Hi friends! We arrived in BC about 3 weeks ago and have been doing our usual springtime activities here; getting the boat ready to go in the water for the summer as well as catching up with friends, relaxing and having fun. Everything in moderation!

Our drive up was really nice and after a few days of rain, we have had sunshine. It has recently gotten warm and really feels like spring here; before now I would say spring was feeling a little tentative.

Hop Valley brew pub in Eugene was a great stop! We are big fans of their beer and the food was great too.

Went through this interesting little town in Washington, visited a state park there

Ralph has been working (with my help as needed) on several small projects, including replacing light fixtures with LED’s, installing a new engine water filter and oil pump, replacing some on-deck teak with starboard (also called marine lumber, it is some kind of plastic – holds up well), building a shelf in one of our lockers for more efficient storage, repairing our bimini side curtains, fixing our instant hot water heater and installing a new house (domestic) water pump. Nothing is easy or straightforward on a boat, especially when we are away from our home base. Once we installed the water pump and turned it on, it only worked for about 30 seconds. We had to drive down to Washington to send it back and are awaiting a replacement (shipping it to and from Canada would result in dealing with customs and tariffs/duties that are a headache). I have been keeping us well fed, etc in addition to being Ralph’s assistant. On Thursday I am going on a trip to visit Amy in Minneapolis, MN and Jacob in Brooklyn, NY – very excited to see those kids!

New mounting board for the outboard motor

New guides for the stern door

As I mentioned, nothing is easy on a boat. Ralph had to crawl in and out of these tight spaces to remove and reinstall the guides – lots of scrapes and bruises

Nice new shelf for this locker!

Tidily installed new water pump that we are replacing (again) – hopefully the next one works

We expect to be in the yard until the end of May, and then off we go!

Margaritas to celebrate Cinco de Mayo

Welcome back dinner with dear friends in Vancouver

Fraser river looking lovely

Lots of geese and ducks about right now, expecting to see ducklings and goslings soon!

Being without running water (we do have a good pump in the galley though), these sprayers come in really handy! They are good for all kinds of things

Salmon berry bushes growing along the river

A few pictures of our meals aboard