Barclay Sound Sailing Trip

In September, 2023 I sailed my Farr 727 (24 foot) sailing boat from Maple Bay, down around Victoria and up to Barclay Sound on the west coast of Vancouver Island. I spent a couple of weeks on the boat and cut the trip short after cracking a crown on one of my molars. I have made a YouTube slide show of pictures from this trip that can be found here.

I spent the first night near Sidney and the second at Pedder Bay between Victoria and Sooke

Sailing off Sooke

One of the joys of cruising is meeting neat people. Arnt built a cabin onto a flush decked hull to make this lovely little cutter. He is a master furniture maker from Vancouver

Many bays on the outer islands of Barclay Sound are heaped with drift wood and shells

A huge cedar drift log makes a handy frame for this scenery

I did not let these clams soak and clean themselves long enough - one broken molar crown was the result

The outside of Wouwer island is almost always a wild place

Ferns line a beautiful sea cave on Effingham Island

The sea life is rich - not surprising given the amount of tidal flow and proximity to open ocean

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The trip home was done in one go to Sidney Island after sailing slowly all day, drifting overnight off Sooke, and then motoring to Sidney Island.

Nepal Trek Part 2 - Additional Pictures

I dragged along a heavy full frame SLR and zoom lens that my brother gave me. Most of the pictures posted in the YouTube video mentioned in the last post were shot using a Samsung cell phone. I thought I would process a few more of the pictures taken with the heavy professional quality equipment to justify the effort of carrying it! I have also updated the YouTube slide show to include these pictures. Video is available in HD but you may have to explicitly set this when you play it using the Settings icon.

Loading up on day 1. Our porter Hise carried a red duffle bag for us as well as his own gear using a tumpline over his head

Departure time for our first day of hiking

Apart from mules we also saw people carrying big loads up the steep mountain roads and paths

Herdswoman

One of this year's goats

Rani is still exuberant on the first day of walking

Locals returning to their village

We walked on a newly built road until reaching this area where the road was under construction. Here they have power to run jack hammers. Later we saw use of bars and hammers

Hise enjoys a lunch break

We saw a few innovative names for some of the tea houses

Caravan passes in front of our restaurant

Not your typical view while dining

Garap explains the uses for plants along the roadside

These bridges were pinned to the rock face and had been quite badly damaged by recent rock falls

View from a tea house in the Tsum valley

One of the tea house owners and her helper

On the way to school

Chortens arranged in a wall outside a new Tsum valley gompa

Wooden ploughs and oxen exist alongside cellphones and internet access

Garap shared his sweets with both children and adults

Garap and Hise are both buddhists and made offerings in all the gompas we visited

We were lucky to spot herds of wild sheep in a few places

Rest break waiting for lunch

Manaslu in the early morning

Garap had an affinity for animals having worked as a herdsman when a young man

We  think this is a snow leopard print, seen near Manaslu base camp approach

Approaching Dharamsala

Coming off the Larke pass

Road building the old fashioned way using iron bars and hammers and picks

A blacksmith works on a tool. There was a hand forge nearby and they were making charcoal to heat the iron

Garap's affinity for animals extends beyond herd animals

The horses and mules used for transport often have lovely decorative bridles and padding blankets