Genoa Bay to Fossil Bay

  Genoa Bay to Roche Harbor: 20.6NM

Roche Harbor to Matia Bay: 16.7NM

Matia Bay to Fossil Bay: 2.4NM

Up early in Genoa Bay to head for Roche Harbor and re-entry into the good old USA. We left about 9am for the 1 hour and 40 minute passage, seeing lots of great scenery and wildlife along the way.

Of course, as you might imagine, things don’t always go according to plan. As we got close to Roche Harbor, Bob took a potty break and left me at the helm. When he came back, he asked if I had slowed the boat down (which I hadn’t). Son of a gun! The starboard engine was stuck at 1800 RPMs. We had lost throttle control on that engine. Bob had to shut it down and glide onto the customs dock with just one engine (not really a big deal, it just sounds really cool). We were lucky that Customs wasn’t too busy and there was space for us without having to wait.

Bob cleared Customs while I tried to raise the charter company on the phone. It was a comedy of errors. Bob had the better luck. The Customs agent actually searched the boat, making Bob and I stand on the dock. Not sure what contraband he was seeking, but he did confiscate our lemon, lime and 2 jalapeno peppers. He also said heartily “Welcome back to the United States!” That was actually nice to hear!

Bob got tired of waiting for the call from the charter company so he went down into the engine room and found the throttle arm had detached from the engine. Hmmm…after cursing a blue streak because there were some missing bolts and tight fit issues, he got the boat up and running and we gladly left for Sucia and Matia islands.

Sucia means “foul” in Portuguese. Not foul as in odor, but foul as in “reef-strewn”. Need to watch your navigating around Sucia. But first we went to Matia Island, a nearby wildlife preserve. It was nice in Rolfe Cove and we snagged a mooring ball, as the dock was full. We had lunch and went ashore for a great walk around the island.

Best of Times snugged to a mooring ball in Matia Bay.

Docks at Matia Bay, Best of Times in Background.

Karen in old growth tree on Matia.

Old growth trees are truly massive.

We chatted with the folks on the dock for a while and teased the owners of the Nordhavn 40 about waxing their boat at the dock on such a lovely day. What dedication! Now, off to Sucia, where we caught a mooring ball in Fossil Bay. We just hung out on the boat and did a little pre-packing in anticipation of turning the boat in on Friday.

That was after we had to move the mooring ball from the back of the boat to the front in the howling wind. In a powerboat like ours, it’s easiest to boathook the mooring ball and attach a line from the stern. But because all boats ride best with their bow into the wind, you need to “walk” the ball around to the front. Not usually an issue unless the wind is howling. Bob inherited that job as I lacked the upper body strength to do it! We read and rested a bit, then had a lovely salmon dinner and an early evening.

Glenthorne Passage Genoa Bay

Glenthorne Passage to Fulford Harbor: 9.3NM 

Fulford Harbor to Genoa Bay: 11.5NM 

 Our trip is winding down, as we have to have Best of Times back to Friday Harbor in the U.S. by Friday morning. We also had to drop off the kayak (affectionately called “the canoe” by me) on SaltSpring Island today. So we took one more morning kayak in Glenthorne Passage, We went at low tide, which is definitely the most interesting. There were gobs and gobs of the purple starfish, crammed into newly exposed crevasses as the water receded. A few orange ones were seen here and there, but not a lot.  

 

Looking back up Glenthorne Passage from our anchorage. 

 We kayaked along the shore of Secret Island, which has cabins with small docks, and said hi to a resident who thought it was a terrific day to enjoy kayaking. He was right. As we headed toward the head of the cove and the private dock there, I thought I saw a dog on the dock watching us. Guess what? It was a big seal. He was high and dry on the dock, sunning himself. We approached stealthily and he watched us intently. Not threatened or unhappy, just alert. He scooted to the other side of the dock when we got close, but as we went around to the other side of the dock, he just sat there, craning his neck from time to time to see what we were up to. He reminded me of my cat Aspen. If he can’t see us, he must be hidden, right? Wrong!  

 We kept on kayaking and Bob pointed out a blue heron just feet away on the rocks, blended so well into the background that you could hardly notice him. How beautiful is all this wildlife? 

 On our way back to the boat, another boater said hello and “it’s a great day for kayaking, eh?”  All those Canadian “eh” jokes appear to be warranted. Really nice folk, they just say “eh” like we say “uh” or “huh” or “right” or “yes”.  

 

Picture perfect in the Kayak. 

 We decided to drop off the kayak in Fulford Harbor where the kayak place was located rather than going back to Ganges. We did this because we’d never been to Fulford and it sounded nice in the plethora of guidebooks you need for a trip like this. We found the tiny dock that abutted the kayak rental place and stayed there for 2 hours while we had a great lunch and reprovisioned at the local store. 

 Not content to linger, we headed to Genoa Bay for the night. Another spot in the guidebooks, it sounded lovely and like a nice marina, as we were ready to tie to a dock and have some shore power for the evening. Pretty place, nice docks, and an apparent convention of Nordic and American Tugs, by the look of it. Bob and I walked the docks, looking at the boats and some very nice boathouses, and I remarked that all we needed to make it a perfect day was a kitty. 

 Needless to say, ask and ye shall receive. There was a small art gallery on the docks, and the woman who ran it had a lovely 18 year old Maine Coon named Toby. This cat was so affectionate, I sat on the floor and it came over and sprawled out next to me and let me pet it for 20 minutes or so. Every time I stopped, Toby butted me with his head and convinced me to keep rubbing his jowls and his ears. This was fun! 

 Tonight we’re off to dinner at the restaurant just up from the docks and then tomorrow we’re off to Roche Harbor to clear U.S. customs and get ourselves back into the States.

Pirate's Cove to Glenthorne Passage

Pirate’s Coveto Princess Cove: 13NM  

Princess Cove to Glenthorne Passage: 10.3NM 

We had heard that holding was poor in Pirate’s Cove, and that anchors had a tendency to drag, but we were snug with our well-set anchor and stern tie. It was a hazy, cloudy morning, and we were in no hurry to move along, so we took the dinghy over to one of the two dinghy docks to hike a bit. 

   

Pirate's Cove complete with a treasure chest. 

 

Someone took the time to hand paint the welcome sign at Pirate's Cove. 

Pirate’s Cove has been a marine park since 1966, and it has wonderful trails that are easy to walk and really pretty. We walked to the other side of the island where some kayakers were making camp.  There are nice campsites and I am always amazed how clean the outdoor toilets are and how there’s always toilet paper. Guess those park hosts keep pretty busy. 

 

The B.C. parks maintain a nice infrastructure. Take a look at these nice stairs to a campsite on a beautiful little bay. 

 We went back to the boat and decided to depart. It was a bit crazy again, as the wind wanted to blow us into the concrete park host floating dock while we scurried to haul in the stern tie and get the anchor up. Captain Bob came through again, and off we went, back through the tricky entrance (at low tide you can really see those dangerous reefs) and out into deep water again. 

 

Best of Times in Pirates Cove.  

 

Trawler enjoying a peaceful, secluded anchorage on the south side of the island. 

Our agenda was to stop at Wallace Island, a favorite from our last trip. I had decided that we’d anchor in Princess Cove and have lunch aboard before doing some exploring. Another shallow and interesting entrance behind us, we snagged a great spot to anchor and had lunch while we watched other boats come and go. It was fairly low tide, so it seemed like a great time to kayak. 

The kayaking was just so-so until we noticed the rocks that are part of the reef guarding the entrance to Princess Cove. As we headed that way, we heard lots of snorting. Yes, there were seals! We were able to get within 75 feet or so of a bunch of seals sunning themselves on the rocks. The younger ones were a bit unsure of us, but the two big bull seals just stared at us with pretended indifference as we snuck closer (“snuck” being a tough thing for a bright yellow kayak to do). The seals were really funny, they liked to swim near and check us out, and then zip away to a safe distance. We even saw one seal get a mouthful of water and spit it directly onto another one’s face. Just like kids! 

We headed to Prevost Island and Glenthorne Passage for the night. I was anxious to check out this anchorage as we had enjoyed Annette Inlet earlier in the trip. The anchorage was absolutely lovely and there were only 4 boats at the head of the cove. Quiet and peaceful, it was a lovely evening.

Nanaimo to Pirate's Cove

Nanaimo to Pirate’s Cove: 11.9NM

Bob sacked in on Sunday and didn’t get moving til around 9am. Can’t say that I blame him!

 Our agenda for the day was to check out the large chandlery in Nanaimo and then to scout out Newcastle Marine Park directly across from Nanaimo before heading south. It was a worthwhile decision to spend this extra time in Nanaimo. Usually we are simply heading north or south and had not taken the time to explore the area.

 The Chandlery was heaven for Bob, well stocked with all things marine and a wonderful place to find whatever is needed. What was needed for us was “head deodorizer”, the important chemicals you put into the holding tanks to avoid the nauseous sewage gasses that can arise when the toilets are flushed. What a difference that stuff makes to happy boat living!

 We went to lunch on the dock right near our boat, at a place called Penny’s Palapas. We had smelled the Mexican food from there all afternoon on Saturday, and finally caved in, expecting very little. It’s an open-air café on the dock, open sunrise to dusk, with a tiny kitchen. You order up at the “kitchen” and wait for the food to be delivered. How good could it be?

 It was superb. I had halibut tacos that were out of this world, and Bob had a chicken burrito that had him sighing with pleasure.

 Well fortified, I convinced Captain Bob to lower the dinghy so that we could go explore Newcastle Island Marine Park. This is a 750-acre marine park that we had heard was lovely. It was just a quick dinghy ride from Nanaimo across the harbor to the park.

Karen says "Hi" to the concierge at Newcastle Park.

Needless to say, Newcastle lived up to its billing. There were wonderful campsites and picnic sites, and well maintained paths throughout the island. We “hiked” the shoreline trail that kept us in view of the water and views out across the Strait of Georgia. It was sunny and warm, and I had on my shorts for the first time all season.

Karen hunting for the perfect shell at Newcastle.

 We spent a pleasant 90 minutes or so walking around this island. While we didn’t see any, the island is also famous for champagne colored raccoons. We saw a picture of them and they are really cool looking.

 

Loooking back to Nanaimo from Newcastle Park.

The term "beach" in B.C. most often refers to solid granite.

Many of the granite "beaches" are lovely.

Karen points to the last visable sign of a sailboat that tried to take a shortcut into Nanaimo.

 Back across the bay and time to depart for the south, catching the slack tide at Dodd Narrows again.

 As we depart the harbor of Nanaimo, we spotted a Dockwise yacht transport vessel preparing to load its cargo. Yachts that is.

Trawler waits its turn to "sail" into the Dockwise transport ship.

 The ship will flood its tanks, lowering itself about 16 feet. Then the "cargo" can float in.

Come on in, the water's fine!

Once there, a cradle is placed under each vessel and the Dockwise ship pumps out its ballast tanks lifting the cargo out of the water, safe and secure for a long passage to another continent. It saves a long and possibly dangerous ocean passage for the smaller boats and is a popular way to reposition your boat for another season.

Now, on to Dodd Narrows. It amazes us that so few boats take the time to announce their intentions at this narrow dogleg passage. It serves them all right if they meet a large boat head on in there.

 We, of course, followed proper protocol and soon were headed to Pirate’s Cove Marine Park on DeCourcy Island. We had planned to stop there on the way north, but the flood from the water tanks led us to overnight in Ganges instead. So we wanted to check this place out.

 It has a tricky reef-strewn entrance that, while well marked, gets your attention. You have to follow a range into the cove, and then hang a hard left to stay between two marks to avoid other shoals.

Narrow entrance into Pirate’s Cove.

A good look at the rocks that are marked by the channel buoys and why you must be careful and follow the course defined by the published entrance.

 We did that without a problem, but the cove was much smaller than we thought and it was crowded. We had to drop anchor before our stern tie equipment was ready, and we suffered for it. I think we entertained the entire cove with our shenanigans. I lost the will to explore and simply hung out in the boat for the evening. Bob made killer food, salmon marinated in honey and balsamic and sherry and Dijon…it was wonderful. A good night after all!

Grace Harbour to Nanaimo

Grace Harbor to Nanaimo: 76.9NM 

Another day in paradise.  Listened to the marine forecast and it was an all systems go for our trip back toward Pender Harbor in preparation for our crossing the Strait of Georgia. The previous two days of gale force winds had blown out, and our transit was in very very calm water. The way I like it best.  

We saw tons of seals along the way, eyeing us disdainfully. They’re pretty cute. A few were frolicking and kicking up waves. Mostly the passage was long, but we decided to keep going and get across the strait to Nanaimo and spend the night. That way, weather became pretty much a non-issue for the rest of our trip.  

While I was making grilled ham and cheese sandwiches, Bob saw this huge blue-hulled ship with a helicopter on the stern being circled by a float plane at low altitude. Apparently, someone was deployed in the boat’s dinghy, taking photos of the ship and the plane…wow!  

We came into Nanaimo and were assigned a great slip near the wharfinger’s office (called a harbor master in the U.S.) and the laundry. Did some laundry and walked the docks, looking at boats. Tried to convince Bob to make salmon, but instead ended up at the Wesley Street bistro, which was another great culinary adventure. We explored Nanaimo’s Old City while walking to the restaurant, and have decided to do some more exploring tomorrow before departing to the south.