We’re on the move again.  The weather report at 0500 hrs this morning sounded like we might have a window for crossing Georgia Strait.  It’s actually not supposed to get light until noon, but the current buoy reports didn’t sound that bad.  It’s worth checking out.  So, by 0535 hrs, we are underway for Merry Island, the closest landfall for crossing Georgia Strait. 

The wind was only blowing about 13 knots, but the seas hadn’t flattened out much since last night, which made it a bit lumpy for about an hour-and-a-half.  But the closer we got to Merry, the flatter the seas.  So, I set a new course for Pender Harbour.  About thirty minutes later, the seas flattened out completely, and we were able to head strait for Squirrel Cove, on Cortes Island…. we got lucky.  Our luck held for 80 miles, and we were able to drop our hook in Squirrel Cove at 1510 hrs.  I steered for the last hour, while Al made us a delicious dinner of barbecued ribs, corn on the cob, and a vegetable medley of fresh asparagus, zucchini, cabbage, carrots, cauliflower and broccoli……delicious!

Our sunny days are over.  The rain started early last evening and rained all night.  The sun showed its face briefly this morning, and then the wind started building.  By the time we left the dock, headed for the anchorage off Protection Island,  it was blowing about 20 knots.  Luckily, we only had about a half mile to go.

The wind blew 15-25 knots all day.  Since I couldn’t do anything else, I spent the rest of the day checking out our new version of Coastal Explorer.  Not impressed.  I finally had to call tech support to find out how to get rid of some annoying pop ups that covered over half the chart.  Hopefully, once I’ve used the new program for a while I’ll get used to it.  We’ll see.

Spent the day provisioning and getting this year’s batch of Canadian wine onboard.  It was supposed to rain, but we got lucky and enjoyed a beautiful sunny day.  The wind is supposed to start blowing hard this evening and continue through tomorrow.  Looks like we won’t get away from Nanaimo until Thursday.

We enjoyed a delicious pizza from Pizza Fresh this evening, accompanied by our new Canadian wines, Al’s Stag Leap’s Merlot, and my California Moscato.  The Moscato tasted exactly like the Barefoot Moscato I’ve been drinking lately.  Then, I savored my last ice cream cone until Port McNeill.

We had the anchor up and were headed into the marina by 0730 hrs.  We were able to get the same spot at the head of “H” dock  that we had last year. 

Our dear friends, Marilyn and Doug MacGillivray, who live just north of Nanaimo, picked us up this morning and drove us all over Nanaimo and the surrounding shopping centers, looking for a charger for my camera battery.  I got lucky at Best Buy, where they had a universal charger, which worked perfectly.  Thanks to Marilyn and Doug, I’ll have photos in my blog this year. 

We had a lovely visit, catching up on what we’d all been up to during the winter.  It’s always interesting to hear about Doug and Marilyn’s latest cruise.  This winter they spent a couple of months on a cruise ship, cruising from Fort Lauderdale to South America and the Antarctic, including a side trip to Machu Picchu… what an adventure!

Nanaimo on a sunny day….beautiful!  Being Sunday, there’s a lot of activity in the harbor, and  lots of boats anchored all around us.   We spent the day relaxing, taking it all in.  And then late in the day, there was a big exodus of boats heading back to their home ports, where the owners will work hard all week, and will count the minutes until they can get out on the water again……I remember those days.  By sunset, we practically had the harbour to ourselves…. lovely.

Slack tide at Dodd Narrows is at 1353 hrs.  So, after a leisurely breakfast and getting the dinghy and kayak onboard, we set out for Nanaimo at 1000 hrs.  Once again, we have good traveling conditions.  I could get used to this.

All went well until just passed Dodd Narrows, when we heard a big “thunk”.  We looked back to see what we’d run over, but whatever it was never surfaced.  There were some crab pots in the area, so maybe we ran over a submerged crab pot.  The rope cutters on our shafts would have freed us form the pot.  Guess we won’t know until we haul out next year. 

There were quite a few boats anchored when we arrived in Nanaimo, and a regatta for model sailboats was underway in front of The Pub.  I’d never seen a model sailboat race before….  what a hoot.  I watched as all the boats rounded the windward mark, all except for one poor guy who either had an electronic malfunction, or wasn’t much of a sailor, because the boat kept on sailing passed the mark for about 50 feet before he figured out how to come about.  How embarrassing.

We’ll spend the weekend in the anchorage, and then go into the marina Monday morning.

The season for Montague Harbour Marina opens May 1, so we’re among their first customers of the season.  During the winter, they completely remodeled the interior of the store and office — very nice.  We were looking for some celery for our clam chowder soup, but celery was not among their very limited inventory.  “We have zucchini”, Amber offered.  Oh, well.  They did have delicious ice cream, however, which was the main reason we went ashore.  We sat out on the deck and savored every bite, while enjoying the beautiful view of Montague Harbour.

While crawling around the engine room checking out the engines one day, Al suddenly felt that his knees were wet.  Not a good sign.  The engine room is carpeted with thick aircraft carpeting, which is non-flammable, to save Al’s knees.  When Al pulled the carpet up, he found that it was completely soaked, especially under the fresh water filter.  Leaks on a boat are always hard to run down and the source is almost never where you think it is.  In this case, Al thought the filter must be leaking.  However, after spending considerable time running it down, it turned out to be a leaky fresh water pump.  He tightened the hose clamp, but that didn’t stop it.  So, he put on 2 hose clamps, which solved the problem. 

I managed to get in 2 days of paddling, and on the second day spotted an otter floating on his back, enjoying his breakfast.  Wish I’d had my camera.  Sure hope I can find a battery charger for my camera in Nanaimo.

I was up late last night trying to get our AIS to communicate with the GPS and our upper helm computer, which I use as a back-up to our main computer.   An update to our electronic navigation program, Coastal Explorer, was installed on our main computer last month.  Unfortunately, our upper helm computer had to be restored during the winter, due to some malware, and when I tried to get it to work this morning, it wouldn’t communicate with the GPS or AIS.

While I was washing the breakfast dishes, Al called Vesper, the AIS manufacturer, and was connected to a very helpful technician.  Within 5 minutes, we were able to get the AIS, GPS, and the upper helm computer to talk to one another.  Now, if our main computer dies, we have a backup.  Otherwise, we’d be stuck using paper charts to navigate — not good.  We haven’t navigated with paper charts for 25 years.

We managed to get underway for Montague Harbour by 0830 hrs.  As soon as we got through Pole Pass, it was flat-as-glass seas all the way.   

Before we got out of cellphone range, I called Verizon and switched my phone to TravelPass so that we could call Canadian Customs. The connection was pretty shaky, but if I understand it right, we can make calls from Canada for a flat rate of $5 per day, unlimited calling and texting, and will only be charged for the days we use it.  We’ll see.  Just hoping I don’t have a terrible shock when I get my next Verizon bill.

Montague Harbour was practically empty when we arrived, so we were able to anchor in our usual spot just off the marina.  When Al called to see about internet, he was told that it was down.  They had ordered the part to fix it, but it wouldn’t arrive until next week.  Bummer.  The good news was that they had ice cream.  That cheered me right up.

After spending all winter on the hard, we’re back on the water again and loving it.  However, we have a Spring Tide to deal with this morning, so getting out of our slip was a bit challenging.  It’s times like these when you really appreciate bow and stern thrusters. 

Winds are calm here in Elliott Bay,  but the wind is blowing 20 knots at Smith Island.  So, we decide to head for Deception Pass, to avoid any lumpy seas out in Juan de Fuca Straits.

We made great time to Deception Pass, and then anchored for a few hours, waiting for slack tide.  While we were waiting, Al whipped up some delicious quesadillas for dinner. 

At 1730 hrs, we pulled the anchor and threaded our way through a regular flotilla of small boats full of jigging fishermen.  

We spotted our first whale just the other side of Deception Pass…. good way to start the summer.  Sea conditions were perfect all the way to Blind Bay, where we anchored for the night. 

When I got my camera out of my camera bag this evening I discovered that the charger for my camera was missing.  I searched and searched the boat looking for the charger, and finally had to accept the fact that somehow the charger was left behind in Redding.  Drat!!!  Hopefully, I’ll be able to purchase a charger in Nanaimo.  Otherwise, I won’t be taking any photos this year.