Port McNeill continues to be a great place to transition from the relatively quiet North Coast of British Columbia and the very busy South Coast. In recent years, several new eateries (e.g., Devils' Bath Brewing, Lata's Kitchen) have added to its attraction. It is fitting to consider Port McNeill as the start to the "eating our way south" voyage.
An early start Monday, August 25 had us fighting ebb current in the western end of Johnstone Strait. By staying close to the south shore (Vancouver Island side) we reduced its impact on us. That early start, though, put us at Race Passage about the time of the turn to flood current. From then on, the current would be in our favor and boost our speed. In fact, we were going to reach Seymour Narrows north of Campbell River too early. We pulled off at Otter Cove, just south of Chatham Point to wait for the current to slacken. It being late afternoon, lots of other boats, both pleasure and commercial were also adjusting their speeds in order to reach Seymour Narrows during the window of safe transit. We ended up sliding in behind one large fish processing boat and ahead of another. After the narrows, we headed towards the nearby Gowlland Harbour for the night.
The next day, we again started early as we were hoping to get into the Gulf Islands. Our speed and the sea conditions were good and we able to transit Dodd Narrows, SE of Nanaimo, that evening. After covering 95 miles in 13.6 hours, we anchored in North Cove on Thetis Island for the night.
It was a comparatively short hop (16 miles) the next day to Montague Harbour on Galliano Island. While there were many (>50) boats here, the anchorage can easily hold them. The dock at the nearby provincial park gives access to a pleasant trail and large lawn for us to play ball with Drake. The marina in the harbor has a store offering ice cream and a restaurant (The Crane and Robin) serving food and adult beverages. We spent two nights anchored in Montague.
The Gulf Islands are compact so we traveled an even shorter distance (10.4 miles) to Russell Island part of the Gulf Islands National Park. In contrast to Montague Harbour, the anchoring area is compact and the bottom not particularly good (very rocky). It does have a dinghy dock and a loop trail that goes around the island. Several nice beaches dot the north side of the island and Drake got to go wading in one of them.
The next day, August 30, we headed to Lyall Harbour on Saturna Island. We took the "long way", 15.3 miles, around the bottom of Pender Island so that our batteries would be fully recharged. We were anchored a 1/4 mile or so south of the Saturna Island public dock which offers free dinghy access. The BC Ferry Terminal for Saturna Island is here as well. The incoming ferries throw a wake which bobble boats at anchor but, fortunately for the anchored boats, there are only 3 or 4 ferries a day. During our 2 days anchored in Lyall Harbour, we ate once at the Saturna Lighthouse Pub, located next to the ferry dock, and had ice cream twice from the take-out in the same building as the pub.
On September 1, Labor Day, we traveled the 5 miles over to Port Browning Marina on North Pender Island. Coincidentally, two other boats, BarbEric (Barb and Eric) and Suzy Q (Suzy and Bob), from our yacht club also came into the marina. All six of us dined one evening at the Port Browning Pub. While at the marina, Marcia & I twice got some treats from the nearby Vanilla Leaf Bakery.
Drake enjoyed his time here because of the large lawn and a non-muddy low-tide beach for play.
After two nights, on September 3 we crossed the border back into the USA. Our first stop was at the Deer Harbor Marina on Orcas Island. Here, our culinary desires were satisfied by Mathews Smokehouse and Island Pie. For our decadent treats we relied on Lopez Island Ice Cream served up at the marina's store. Each evening of our three night stay, we took a walk south from the marina to a viewpoint from which we watched the setting sun over Deer Harbor and the many islands of the archipelago.
From here, we headed to Garrison Bay on San Juan Island. We stopped briefly at Roche Harbor to pick up some fresh produce and indulge in ice cream before anchoring for the night. English Camp has an excellent dinghy dock and a nice trail system. We'll often go to shore three times
a day for walks and ball play. One of our walks took us over to the Westcott Bay Shellfish Company for lunch at their shoreside restaurant.
To hit favorable currents, on the afternoon of September 9, we headed through Speiden Channel across the north side of San Juan Island and then up President Channel along the east shore of Orcas Island. Our destination was Echo Bay on Sucia Island. Echo Bay has no dinghy dock so we used our kayaks to go to shore. The excellent trails on Sucia Island allow most of the major bays on Sucia to be explored on foot.
After two nights in Echo Bay, we headed towards Anacortes our final stop before returning to Bainbridge Island. In the Spring we had arranged to meet friends, Peg and Roy, from our climbing days with the Mountaineers club at Cap Sante Marina in Anacortes. Roy and Peg take trips from their home in Portland in their RV. Cap Sante Marina recently added an RV park next to the marina so we our respective traveling homes were within walking distance of each other. We invited another climbing friend, Craig, to join us for the visit. We made a pilgrimage to the summit of Mt Erie, an Anacortes City Park, where we had participated, taught and led a variety of Mountaineer field trips more than forty years earlier.
For the final day of our trip, September 14, we traveled the "inside" route through the Swinomish Channel, past La Conner, down Saratoga Passage joining Puget Sound south of Whidbey Island. We arrived at the Queen City Yacht Club Bainbridge Island dock shortly after 5 pm.
Leg Statistics - 21 Days, 360 Miles, 57.7 Engine Hours
