Saturday May 11th, 2024
We left Reid Harbor, Stuart Island early this morning. Last night we were blessed with an amazing night sky show of the Aurora Borealis. We were to dazed and half asleep to take any good pictures but I would point you to Slowboat.com’s blog where Laura took some amazing pictures from the harbor next door to us on the island, Prevost Harbor also on Shaw Island. (Slowboat.com). A very good start to our trip.
We left Reid Harbour about 6:00 am and arrived at Bedwell Harbor, Pender Island about 7:15 am. Both Marlene and I are Nexus card holders so we were able to call in ahead of our arrival by 45 minutes. We were connected to a friendly officer who gathered our statistics and asked us if we had enough room for a third boat mate—going to Alaska is on her bucket list. She collected the information she needed and then instructed us to moor at the government dock and wait for 10 minutes. If no officer arrived—and one didn’t—we could continue on our way. The entire experience was a joy.
Our original plan was to go through Dodd Narrows around 1:00 pm and then continue to Nanaimo Harbor. However, based on our early morning information we thought we might be able to travel across the Straits of Georgia via Silva Bay. An afternoon passage looked doable based on our app readings from Predict Wind and Buoy Weather. However, as we cruised North the wind and waves in the Straits of Georgia continued to accelerate rather then diminish so we diverted to our original plan to transit through Dodd Narrows to Nanaimo and then make the call on the Straits. That call was made easy when we exited Dodd Narrows and experienced 2 ft waves and active seas and decided that we would hold up in Nanaimo for the night.
We had a lovely sunny afternoon in the main Nanaimo Harbor. We also took the opportunity to “veg up and booze up” on the items we were not allowed to cross the border with. We had a nice walk around the town. Enclosed are a couple of local pieces of artwork we encountered along the walk.
Now for the good news, bad news. Two of our apps, Predict Wind and Buoy Weather predict a relatively calm passage across the Straits of Georgia tomorrow mid morning. However, Environment Canada says exactly the opposite. We will check conditions again in the morning and make a go, no go, call. May the force—make that seas—be with us.