Chronicle II

I will try to fix this later - jolie
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Day 5, Friday, June Oneth





Nanaimo Boat Basin We left Ganges early to be at Dodd Narrows (30 miles distant) at slack water. Our early departure meant that we had to avoid the strong currents in Trincomali Channel coming through the various passes from the Straits of Georgia. We always pretend that we can actually estimate the tides and current and use them to our advantage. It is the only way we get Windwalker to agree to long passages under power. Even with her little marinized Kubota tractor engine chugging at top speed, we arrived 40 minutes after the slack. The rule of thumb is that if the current is 1/3 of your hull speed, you’re good to go. The estimated 3-knot current was above our limit, but the pass is very short and the current was with us; Windwalker swept through at the exhilarating (top) speed of 9.3 knots. We were spit out into Northumberland Channel headed for Nanaimo, where we found the boat basin filled with an in-the-water-boat show. The Gods of Moorage must have liked the fact that we have a Canadian boat: we were assigned the last available spot. ‘Filled up on diesel and were happy we only needed 18 gallons at $4.40 a gallon. It won’t get cheaper as we go north.

However, we will be not going north for a few days. Windwalker and crew had a change of plans when Doug returned a phone message from the Winslow Clinic. When he had a mole removed from his back in early May, he told the doctor we were leaving town for four months and he would need to know right away if there was a problem. Three weeks later, someone decided there was a problem. He made an appointment for June 13th. Our house is about three miles from the clinic. Our boat is now about 130 miles from the clinic…. to say nothing of a pesky customs clearance where the US authorities would not allow our six cans of chili back into the country. It seemed logical to head north to Port McNeil on the north end of Vancouver Island where we thought Doug could get transportation to Victoria. After investigating, we discovered that people up-island are not very interested in getting to Victoria and vice versa.

We finally decided to muss around in the Gulf Islands for a week, return to Nanaimo on the 11th, and have Doug take BC Greyhound and the Victoria Clipper back home. It made more sense than Kenmore Air for $616 from Port McNeil, to say nothing of the challenging trip from Kenmore to Bainbridge. While we were still in Nanaimo, we went on an explore to find the bus station which is fittingly housed at the back of an elderly
Windwalker at Montague Marie Park Howard Johnson Motel. No one does elderly motels quite like coastal BC. I think part of the movie Fargo was filmed there. The cast stayed.

So, oh darn. Here we are stuck in one of our favorite areas for a week. We know that you’re reading this hoping for glaciers and polar bears. We will get there…..


Two nights at the Nanaimo Port Authority: showers—10, laundry—10, ice cream--8.9
and then a motor across the bay to anchor off of Newcastle Island Provincial Park. Eventually, Windwalker found her way back through Dodd Narrow (10 minutes before slack water this time) and south to Montague Harbor Marine Park in the Gulf Islands where we looked for the gentleman who had helped with the buoy lasso in Reid Harbor. He must have gone on ahead.

The small marina at the other end of the bay offers ice cream—9.2, and books: The Accidental Airline, the story of the Queen Charlotte Island Airlines made its way onboard.

Thursday, June 7th Underway for Musgrave Landing, a small gov wharf on the southwest side of Saltspring Island. I’m skipping the stories of the 13 other times we’ve been in these places. I know that you have that sock drawer to organize.







The only other boat on the dock at Musgrave was a Great Lakes 32 with an elderly gentleman sitting under the enclosure on the stern. I thought it bordering on rude when he did not offer to take a line (common practice in this part of the world, but not in Alaska, I’m told), but decided that he might be miffed that we were disturbing his solitude. Not the case. He and his equally elderly wife were napping before their departure for their homeport of Sidney. A couple who were staying at one of the houses on the point, came down with their Schnauzer to chat for a while. We put our 25 dollars in the box at the head of the pier and settled down to enjoy the view, the silence, and the clearing skies.

“Look at those two old boats coming around the point. Very unusual. The first one looks like a pirate ship.”

“They have a lot of little orange-clad people on board. ‘Might be a training cruise.”

“It looks like they are coming in here.”

So began our time with Duen, Passing Cloud, and A Fine Madness. The view improved, the silence was replaced with the chatter of kids, and the skies continued to clear. We wouldn’t have missed it for the world.