July 1 – Nanaimo to Telegraph Harbour

b.c. ferry georgia strait

As we left Nanaimo Harbour and came out from behind Newcastle Island, we rolled for a while in a 1-2 foot chop coming in from Georgia Strait. We could see this B. C. ferry making its way to Nanaimo, with the snow-capped mountains of the mainland in the background.

After our 11-hour trip from Desolation Sound to Nanaimo, we decided to stay a second day at Nanaimo. It was a good time to take care of some maintenance around the boat and to rest. We took a long walk along the Nanaimo Harbour Walkway in the morning before it got too hot. The heat wave was continuing, and it was in the high 80s or low 90s again today. Not much wind in Port of Nanaimo either, and it didn’t get below 60 overnight. The boat was hot.

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June 29 – Refuge Cove to Nanaimo

leaving desolation sound

We left Desolation Sound behind under the clouds and headed south on a very calm Georgia Strait. You can still see the raindrops on our cabin sides, left over from last night’s persistent rain.

This morning’s marine weather forecast for Georgia Strait was “wind light.” That’s all. There was no mention of wind direction or velocity. We can’t remember ever hearing such a short forecast. It was cloudy with fog in places and Phoenix was still soaked from last night’s rain. But it was calm in Refuge Cove and the rain had stopped, so we decided it was time to head south.

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