Desolation Sound 2014

Leaving Skyline Marina

7/29/14 Left Anacortes (Skyline Marina) at almost 2:00 PM….. got a late start, but we still have more than a week  before we pick up Tammy & Gary in Campbell River/Heriot Bay area on the 7^th of August.  Pulled into Sidney at about 6:00 PM.  Great crossing and calm seas… nice!

Going out to dinner at Telegraph Harbor - Thetis Island

Back to C Otter after dinner

7/30/14

11:10 AM Left Port of Sidney heading to Telegraph Harbor Marina on Thetis Island.  Arrived (after another very calm crossing) at about 3:30 PM.  Beautiful spot!  We ate at the local pub and enjoyed the evening…. Tomorrow we will head through Dodd Narrows and up to Nanaimo.

Squeezing through Dodd Narrows....

....with the rest of the "parade" at slack tide

7/31/14 Left Telegraph Harbor at around 10:10 to transit the narrows…. We arrived a bit early and went through with an opposing 1.3k current.  We spun just a little and went through with no issues.  Once we rounded the corner to Nanaimo…. Wham…. Wind!  We remember this place…..pulled onto the dock at around 1:50 PM and we were happy about that.

8/1/14 We stayed in Nanaimo again to get groceries, tune the stabilizers, clean things up a bit and do laundry.  It was blowing pretty good, so we decided to take a look again tomorrow.  We invited our new neighbors aboard for happy hour…John & Marsha.  What nice people.  He’s a dentist…. What are the odds of us being friends with a dentist? Seems like most of our friends are dentists :-)  Just before we turned in for the night, a small sailboat cruised by and had lost power…. The marina was packed full so we had them raft to us for the night. We had never-ending entertainment in Nanaimo sitting right by the Fish N Chips restaurant and at the foot of the city.

C Otter as "hostess" to a couple from Gibsons

Newcastle Island

8/2/14 Staying again in Nanaimo…. It’s really blowing out there and we were able to get a spot again for the night, but we HAVE to be out by 9:00 AM tomorrow. We decided to take the ferry out to Newcastle Island and see the straits for ourselves.  We got there and began the walk around the island only to find every type of marine traffic out on the water!  It was about 2:30 PM so by the time we walked back, caught the ferry and got underway it would be too late…. So, another night with John & Marsha and a couple bottles of wine. Life is good!  It was a near immediate bonding with those two for some reason.  We talked until after midnight and formed a solid plan for tomorrow….

Saying goodbye for now to John & Marsha

8/3/14 Left Nanaimo at close to 7:00 AM.  John & Marsha took off about ½ hour before us.  The winds (according to the weather pages) are about 15-18k which is nothing when using the stabilizers...We were able to take photos while underway of our friends John & Marsha.  They tried to take photos of us, but said it was too bumpy a ride for them and they couldn't get our boat in any of the photos... their camera was jumping too much.  They were pretty envious of us having stabilizers on C Otter!  

We are about six hours into our cruise and it’s been GREAT! I love boating when it’s like this :-) It truly puts the word "pleasure" into boating! The wind calmed down just past the point out of Nanaimo and it’s been gorgeous!  We even piloted from the upper deck… how fun is that!?!  Checked into Comox Port Authority at 2:10 PM…. Time for a nap.... PS Thank you Leonard for encouraging us to get up early and head out! It worked.

Capt at the upper helm cruising through Baynes Sound

August 4, 2014

Happy BC (Long Weekend) Day!  It’s fireworks tonight in Comox…. Good day to stay put, see the sights, wash the boat off again, etc.  We have another couple of days to make it up to Heriot Bay to meet Tammy & Gary on the 7^th.  The weather is BEAUTIFUL and warm….. again.  Tomorrow we will learn everything we need to know to do the “Comox Bar” on our way out.  We were able to view the channel markers on our way in and we will be leaving with favorable tides.