We left Pender Habour this afternoon and made way for Squitty Bay on Lasqueti Island. Along the way, we talked to Mike and Lisa on the phone fully expecting them to be in Neah Bay, but they had just crossed the Columbia Bar in Oregon having gone straight from Port Angeles yesterday morning. The conditions weren’t ideal – 25 to 30 knots of wind on the beam with a 9 to 12 foot swell and a 2 foot breaking wind wave on top of that – but they made it safely which, at the end of the day, is all that matters.
As for us, we arrived at the channel to Squitty Bay at high tide because the entrance is narrow, shallow, and strewn with unmarked rocks – the high water providing a little extra room to navigate. It’s another beautiful BC Provincial Park but it’s very small with no anchorage, only a small government dock that’s fully occupied by local boats. With barely enough room to manoeuvre Cambria, we managed our first raft-up alongside an old wooden boat that a couple of young guys are fixing up, complete with a cat aboard who seems to be enjoying tormenting poor Sally.
Don came down after he finished work to return our outboard. They made it home safely and, other than being a gas-gussler, our temperamental 8 hp did a good job and benefited from the run across the strait. We’re not in a rush to leave. From what little I saw while walking Sally, the island is beautiful and there’s the first “Grub ‘N Groove” (dinner and open mike night) of the season tomorrow at the community hall. Don and Rae have offered to pick us up, and we’re looking forward to an evening out and the opportunity to learn more about the island.
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