Tuesday, June 14, 2016 Pender Harbour

The weather has cleared up and we went Madeira Marina.  We like to go into the Java Dock for a latte and free WiFi.  Fred checked emails and paid bills while I went over to the market to pick up a few perishables for the next leg of our journey.  A number of years ago on our previous boat, Aquila, we had trouble with an engine.  We met a fellow named Hugh at the Java Dock who was a mechanic.  He rebuilt the fuel pump for us.  It was a real life-saver.  Fred recognized Hugh at the Java Dock and said hello.  Of course he doesn’t remember us. 

Monday, June 13, 2016 Pender Harbou

We put the dinghy in the water planning a ride but the engine wouldn’t start.  Fred put the charger on the battery hoping that it will solve the problem.  It appeared that the battery was fully charged to upon investigation Fred found a loose wire at the battery.  Fred tightened it and all is well. We were a bit annoyed since we had the dinghy serviced in Anacortes before we left. 

Sunday, June 12, 2016 Montague Harbour to Pender Harbour - 6 ¼ hours 65 miles

Our goal today is to make it comfortably through Dodd Narrows and anchor out in Nanaimo.  Slack at the Narrow is scheduled to be at 11:00 am.  There were quite a few boats going north and south.  We went through at 10:45 am with a 2 kt push.  Practically no turbulence.  It is cloudy but the wind is only 10 kts so we decide to head across the Strait of Georgia.  It is 20 or so miles across a huge water way that can have terrible seas.  We encounter 10-15 kt wind and 2’–3’ chop.  Since the restricted military area ,Whiskey Gulf, is not active we made a straight shot to Pender Harbour. We were very glad because the route around Whiskey Gulf adds time & miles to the trip.  We were glad to enter the calm waters of Pender Harbour. We anchored off of Garden Bay. 

Friday, June 10, 2016 Port of Sidney to Montague Harbour - 2 hours 19.6 miles

The wind was 10 kts in the marina as we left the dock.  Fred had quite a time controlling the boat.  Just as we were prepared to exit the breakwater a sailboat cut us off.  Fred had to stop the boat which allowed the wind to blow us into a piling.  Doesn’t look like there is any damage but Fred is PO’d.  We had a pleasant 2 hour ride back to Montague Harbour on Galiano Island. 

Thursday, June 9, 2016 Port of Sidney

Costco day.  We planned to use our American Express to pay but had a surprise.  In Canada they only take MasterCard.  Guess what card we don’t have?  Fortunately Fred had a check in his wallet.  We stocked up on meat and fish here.  I then had the pleasure of dividing the large portions of meat into two person amounts and using the vacuum sealer before storing them in the freezer.  We planned to purchase less meat this year.  However, when it was time to put the supplies into the freezer we had a problem.  We had to turn on the icemaker as an auxiliary freezer. 

Wednesday, June 8, 2016 Port of Sidney

We had a sad drive to the Victoria Int’l Airport (in Sidney) to drop off Jason, Kelli & Mackenzie.  Back at the boat there was an impressive pile of laundry to do and a boat to clean & vacuum.  We did the laundry on board because it made it easier to multitask.  Have I said before that I love my washer & dryer aboard?  We have to be hooked up to 50 amp power to run the dryer (or the generator) but that was not a problem here.

Tuesday, June 7, 2016 Montague Harbour to Port of Sidney - 2 hours 16.7 miles

We reluctantly return to where we started. Kelli, Mackenzie and I wandered in town.  We met the guys at Fish on 5^th for their farewell dinner.