We made 3 sojourns into Nanaimo this morning... the first to grocery shop. the second to visist the library for "online time" and the third to fill up our fuel and water tanks before heading north up the Newcastle Island Passage towards the Straits of Georgia. All that I have been reading about the Straits is that they can be treacherous if the winds pick up and the tides are wrong. Luck was on our side today and neither was the case. In fact it was like traveling on a calm lake!
Matilda and I did a 10 km trek around Newcastle Island this morning, so as we had passed through the channel, it was interesting to see a different perspective to our mornings hike. We had passed the old Sandstone quarry that had been part of a thriving community in days of yore. Nanaimo had once been a coal mining town - the largest mine in British Columbia! If I have the facts correct, the mines traversed beneath the very cannel which we are cruising through in our boat this afternoon!
We all have different strenghts, some of us are quick under pressure, while others of us are plodders & planners. I am the later and my partner is "the party of the first part (to quote The Quiet Man), is the former. Today there was no plan...just head north. I am quite alright with the concept of "impromptu", however I do inherit several family traits (for which I am quite proud) those being "prior planning and attention to detail" and strong "multi-tasking skills". Our chart plotter had quit showing detailed charts of the island passage we were traveling through. We had the appropriate paper charts, but we all get a bit complacent and begin relying on our technology. Prior to our trip I had wanted to buy a backup copy of the electronic charts of Canada, I wish that I had. Would have been nice to have it aboard this evening.
No matter! We found an inviting little cove about 1 nm southeast of Lasqueti Island (I now believe that Lasqueti is Native American for Many Large Mosquitos!) as a potential anchoring location. As we entered, a man and 2 ladies in a zodiac-styled boat came into the cove and verified that it would be a good place to anchor. We tied a stern line so that we would not swing on the hook (and possibly hit the rocks aroung us in doing so.) Our anchorage reminded me of the boat launch area at Loon Lake (off the Umpqua River on the Central Oregon Coast, USA). We are encircled in a cove of rocks...save for the northern entrance. The sounds we hear are of woodpecker, beating a cadence on the trees above us, and the cry of eagles in the distance (on the adjacent rock cliffs)...an occasional splash is heard, whether it be fish, sea lion, or whale, I do not know...a truly magical place!
Matilda and I did a 10 km trek around Newcastle Island this morning, so as we had passed through the channel, it was interesting to see a different perspective to our mornings hike. We had passed the old Sandstone quarry that had been part of a thriving community in days of yore. Nanaimo had once been a coal mining town - the largest mine in British Columbia! If I have the facts correct, the mines traversed beneath the very cannel which we are cruising through in our boat this afternoon!
We all have different strenghts, some of us are quick under pressure, while others of us are plodders & planners. I am the later and my partner is "the party of the first part (to quote The Quiet Man), is the former. Today there was no plan...just head north. I am quite alright with the concept of "impromptu", however I do inherit several family traits (for which I am quite proud) those being "prior planning and attention to detail" and strong "multi-tasking skills". Our chart plotter had quit showing detailed charts of the island passage we were traveling through. We had the appropriate paper charts, but we all get a bit complacent and begin relying on our technology. Prior to our trip I had wanted to buy a backup copy of the electronic charts of Canada, I wish that I had. Would have been nice to have it aboard this evening.
No matter! We found an inviting little cove about 1 nm southeast of Lasqueti Island (I now believe that Lasqueti is Native American for Many Large Mosquitos!) as a potential anchoring location. As we entered, a man and 2 ladies in a zodiac-styled boat came into the cove and verified that it would be a good place to anchor. We tied a stern line so that we would not swing on the hook (and possibly hit the rocks aroung us in doing so.) Our anchorage reminded me of the boat launch area at Loon Lake (off the Umpqua River on the Central Oregon Coast, USA). We are encircled in a cove of rocks...save for the northern entrance. The sounds we hear are of woodpecker, beating a cadence on the trees above us, and the cry of eagles in the distance (on the adjacent rock cliffs)...an occasional splash is heard, whether it be fish, sea lion, or whale, I do not know...a truly magical place!
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