I got up early every morning, weather permitting, and paddled all over the lagoon looking for photo ops.  I spotted these honkers preening on the beach one morning.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I found this tall ship, the schooner Pacific Swift, anchored behind an island in the lagoon.  In doing a little research, I found that she was built for the Sailing & Life Training Society, in 1986, and is used as a training ship.  She’s 111 ft. long and has sailed all over the world, logging over 100,000 miles.

Interesting figurehead on Pacific Swift.

 

 

 

 

This mink came swimming right across my bow, headed for an island.  He’d had some luck fishing.  As soon as he got ashore, he took off running as fast as his short little legs would carry him, hoping to find cover, where he might enjoy his catch before someone stole it from him. 

 

 

This eagle I spotted on the opposite shore was probably taking a hard look.

 

 

 

 

 

I was finally able to get close enough to get these shots of a kingfisher. 

 

 

 

 

Stan and Kay, on 4th of July, invited us over for drinks.  They are avid fishermen, who caught salmon every day they went out.  Kay had just finished filleting a salmon they had caught that day, and sautéd some salmon chunks in garlic and butter to serve as an hors d’oeuvre….deeelish.  Nothing like fresh salmon.  We really enjoyed visiting with Stan and Kay, and hope to see them up here again next summer.

 

It was raining so hard one day that I wasn’t able to go paddling.  Fortunately, I was able to get a shot of this osprey that landed way up in a tree, not too far from the boat.  He had just caught a salmon.  I zoomed to the max and was able to get these photos.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Al set the prawn trap twice, capturing a total of 116 prawns.