Broughton Bound Days 1-6
After a week on land to repair the battery issues on the big boat, we headed north with three other boats. Meeting point was at Reid Harbor on Stuart Island in the San Juans for two nights as we did final planning and preparation for the crossing into Canada.
Everyone agreed to focus on trekking north to the Broughtons, then slow down, explore, and work our way back. The starting point was Ganges Harbor on Saltspring Island and our northern most point was just south of the 51st parallel in Turnbull Cove, located just north of Sullivan Bay on North Broughton Island - 360 miles. Our boating partners were David & Holly, Eric & Sue, Chris & Maryanne.
Here is the story of this amazing journey.
Day 1 & 2: We arrived in Ganges Harbor and spent a day provisioning for things that can’t be brought into Canada. It was Sue’s birthday and we were ready to enjoy a fun evening celebrating at Moby’s Pub. Following the meal, we stayed to play Music Bingo (new to us) and I was surprised how many of the songs we all knew. The DJ sat at the head of our table and received plenty of heckling from the guys and she gave it right back. At one point she asked Keith his name and he said David. It wasn’t long before all the guys were called David, but she was on to them. There is never any lack of laughter with our crazy group.
We didn’t stay at the marina as we like to anchor just east of the Chain Islands. This was a beautiful evening.
Disclaimer: All distance and travel times are estimates as we would sometimes take little side trips enroute to our destination.
Day 3: Ganges Harbor, Saltspring Island to Silva Bay, Gabriola Island. Distance 30 miles, travel time 4 hours.
On our way to Silva Bay, we had to stop and wait for the currents to slow down in the channel, just south of Gabriola Island. We found this great little tuck in spot oppositie the channel to anchor so we could shrimp for the afternoon. No luck with the shrimp! We are used to US shrimping where we drop the pots for an hour and then bring in the load. We learned this isn’t the way in Canada (probably because of currents) and you need to leave them down for several hours, if not over night. We didn’t have that much time, so we were disappointed. We caught six shrimp in two pots. Didn’t quite make a meal.
Silva Bay is a popular stop, but is so full of local bouys, it can be a challenge to get in and out, especially if you’re towing a second boat. We had a yummy dinner from the Fire House Food Truck and were poised to head across the Georgia strait the following morning.
Day 4: Silva Bay, Gabriola Island to Pender Harbor, Beaver Island. Distance 69 miles, travel time 5 hours.
By 9:00, everyone was off the dock and headed across the Strait of Georgia. Wind wasn’t too bad, water was a little choppy and we arrived about 5 hours later. Chris and Mary Anne had a faster boat so they stopped to fish along the way and met up with us just as we arrived at Pender Harbor. Two boats had reservations at John Henry Marina and two of us anchored in Gerrans Bay. We spent the afternoon doing some minor repair work on the fishing boat.
Day 5: Pender Harbor to Lund, BC. Distance 43 miles, travel time 5 hours.
A morning departure gave us plenty of time. It was a smooth ride and there were plenty of rest stops along the way… although most of them were already full.
We arrived early enough to fish in the afternoon. Chris joined us on the fishing boat and we had local knowledge of a good spot, just around the corner from the marina. We could see on the fish finder there were a lot of possibilities but no bites. On our way back, we had an issue with the motor but hoped we got it resolved.
It was a beautiful evening and we sat on the dock and just enjoyed the sunset. It was stunning.
Just as the sun was setting, a group of 30-40 dolphins herded fish into the bay right in front of us. It was spectacular!
Day 6: Lund, BC to Big Bay, Stuart Island. Distance 35 miles, travel time 4 hours.
We were all headed into new territory and were excited for the day. Another early departure was necessary as we headed to Big Bay and the rapids. Our timing was critical and we made it through the first rapids in slack water, safely arriving on the Stuart Island Community Dock located between two rapids. We passed Bruce and Peggy, friends from home, as they headed south through the rapids, but because of the need to traverse during slack tide, they couldn’t stop so we didn’t get a chance to visit with them.
After all was settled, Keith wanted to go exploring when he found the fishing boat’s engine was broken. He spent all afternoon trying to fix it and unfortunately, we ended up leaving it on the dock at Big Bay for the remainder of our trip. The marina was very accommodating and found a little spot out of the way, and said we could pick it up on our return trip. It was very sad and frustrating but we loaded some of the fishing gear on the big boat and prepared for the rest of the journey.