Two Tickets to Paradise, Song by Eddie Money (RIP)

And we are off like a herd of turtles.   Whatever isn't fixed can stay not fixed until some future time.

We departed Anacortes at 0500 this morning, and what a beautiful morning it was.   Take a look at that sky & water.

Getting up at 5:00am was tough, particularly when I didn't go to bed until midnight and I didn't fall asleep until 2:30am.  I'm beat today.

We were a jet with a 3-4 knot push until we hit Rosario Strait and then the push became a 3-4 knot drag when the current runs in the opposite direction out there.   So, we went from making 10 knots to only doing 5 knots.

We cleared Canada Customs in Poet's Cove, Bedwell Harbour BC.   Typical, courteous, friendly, and conversational; not what I'm used to when crossing back into the US.   Once I'd told them my boat ID number and name, they said" Oh, is Karen travelling with you?"   What about "Ross & James"?   I'm really impressed with their systems and data retrieval capabilities.  Kind of creepy and kinda cool at the same time.

We were only there for about 15 minutes, then back aboard and off to Nanaimo; 74 miles away and our first real stop on our trek north.

The red area in the chart is a Whale Exclusion Zone just to the west of Bedwell Harbour.   There are two of these in the southern Gulf Islands.   Know where these are as Transport Canada (think Canadian DOT) is really strict on these areas.  All boaters must stay out.   Any they mean all.

I took the boundary points and annotated my charts with the Exclusion Zones as that is my responsibility.   If you are a boater in this area, I highly recommend you do something similar.

We had to make Dodd Narrows by about 2:30pm so the currents would not overwhelm us.   We can do about 8.5 knots and Dodd Narrows can exceed that.   If you are going with the current, you can have a wild and dangerous ride.   If you are going against the current, you are going backwards and not getting through. 

We made it through with a 3.5 knot negative current that slowed us down to just under 5 knots, but we made it!   Fortunately, the big eddies and overfalls hadn't formed by the time we snuck through.

We got a slip at the Nanaimo Port Authority guest docks about 1530 (3:30pm to landlubbers).   A few clean-up chores and off to a very early dinner at 1700 (5:00pm) of pizza!   There is a great pizza place in town that we've grown fond of.  And YES, I eat my pizza with a knife and fork as I respect my upper soft pallet.

All back aboard ad headed to slumberland.   Good Night, Folks!