We planed a 5 day trip to start off our vacation that featured stops on both sides of the Georgia Strait. Our first stop was one of my favourites so far, Long Bay on Gambier Island. It's an almost fiord-like spot, cutting deep into the island to form a cozy, almost insular anchorage. At the end of the bay there is a public dock that is little used even in the height of summer that serves as a jumping off point for exploring the many trails that criss cross the island. We made a point of rowing ashore and doing that on our first full day at anchor and it was great to get the exercise. Later on we relaxed on the boat for a while nursing a Dark n Stormy and some cheesies as a reward. (Yeah, I know...)
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| Relaxing with a Dark n Stormy after the hike |
As idylic as it was in Long Bay, we were getting antsy so before long we pulled up the anchor and motor-sailed to Gibsons, BC, home of Molly's Reach (of CBC's Beachcombers fame) and my favourite local spot, Smitty's Oyster Bar. I was hoping to pull right up to the public dock that is owned by the restaurant but this time of year space for a 34ft boat on a public dock is pretty rare. Instead we anchored just off shore and rowed the dinghy ashore for a plate of Oysters and an ice cold lager.
We knew that a good friend of ours with his own beautiful 40ft sailboat would be out sailing this same weekend. Turns out he was just across the bay in Plumper Cove so he came across with his brother and sister in law in their dinghy to join us. She had just caught a nice 5 lb salmon off the back of their boat and before long we had an invitation to come back for the night to Plumper Cove and enjoy their catch with them for dinner. This we did. Sitting on the flying bridge of their 50ft power boat in broad comfy chairs, it was easy to see the attraction to the "dark side" of boating - under power. Plumper Cove was packed with boats and the beautiful Cape-Cod style homes along the shore were packed with beautiful people partying well into the night. Between the revellers on shore and the little marine park packed with boats of every description, this was like the nautical equivalent to a KOA campground. It was a pleasant night but I made a mental note to avoid Plumper Cove in high season.
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| Our friend motoring out of Plumper Cove right behind us |
The next morning we were up early and preparing for a quick departure. We agreed to sail with our friend across the strait to Porlier Pass and on to Clam Bay on Thetis Island as our next stop. We needed to leave early in order to enter the strait through the appropriately named Shoal Channel which becomes perilously shallow at low tide. I'd never used this route before but I felt comfortable following the lead of our experienced friend. Just as we were both ready to haul up our anchors he called with a glitch. Neither of us had thought to check the currents at Porlier Pass. I turned out that Porlier would be flooding at close to 7kts when we planned to arrive which would make it impossible to transit. We debated powering down and waiting until noon to make the crossing but in the end we were both ready to sail so we decided to leave anyway and kill time on the other side waiting for the tide to change.
After feeling our way through Shoal Channel and sweating a bit with only 12ft of depth at one point, we raised the main and started to sail. There was a decent puff forecasted so we reefed the main before leaving Porlier. This turned out to be a great idea. With about 12kts of wind we had a spectacular sail most of the way across, averaging 6.5kts and a perfectly balanced boat. I was amazed at how little heel we had given our speed and I made yet another mental note of the importance of good sail trim.
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| We reefed the main and still made 7kts |
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| Sailing side by side across the strait - until he left us in his wake! |
At one point in the crossing our friend, who was well ahead of us in his bigger, faster boat, turned around and came back towards us. It seemed like he wanted to come close enough to hail us and we were worried that something had gone wrong on his boat. To our relief he simply wanted to take some pictures of us under sail. These I will include in this post as soon as he sends them to me.
As we came to the end of our crossing the cloud that had been dogging us finally cleared and left us with glorious sunshine and heat. Unfortunately we also lost our wind but it had been a great sail so we were happy to start the engine and motor the last little bit to Porlier Pass. Our friend had decided it was safe to transit the pass but with our smaller boat and inexperience we decided to wait for an hour or so before our attempt. We pulled into a small bay at the mouth of the pass, dropped the anchor and made some lunch. We were on the Northernmost part of Galiano Island. Nearby there was a family relaxing on the beach, the kids splashing in the water. We sat in the cockpit enjoying overstuffed sandwiches and cold beer. What could be better?
After an hour or so we left our little bay and headed into Porlier Pass which had now spent most of her energy and put up only a modest challenge. Soon we were through and threading our way through the few small islands between us and Clam Bay. Still smarting from our humiliating encounter with a rock in this area earlier this year I kept a close eye on my charts and depth sounder. Before long we came to Clam Bay, a large placid anchorage that was once again filled with boats but was large enough not to feel too cramped. We located our friend who was already lounging at anchor and took up station nearby. No sooner than I had set the anchor and jumped in the water for a dip, someone from a nearby boat started calling over to us. He was rafted to another boat and planned to add a 3rd to their little party and he was concerned that I was anchored to close. At first I was miffed at the affront but I moved the boat further away and on reflection I had to admit that he was probably right. Later that evening I dinghied our friend over from his boat and we all enjoyed happy hour followed by an ample dinner of barbecued steak and salmon.
The next morning we said our farewells to our friend as he headed off to attend to his own plans. In turn we left Clam Bay and enjoyed a gentle sail down the East side of Wallace Island. We were due at Telegraph Harbour Marina later that day so I thought we would explore the popular anchorages on Wallace and surrounding area before heading to the marina. I was disappointed to discover how cramped and crowded these anchorages were (at least at this time of year). All of them required a stern tie, which means that after anchoring someone has to dinghy to shore with a line from the stern of the boat to wrap around a tree and bring it back to the boat. This seems like entirely too much work for the privilege of packing in like a sardine beside other boats so I ruled this out as a future option, at least in high season.
Later that day we pulled into picturesque Telegraph Harbour and tied up at the marina. There is a balance that exists between the allure of life at anchor and life at the dock. A night at anchor offers seclusion and quiet (most places) and is free of charge. On the other hand, the marina offers the promise of a hot shower, power to run the refrigerator non-stop, fresh water to refresh depleted supplies, the ability to get on an off the boat at will and the opportunity to socialize with others at the dock. We took full advantage of all of these luxuries and soon we were relaxing with a drink on the boat feeling fresh from a shower and ready to meet our dock neighbours.
We decided that for a change we would walk to the other side of the harbour to the pub and have dinner off the boat. We enjoyed the beautiful walk around the Island but found the pub menu lacking for our tastes so we returned to that boat and cobbled together a dinner of fresh guacamole and chips along with barbecued smokies on Portuguese buns.
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| A shot of pastoral Thetis Island near the ferry terminal |
By the next morning we were both feeling like we'd had enough of boat life for this go around and were ready to head home. The tides at Porlier Pass dictated that we leave in good time anyway and before noon we shot through into the strait and began our crossing. It wasn't quite as thrilling as our trip over but it was pleasant and uneventful, just the way Brenda likes it. The last third of the trip home we needed to motor, which got me thinking. An autopilot really is helpful. There is nothing quite so boring and frustrating as having to stand vigil at the helm of a boat under power, doing only 5kts, for hour after hour. I contemplated the next planned sail with David, this one 7 days, towards Desolation Sound. Whereas before an autopilot seemed like a luxury, now it seems like a necessity. As we pulled into our home berth in Coal Harbour I made a mental note to chat with him about it.
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