Sunday: Telegraph Harbour, Thetis Island to Newcastle Island, near Nanaimo

The tide was very low when we woke (the picture from yesterday’s post was taken this morning from the boat), but we still had enough water under us to float so we were fine. We went back ashore to chat some more with Loren and Erin, then took a walk to a very small farmers’ market and around some of the island’s roads. Today we are heading to our northernmost point on the trip, near the town of Nanaimo, but to get there we have to wait to go through a pass not unlike Deception Pass in Washington, except much narrower and with potentially stronger currents. The predicted slack water at Dodd Narrows is at 3:17 pm, and it's about a two hour cruise, so we had some time to kill.

The Chris Craft rendezvous broke up about noon, and we snapped this picture of the Potentate leaving.

A little while later, we pulled the anchor and headed out ourselves. We got to Dodd Narrows a little early, but the current appeared manageable and other boats were going through, so we did too. Here’s what it looks like upon approach:

About forty minutes later we were lowering the anchor in a bay just off Newcastle Island. The island is a huge, beautiful park just across the water from downtown Nanaimo, the biggest city we’ve seen since we left Seattle. It’s a jewel. It’s also popular, especially on weekends, and the anchorage can get pretty crowded. Today was no exception, but we found a spot well enough away from other boats.

Here’s a picture of part of the shoreline of this island, and also one of a critter we startled and forced to climb a tree.

Back to the boat for some dinner and a chance to watch the sun set on Nanaimo.