We pulled anchor in Montaque Bay around 8 am. The day was overcast, but temperate and calm. We enjoyed the rocky island scenery. Homes tucked away in the most remote of places. Befor entering the Northumberland Channel, just before Nanaimo, we had to journey through the Dodd Narrows. An extremely narrow passage, like traveling through a river rapid with rock cliffs on either side! Beautiful and rugged. Fortunately at our time of 
passage, traffic was minimal, so we slipped through easily. It was a good first run through a tidal rapid, which is quite common on the inside passage. After passing through we heard on the radio, massage after message of the bottleneck of boats waiting passage through the Narrows.
passage, traffic was minimal, so we slipped through easily. It was a good first run through a tidal rapid, which is quite common on the inside passage. After passing through we heard on the radio, massage after message of the bottleneck of boats waiting passage through the Narrows.We have set anchor at the Newcastle Island Marine Park. Many boats are anchored here. Nanaimo is the second largest city on Vancouver Island, BC. We have only been spending 3 - 4 hours traveling to each destination, since arriving to the Straits. This has 
given us plenty of time to settle into each area and explore a bit (even on the short stop overs). Dave set out in the AquaSport in seach of a dive shop. Tilly and I stayed onboard to catch up on our reading. I am the proud owner of a Kindle e-book reader, which is a perfect tool for a trip like this. It is small and compact and carries thousands of books in its memory. After completing just a few chapters, Dave returned with full air tanks, hungry for an early supper. Later we motored to the dock at Newcastle Is. so that Tilly could take care of her "business" and I could get some "land time".
The entire island is a marine park and wildlife sanctuary. Electric passenger ferries shuttle people to and from the city almost every half hour. from the Sea Crest we could see deer grazing on the grazzy beach. Right after hitting the first trail we saw, we met up with 2 deer (approx. 3 meters away - trying to think metric!) In total, we came across a minimym of 12 deer - 3 of which were bucks. Also several rabbits scurried before us on the path. the island is inhavited by a rare albino raccoon. Unfortunately we didn't catch a glimpse of them (Tilly probably scared them away with all of here snorting!). There are miles and miles (km and km) of trails on the island...I hope I get another opportunity to explore.
given us plenty of time to settle into each area and explore a bit (even on the short stop overs). Dave set out in the AquaSport in seach of a dive shop. Tilly and I stayed onboard to catch up on our reading. I am the proud owner of a Kindle e-book reader, which is a perfect tool for a trip like this. It is small and compact and carries thousands of books in its memory. After completing just a few chapters, Dave returned with full air tanks, hungry for an early supper. Later we motored to the dock at Newcastle Is. so that Tilly could take care of her "business" and I could get some "land time".The entire island is a marine park and wildlife sanctuary. Electric passenger ferries shuttle people to and from the city almost every half hour. from the Sea Crest we could see deer grazing on the grazzy beach. Right after hitting the first trail we saw, we met up with 2 deer (approx. 3 meters away - trying to think metric!) In total, we came across a minimym of 12 deer - 3 of which were bucks. Also several rabbits scurried before us on the path. the island is inhavited by a rare albino raccoon. Unfortunately we didn't catch a glimpse of them (Tilly probably scared them away with all of here snorting!). There are miles and miles (km and km) of trails on the island...I hope I get another opportunity to explore.
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