July and August 2016

The months of July and August in the Pacific Northwest are PURE DELIGHT! Summer of 2016 was cooler and wetter than usual but that didn’t stop us from sailing and sneaking some fun under the sun!

Early July Vancouver hosts the Vancouver Folk Festival. We’ve previously anchored in front of the festival with the Black Knight so we thought it would be fun to take a bigger crew and spend the night listening to music from the boat.

sailing, union 36
Sailing with Neil and Pauline to Vancouver Folk Festival

Union 36 sailing to vancouver folk festival

sailing union 36 vancouver folk festival
Sarah P. enjoys a magical moment listening to Vancouver Folk Festival
Leela union 36 sunset
One of our favourite photos of Leela

We spoiled ourselves by flying my friend and business partner Mike’s Cessna 185 on floats to Refuge Cove in Desolation Sound for a memorable August Long weekend with our dearest sailing friends. Our friend Matt Dixon of s/v Shaula was incredibly generous and lent us his Catalina 30 sailboat s/v Sirius for the long weekend. What a guy!! Matt grew up in Refuge Cove and runs the Café there (and is now on an extended sailing adventure). It was another legendary weekend full of incredible convergences of friends. At the same spot on the same weekend were Dylan and Sarah from SV Arabesque, Curtis, Tessa, The Good Captain John and Kathryn on the Black Knight and Mike, Saxony and I on SV Sirius.

Refuge Cove desolation sound
That’s Refuge Cove as we’re preparing for the final approach
Cessna 185 floats Refuge Cove BC Desolation Sound
Mike and his sorely missed beloved Golf-India-November-Papa

We sailed up Teakerne Arm and enjoyed swimming in Cassel Lake. We fished and the Good Captain John caught a 25lb salmon! Turns out it was a white king (Chinook) salmon, a genetic variant where the flesh is white instead of pink. These white (or Ivory) coloured salmons are very prized and fetch a higher price on the market. Upon returning to Refuge Cove with our catch, Matt smoked it with apple wood and we enjoyed a feast that fed over 15 boaters and locals of the Refuge Cove community. Seriously, I can’t make this stuff up!

Beauty day on S/V Sirius

We snuck away for weekend sailing jaunts to Bowen and Gambier as often as possible. We invited family, friends and coworkers to sail and enjoy the good times too.

Family aboard our Union 36 sailboat Leela
Saxony and her father Doug, Sister Meghan and brother Sky on Father’s Day. We were having fuel issues so we partied at the dock instead!
sailing union 36
The young Leavetown.com team
sailing union 36, english bay
Louis, Mindy and Saxony
sailing english bay catalina 27
Lil’Bear Leah and Virginia aboard the Black Knight
bowsprit union 36 sailboat
Louis representing!
sailing union 36 sailboat bowen island
Aaah yeah.
sailing alajuela 38
Our friends Sarah and Dylan aboard Arabesque, a beautiful Alajuela 38, showing us how it’s really done
sailing union 36 leela
A multi-tasking babe!
shoal bay music festival fishing
Mike and I flew the floatplane to visit Sarah and Dylan in Shoal Bay and enjoy the small music festival

We went to Victoria and had dinner with Peter Green and Wendy. Peter was the previous owner of Leela. It was great catching up with him and sharing some of our sailing stories from the summer before. After dinner, we went back to his place where he showed us some framed pictures of Leela (then “Free To Roam”), moored up in front of the Empress Hotel. There she is, 10+ years ago, before the new mast and rigging, before the dodger, etc.

Peter the previous owner, Wendy, Saxony and Emmanuel
Leela Union 36 victoria bc
Peter bought this frame from a professional photographer who took the pic for commercial purposes. And that’s Leela in the foreground!
Union 36 sailboat
That’s Leela in her younger days!

We also enjoyed our first summer living aboard at the Spruce Harbour Marina in False Creek. This place is incredible. A wonderful community in a most fantastic location. We sublet a slip from a lovely gentleman named Bruce who took his motor vessel on a 3-month cruise. Below are a few pictures taken during our summer living aboard.

Spruce Harbour Marina
View from the front porch
sailing dinghy false creek
Live-aboard community kids sailing a dinghy after school
Spruce Harbour Marina
Waking up for a 6 am flight to Montreal and the sun is just coming up behind Yaletown
sunset above Granville Island bridge
Sunset clouds above Granville Island bridge
Tony Fugazi, aka Jesse E., enjoying a potluck bbq at the live aboard marina
Tony Fugazi, aka Jesse E., enjoying a potluck BBQ at the live aboard marina community space
hammoc, false creek, vancouver
Taking a moment to relax amidst the hustle of the new business and City life
Saxony on foredeck Union 36
Coming home from work and .. hubba hubba!

Sailboat wreck
We had a mega wind storm with 50kt winds and some sailboats ended up on the rocks. Always a sad sight.
Sailing union 36 bowen island
Friday evening sail to Bowen Island for another weekend of boating

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