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Lynne and Bob Helman, June 28/29, 2011 One of our greatest pleasures is sharing our sailing experiences with family and friends. We were so pleased that my cousin, Lynne Helman and her husband, Bob, were the first to come on board. Lynne was a bit apprehensive with the whole experience of not only sailing on a sail boat for the first time but also spending overnight on board. We took them to our favourite overnight spot at Von Donop Inlet. The sea was nice and calm all the way over. One of Lynne's passions is photography. We all had a good chuckle as all the way over she was just clicking her camera at random scenes. It was not until we were reviewing her photos and zooming in on some that we realized that she had unknowingly took a photo of sea lion colony! She was so thrilled to see so much sea life and was amazed at our introduction to Water Totems. Once she knew what they were she could not wait for the next new ones to surface. Some of them are so magical and leave a lot to the imagination. The next day we stopped in for lunch at another favourite spot, Gorge Harbour, before we headed back to Campbell River.

Fran and Dennis Hunt, July 6 2011 Our next company were our friends from Qualicum Beach, Dennis and Fran Hunt. They also had never done any sailing before. We only had the time to take them out on a day sail. The wind was flat calm so we were unable to put the sails up, a bit disappointing but we did have a good time nonetheless. We went over to Rebecca Spit at the south end of Quadra Island. We had lunch on board before we headed back to Campbell River. Our local hotel, The Waverly Hotel, here in Cumberland has a good burger night. We had super there that night. It was neat to see Dennis interact with the waitress as Dennis was born in Cumberland 72 years ago. He remembers his early childhood in Cumberland.

Rick and Ronald Klatt July 6, 2011 Dennis and Fran's visit was followed by a visit from my son, Rick Klatt and his son, Ronald. Rick is a relief Captain with BC Ferries. It was probably a bit of a lesser challenge for him to operate our little boat compared to those big ferries that he manoeuvres. His son, Ronald really enjoyed himself. He pretty much handled the helm most of the time. They also could only manage a day trip so it was back to Rebecca Spit and return in one day. Our dock friends are starting to tease us with our three hour cruises....and have threatened to rename our boat the "US Minnow"!!!

Chuck and Mairo Handley, July 18/19, 2011 Our friends, Chuck and Mairo Handley drove down from Kaslo BC. They used to own a Hunter sailboat and were thrilled to be invited to sail with us for a couple days. We had a huge surprise in store for them. They also know our friends, Val and Terry Smith. Val and Terry own a 40ft trawler. They live in Delta, BC but were just returning from a three week boating trip at the northern end of Vancouver Island. The Smith's contacted us to let us know that they would be in Campbell River the same time that Chuck and Mairo would be with us. Chuck and Mairo were sure surprised to see Val and Terry. We all had cocktails and dinner together the first night. Val and Terry met up with us again at Von Donop Inlet. We rafted our boats together and shared a wonderful happy hour and dinner together. My mouth is still watering .... Val and Terry shared a huge bowl of peel and eat shrimp with all of us for happy hour and then brought over huge, and I mean huge bbq'd jumbo prawns to go with our steak dinner. Man, oh man, were they ever good. The next morning I baked overnight cinnamon buns. Val and Terry came over for coffee and a bun. There were a couple left over for them to take on their trip heading south to their home slip on the Fraser River.

John and Dawne Jamison July 30/31, 2011 John and Dawne Jamieson came down from Kamloops over the August long weekend. Another trip over to Von Donop but this time we had some fairly rough seas on the way over. I was not impressed....at one time I wanted to turn back but Larry assured me that once we got passed the south end of Quadra the sea would calm down. He was right to a point but then it started to rain. We continued on to Von Donop and spent the entire evening indoors because it rained so heavily. The next day, the weather had improved. John and Larry took the dinghy out for a spin. There were several other boats anchored in the inlet. We took our time getting ready to leave because the tide and currents were against us going back up Discovery Passage. We could not start up until after 3pm. When we were heading out of the inlet, another very large and very expensive power boat was coming into the bay. There is a rock in the centre of the inlet. The recommended passage is to the right of the rock. We do not know what happened but somehow they went to the left and hit the rock. So there they were, a multi-million dollar power boat with god only knows who of any importance was on board, hung up on a rock going no-where. We stayed clear while they decided what to do. It did not appear to be taking on water. Fortunately for them the coast guard was in the area and were able to give assistance if needed. We were able to move past them to the open water. We could see as we looked back that they got off the rock and were heading back to another spot. It would appear that they had no damages. We only spent the one night on board with John and Dawne but did enjoy their 5 days with us both on board the boat and in Cumberland.

We are now in the process of making preparations in taking BeeJay out for a 3 to 4 week cruise up to the Broughtons. It will be Larry and I and the BeeJay this time. Val and Terry are back out on their boat up at the north end of Vancouver Island. We hope to meet up with them somewhere up there.