the Strait of Georgia
the Sunshine Coast
Crossing the Strait of Georgia
Friday, June 03, 2011TheCambrians
Cambria crossing the Strait of Georgia for the mainland.
We left Clam Bay yesterday at nine to time our arrival at Dodd Narrows for slack tide – 10.53 am – dropping our hook just off Mark Bay in Nanaimo sometime around noon. Unfortunately, over the winter they put in more than 40 mooring buoys in the park greatly limiting anchoring possibilities, so it's very crowded and boats are sitting on top of each other which isn't pleasant and takes away from the charm of the anchorage. But this was a working stop, so we loaded up the dinghy after lunch with dirty laundry and made our way over to the city marina.
This weekend is the Nanaimo boat show, so we walked around the docks while our clothes tumbled dry to see if there was anything tasty – our friends, Jeff and Karry, still in the market. But there wasn't. It's also the start of the Van Isle 360 – a race circumnavigating Vancouver Island – and the exterior dock was lined with sailboats of all sizes dressed in flags while crew members rushed around attending to last minute details.
We left the anchorage around 11 o'clock this morning and crossed the Strait of Georgia. It was truly a beautiful day. The barometer,which has been steady for days, is now rapidly on the rise as the high sitting in the Pacific expands and takes over. There wasn't enough wind to sail, but we did manage to pull out the headsail so it could see the sun for the first time after a long, wet winter and were pleased to see that it was still clean and not covered in mildew.
We arrived in Pender Harbour around 4:00 pm and dropped our anchor in our favourite spot, one in front of the Sunshine Coast Hotel where we have access to the internet. With a busy day of blues ahead of us and a long day behind us, we finished the evening off quietly avoiding the call of the pub where one of the performers was officially starting the festival – there'll be plenty of time for that tomorrow.
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