We are in Nanaimo and have been here for two nights. They were quite busy as we needed to do boat stuff (e.g. change oil, clean, etc), laundry and buy some supplies for the galley. We're on the docks at the Nanaimo Yacht Club (NYC) which is a wonderful club. They also have washers & dryers, which make doing laundry very easy.
Weather came in late last night to such we saw white caps off of the docks, winds are supposed to be 20-30 knots the rest of the day {and don't forget it will rain, rain, rain}. Thus, we've decided to stay at NYC one more night. Good thing we haven't put our foul weather gear away! But essentially this weather condition give us time to seek out internet access. With luck, I'll find more time later today for more editing on this posting and upload some photos.
Weather permitting, tomorrow we'll continue to cruise south. The plan is to go to Pirates Coves on DeCourcy Island and then to Maple Bay Yacht Club (MBYC), which provides wifi access. Thus, at the latest, I should be able to finish this posting and upload photos by this coming Tuesday evening.
Since our last update here is some insight on what we've been up to:
August 15th Lagoon Cove to Forward Harbor (33.6 nm)
Weather today was quite good. In the morning there were misty clouds, low on the side of the mountain. We headed south going through Havannah Channel, Johnstone Strait, Sunderland Channel and Wellborne Channel. We had ~15 knot winds in in Johnstone Strait, which we thought to be better than forecasted. We were on anchor (50 28.877N 125 45.289W) about 1pm, the only boat in the Harbor. But by the time it was dark, there were a total of 10 boats on anchor. Still, there was plenty of room and we enjoyed this anchorage very much.
August 16th - Forward Harbor to Octopus Island (36.7 nm)
We had another good weather day today, even though the forecast was for gale winds in Johnstone Strait (we're now quite protected). We passed through Green Point Rapids at slack. There is a lucky family, with a beautiful home, overlooking the rapids. As we passed Blind Channel we spotted a black bear on the beach. We've not seen any bears in awhile (or Bald Eagles) so this was a treat. We were on anchor (50 19.427N) 125 15.978W). That afternoon we had sunny skies and 88 degrees at 4pm. This so far has been our warmest day this summer.
We ended up spending four nights in Octopus Island. When we arrived we had thought we'd spend 3 nights, but weather conditions brought in a storm and we felt it was best to spend one more night on anchor. Basically the last 32 hours in Octopus was full of rain & wind. When we picked up our anchor, the wind had spun us around, so many times, it was as if the anchor chain was laid out on the sea bed in a swirl pattern similar to a snail's shell.
Still, we had another delightful time in the Octopus Islands, enjoying hiking and exploring the little islands. We did try a few sets of crabbing, but ended up catching only rock crab. After all the dungeness crab we've caught this summer, we didn't feel the rock crab was worth the effort, so they were tossed back. But it was still fun to catch crab!
August 20th - Octopus Island to Squirrel Cove, Desolation Sound (22.4 nm)
There are so many beautiful places to visit in Desolation Sound, but this summer we simply didn't have enough time. Our stop in Squirrel Cove was one that offered great logistics, as well as great protection from the wind. But it turned out to have the largest number of boats we've seen on anchorage this summer. No surprise, but it rained the entire time we were there. We decided to not put the dinghy in the water, as we've been there previously. But the floating bakery was still operating! 50 08.503N 124 55.213W
August 21st - Squirrel Cove to Pender Harbor (49 nm)
This leg of the cruise is very beautiful and we lucked out with a good weather day. We could tell the summer is beginning to close, as there we felt we were cruising south with ~20-30 boats (all cruising south). In the large body of water there was plenty of room, so don't think the boats were on top of each other. Still, we joked about being in a boat parade, as we hadn't seen this many boats moving on the water, all summer.
Awhile back, when on anchor in Forward Harbor, we had spotted a boat named Northern Theatre. We thought the name has a nice reflection on cruising these beautiful waters, and it was a nice looking boat. We ended up seeing this boat not just in Forward Harbor, but Barnes Bay, and in Octopus Islands. When in Octopus, Brad was able to chat with them for a bit, before they pulled up anchor to go south. They kindly offered us use of their private docks in Pender Harbor.
Arriving in Pender Harbor we tied up to a fishing boat, on the public docks. We then set off on foot to do shop shopping at the local IGA Market, to buy some galley supplies. We then moved over to Ryan & Sue's private dock, where Northern Theatre has a nice boat house to sleep in. Having heard that there was a chance of strong winds, we really were appreciative of having a dock to tie up to and a chance to stress our legs. Ryan and Sue invited us up to their home for dinner and made us some very tasty hamburgers. Sue and I also picked some wild blackberries, before dinner, and we had them with some plain yogurt for dessert. They were yummy. But the highlight of the evening was the great conversation with Ryan and Sue.
To make the evening even more special, when Ryan walked us back to the docks in the dark, a baby deer and mama deer walked right passed us and quite close. It was fun to hold still and see nature so close. To Ryan and Sue, this may not have been very special, but to us this was a magical evening and one that made our summer very special.
August 22nd - Pender Harbor to Nanaimo, Vancouver Island (29.7 nm)
We had a beautiful sunrise when we departed Pender Harbor. We left ~6:30am as needed to cross Georgia Strait and the forecast was for 20-25 kot winds in the afternoon. We had a safe passing, but some choppy water and winds ~10 knots.
We lucked out with space at Nanaimo Yacht Club (NYC) guest docks. We really like NYC as it is a friendly club, in a great location. And with a laundry in the clubhouse it makes for a good reason to tie up on the docks vs set an anchor. We did get some wind that night, but didn't give it much thought. Later we learned from another boater that they didn't sleep well, due to the wind, and were leaving.
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