Sailing (cheers!) across to the B.C. coast

Thursday, January 18

This was our day to cross the Strait of Georgia from Nanaimo to the west coast of British Columbia to Backeddy Marina in the town of Egmont. We left at 8:30 am, did some motoring under cloudy skies and over bouncy seas, and were able, as the wind rose, to raise the jib sail (the large sail at the boat’s bow) and deploy the long metal “whisker pole” that holds it away from the side of the boat, and to glide gracefully through the subsiding seas at a satisfactory speed–splendid! We were accompanied, for some time, by at least 20 Pacific white-sided dolphins, who cruised beside the boat, surfing the bow wave, skimming along the hull, surfacing, leaping, and diving–amazing! They disappeared for a while and then returned, much to our delight; I was too entranced by the superlative show to take pictures, unfortunately!

In mid-afternoon, after about seven hours of travel, we reached the Backeddy Marina and Resort at Egmont, took naps after tying up as dusk descended, shared another excellent dinner, and went to bed relatively early in anticipation of a 6 am rising time for Walt and Hans.