We left Hammond Bay around 11am and aimed south for Dodd Narrows to arrive near slack (12:25pm). About 40 minutes before slack we began hearing boats making sécurité calls announcing their transit through the very narrow Dodd Narrows. A couple southbound sailboats went through (current was pushing south until slack), and at that time a log barge made a call letting other vessels know they were a “too wide” log … Read more
We left Campbell River on a beautiful day, but the nice weather was not planned to last. We chose Prideaux Haven in Desolation Sound as a good spot to stay put for a few nights (and we hadn’t really visited this area since 2016!) We poked into Melanie Cove where there were two boats anchored, but decided the view was better just inside the entrance to Prideaux Haven and returned … Read more
We’ve been patiently waiting for the Strait of Georgia to cooperate for several days now, and we’re finally ready to move into a position to seize the good weather that’s forecast for Thursday and Friday. Our plan is to put the Strait of Georgia behind us on Thursday, by running all the way from Nanaimo to Campbell River. Then, on Friday, we’ll (hopefully) hit the morning turn-to-ebb at Seymour Narrows … Read more
With Thursday (two days away) still looking like our best bet for the Strait of Georgia, we are still pacing ourselves while enjoying the beautiful Gulf Islands. We left Montague Harbour mid-morning for the short jaunt up to Clam Bay – a nice anchorage on the east side of Thetis Island. There is an intertidal passage between Clam Bay and Telegraph Harbour which can be traversed by dinghy at higher … Read more
With the weather still looking windy on the Strait of Georgia until Thursday, we didn’t have far to go today. Our goal is to meander through the Gulf Islands slowly, visiting new places while getting to know each other and providing an opportunity to shake down the boats. So today we made the long, eight mile trip from Ganges to Montague Harbour! Montague Harbour is huge, with room for hundreds … Read more
Our plan originally was to make a really quick trip to the north end of Vancouver Island, then slow down on the Central Coast. Today we were supposed to run through the Gulf Islands to Nanaimo, so we’d be in position to run up the Strait of Georgia to Campbell River the next day. The weather isn’t cooperating, though. The Strait looks too bumpy on Monday, Tuesday, and maybe Wednesday. … Read more
After wrapping up our last Vancouver Island flotilla, Kevin and I flew from Victoria to NY for some work and some fun, and then returned and met up with Kevin’s mom for some Gulf Island cruising. We went around from Sidney to Tod Inlet and anchored there for the night. The next day we dinghied in to Butchart Cove and spent most of the day exploring Butchart Gardens. Kevin and … Read more
The beautiful weather continues! We awoke this morning to bright sunshine and our group was so excited to get going that we left Roche Harbor by 8:00 a.m. — an hour earlier than originally scheduled. All but one of us has Nexus (the trusted traveler program that lets us clear Canadian customs by phone most of the time), so one boat had to stop and clear customs at Pender Harbour … Read more