Here is a photo of my partner’s beautiful ketch, the ‘Parsifal’, ‘the last opera by  Wagner’, Ron told me, as I stared into his beautiful hazel eyes when we met……..

Ron & I are on the Parsifal right now in Smuggler’s Cove marine park, part way up the Sunshine Coast in BC. We are lucky enough to be sailing & cruising on the boat for the next month, heading north to explore the beauty of Desolation Sound, after a stop at Pender Harbour this weekend, to take in some of the great music at the annual jazz festival. We blew out all the cobwebs sailing across the Strait of Georgia a couple of days ago with a north wind, close hauled on a port tack, it was exhilarating…….

Smuggler’s is a lovely little cove surrounded by rocky mounds covered with moss, lichen, cedar & arbutus trees. We are making the journey with our friends, Tom & Karen who are on their boat Hytta beside us, photo below. I have had the great pleasure of enjoying a yoga session each morning with Karen, on the mossy covered rocks above the cove, stretching & posing while we contemplate the wonder of nature that surrounds us. We hear the birds & crickets chirping in the forest, a splash as a seal frolics in the morning sun & watch an eagle soaring above us as we hold our pose on a rocky bluff……..

We have also explored all the paths around the south end & west of the cove. I am always moved by the amazing colors of our forests, & would love to capture all those hues, from the rich bronzes of cedar & arbutus wood, through the dark greens of the ferns & mosses, to the palest limes & creams of the lichen & fungus. We wound among ponds & marshes on wooden walkways & bridges, from where we could watch the myriad of life, the ducks & dragonflies, the midges & larvae, all hustling & bustling around us amongst the reeds & algae. Even the sleek & shiny slugs were beautiful on the path below us…….

Yesterday the weather held & we were able to go out in the dinghy so Ron could catch our supper. We attempted trolling for salmon in the channels around Grant island & then in the cove north of us. After losing his flasher & hootchie !?!?, Ron called it a day & we headed in for happy hour, having spent a couple of pleasant hours drifting around in the late afternoon sun……

To be continued from Pender Harbor once we are established at Fisherman’s marina with shore power & showers, hurrah!