The Way Home




Seals say Goodbye at Comox

Class in Session, Young Sailors at Comox

We departed Comox around 10:30am with overcast skies and light rain.  A group of day sailors were out in the harbour once again for their summer lessons in sailing, it’s always heartwarming to see children spending their time learning to sail, no doubt a maturing experience that instills responsibility.  We exited the harbour via Baynes Sound which leads into the Strait of Georgia. 

Clouds over Union Bay, Vancouver Island

As we motored along Baynes Sound, we could smell the fresh rain and feel the muggy air; soon we saw lightning strikes over the communities of Union Bay, Buckley, and Fanny Bay.  We shut down one of our computers as a precaution and ran with minimal electronics until the lightening finished its short-lived show.  

Chrome Island Lighthouse

We soon passed picturesque Chrome Island Lighthouse, partially shrouded in fog south of Denman Island.  

Chrome Island Lighthouse

After nearly seven hours of motoring, we arrived in Nanaimo and anchored off Newcastle Island among the numerous boats that filled the Nanaimo Harbour anchorage zone.  The following morning we departed around 11am in order to arrive at Dodd Narrows around slack water.  Leaving the Harbour proved to be adventuresome with lots of boat traffic, including a ferry and a barge as well as pleasure boats all heading towards Dodd Narrows.  

Dodd Narrows #37, Waggoner Cruising Guide

As we approached the Narrows, there were at least a dozen boats lined up to proceed through the cut, some with different angles of attack creating a rather hectic scene.  After passing southbound through the Narrows, the wind picked up to 20 knots with opposing current, creating choppy seas.  The winds had subsided by the afternoon, ranging from 10-12 knots through Navy Channel.  

Winter Cove, Saturna Island

We pulled into Winter Cove on Saturna Island at 4pm after 5-hours of motoring and anchored for the night; we would leave the following morning for our final leg into home waters.  We awoke to a solid blanket of fog, hoping that it would clear later in the morning but no such luck.  We departed around 9am, keeping a sharp eye out for crab pots and logs with another eye on the radar for other boats.  We headed south down Plumper Sound, making ready to cross Boundary Pass.  As we approached the Canada/U.S. Boundary Pass, we detected a boat on radar coming straight at us, it veered off to port and passed along our mid-ships then turned and followed behind us; yes it was the Canadian Coast Guard who came along our starboard side to speak to us.  They gave us a friendly greeting, asked a few questions, and we continued on our way.  The fog was still thick as pea soup, no more than an eighth of a mile visibility.  We continued to see more blips on the radar, adjusting our course as needed while listening to commercial traffic on the radio.  As we progressed southward down San Juan Channel, the boat traffic increased in numbers; at one point we came to a complete stop to allow a boat to cross in front of us as detected on radar.  It wasn’t until we reached Friday Harbor on San Juan Island that we had visibility, another busy scene where a stream of sailboats and power boats were exiting the harbor.  Friday Harbor is a port of entry for clearing customs but the custom’s dock was completely full; we would have to wait until there was space at the dock.  Seeing that it was going to be a long wait, we continued to Anacortes, another port of entry, arriving around 3pm.  We were told during our phone call to customs that we should get an assigned slip at Anacortes and then call again when we arrived to clear customs.  The customs office would be open from 8am to 8pm but closed between 1:30pm and 3:30pm in order to meet and process the Sydney B.C. to Anacortes ferry.  As it turned out, the ferry was two hours late due to limited visibility.  We were finally able to clear customs at 4:30pm, happy to be back in home waters after three arduous days of motoring.