Straits of Georgia, Dream Date Two

Monday, July 15th, 2024

We left Comox this morning around 9:30. We had a light breakfast, went for a walk and then headed out. It was already 70 plus degrees when we left. Our entire cruise was from the flybridge. Beautiful day, calm seas, no issues. We arrived at the FairWinds Marina just North of Nanaimo around 3:45PM. The last time we were here was 8 years ago when we still had our 32 Nordic Tug and it was really run down. No more. This is now a first class marina with beautiful new cement docks, with cleats and brand new power poles and fresh water available at the dock. Unfortunately the restaurant is closed today, but we will certainly try it next time around.

Another advantage of this marina is that you can see out into the Strait of Georgia (see above) which is helpful if you are planning on going that way. We on the other hand are heading further SOUTH tomorrow. We have looked at the weather, and although it is not predicted to be quite as calm out there tomorrow as it was today, conditions generally look good. Unfortunately Dodd Narrows has a very early morning slack (6:30AM) and from where we are that is just to early to make on time, and the next slack isn’t until about 2PM which is really late since we want to get down to Montague Harbor for the night. Dodd Narrows is not one of those places you can go through “early or late” like we were able to do in Seymour Narrows yesterday morning. Dodd is truly NARROW and the currents are wicked. So what that all means is with that “slack schedule” tomorrow a gaggle of boats with be trying to get through Dodd Narrows on the afternoon slack, and it will be a mess! I hate Dodd Narrows for that reason. It is can just get crazy with boats going North and South and then a tug boat with a huge load of logs will arrive and power their way through, or some big 50FT Bayliner will arrive and power through ignoring all the other boats that have been patiently waiting! Anyway, based on of this we have decided to go around the top side of Gabriola Island and hit Gabriola Passage around slack there, which is 11AM and then cruise on down to Montague. It all looks good in theory, but again if for some reason we see huge white caps out our door tomorrow morning our plans might just change!