Day 17 started off sleeping in then for the first time in almost two weeks I was able to wash the boat!  It was so nice to get all the salt spray off and clean everything up.  We had to wait until 11:30 to leave so we could hit Dodd Narrows flowing south at about 2.5 knots.  This narrow passage stacks up with boats going north and south but only one boat can pass through safely at a time.  The boats line up waiting their turn to go through.  If your going north you can’t see boats coming south until its too late, but going south you have a pretty good view.  Best practice is to announce your passage on the VHF radio so other boaters know your intentions and location.  We did so just before entering the narrows and got a call back from a boat going north.  I told the boat to go ahead while I waited for him to come through.  I slowed down still headed for the narrows to allow time for him to pass.  All of which was announced on the radio.  Just then a large sailboat going full speed narrowly scoots by me to cut in front of us.  No wave, no sorry, no announcement on the radio.  The boat going north gets on the radio and thanks us for waiting.

Pirates Cove at the north end of the Gulf Islands was our destination tonight.  This is a place we have always wanted to go but never works with our schedule.  After a tricky entrance we were in the cove anchored and stern tied once again.  Lots of hiking and beaches here and the kids were excited to get out!  A long hike along the shore to a beach then back up through the Dark Woods trail was great fun.  Poor Ava tripped and fell 4 times on the hike.  Those new shoes (a little too big) probably didn’t help much.

Day 16 was difficult to get up and going when my alarm went off at 5:15am.  A little over 2 hours sleep doesn’t do much for you.  The plan was an early morning departure for crossing the Straight of Georgia.  The typical summer weather pattern in the straight is for calm early morning winds followed by increasing winds mid morning.  At 5:15am, half awake, I grabbed my phone for the latest weather forecast.  We were in luck!  It called for some wind early morning then diminishing to light by mid morning.  Not typical, but God must have known we needed more sleep!

2 more hours sleep then we dinghied over to Nancy’s Bakery for some breakfast, a place I wanted to go to but our early departure was not going to allow it. The guidebooks rave about this place, but the breakfast sandwiches and cinnamon roles we ordered were not that great.  Now we know.

8:30am we were outa there for the 6-hour fast cruise to Nanaimo.  Running at 12.5 knots (we usually go 7-8) and a 1 – 1.5 knot current in our direction, we made landfall an hour earlier than expected.  The hot weather finally broke with rain coming down all morning long.  It was actually kind of nice with the rain and we had calm seas all the way across.

Back in Nanaimo we tied up at Cameron Island Marina.  A nice guy helping boats tie up was trying to get a large 53-foot boat in a tight spot.  After they had it tied up he told the lady on the boat; and I quote “Well your aft is nice and tight”.  He may want to choose his words more wisely next time.  Exhausted from the long day we walked up to town and went through the Nanaimo History Museum.  This small museum was really well done and we all had a lot of fun.  Dinner out, then grocery shopping to stock up for some time in the Gulf Islands.  Early to bed tonight!

Day 15 it was time to start heading south again.  The kids needed to run!  So with the thought of beaches and hiking we asked some of the locals and seasoned boaters where we might find such a thing.  Their response – Savory Island, at least for the beach.  A local old salt and his son were at the dock in Squirrel Cove. They just came on a little (maybe 14’) boat from Lund.  The boat was a 1961 something that his son has been working on for the last few years.  They were so proud of it, and it really was cool.  They said go to Savory “its like Hawaii in BC”.  Other locals said all the rich families from Vancouver have summerhouses there; it’s a very interesting community, kind of like the Hamptons of BC.

There’s no public dock at Savory to tie up to, and everyone said anchoring overnight is not recommended.  It’s also very exposed to weather; so the plan was to anchor, then take the dinghy up to shore, just for the day.  The town of Lund is just a couple miles away; they have a nice marina, so that would be our destination for the night.

After anchoring off the northeast shore of Savory, we dropped the dinghy in the water and headed for shore.  The beach was awesome, long and sandy, something we haven’t seen in a while.  We read there was a restaurant close by so we beached the dinghy on an outgoing tide and walked up the road.  The island is not serviced by ferry; the only way in is by floatplane, private boat or water taxi from Lund.  This place was very interesting!  Only dirt roads, bikes everywhere, very few cars, lots of people walking and nice cabins surrounded the island.  Taxies were full size trucks picking people and all their gear up from the water taxis running every 15 minutes from Lund.  People would pile in the back of the truck to be whisked away to their summer home.  Everyone it seemed had cases and cases of wine as their luggage.

The restaurant was a short walk up the hill. Everyone sat out on the patio waving and saying hi to all the walkers and bikers passing by.  Everyone was extremely friendly and the sense of community was awesome!

A kid about 12 years old sat across the road playing his guitar and singing.  People would put money in his guitar case as they passed by stopping to talk for a moment before continuing on.  A brave little kid!

Back down the road to the beach, the kids ran and ran exploring every little creature and shell along the way.  Now our dingy was high and dry.  It took all we had for Julie, Skylar and I to drag it back to the water but we finally got it in.

Lund doesn’t take reservations and they didn’t have any space on the main docks.  They stuck us out on the breakwater dock; it just floats not connected to anything.  The view was awesome!  No boats in front of us gave an unobstructed view across the water looking west.  The sunset was incredible as we sat on the upper deck of the boat beer in hand!

Dinner at a little fish and chips place was ok but the ice cream from a little shack on the boardwalk was incredible.  If you go there ask for the ice cream way in the front, she’ll give you two large cups of vanilla!

After the nice sunset, a few boats across the waterway started getting super rowdy. Loud music, yelling and screaming at each other with words I cannot repeat, and being downwind from them didn’t help.  “Dad what’s that smell?”  “Well son that’s what ya call the marijuana” So much so I think we all got a little high!  3am they finally quieted down and we were able to fall asleep.