles away, we couldn’t pass up spending some time at Plumper Cove park, and we just about had the place to ourselves.  Then we took the 10 miles trip to Snug Cove on Bowen Island, which was lovely (even in the rain), and then on to False Creek in downtown Vancouver for a few days.  Ralph and our friend Henri took the boat to the Fraser River on Sept 26 and the boat was hauled out.  Meanwhile, Charlie and I picked up our car from storage and met the guys at the yard.  Since then we have been busy doing the usual clean up and prep for the winter.  Almost time to go home.  

This storm was chasing us from Texada Island to Gibsons – right after we tied up we hard a real thunderstorm

Dock at Gibsons – a beautiful double rainbow, hard to capture

Talk about waterfront living – Public Wharf at Gibsons

Public Wharf at Gibsons

Gibsons

Funny – Gibsons shopping

Sunset at Plumper Cove, Keats Island

Keats Island trails

More interesting fungi on Keats Island

Meeting new friends – a swan was unexpected. The bird was absolutely silent – looking for handouts I think.

Boaters Lounge at Snug Cove – so nice!

Snug Cove at Bowen Island

Anchored in the heart of Vancouver

Granville Island ducks and geese

Out of focus but you get the idea – Fall is upon us

Rental bikes in Vancouver – complete with helmets!

Looking better after a bottom cleaning

Toga is settling in for winter