July 17, 2012 Secret Cove to Montague
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Boat traffic between Welcome Passage & Montague: Victoria Clipper, mini-tanker, BC Ferry |
We passed through Welcome Passage,
crossing the broad expanse of the Strait of Georgia.
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Porlier Pass... looks innocent, but it was our most challenging stretch |
Despite an early start, a favorable current and even some wind, we still found hitting Porlier Pass just an hour off from 100% slack tide (the in-between point when the tide is neither coming in or going out – the water is much calmer then) was a bugger. Wayne would point our boat toward a calm, flat stretch. Then, water that was completely flat just seconds before, began roiling, malevolently, with whirlpools. We were periodically at only ¼ knot; normally we move at about 5-6 knots. A stretch that in good conditions could’ve been a smooth sail for 5-10 minutes, took us about 45 minutes of hard-fought progress. Had we missed the slack tide by a little more, we wouldn’t have made it. We’d either have to go somewhere else, or wait 11 hours for the next slack tide.
I took the helm (steered) so
Wayne, a bit worn out after all his steady work with the tiller, got a well-deserved
rest for a while.
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Rowboat ashore at Montague |
We carried on to Montague, a
large, calm and busy! bay. Despite
lots of mooring balls to tie off on, they all appeared taken by the hundred or
so boats. We moseyed over to the marina
and once again caught our dinghy painter* in the prop; we’d forgotten we let it
out when underway to see if some seaweed was responsible for some sluggish
progress; it wasn’t. Once again
Wayne instantly realized what happened and shut off the motor. This time he was the hero. He untangled the line without having to
swim under the boat to do so.
*A
note to dinghy owners .… Use floating polypro line for your dinghy! It will greatly reduce the likelihood
the line will go under the boat and get caught by the propeller. We’ll do that on our next boat, but on
this trip, we made do with what we had this trip.
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Montague's easy hiking trails... my favorites in Desolation |
We fueled up, checked out
the cafĂ© (mostly burgers and fries – passed) and considered the mooring at the
marina. Instead, we made way to a
nice – and cheaper – mooring ball near the shore of a small beach.
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Wooden platforms for tents at Montague |
We dinghied a blissfully
short distance to shore, and took off on the trails, paths, really, which were excellent! Relatively flat, the path paralleled
the shore of the peninsula, shaded by pines and arbutus trees, with trunks arching
periodically over the bay.
Campsites populated the area, some with wooden tent platforms.
On the other side of the peninsula, three
substantial-sized schooners were anchored. We wondered if their owners knew the
owners of the 85’ schooner we were soon to crew, Destiny.
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What looked like white sand was small, coarsely tumbled pieces of shell |
Approaching our boat, we
noticed an official looking boat tacking a ticket onto it, as we hadn’t yet
paid for the use of “our” mooring ball.
We rectified that, retuned to our boat and prepared supper. Once again Michael Greenwald’s “Cruising Chef Cookbook”
provided my meal inspiration, this time making
the hearty ham-rice casserole with mushroom soup and peas. It’s a tasty option for a long passage,
as it uses all non-perishables -- canned goods and rice.
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