With the full crew on board, we were finally ready to leave on our northward journey. Our high-level plans were to head over to Canada’s Gulf Islands, travel north maybe as far as Nanaimo, then hop over to the east side of the Strait of Georgia. Grace has tickets to see one of her favorite authors in Vancouver on May 22^nd, and we wanted to be in the city over the preceding weekend to do some sightseeing.

Skipper’s Perspective

Our planned departure day of Saturday the 13th was very busy. Melinda had rented a car the previous day to get us provisioned and was out making last minute purchases with Grace before returning the car to the airport. I did some last-minute cleaning of the boat exterior before we lost access to infinite water at the dock.

We departed just after noon, squeezing our way out of the double slip we’d been occupying in Squalicum harbor. We motored out of the marina into a northwesterly breeze and put up the sails for a nice close reach out of Bellingham Bay. As we turned the corner around Portage Island into Hale Passage the wind was right on our nose. We more distance to cover We dropped the sails and motored up the passage, and continued to motor the distance to Bedwell harbor in the same state. It was to be our last sailing for a while as we either found no wind or a northwest breeze on our nose for the next several days.

We arrived at the customs dock in Bedwell Harbor just after 5pm. I didn’t even think about it, but the office at Bedwell is manned during the high season and had just closed for the evening. It didn’t seem to matter in any case as the local agents apparently aren’t required for a telephone reporting site. I received our clearance number from the agent over the phone without issue and we went on our merry way.

There were quite a few boats on mooring balls and anchored in the harbor. It seemed quite busy compared to the deserted anchorages we were used to seeing in April and early May. Still plenty of room – we picked a spot off the reef on the north shore and dropped anchor for the night.

We noted that a flotilla from San Juan Sailing was in the harbor as well, mostly on the dock. We’d talked with the flotilla leader a few days back about their trip to Princess Louisa Inlet, and by happy coincidence were on the same path for the first part of our journey. Sunday morning as we prepared to leave we started seeing the SJS boats pull out of the harbor, and ended up in their wake as we rounded the southern end of North Pender Island.

We were all aiming to get to Nanaimo that day and the shortest route involved a transit through Dodd’s Narrows – a tight channel which carries a very strong current as the tides rise and fall. The optimum time for us to transit would be just before 1 PM when the current would be slack at high tide, and we had timed our departure to arrive and the narrows just ahead of this.

As we approached the narrows, a boat well ahead of us called out that they were in the narrows and a pod of orca was transiting from north to south. He had paused his transit to try and give the whales more room to pass. At the advice of the SJS flotilla lead we all pulled to the east side of the narrows as well to let them pass with as much space as possible. Melinda was able to get some nice video of the whales as they passed.

Once the orcas had cleared the channel, the boat parade started up again and we began moving through the narrows. Normally a number of boats will be heading for the narrows as slack tide approaches. It is customary for the boats on the side from which the current is flowing will go through the narrows first, and then the boats from the other side will go as the current reverses.

Our transit was relatively uneventful other than at the narrowest point before reaching Northumberland Channel. A number of large logs had stacked up in the waters extending from the east shore to almost the middle of the channel. This wouldn’t have been a problem to go around except that an impatient boater from the north side decided he’d come through just as we came to the logjam. We had to pause to let him pass before we were able to skirt the obstruction.

Once through Dodd’s Narrows we motored up Northumberland Channel to Nanaimo, dodging some very large barges full of wood chips that a tug was in the process of swinging across our path.

Nanaimo wasn’t what I expected – I’d pictured a sleepy little town on the shores of Vancouver Island. Instead we found a bustling little city with a very active logging industry. Ferries were moving in and out of the harbor continually as was a constant stream of pleasure boats of all sizes.

Anchoring was constrained to a small slice of the harbor just outside of Mark Bay but north of a line of channel markers to keep boats out of ferry and floatplane traffic. We wedged ourselves into the center of a diamond between four other boats and hoped for the best. Winds were light, so there wasn’t much concern about dragging. We still found ourselves uncomfortably close to a neighbor when the current shifted, so we re-anchored to better position ourselves relative to him.

We stayed two nights in Nanaimo since Monday was a full day of meetings for me. I’d considered trying to head across the Strait of Georgia to Smuggler’s Cove as our next stop, but I was nervous about my ability to use Starlink underway. It would also put us quite a ways north of Vancouver, which would feel like backtracking. Monday and Tuesday are my busiest meeting days of the week, and we’d be constrained to moving after 5 PM if I didn’t work underway. In the end we decided to head the short distance to Silva Bay Tuesday after the work, which would set us up well for a crossing to Vancouver on Wednesday afternoon.

Our trip to Silva Bay on the east end of Gabriola Island was the first time we attempted to use our new water maker while underway, powering the system from the copious power generated by the alternators on the engines. This worked quite well in the still waters that day, avoiding getting air bubbles into the intake and salt spray onto the system (still incompletely plumbed!) through the open deck hatch. We were able to make about 40 gallons on the trip, not bad for our first serious use of the system!

I’d definitely not planned well in terms of making water. We’d had full tanks on leaving Bellingham, and the next day coming out of Bedwell felt too early to make water. Unfortunately once we were in Nanaimo Harbor, the water quality was poor enough that I didn’t want to turn the system on. We were starting to run low by the time we headed to Silva Bay. Lesson learned – make water when you can, not just when you are low!

We found Silva Bay to be as crowded as the guidebooks said it would be. The bay in front of the marinas was absolutely packed with boats on mooring balls, way too tight for my comfort level to anchor in the gaps. As an alternative we decided to anchor in the open area outside the bay. Winds were projected to be minimal overnight, so we hoped the open channels to the Strait of Georgia wouldn’t funnel swell in on us. We were rewarded with a very calm night, a beautiful sunset, and a visiting bald eagle in the morning.

I made a joking comment about our noisy neighbor and karma soon rewarded me a very noisy floatplane. There are two floatplane lanes in Silva Bay which were devoid of boats, but are apparently used for taxiing only. They seemed much happier landing in the small channel where we’d anchored. We’d get a plane in and out every hour or so, hopefully the pilots were not too annoyed at our presence!

As my last meetings ended on Wednesday, we pulled anchor and headed out into the Strait of Georgia. It was still incredibly calm with a high-pressure system resting on top of the area. The only fly in the ointment was the smoke beginning to move in from the fires in northeast B.C. and Alberta, which reduced visibility across the strait.

The current was flooding up the strait as we crossed, requiring us to crab slightly southward against it. It was giving us a bit of a speed boost so we cut the starboard engine to try saving some fuel. This worked reasonable well as we had time to run a bit slower, and the port engine opposing the current helped to keep the rudder from dragging too hard. We motored this way across the entire strait, only powering the starboard engine back up as we came near to our destination.

We enjoyed our stay in False Creek so much last fall that we were fully intent on staying there again this trip. But while we’d stayed in a marina last fall, our new mantra of “anchor whenever possible” meant we’d try our luck on the hook. We’d heard a number of horror stories about other boats dragging in False Creek as some of the vessels are not all that well maintained. One of our favorite Youtube bloggers was hit twice on a visit by other boats dragging anchor. We picked a relatively open spot near the edge of the navigable channel and set our anchor for the night.

Needless to say, it wasn’t other boats dragging that should have had me concerned. We reset our anchor three times during the five days were were there. Twice as we’d dug in opposite the prevailing wind only to have a 180 degree reversal cause our anchor to drag and reset 10’s of feet away from the original position. Once because a small monohull moved in and dropped anchor way inside my comfort zone. The last two times dropping anchor I decided to split the difference and pull back to the north, which seemed to keep us at worst 90 degrees off our set direction.

5 Days in vancouver

Vancouver is an amazing city and the privilege of anchoring in the heart of the city was not taken for granted. Grace and I spent the weekdays sightseeing and enjoying the perfect weather. We could zip over in the dinghy for a doughnut at Lee’s or grab a pain au chocolat at Granville Island Public Market, then jump on a bus and be at a sightseeing destination in no time. Let me tell you something about Canadian parks and gardens – they are not to be missed. I thought Butchart Garden in Victoria had to be their crown jewel, then I visited VanDusen Botanical Garden. One could argue all day about which is better and still not find the answer. If you get the chance, go! We also visited Dr. Sun Yat-Sen Classical Chinese Garden, Queen Elizabeth Park, and Stanley Park. We had a wonderful dimsum lunch in Chinatown and observed the famous Steam Clock in Gastown.

Our anchorage provided endless entertainment as well. Water taxis zipped by ferrying sightseers around False Creek, and sunset cruise yachts motored by in the evenings – often carrying a wedding party. Vancouver hosts a world-renowned dragon boat festival in June and teams were earnestly practicing their skills every evening. Canadian Memorial Day gave folks an extra day of the weekend to enjoy the sunny weather on the water, so there were also lots of paddle boarders, canoes, and sculling crews. Occasionally a Bayliner with big speakers would troll by or throw down an anchor a little too close for our comfort, but all in all it was a great place to hang out. (Melinda)