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Pender Harbor to Whaleboat Cove

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We could see Tom'n'Judy in the distance. They were a bit ahead of us because they had NOT made a wrong turn in the harbor. We were on diverging courses because they were heading more down the Sunshine Coast towards Vancouver while we were going across the strait to Vancouver Island. Once again, they were attempting to sail. For the direction that they wanted to go, this was possible but for us... oh... I said that I would move on didn't I... Anyway, we watched them as they got smaller and smaller then disappeared altogether.

Since we were motoring, we could go directly toward Nanaimo then when we got close we'd turn toward Dodd Narrows. I had some time on my hands so I looked at the current tables for Dodd Narrows... we were totally in luck this time (we seemed to be having a lot of luck with the currents on this trip... we hit every pass exactly right with no waiting... that never happens in the world of sailing). If we didn't dilly dally, we would get to Dodd Narrows right around slack water. However, if we missed it, the current would be building against us. That wouldn't be good.

The crossing was amazingly uneventful. It was a gorgeous day with a moderate breeze (did I say that the breeze was against us?...). As we got near Nanaimo, the wind clocked around enough to where we could actually put the sails up and proceed on a tight reach. But there wasn't enough wind to be able to shut down the motor so the poor thing got absolutely no relief.. Besides we had a date with Dodd Narrows no dilly dallying. The crossing was so uneventful that I didn't even take any pictures. That's why the first picture you see below is of Dodd Narrows.

Our passage through Dodd Narrows was a piece of cake. We just drove the boat through. We hit the narrows right at slack. It was nice to go through there without having tight sphincter muscles. The only really notable part of the day took place at the end when we were looking for a place to stay for the night. We checked out Pirate's Cove... Way too crowded. Actually I don't think it was as crowded as it seemed to us at the time. We had just been cruising up in Princess Louisa Inlet where there just aren't that many boats around. Now that we were in the Gulf Islands, it seemed like bumper to bumper traffic. However in retrospect as we later made our transit through the San Juan Islands on our way back to Bellingham, the Gulf Islands seemed like a country road. But anyway... At the time Pirate's Cove seemed too congested to deal with. Also... the entrance is sketchy. I was trying to go the whole trip without touching anything with the keel and Pirate's Cove seemed to present way to big a challenge. Another boat went in right in front of us and I almost followed them, but then choked. Also, the challenges didn't stop with entering the cove. Once in, we had to anchor with a stern tie to shore. Actually this isn't a very big deal. It's my prefered way to anchor. We did that repeatedly for the rest of the trip. But right now, I didn't feel like doing it with an audience. So we moved on.

There was another small (tiny) anchorage not far away that I thought we could try. There was this little nook called Whaleboat Cove on the chart (which strangely enough was right next to Whaleboat Island). As we came around the corner, it looked very doable. There was already a boat there however it was a small one and he was playing it safe and was out in the middle of what they were calling a cove. It was kinda windy (did I mention that there was wind coming from the north?) and it would be really nice to get out of it a little if we wanted even a chance at getting the damn barbeque to work. I gingerly nudged Sail La Vie toward the shore with eyes glued to the depth gauge. Deep.. deep... deep... wow! Deep all the way to shore where you could see the rocks coming out of the depths. Let's try that again... deep... deep.... deep... same thing! Okay let's drop the hook out in the middle then stern tie to shore. This worked so perfectly I couldn't believe it. First you drop the anchor then get out the dinghy and row to shore with another line to tie to a tree or something. It's not as hard as it sounds. In fact, it's kinda fun. Once we had the stern tie set, at night or when the water was low, we would tighten up the anchor line and loosen the stern line to move away from shore. Then during the day and when the water was high, we'd loosen up the anchor line to move closer for easy access to land. AND.. then we were out of the wind. This was perfect. So perfect that we ended up staying there the entire next day and only reluctantly moved on the day after that.

It was a very pleasant two days indeed. In fact, except for the Princess Louisa part of the trip, I thought these were the best two days of our whole vacation. The next morning, the water was high so we moved the boat into shore, the boys went exploring on the beach. And I rowed around the island. Then when the water started going out, we moved the boat back out to match it. It was warm with just a little wind. There was wildlife too. A bald eagle came right out to the water as did some kind of ferret looking thing (we never could identify it). Jack saw a log floating through the channel and took the dinghy out to capture it. He brought it back to shore where he and Spencer had log rolling contests. I read a lot... (I was reading what became one of my favorite books.. The Sex Lives of Cannibals by J. Maarten Troost... Eric Bradfield gave it to me. I recommend it to everyone reading this... it's amazingly funny and a thoroughly delightful book).. I even got to nap in the cockpit. Anyway... it was a very peaceful day. Sometime in the morning, the boat that we were sharing the cove with pulled up anchor and left and no one came in to replace him so we had the whole place to ourselves.

Late in the afternoon there was a bit of excitement when this large helicopter came out of the distance and hovered over us. It went to a number of places and hovered low appearing to want to land. However after awhile it flew off to land on a flat place on a nearby island. Soon an inflateable boat came blasting over and pulled up to shore. We never did figure out what was going on but we guessed that there was some kind of medical emergency taking place at a vacation home on the island. After awhile, a bunch of people in uniforms got on the boat carrying something that looked like a stretcher. The boat zoomed away with it's cargo and not long after that, the helicopter took off too. All was quiet again.

As I mentioned, every night, we played a rousing game of spades. We'd trade off as partners and there wasn't anyone who was a clear winner or loser. It was delightful. I wish we could do this at home. But there are just too many distractions to allow us this fun when we're back in the real world. I try to be content that at least we had this time together. But it's hard not to be greedy and want more.

That night, when the moon came up, while not as lovely as Princess Louisa, it was indeed lovely. And except for the mosquitos, it was perfect.

The next morning, the wind had come up. Again, it was blowing from the north right down the slot between Whaleboat Island and the big Island next to us, taking us broadside. I started sensing that we were dragging the anchor. So to relieve some of the pressure, I threw off the stern tie so we'd have less pressure on the anchor. It did the trick. We were leaving soon anyway so it didn't matter.

The scary Dodd Narrows. Not so scary this time as last. Off in the distance you can see the group of boats that were just now able to cross moving into the Gulf Islands		At tug boat pulling a raft of logs.
See how nice this is...		Almost glass and you can see by the flag that there is almost no wind. Off in the distance you can see Texada Island that we had motored by earlier in the day
Pictures earlier in this collection show there to be some rapids right here		And we leave Dodd Narrows in our wake
Just a random picture of our dinghy being towed. I would lift up the bow of dinghy so it would cause as much drag. Every little bit helps.		Our stern tie in Whaleboat Cove
Our little predators in action...
Not sure if they ever caught anything. I kinda hope not		Sail La Vie when the tide was lower. It went quite deep just off the stern platform
Sweet picture of a sweet boat		Spencer doing some illegal crabbing. We couldn't get anyone to sell us a crab permit anywhere that we tried. Finally I just gave up and kept an eye out for the crab police. We had been promising Spencer all Winter that he could get some crabbing in on this vacation and I didn't want him disappointed just cuz I couldn't scrape up a license.
		Donna daring to get some sun on that fish belly white, Bauer skin of hers. I think she survived this with only minor burns.
Spencer caught a butt load of crabs here at Whaleboat Cove but they were all illegal to keep.		More predation on Whaleboat Island. Spencer is quite the predator. I think it's the Bauer in him.
Jack rescuing the log		After much industry, he managed to get the log over to the island
Log rolling on Whaleboat Island..
The helicopter involved in the dramatic afternoon medical emergency. We had a front row seat.		The next morning after I had released the stern tie. The wind was blowing through this slot and taking us broadside.

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