Log - 7/9/2001 to 7/12/2001
Strait of Georgia (Naniamo to Powell River)

Katherine and Alan
We went to Scottie Bay on Tuesday, July 10th, a day later than expected. When we attempted to hoist the anchor in Naniamo wouldn't break loose. Alan free dove 25 feet to the bottom and found the flukes wedged under a rock (the book says there is a mud bottom). After an hour's worth of work trying various things, Alan was able to break it free. So we went back to the Naniamo visitor's wharf for one more night; it was a fortuitous turn of events, because we met a lovely couple with a Tayana 37 Pilothouse Cutter (Sandy & Savvy Sanders). Their generosity and friendship is almost overwhelming. We had a lovely evening sharing joys, frustrations, and ideas about our Tayanas and other life adventures. Sandy set us on our way with some full bellies & useful items from this area.

The passage across the Northern Strait of Georgia to Lasqueti Island was uneventful. We successfully navigated around the Whiskey Golf area where they were testing torpedoes. We motorsailed across most of the strait. Shortly after raising our three sails the wind died and our speed dwindled to 1.7 knots. So we cranked up the noise maker and motored the rest of the way.

The Bull Channel on the northeast side of Lasqueti Island is the most appealing cluster of islands we have seen on the journey. Unfortunately, we decided to press on to Scottie Bay, the documented "Safe" anchorage in this area; unfortunately it was no where near as scenic.

Scottie Bay is at the northern end Lasqueti Island and is described as an anchorage that is "all but bombproof". An accurate assessment unless you consider all the other boats with the same idea. We are using the stern tie to shore technique, which is keeping us away from the riffraff and closer to the natural oyster beds.

Squiz sez: I found a new hiding spot when motoring and the best part is I don't have to jump! It's behind the cruising spinnaker in the quarterberth. After sleeping for most of the day during all that noisy motorsailing, I feel refreshed and spent some of my morning/afternoon nap time stuporvising their silly projects.

On bread: I tried a different sourdough recipe that has you make a "sponge" for 24-48 hours before you make the bread. The captain likes this one even better.

July 10, 2001
We slipped out of Scottie bay at 8:30 AM and were greeted by the standard morning NW wind; this common wind is guaranteed to blow every time we want to travel northwest, up the Strait of Georgia. After rounding the northern end of Texada Island, we tucked into Sturt day -- a very pleasant anchorage with more enticing oyster beds. We still are shy of slurping the little slimy buggers, as some people say there are red tide toxins in the area.

The next day we crossed the Malaspina Straight to the Beach Gardens Resort and Marina. This is a big splurge - tying up to a dock with water and power for two nights - to allow us to provision before meeting Mark, Ian, and Andy. It's resort days are definitely in the past. Garbage sacks surround the dumpster, the pool is empty, the spa doesn't exist, the workout gymnasium is now owned by someone else that charges guests extra, and the resort office cannot even mail a letter for us (unlike the description in the guide book). Nonetheless, we make good use of our time and proximity of the nearby Powell River metropolis to prepare for our next couple of weeks beyond "roads' end".