Day 439 Into Port Browning

This is our last day in Canada as we will be heading for Roche Harbor tomorrow and back in the good old US of A!!  It's actually going to be sad getting back as this trip has been great.  Seeing all we have seen and learning all that we have learned.

After our anchor switching on Friday, we upped it finally yesterday about 0530 and headed out to find another place to stop for the evening.  As always, there was either no wind or it was against us as we headed out.  I headed below and looked at the charts and guide books to find a place for the night.  We knew our range(50-60 miles) and wanted to find a place we had not been to before.  I finally found Port Browning on North Pender Island.  

The winds were behind us as we headed out past Gabriola Island just outside of Nanaimo so we rolled out the Genoa sail and stopped the engine.  The winds slowed to about 6 knots and so did our speed--to 2.5 knots.   About 30 minutes later, the wind got even slower so the sail got rolled and the engine turned back on and off we went.  The tide was in our favor so we were making good time--over 7 knots for most of the trip.

On we went heading Southeast down the coast on the Strait of Georgia passing Gabriola Island, Valdes Island, Galiano Island, Mayne Island and around East Point at the East end of Saturna Island watching out for fishing boats, tugs, ferries(lots) and freighters.  We saw a few other sailboats with their sails up slowly limping along trying to make way in the water.

We had two VHF radios in the cockpit at all times.  One on channel 16 and the second on 11, the traffic control channel.  There is a tremendous amount of commercial as well as ferry traffic in these waters and it pays to listen to both.  It lets you know who is where and where they are heading.  We had the AIS(Automatic Identification System) as well as the radar on.  The radar was more for fun as it was beautifully sunny and clear for miles.  Eventually we turned it off and just checked the AIS and used our eyes.  As I have said in previous posts, while in the cockpit, your eyes are always out on the water looking for boats or dead heads(floating logs).  You listen to the hum of the engine for any change.  Music is fine, but not through head phones.  You are always aware even through the vibrations in your feet as to what is happening on your boat.  As we listened to the radio, we heard at least two calls to the Coast Guard of boats stranded on reefs and rocks during the day.  One on the rocks in Ganges Harbour on Saltspring Island and the second later off East Point that we passed(giving it a wide berth)at the East tip of Saturna.

The one in Ganges Harbour was in for the worst of it as the tide was still going out for several more hours and he was going to be farther out of the water as the time progressed till the tide came back in.  The Canadian Coast Guard dispatched a boat it see if they could help him.  In the US, the Coast Guard used to respond but no longer does.  It's open to companies that are in the area to assist(and bill at big $)and help you if they can off the rocks.

We dropped anchor (48 46.398N  123 16.191W) about 1500 and got settled in.  It's a busy little bay with lots of small boat traffic.  About a half dozen more sailboats came in after us and dropped their hooks.  There were already several other sailboats at anchor so we just joined the group off to the South side of the bay.  Another 58.6 miles off the path "home".

We had a question posted in the "comments" section by Christopher asking why we had not visited the Queen Charlotte Islands while we were up North.  I would say time was the biggest factor.  We left Port Townsend April 4th(sort of early for the season) for parts North not knowing how far we would get.  Many people asked us before we left where we were headed.  We really had no clue as to how far we would go.  Once we got past British Columbia and into Alaska, the distances between places you could anchor became much greater.  Instead of traveling 10 to 15 miles in the San Juan Island or the Gulf Islands, you would have to go easily 40 to 50 miles a day and if you have been reading the posts of our trip, you have read about all the rapids and narrows we have had to cross that take extra time and planning so you reach them at the right time. The problem in Alaska is that most of the bays and coves were made by glaciers and are very deep right up to the shoreline so finding a "good"anchorage takes time.  We simply ran out of time.  Alaska is a beautiful place full of places to go but the distances became too great to see them all and as we still have more equipment to install we had to head back to get it done.  To be done correctly and see everything up North would take years as the time frame(unless you are a heartier sole than us) is only from early April to late August if you are lucky.  The weather turns quite ugly after that.  So in answer to your question(took a while didn't it)"time" was the main reason we didn't get to the Queen Charlotte Islands.

We're getting a small amount of water in the bilge now each day.  In a twelve hour period, it is enough to just cover the bilge pump.  We haven't found the source but after we anchor tonight, we will dig a bit deeper.  We'll close all the through hull fittings and see if it goes up.  If it stays empty, we have a leak in the water tanks.  It can't be in our fresh water hoses as they are under pressure and the pump would go on if it was leaking.   So it's time for investigating the rest of the system.

Well, it's time to close and get this posted.  I have some phone calls to make.  Boy does that sound strange.

Almost there.