Through the Narrows and Up the Rabbit Hole

Today we're off on the leg from Telegraph Harbor to Nanaimo, where we'll re-provision before we head north. We left about 0800 to catch the morning slack at Dodd Narrows, heading out into another soggy gray day. Even with a bright morning sun up there somewhere, Preedy Harbor didn't look inviting as we rounded Foster Point and headed up along Thetis. We were hoping we wouldn't face this kind of weather all the way up, and we weren't disappointed.

As we worked our way north, the sun started to break through the clouds - the first of two transformations we would experience that day. With the layered clouds and the sun lighting up the green mountains of Vancouver, it made for a particularly beautiful morning. The view across just north of Hudson Island represented a typical Northwest day perfectly - just about every kind of weather imaginable in a very small area. Happily no more fog though.

We were expecting Dodds Narrows to be particularly busy today, as the remainder of the Labor Day crowd headed south at the end of the season. We were making good time though, and as the wind picked up around Fraser Point, we raised sail and decided to make a go of it. We had a pretty good time for a while close reaching between Vancouver and the De Coursey Group, but alas we weren't making enough headway to reach the narrows ahead of slack. The current would be northbound, so we figured we'd be able to go through with northbound traffic before slack (and before the southbound crowd started).

We reluctantly dropped the sails and motored on to Dodd Narrows. We arrived about a half hour ahead of the slack, so the current was down to about a knot and a half (it had been over 5 knots at the morning's max flood). We lined up for our turn through (there was only one other northbound craft at the time), but the south-bounders had already started in. So much for having an orderly progress through the cut. Oh well, what should I expect - it's not any different than how folks drive around here (meaning Seattle - there were a lot of US-flagged boats coming down).

We worked out way up to find an open spot in the traffic and called our crossing. Just as we were reaching the cut, another boat appeared from behind Purvis Point - they must have been waiting on the east side to avoid the crowd, but it made their appearance very unexpected. We managed to slow up enough to let them clear ahead of us, but the notch is smaller than it looks. It wasn't the last of the conflicts going through the Narrows that morning - there was at least one power yacht which waved off due to conflicting traffic after we passed through.

Once past Dodd, it was like entering another world. The western shore of the Northumberland Channel is heavily industrial, with pulp mills, saw mills, oil terminals, the BC Ferries terminal, and all kinds of other big smoke-belching marks of humanity. The channel itself is also busy with tugs and barges ferrying materials and products between all the sites. It was a very clear transition crossing from the peaceful idyllic world of the Gulf Islands into the modern-day reality of Nanaimo.

Coming into Nanaimo Harbor proper was also an interesting challenge. We dodged the ferries and tugs to enter the Harbor on the Protection Island side near Gallows Point. We figured that would buy us some time to get a feel for the area, and to find out if there was any room at the boat basin. Unfortunately, nothing would be that simple - as we passed the Gallows Point buoy, a huge log boom - filling what seemed like most of the inner harbor - was on its way out with the little tugs swarming around it keeping everything together. With the Nanaimo River estuary under water, it made for a confusing environment for new visitors (much like the back side of Whidbey Island).

We managed to get across in front of the boom (didn't seem to annoy the tugs as we crossed) and circled around in a fairly small open space outside the boat basin while we waited for a space at the fuel dock. Between the boom, the ferry, the float planes, and the general traffic, we kept pretty busy.

We eventually gave up waiting and radioed in for a dock assignment. We were placed about half-way up on I-dock - what a coincidence (Frog Prints home is I-24 at Shilshole). The Port of Nanaimo Boat Basin is quite a nice marina, with everything convenient, clean, and in good repair (and not too expensive either). We got all settled in (we'd be here for a day to do laundry and some shopping) and headed out to explore the neighborhood. In our wanderings, we found a wonderful Mediterranean restaurant on Waverly called Phoenicia - very tasty, and surprisingly affordable. Highly recommended.