Up North(ish) 22-27 Aug 2022
Exploring the Northern Gulf island in sweltering heat
Our next adventure took us to new pastures in the Northern Gulf Islands. We had been through the area when we brought BeTrue home the first time but not stopped to enjoy what we hoped would be some of the quieter anchorages in the Golf Islands.
We set off on a sunny day heading north expecting a first long trek. We normally suffered from somehow always heading into the wind but today things turned out well for us. Both wind and current were with us and we had a wonderful sail all day up the border between Canada and the US to Long Harbour.
At Long Harbour we were welcomed by a crowd of fellow RVYC members at the outstation there. After they were entertained watching us lose our boat hook when trying to pick up the mooring buoy we then puttered ashore in the dinghy to join everyone for 'sundowners'. We set a new standard for ourselves here turning up with a cocktail shaker full of Vodka martini and two tiny cocktail glasses.(who said cruising was meant to be uncomfortable!).
The next morning we left early and headed further north. We had initially intended to go as far as Pirate's cove (arrrhhh!) but after motoring for a few hours in flat calm conditions we pulled into Clam Bay on Thetis Island. This was a wonderfully easy anchorage with lots of space in this settled weather (not perhaps the best if the wind got up!). Being still relatively early in the day we then spent some time exploring the north of Thetis Island and motoring through 'the cut' to telegraph cove. Once there we explored both Telegraph Harbour Marina and Thetis Harbour Marina. The Marina had a wonderful pub Where we had a great lunch - that was until we accidentally knocked over the remains of some cider and the wasps arrived!
After a brief walk to Priddy bay and discovering there really was nothing else on Thetis Island we headed back to the boat for a quiet evening.
The next morning we took a short hop to Wallace Island. A provincial marine park you can only get to by boat with no permanent residents. Boats were packed in to Princess cove and so we anchored out a little way between bands of rock menacingly uncovering as the tide went out but we were sitting pretty and a little way out from 'the crowd' We were also delighted when we realised, as the rocks dried out, we had anchored right in the middle of a seal colony. Their antics pushing each other off the rocks was great entertainment although the honking was a bit disturbing in the night!
We decided to stay a couple of days at Wallace Island and it was well worth it. The kayaking and paddle boarding around the island was superb and the wildlife spectacular and very unafraid of us! The Island had a small resort on it in the 50's and there are still some relics of it's past, but other than that it is a pristine wilderness and wonderful to stroll around. To add to that there were also stunning sunsets out over Vancouver Island to enjoy as well as other boaters to meet for sundowners (more photo's are at the end of the blog)
On the 25th we decided it was time to move on and headed to see what all the fuss was about at Montague Harbour; a place we had been recommended to many times. As we arrived we could see why it was so popular. A massive almost landlocked bay could have swallowed the entire Spanish Armada and still had room for more. We anchored off and then went exploring, pulling up at the marina to see what we could find. Beyond the pub though there was little to explore and so we moseyed over in the dinghy to the provincial park to have a look around. After a very pleasant walk we realised we were getting peckish so headed back to the main attraction - the Crane and Robin Pub and had a lovely late lunch looking over the anchorage.
the next morning we left Montague harbour early and started heading back home. Our plan for the day was to head for Sidney and find somewhere to drop the hook to break the journey. The day was breezy (10 - 12 Knots of wind) which was of course, on the nose, but we got the sails out, practiced reefing both the main and the Genoa and did lot's of tacks trying to get up towards Active pass. Tacking is quite the effort as we need to furl the Genoa, then tack, then unfurl once round.
We got down around Sidney and first thought we should head to Royal Cove, a spot we had visited before which requires stern tying. As we set ourselves up though we started to realize that our baby is as bit on the big side for some of the nooks and cranies around the guld islands. We got the stern tie all set up on the outside rung after the usual palaver and were just settling down when the wind started pushing on our side. As it did we noticed how much the boat moved sideways getting us within a few feet of rocks. We made a hasty decision to move on then and so quickly slipped the stern tie, pulled up the anchor and headed back out. Our challenge now was where to go next' We settled on heading into Fulford harbour and see what that would be like.
As we got to the head of the harbour we were the only boat anchoring and so we took the opportunity to let out the full scope on the anchor to look at the chain (rusty but looked solid enough). We then headed to the small settlement of Fulford harbour on the dinghy to investigate. This is the same spot the ferry comes into and so had a few nick-nack shops as well as another pub.We spent a lovely evening at Fulford Harbour and were woken early the next morning as the inaugural "Round the Rock" rowing race around Salt Spring Island got underway at 06:30
After having a hearty breakfast we set of for home, stopping at Van Isle MArina for fuel on the way. The route south was all under power as yet again, the wind was right on the nose, rising to 15 knots before we managed to tuck in behind Discovery Island. The fresh breeze against the tide set up quite choppy conditions and we found out during this cruise that Be True actually rides better cutting through the waves, when she is going faster and so from now in, it'll be 'full speed ahead' when the weather gets messy!
Addutional Photos of Wallace Island
