Montague Harbour was sunny and calm when we arrived, and stayed that way all day. We saw lots of empty mooring buoys in the marine park at the north end of the anchorage.

It was breezy in Prevost Harbor this morning, but clear and sunny. After coffee and a snack, we decided to head out of the anchorage and see if it was windy in Boundary Pass. We called Canadian Customs before we left U. S. waters to get clearance for entry at Montague, with an arrival time of 1200. With our Nexus passes, we’re able to clear Canadian Customs at Montague Harbour, Galiano Island.

As we approached the northern end of Navy Channel, we saw one of the large B.C. ferries headed west. It had just entered the Gulf Islands through Active Pass from Georgia Strait.

It was pretty lumpy and windy in Boundary Pass, but it looked worse out in Haro Strait. Rather than going up Swanson Channel, we elected to head across to Plumper Sound and navigate to Montague via Navy Channel. We found northwest winds of 20+ knots and a bumpy ride until we were north of Port Browning, where we found much smoother water and less wind.

When we got closer, we could see that this was the B.C. ferry “Coastal Celebration.”

We arrived at Montague Harbour at 1145 and drifted around for 15 minutes waiting to see if a Customs boat would come to inspect us, but none came before our clearance time of 1200, so we were cleared and could continue on. We considered going to Telegraph Harbor, but discovered that this weekend is the Tolly rendezvous at Telegraph, so that’s not the place to be! Tollycraft boats are popular around here, and they usually fill the marina to overflowing for their fall rendezvous, leaving little room for the rest of us. Better to visit Telegraph Harbor some other time!

As we headed north in Navy Channel, we were passed by the Mayne Queen, one of the smaller B.C. ferries that serves the southern part of the Gulf Islands.

Instead, we decided to stay at Montague. We were still tired after last Thursday’s drive from Bend and from getting ready for this cruise. There was plenty of room to anchor, as there were only about 6 boats anchored at our end of the harbor. There weren’t many boats on park mooring buoys either…we saw many empty buoys at the other end of the harbor.

Lots of empty mooring buoys in the marine park show up more clearly in this closer view of the north anchorage area of Montague Harbour. Cruising crowds are definitely down in September!

We had a quiet afternoon. I used some fresh water to rinse off dried salt spray from the windshield, windows, and cap rail. We hit a few swells on our Boundary Pass crossing that were big enough to spray saltwater over the bow. Jim spent some time testing his ham radio antenna. And we had lots of time for resting and reading!

Two surf scoters hung out around our boat during the afternoon. Our bird reference says surf scoters are “large sea ducks that breed in northern Canada and Alaska, and winter along the West and East Coasts of North America.” Their nickname is “skunk-headed coot.”

A close-up view of the surf scoter…a very striking sea bird. This is the male; we didn’t see any females, but our reference says they are mostly brown.

It remained calm in the Montague anchorage all afternoon and evening, with very little boating activity. We barbecued salmon and fixed a Caesar salad for dinner. Sunset was at 1929 tonight — one minute earlier than yesterday. Fall is rapidly getting here.

Another gorgeous sunset in Montague Harbour.