While Tess stayed with us, we took her for a walk in Francis Peninsula park, its a beautiful spot, overlooking Malaspina Strait and Texada Island.
Windblown Jackpine, Arbutus and cedar line the paths, the ground below the trees is covered in a light green lichen, Salal bushes and Oregon Grape are already changing color.
The whole area feels wild and windblown, but it is so beautiful, this is definitely one of my most favorite places to walk.
While strolling along, i always lag behind because i see so many things worthy of a photo, i climbed a small hill and came upon a deer, munching on the lichen. She looked at me and kept on eating.
i was still a distance away from her, but slowly moved forward,talking to her all the time, she turned around , facing me , and seemed to listen, i kept telling her how beautiful she was, how i would love to take some photos of her, close up.
yes, i could have used my zoom lens but this was much more fun!!
i ended up 6 feet away from her, looking right into those brown, soft deer eyes, and i kept talking, she seemed to listen…….
Bert and Tess were no where to be found, so i had to tell them my story and show the photos!!
If you are ever in Pender harbour, drive to Francis Peninsula road, turn left on Merrill rd. the park entrance is at the end of the road.

Tess admiring the view.

The orange bark of the ever peeling Arbutus.

View North from Fran.Pen. park.

View South towards the South point of Texada.

She was restored in 2009, in Brentwood bay.
Actually, thats where we met Shendra for the first time!! She then told me she lived in Pender Harbour, and we had no idea where that was!!
I took photos of Balandra then again, it will give you a better idea how beautiful she is.

SV BALANDRA in the setting sun.

The other mast near her is from the wooden sloop “LUCKY”

SV BALANDRA

Resting at her buoy in Brentwood bay.

Evening sky in Brentwood Bay

Our very dear friend,Shendra, owns a small sail boat, her name is Balandra and she is out of the water right now, sitting just below Shendra’s house, near the waters edge.
This beautiful boat was built by Shendra’s late husband, Collin Hanney, from 1942 till 1945.
She is a Marconi rigged sloop, her hull was designed by William Hand ,Collin designed her mahogany cabin.
her beam is 6’2″,her draft is 4’0″, and she is 22′ long.
She is made from red cedar and has a white oak frame. her keel ballast is 1100 lbs.of cast iron.
The mast is laminated spruce.

She is a beauty, a lovely little boat, Bert has been working on her, as she has a small problem with the sleeve of her rudder, today we brought the rudder away to the welder.
To take the rudder off, everyone thought she would have to be lifted up, somehow….. but Bert had a look, dug a hole, (not easy!!!! big rocks!!!), and pulled the rudder out from the bottom.
Shendra did a dance out of pure joy, this had been so much easier then she had thought it would be!!

Several years ago we helped take her out of the water, before winter, and i have some photos of that event too.
Shendra has rails running from the water up to the shore , on which the boat rides. An electric motor pulls her up.

Shendra is on the boat, Keray Farrell helped out ,slowly aligning the boat to the rials. These photos were taken with my old camera, which ended up in the ocean…..

A happy Shendra, its going well!!!!!

Bert making sure the chain stays on the pulley.

looking good…..

On dry land.

We met up with our friend Judy ,had coffee at the “Copper Sky” coffee shop, and then walked over to the new Bistro after looking around for a while.
There are a lot of artists here, and a lot of music!!
There is something for everyone , but still the place is quiet and peaceful, and has a definite charm!
We had lunch at the Bistro, Frances is the chef, and she does a great job, everything is tasty and the atmosphere is good!! (prices are too)
In a way its nice that not too many people have discovered this area yet, but who ever finds it will not be disappointed!!!

Lots of information about what to do in this area.

LOVE THIS TRUCK!!!!!!!!

Lots of beautiful plants for sale at the garden center, but also this stern looking fellow!

The Gunnera Manicata, a giant of a plant, well worth a second look!!

I was about to write about her engine and her wonderful engine room, and realized i had forgotten what kind of engine she has, and the hp.
So i wrote to Bob!!!
She has a Pegaso Spanish diesel engine, from 1994 ,160 hp. It is a very economical engine Bob told us.

Gaia’s diesel engine with the generator next to it.

Here we have had all this warm weather, sun every day, and wouldn’t you know it, on Pender Harbour days it rained!!!!
It did not stop people from being enthusiastic and being there!
There were displays of wooden boats, beautiful kayaks, row boats, but out in the harbour was a ship that drew us to her, SV GAIA, a gaff rigged ketch,60′ long, 18′ beam, and she draws 8′.
She was built in 1921 in Sweden, and used to be an engine less fishing trawler.
her first engine was a 10, yes 10!! hp diesel installed in 1939.
At that time she was a Norwegian registered vessel.
She now belongs to Bob and Nancy Ingersoll.
We were so lucky that Bob gave us the full tour of the boat, i love going into older wooden boats, and i was fortunate enough to take some photos.
Here she is……

Here she is, moored in Madeira Park,SV GAIA.

Deckhouse of the SV GAIA

Steps going straight down….

and straight up!!!!

Bob showing us the main salon.