The wind is blowing 10 to 15 knots when we awake this morning.  According to the weather report, the wind is supposed to blow 10 to 15 knots until this evening, when it will increase to 15-25 knots.

Our moorage is paid for until 1100 hrs this morning, so we have a leisurely breakfast before leaving the dock.  I assume we’re heading for the anchorage off New Castle Island, but at the last minute, Al uses the VHF to put out a call for sea conditions in Georgia Strait.  Some guy comes back with a report that it’s like a mill pond out in the Straits.   

So, out we go.  When we get outside, the wind is blowing about 10 knots.  The seas aren’t like a “mill pond,” but they’re tolerable.  However, the farther north we get, the uglier the seas become.  Pretty soon, we’re taking water over the bow, spraying seawater all over the windows I just cleaned.  Not good. Al says,  “I think we’d better head for Nanoose”.  Al’s always wanted to check out Nanoose, and this is his chance.  So, I put in a course for Nanoose.  

Nanoose is a place that looks great on the chart, except for the fact that the Canadian Navy uses the harbor for exercises and mooring, and log booms sometimes take up what’s left of the anchorage.  

To add to the already dismal situation, a huge pipeline is being constructed in the only area available for anchoring.  

Most of Nanoose Harbour is very shallow, so you have to be really heads-up threading your way through to the anchorage, which was small to begin with, but has been made even smaller by the pipeline construction.   

Al got us anchored without going aground, which was a real feat.  So, now we’re anchored.  Great.  Except that we are pitching like crazy, like being back on that bucking bronco.  By now, it’s 1830 hrs.  It will be dark by 2200 hrs.  Al says, “This is not good.  I think we should head for Schooner Cove.”  We’d never been to Schooner Cove, and we don’t know if they have room at their guest dock.  It’s going to be dark in a couple of hours.  I was not a happy camper.  But, I told him, “Do what you think is best.”  I plotted a course for Schooner.

We pulled the anchor and headed out.  Luckily, it only took us about 45 minutes to get to Schooner Cove.  The entrance is very narrow, but we didn’t have any following seas, so we had no problem.  Our guidebook showed that there was guest moorage at the end of docks “B,” “C,” and “D”.  Well, there wasn’t any room to tie up on “B,” “C” or “D,” but the end of “E” dock was open.  So, that’s where we’d tie up.  

As we were tying up, a fellow appeared on the dock.  I went to see what he had to say.  He offered to help us tie up, and then gave us the rundown on what was happening at Schooner Cove.  We’d seen the huge crane working on a big structure onshore.  Well, apparently Schooner Cove is undergoing a huge renovation, and the crane is building a new complex, with condos, shops, a spa, etc.  However, in the meantime, the marina is in disrepair.  We noticed a lot of empty slips, and that the docks are in shaky condition.  But, he said we could tie up.  No problem.  That was a relief, because by now it was starting to get a bit dark.  Unfortunately, the seas at the dock were almost as bad as the anchorage at Nanoose.  It’s amazing that the breakwater doesn’t seem to calm the seas much.  Oh, well.  Any port in a storm.