It was a cold lumpy recrossing of Georgia Strait. We left in the dark and weaved our way out to the open strait where of course we were immediately on a collision course with a big freighter.
We arrived at Silva Bay
which is the closest protected anchorage. We dropped out anchor just
before the weather turned nasty with a strong Northerly wind and a
deluge of rain.
Silva Bay is a great
anchorage with an even bottom with good depths and protection from
the wind. Unfortunately it is crammed with mooring buoys and it is
very difficult to find a spot where you don't swing into a boat or
buoy.
Anyways it all worked out and the next morning we went back
through Gabriola Pass back to our favourite anchorage at Pirate's
Cove. Much to our amazement we had to share the anchorage with two
other boats.
From Pirate's Cove
we headed North to Nanaimo. We anchored off Newcastle Island and
rushed to the mainland to buy treats and booze for the New Year's Eve
celebrations that night. As usual we were fast asleep when the New
Year arrived but we did hear the sounds of fog horns and sporadic
fireworks going off at midnight. We spent two glorious days at anchor
here and took long walks on both Newcastle and Protection Island.
Being the New Year I paid special attention to accumulating a new
list of birds. We finally got great views of a Pileated Woodpecker. I
have have no idea why this common bird had eluded us so far.
A short trip brought
us to Stones Marina where we will keep the boat while we fly off to
Southeast Asia for six weeks. This marina is very secure and seems to
get very little wind. An added bonus is that our friend Angus has a
boat here and will be able to periodically check the boat while we
are away.
So far the weather had not been too bad. It gets below zero at night but usually warms up around nine or ten. Rain has been sporadic, not the perpetual deluge we were expecting. When the sun pops out it is paradise. I think great things await us when we return on February 18th.
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