It has been difficult for LE to get sufficient motivation to write this last blog entry, but here it is - the end of our sailing adventure.
We left Curare in Bellingham on December 21, 2022 and did not return for her until January 5, 2023. This time, instead of taking the Amtrak train, we rode on a lime green coloured Flix bus. This is the same bus company (and colour) as the bus we took from Lisbon, Portugal to Vigo, Spain in July 2021. The world has shrunk in the 15 years that we were away, many services are now the same no matter where we travel. When we departed on our voyage we never knew what to expect. But I digress.
The bus departed at 0800, crossing the border into the USA went smoothly, and we arrived at The Landings at Colony Wharf marina just after 1000. While we were away Curare had been moved onto hard stands and was snuggled in between two other boats. She looked like a derelict without a mast and with her topsides and hull covered in road grime from her epic truck trip, she clearly needed some TLC. We were not scheduled to go back into the water until after lunch so while GG worked on finishing re-rigging the mast LE used a bucket and mop and scrubbed her bottom to top. She cleaned up nicely.
Curare was moved out of her spot and put back into the water at 1300 (1 P.M.). Prior to this we have always moved Curare out of and in to the water on a travel lift of some description, one that involves transport on wheels. This maneuver always causes us to bite our fingernails but seeing her in the air swinging from a crane was even more nerve wracking. The good thing is that slinging a boat is quick, one minute Curare was on the transport trailer and the next minute she was in the water, LE barely had time to snap two photos. Then GG, and the yard crew, re-stepped the mast and re-attached the standing rigging. By late afternoon she looked almost like a sailing boat again but without a boom or sails.
The best part of Curare's journey was at the end, and it (almost) made all of the other obstacles and transport fiascos leave our minds. Marc, the owner of the Landings at Colony Wharf marina, kindly and generously waived all of the fees associated with moving Curare off of the transport truck, storing her on the hard for two weeks, placing her back into the water and letting us stay at his dock overnight. We had not expected this. The currently overused word is that it was "unprecedented".
The next day we spent the morning organizing things down below and the afternoon grocery shopping, topping up the tanks with diesel and moving to a marina next door because we did not want to abuse Marc's generosity. The plan was to motor Curare home to Gabriola Island, a distance of 80 Nautical miles, stopping on the way in Sydney B.C. to meet Geoff's two sisters. LE calculated this would take four days, which it did, and we set off in the rain the morning of January 7. Our dedicated Furuno chart plotter was not working because we had cut the GPS cable when we took down the arch in Florida, but we did have a Samsung tablet with the Navionics App. Then we discovered that someone (GG) had left the tablet at home. Not to worry, LE downloaded the App onto her phone and using the tiny screen we were able to navigate the narrow passages of the San Juan Islands, a new-to-us sailing area. Prior to departing Bellingham we had tried to purchase a paper chart of the San Juans so that we could see the big picture but the local chandlery just laughed at us. Another change in the 15 years away - no one uses paper charts any more. When we left Canada electronic charts were in their infancy and it was strongly suggested that the prudent mariner never left the dock without back-up paper charts. So why are paper charts now obsolete? Electronics can still fail - that has not changed.
It was unfortunate that the day we left was so rainy because the scenery was fantastic, equal - but different - to the scenes we saw while sailing in the Patagonian channels in 2013/2014, or in the Baltic sea in 2017. After a long, wet, day of motoring we arrived at Sydney Harbour marina in Canada and tied up to the customs dock so we could check-in. Instructions taped to the window of the small, empty, shack instructed us to telephone. The customs agent asked the usual questions about what we were bringing into Canada and then she asked when we had left. When GG replied "in 2007" she got very confused, but after a brief conversation she simply said "Welcome to Canada".
The next day we stayed tied to a dock and two of GG's sisters came to visit. We planned to leave early the next morning and motor the rest of the way to Gabriola Island. This did not happen. We woke up to a lot of wind from the aft pushing us into the dock. Curare has a full keel and does not back up well, even in calm conditions, so there was no way we were going to leave until things settled down. We wandered around, drank some coffee and hoped the wind would abate prior to 1100, or we would be paying for another night. Finally at 1030 it seemed to be calming and GG was confident he could get us out of the slip, LE was not so sure but what was the worst 
that could happen? Curare's hull was already scraped from the mishap in Florida, so another scrape would not be disastrous. We departed precisely at 1100 even though the wind was still howling, and Curare made three full 360 degree turns as GG maneuvered her backwards, but we did not hit anything and in a few minutes we were out of the protection of the marina's breakwater. It was windier than expected, in fact we later heard that a small craft warning had been issued for local waters. We had no sails and were motoring into heavy seas so we decided that Saltspring Island was our destination, a distance of only 15 miles, but a great place to stop because our Yacht Club has an outstation where we could tie up.
The following day was calm, the sun was shining, it was perfect weather for our motor north. We left the dock shortly after 0800 and were welcomed home by a pod of five or six orcas fishing about 300 meters from our hull. Several bald eagles flew overhead or perched on trees, rocks and channel markers and seals popped their heads up to watch us going by. For this part of the journey we did not need to look at our tiny chart, things were very familiar. We lucked out and transited Gabriola Passage close to slack tide and pulled into the dock at Tugboat 
Island shortly after 1300. Our yacht club has another outstation here and we are using it for winter moorage. We will have to leave for the summer months when other boats are cruising, but for now it is a convenient place to keep Curare while we do some much needed maintenance, only a 30 minute drive from our house.
The grand sailing adventure is now finished and so is this blog. Onwards to other adventures (still to be determined).