2024: Patiently Waiting to Cross the Strait of Georgia

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Our ramblings this last week have included celebrating Canada Day in Ladysmith and then returning to the shelter of Newcastle Island to wait for a weather window to cross the Strait of Georgia.  This wait lasted 4 days as the wind made a passage untenable. 

On the day we departed Ladysmith we could see that an extended wind event was arriving.  Our hope was we could sneak across the Strait before it built to a nasty level.  Our hope were dashed within the first mile of poking our nose out into the Strait.  It was one of our first warm days of summer so we left the skylights in the cabin roof open.  We did close the one on the top of the vee-berth.  We could see white caps out in the Strait, but thought we could use a technique where we pick up our speed and skim along their tops.  Wrong!  Didn't work this time.  The wave height and interval resulted in Amy Marie burying her bow and sending water over the top of the cabin, creating a lovely salt water shower through the open skylights.  We took one look at each other and simultaneously agreed it was time to perform a 180 degree turn and return to shelter.  As you can see from the photo above, many other boaters delayed their trip further north by waiting in Mark Bay off Newcastle Island for the winds to die down.

How we amused ourselves till the winds abated


Five days at anchor can be tedious if you choose to be inactive.  That is not our nature.  Opportunistically, we discovered a friend from last summer was also holed up at Newcastle.  He invited us over to a delicious onboard spaghetti dinner.  The next day we hiked the perimeter of the island.  We also used our time to get caught up on maintenance items.  


Lighthouse Station on nearby Protection Island



Totem Pole on Newcastle Island



Enjoying the evening coolness





Midway through our stay, John's wife returned and dinghied over to the "Dinghy Dock Cafe & Bistro" for dinner.  Following dinner we hiked out to the old Lighthouse Station and then visited one of their friends who recently completed a cabin on the island.  As we returned to our dinghies, Brenda and John asked if we would like to tour Gabriola Island the next day as John's sister lives there.  You Bet!


The four of us onboard the ferry from Nanaimo to Gabriola Island



They showed us a shoreline feature called " The Gallery".
The sandstone was shaped by the surf over the years.






The surf eroded an overhang into the sandstone.



Enjoyed talking with John on the hike



While on Gabriola we had a tasty lunch at the Surf Lodge

Fortunately, the weather finally improved and we were able to cross the Strait of Georgia.  Our destination was Smuggler's Cove.  However, when we tested the anchor winch prior to entering the cove, it picked that time to not work.  I did a quick troubleshoot and could see it wasn't getting power.  However, I could not find it's circuit breaker to see if it was tripped.  So we called a marina in Secret Cove, got their last slip, and pulled in there for the night.  Shortly after arriving, tied safely to a dock, I found the circuit breaker, reset it. and the winch resumed operation.  A day in the life of a sailor....


Voyage Log

  • Notice the portion of the voyage where we stuck our nose outside and immediately turned around.  Too windy and rough!



Location: Newcastle Island, Nanaimo, BC, Canada

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