We debated for a while where we should head with only two and a half days to play with. I was big on the idea of crossing the strait because staying in the islands on the Vancouver side inevitably means a lot of motoring. But in light of shrinking hours of daylight and a desire for a relaxed pace we have decided to avoid a crossing and instead head up Howe sound with a view of staying in Squamish, BC.
Howe Sound is famous for fairly strong winds that tend to blow either directly up or out of the channel depending on the amount of sunshine and the time of day. These inflow/outflow winds are the product of convection heating in the valley around Squamish and further north. When the sun heats the land it creates a high pressure area. The cooler water of Howe Sound creates a lower pressure area and thus you have wind. The wind gets channeled through mountains on either side of Howe Sound and as a result, often achieves a higher velocity than in surrounding areas that are more open. Overnight the land cools faster than the water and the process reverses itself. Similar to our trip up the Strait of Juan de Fuca, we are hoping for some fun downwind sailing in at least one direction.
As far as I know, Squamish has only one marina and it doesn't cater much to transients. Fortunately I have a virtual friend from a sailing forum who I know only as "Stretch" who lives in Squamish. When I e-mailed him to mention we were thinking of making the trip up he immediately made arrangements for a slip for us. He also owns a Hunter 34, the same model as ours, so we are looking forward to comparing notes with him.
Seeing as David is still working for a living we can't get away until around 2:30pm on Friday afternoon. Squamish would be an ambitious goal for Friday given the relatively few hours of daylight we'll have left so we have decided to drop the hook at Gambier Island once again. This time however we will stay in Halkett Bay, a marine park complete with mooring buoys. For some reason we have never stopped here, opting instead for the more secluded Long Bay, further west on the island.
With all of this said, the "best laid schemes of mice and men often go awry."* Ge'Mara's little Yanmar diesel engine has been acting up as of late and Laurence our mechanic has been struggling to get to the bottom of the problem. It seems that air is getting into the fuel system and making the engine very difficult to start in the morning. I won't bore you with the details of our efforts to fix it but suffice it to say we are still not completely confident. We have a new fuel pump on order which we believe will finally fix the problem but for the time being it will be a game day (today) decision whether to proceed with our weekend trip or cancel. As soon as I finish writing this I will head down to the boat and start the engine. The results of that effort will determine whether we sail or spend the weekend ashore.
* These words are actually attributable to Robbie Burns an not John Steinbeck as I once thought.
