May 9 – 11, 2023
Sitting at anchor in Garden Bay, Pender Harbor, writing this – it feels like we’ve finally made it. An idea we started dreaming of over a decade ago, and have spent the last eight years working towards, is now our reality. After two days in a beautiful park anchorage, and meeting up with some new cruising friends, we crossed the Strait of Georgia on a calm breezy day, under sail for over 8 hours – a major accomplishment towards our goals for this part of our “shake down” cruise.
On Tuesday, itching to venture further away from the bustle of towns, we set our course for Wallace Island. Long and narrow Wallace Island is a marine provincial park in the Trincomali Channel with several miles of hiking trails that span the length of the island. The nature here was exactly what I’d been longing for. Trails shaded in the woods, with rocks covered in a shag carpet of bright green moss, little snakes bustling away in the underbrush, wild mushrooms, birds of all sizes from humming birds and sparrows to hawks, eagles, herons and many in between. In the water fish dash between beds of seaweed, crabs scoot along the sandy bottom, clams litter the shallows spitting up tiny shoots of water and seals and otters swim and play off the rocks.
We anchored in Princess Cove, a narrow bay which often requires setting a stern tie to the shore after anchoring. This was our first time attempting this maneuver and we were fortunate to arrive when it was relatively empty of other boats so we had plenty of room and could take our time. A number of long chains lagged to the steep rock shore also make it easier to pick a spot and attach a line. We took a quick hike that afternoon, and I got a few shots of Chandelle from shore, basking in the sun in the aqua green water of the cove.
That evening some new friends of ours, on Karma, joined us in the cove, and then two more friends, on Tangent, joined the following evening. One of the best parts of cruising is the people you meet and each unique story. While celebrating our first experiences stern tying, in the cockpit of Karma, a man from another sailboat in the cove stopped by on his row boat to say hello. Rob offered some advice for our next stern tie and answered our many questions. He and his wife built their 38’ sailboat in the 80s, sailed the South Pacific to New Zealand and returned to British Columbia via Japan. After two kids they set off once again and circumnavigated the globe as a family. With their home port near Nanaimo they continue to cruise their same sailboat each summer in the Pacific Northwest. We ran into Rob and his wife later on the trail and picked their brains about our next destination. Learning the local knowledge right from the source is exceedingly helpful in this part of the world where understanding the tides, currents and weather are critical to making safe passage.
Speaking of weather, we had been looking a few days ahead at the forecast and saw a Northwesterly would be blowing in the Strait starting in two days and continuing through the weekend. Hoping to make our way up Jervis Inlet on Tuesday, to make an afternoon slack tide at Malibu Rapids, we decided our best option would be to skip our originally planned route via Nanaimo and head for the Strait via Porlier Pass the following day, Thursday. Chatting it over with our friends from Tangent who have previous experience with the Strait of Georgia we felt comfortable with our plan, knowing we might have to motor part of the way to avoid worse weather and difficult sailing another day.
Up before the sun on Thursday we headed towards Georgia Strait in calm conditions and exited the Gulf Islands through Porlier Pass with about one knot of current with us. The mountains of mainland BC off in the distance welcomed us into the large open Strait, with the sun shining and a comfortable sea state. As we motored NE the winds began to fill in and we were soon sailing a beam reach at 8 knots. Reaching almost the halfway point across the Strait by 10am we turned downwind and continued our sail NW towards Malaspina Strait which would take us east of Texada Island. Every so often the winds began to die away but within 20 minutes they’d return before we’d lost much momentum. The day and the stunning mountain views kept us in awe of our luck to have this beautifully comfortable sail in such incredible conditions. Throughout the day we stayed in radio contact with Karma, who had also decided to make the crossing. As the winds kept filling in and pushing us downwind we opted to continue on up Malaspina Strait to Pender Harbor – where we would plan to stage for the weekend, watching the weather for Jervis Inlet.
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