It was just under six hours from Ganges to Nanaimo. We were underway from Ganges by 7am cooking breakfast along the way. We made Dodd Narrows in good time and transited without incident. There was a light breeze but nothing notable and we had good water up to Dodd.
The further we went up Northumberland channel, the more we felt the seas bending in from the Straight of Georgia. It’s fun to note my bread crumb trail and see how I eeked out as much room as I could before making the rounding turn west into Nanaimo. It was running about 4 foot even in the channel and I really did not want to have to ride it on my beam, so ran as close as I could before turning to take them on my stern. Today would not have been a good day to try to cross the Straight of Georgia and we were a little concerned on how many boats we might find in Nanaimo.
We pulled into the inner harbor on Tuesday and settled just down the dock from the floating Mexican restaurant. Nanaimo is a great town to visit, but two days later and we have still not seen a pleasant weather window to get across the Straight. On Thursday evening I met a nice couple in a Tolly who had just crossed in under two foot of seas. The forecasts are still iffy, but Friday looks to be better. We are definately starting to suffer from cabin fever and want to get across.
The good news is that we have had good net connectivity in Nanaimo. I might get to meet up with a boater I’ve known on Boatered for years but never met in person. He lives in Secret Cove and offered us a round of beer if we can get over there.