Prevost Harbor to Silva Bay via Bedwell

Our start this morning was quite relaxed.  Coffee in hand, we brought up the anchor just after 7:30 and began the short trip to Bedwell Harbor to clear Canadian Customs. We checked in by phone just before crossing the boundary into Canada and provided our NEXUS numbers.  As we were entering Bedwell Harbor we saw a Krogen 39 departing.  We couldn't help ourselves and hailed our sister ship "Points North."  Note - they are not in the Northwest Krogen Owners Handbook.  We will likely see them again on this trip since they are headed to The Broughtons.


This year clearing Customs was a snap.  We arrived at an empty dock and when no Custom's Agents arrived, we were free to go on our way.  Last year we sat at the dock for over an hour while a team of Agents went through every cupboard on the boat.

While lingering in the Gulf Islands is appealing, both Barrie and I love the vastness of the northern waters and set our sights on positioning Chug to cross the Strait of Georgia while the weather is good.  This was also our day to resolve issues with the dinghy motor.  And since this is a vacation, we decided to give Barrie a break and leave the job to a mechanic-for-hire.  The question was where to go to find said mechanic -- this far south the choices are many.  The farther north you go, the fewer the choices.  We decided to avoid the major cites of Sydney and Nanaimo and opted to head for Silva Bay.

We bucked a pretty significant tide for most of the morning sometimes making less than 5 knots but the 35 mile trip went quickly as we settled into enjoying our surroundings.  The tides in Gabriola Pass were not cooperating -- we would have had to wait several hours to transit that small pass - but the weather in the Strait of Georgia was cooperating.  We arrived at Porlier Pass at 12:35 with slack happening just a few minutes later.  We easily slipped through the pass and continued our trip north along Galliano Island arriving at Silva Bay at yet another minus tide and followed a sailboat into Silva Bay Marina.

Barrie had called ahead and Don the mechanic was ready to begin work as soon as we arrived.  He cleaned spark plugs and had the engine running in short order.  However, he also discovered that the impeller needed to be changed.  The part is in Nanaimo and he will take the early ferry over to pick it up.  Reminds us of home.  The good news is that the outboard engine will be tuned and ready for the rest of the trip.  Don at Silva Bay Shipyard is a great find.  Meanwhile, here we sit "captive" with a gin & tonic.  Somehow it all seems just fine.