Monday, December 23, 2024
Braesail and her crew motored out of Telegraph Harbour at 8 am on a morning without wind or rain! The 6-hour journey around Thetis and Penelakut islands, through Porlier Pass, and across the Strait of Georgia to the Burrard Yacht Club’s visitors’ dock in Vancouver was easy and pleasant, and we listened to Advent music played through the cockpit speakers; Walt and I took turns on watch at the helm as St. Brendan, the autopilot, did nearly all the work.
We tied up the boat at one of the docks at the Burrard Yacht Club at about 2 pm, Walt walked the considerable distance to and from the Yacht Club’s registration office, and then he and I enjoyed a tranquil afternoon (some people call December 23 “Christmas Adam Day” because it comes before “Christmas Eve Day!”). I unpacked our little artificial Christmas tree and decorated it with miniature candy canes, and then spent most of my time sending greetings to family and friends with seasonal music playing and a cup of spice tea on the table nearby, while Walt read and napped. As happened on Sunday in Telegraph Harbor, shiny black crows decided to use Braesail’s decks, cabin tops, and solar panels as playgrounds, cawing and skwaking, cracking clam shells and tumbling them around, and flapping about–entertaining to see and hear!
Martin rode his bicycle from his office to the docks (a 50-minute ride) in the evening, arriving at about 8 pm. Walt cooked us three a lovely chicken dinner, and we caught up on the news and made plans for Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday, taking into consideration the prediction the arrival of a powerful windstorm on Christmas Day. Martin donned his foul-weather clothing and left shortly before 10 pm in a swirl of wind and rain to cycle back home, I performed galley clean-up, and Walt and I, and the weather, settled down for a quiet night.
Braesail - A grand yacht in the Salish Sea 