Another BC and Straits of Georgia summer!

These will never get old. I will never get old doing them. Heading north from Friday Harbor and crossing Boundary Pass is a rite of passage to my life, and one that I crave on at least an annual basis. This year it was saddened by the inability of my dear and lovely wife to join us, so it left just a bunch of Y chromosomes on the boat. We made do.

Owen and I started off as the only crew and headed first to a night on Prevost in Selby Cove. One of many nice little spots in that area. Though we didn't do it, I understand there is a trail that takes you from here over to the more used anchorage at James Bay. We had a lovely evening and hot, benign conditions. This would remain for the bulk of our next week. It meant motoring, but as the islands glide slowly past, and the sun arcs across the sky, there is that cultivated state of mind that cannot be engendered other ways.

Salish Sea: everywhere

We went to DeCourcy the next day, our favorite spot in the northern Gulf Islands. My anchorage choices are heavily influenced by 1. The boys on the boat and their need for play and adventure and 2. Me on the boat, and my need for play and adventure. DeCourcy provides all of that.

We always anchor in the south cove, and prefer the views and spaciousness of that spot, rather than in Pirates Cove. Happy to say the pirates chest had an ample amount of booty in it, though my own boys are now too old to feel appropriate for taking things. We swam like fish and jumped off the pilothouse and hiked around the park and immersed ourselves into the consciousness of the place.



Each night was as always a mixture of playing games, reading and eating. Isn't that how every night at home should be?

DeCourcy Island south anchorage

The next day we shot through Dodd on the most uneventful waters I've ever seen. We had Elliott flying in on Kenmore to Nanaimo and picked him up right on time by sliding up to the float plane dock just long enough for him to jump aboard and the seaplane pilot to start to get perturbed. We spent that night at Newcastle and took the now pricier ferry over to Nanaimo to do some grocery shopping.

The next day we did our crossing over to Jedidiah and were grateful that Whiskey Golf was not active. There was no wind, so yet more motoring. Going to Jedidiah is the true touchstone of my trips north. It is not as grand or sweet as Desolation spots, but Jedidiah has a ruggedness and tranquility to it that Desolation and other spots lack. The history of the island only adds to my appreciation for it. We walked over and swam at the entrance to Home Bay, as well as in Home Bay itself, and Elliott and I enjoyed some lovely runs around the island trails.

The next day we jumped the 10 miles across to Smugglers Cove, mainly for the fantastic swimming it provides. We grabbed a lovely spot in the NE corner, just as we had done at Jedidiah, and ended up staying there for three days. Oh the swimming and rock jumping. Endless fun. That anchorage is a rabbit warren of nooks and crannies. I got on our paddle board in the evening and had an amazing journey around the whole place.

NOTE ON ANCHORING: I am continually amazed at how many people head out without knowledge of proper anchoring technique. It's not even hard. We had 4, that's FOUR, different boats try to anchor near to us and each one of them had to leave from dragging anchor. They had poor equipment (read CQR anchors) and had poor technique. They would set at poor angles and with improper scope, and then drift with the current right into their neighbors. It's not like there aren't endless youtube videos and books on the subject.

Smugglers Cove

Anyway, at least people are getting out. We had a blast here for days before heading back to Nanaimo and then home. We got to sail part of the way back across the Straits of Georgia in a light NW wind, but that was the only sailing of the whole trip.

We were gone 10 days, and did 172 miles. Just a quick tease of a trip this year! Yet so fulfilling. Owen said it best: "I thought this trip was going to be too fast and short, but it has felt like a long trip and full of fun." That's why we go.