Mike and Beth's Adventures

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 love...

Nanaimo is a major city and a transition point in the Pacific Northwest.  It is located at the top of the Gulf Islands.  Boating north, until this point,  has been an enchanting trip through protected waters that surround and course through closely packed islands.  The interplay of clouds, sea, winds, currents, forests of lush green and wildlife make for a tranquil journey.   As the tide recedes tide pools can be accessed along the shoreline North of Nanaimo, harsher conditions will be encountered.  Stretches of open water will be traversed.  Wind and current have longer fetches to work their magic.  Additionally, the winds and currents are likely to create a beam sea if you are crossing the Strait.  The Pacific winds are channeled through low terrain to blow forcefully as you pass Qualicum Beach.  Whiskey Gulf area, a torpedo test range, located in the Strait of Georgia, must be avoided if it is active. Ports, which offer comfortin...

After exploring Desolation Sound, we returned to Vancouver Island at Comox , and were there for Canada Day.  From there we continued south down the eastern side of Vancouver Island.  We only had tentative thoughts of what we wanted to see and do.  That is the joy of ambling.  Weather is the largest variable outside our control.  Wind direction determines which coves and harbors provide shelter and which, being too exposed, should be avoided.  People who are schedule driven would not make good sailors or amblers.  Trying to keep to an itinerary will invariably lead to making poor decisions.  We have departed anchorages only to return when we find sea conditions exceed our comfort level.  So, we have developed patience and cultivated a tactic that is based upon looking for weather windows.  Our criteria are simple.  Look for days when the wind is less than 15 knots and seas less than 2 feet.  Even when we carefully follow those g...