Victoria to Smugglers Cove

After Grandpa's departure we spent one more night in Victoria before setting out on the rest of our adventure. As we motored out of the harbor we saw race boats still trickling in from the Swiftsure Race. We raised sails for a while only to have the wind peter out. Grandpa's seat looked empty. After I dropped the sails I went below to make lunch. When I came back up on deck I noticed that Pika, who'd been in her bright pink and green Piglet sweater, was nowhere to be seen. I called to Jason up on the foredeck to see if she was with him. Nope. He thought she was below with me. Nope. We tried not to panic as I dove below to search and Jason scoured the decks. I looked under the table and the boys' bunks. In my panic, I even tore through Isaac's bedding. She was nowhere to be found below. At this point Jason had stopped the boat and we were both having the same thought of how in God's green earth are we gonna find a chihuahua in that big blue ocean. Distraught, I climbed the companionway stairs to see how Jason's search was going, only to find Pika, still in her Piglet sweater, climbing out of the rope cubby all blinky-eyed and groggy, clearly wondering why Jason had been desperately calling for her. She must have missed Grandpa's lap and climbed into the cozy spot to feel safe. Silly little dog...she scared the pants off of us. After lots of pettings, we relaxed and looked around. We looked at San Juan Island and it felt strange to be looking at these familiar places from the Canadian side of the border instead of the other way around. We made a quick stop at D'arcy Island which Isaac has already so aptly described. Late in the afternoon, after passing the familiar profiles of Stuart Island and Turn Point we pulled into Selby Cove at Prevost Island and anchored between a fishing boat and a half-sunken dock. The lush, green field on shore was super picturesque....the sinking dock, not-so-much. We had grand plans to paddle into shore and hike over to James Bay where we had been the week before but dinner over-ruled and the following morning we left early so we could make it to Active Pass at slack water. After safely making it through the pass we entered our nemesis, the Strait of Georgia. After having endured two whippings from this body of water we are always a bit apprehensive upon entering. To our delight the forecast held true and we had wind behind us. We raised sails and enjoyed a relaxing sail downwind across the strait. As we neared the other side, the wind died down and Jason, knowing I would just roll my eyes and make a snarky remark about the gennaker immersing itself in the water while we bobbed up and down (since our previous experiences have been as such), bypassed me and coerced Isaac into helping him put up the gennaker. After about forty five minutes they successfully had the gennaker rigged, in the air (not in the water) and pulling the boat....I never thought I'd see the day. Jason eventually talked me into a jibe with it, which we successfully executed after only mild tangling. We soon lost all wind as we came close to our destination and had to drop all the sails. We tied up to a dock in Snug Cove and found a restaurant for dinner. Afterwards we hiked to the top of a viewpoint before retiring for the night. We spent the next morning catching up on work, school and laundry. In the afternoon we hiked through a trail-filled park to a lake. For dinner we grabbed a couple of pizzas to go and took our seats in the bleachers at the softball field. We watched a local game as we ate our pizza in the sinking sun. The next day we set out for Smugglers Cove. The strait was full of waves but no wind. The boys took turns riding on the bow as the boat bucked up and down through the waves. After spending the night at Smugglers Cove we, you may have already guessed it, went for a hike before pushing north again with Princess Louisa Inlet in our sights.

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