Graveyard of the Pacific
Charts: 3646, 3668, 3670, 3671 In the middle of the stormy winter of 1906, the iron steamship Valencia was driven ashore at Pachena Point. Massive waves dashed the ship and it’s passengers on to the rocky shore with horrific results and the loss of 136 lives. This loss is generally regarded as Vancouver Island’s worst...
Being Boarded
It was a few winters ago and Andy and I were travelling on Tula from Victoria BC to a whale conference near Port Townsend, Washington. Andy is a member of the Canadian Forces and as a navy guy, has many years of naval experience in all parts of the world and is at home on...
Delivering Mistress
The Joys of Winter Motoring on The Salish Sea Rob Andrews is a buddy from New Zealand who purchased a Swan 53 called Mistress in San Diego a year ago. Mistress is a gorgeous, high-end sailboat made originally in Finland. Everything about Mistress is big and rugged. Rob's ability to tolerate huge refit cheques is...
Protecting Your Sailboat from the Pineapple Express
Keeping Your Boat and Crew Safe While Cruising BC’s West Coast We enjoy cruising British Columbia’s West Coast on our sailboat Tula. We sail the Coast during most seasons of the year. Our wonderful cruising-grounds extend from the bottom of Puget Sound up the Salish Sea to Canada’s border with Alaska. During our sailing courses, we...
Tranquility Base: This is Tula Calling
The Pleasures of Extended Coastal Cruising on BC’s West Coast Dawn is gradually colouring the Eastern sky and a little fog is rolling in. Tula is safely alone at anchor, deep inside a maze of small islets near Darby Channel on our Central Coast. After a quiet night, we are up before the birds and...
Meeting Cetaceans on Tula
One of Our World’s Remaining Treasures Few animals on earth give us such a sense of wonder and excitement as whales, dolphins and porpoises, collectively called ‘cetaceans’. When sailing in the Gulf Islands, our boat Tula provides a luxurious viewing platform for our frequent meetings with these Piscean creatures. In seeing whales, we also feel a real...