She blew until late into the night. Trouper 2 was rocking so much, at one point I went topside to make sure the anchor rode hadn’t slipped its fairlead. You know what happens when THAT happens! So after a restless night I dragged my sore back off the V-berth, made bacon, eggs and coffee and resolved to push on to Montague Harbour.

Taking advantage of the morning calm, I scraped the barnacles off the hull. Something I’d been putting off for quite some time. Another long put-off project was removing the baffles in the stove to see if the bottom of the pipe was plugged. It wasn’t but I noticed there was a piece of kindling that had fallen flush against the air intake. THAT might explain the poor venting issue.

With two maintenance tasks off my ‘to do’ list, I went kindling hunting on the beach. I split a bunch with my recently sharpened hatchet. (Last night it kept bouncing off the cedar rather than splitting it). Armed with a tote full of cedar kindling, I returned to Trouper 2.

The wind had swung back from the Southwest and the spit was getting rough again. No way, I am NOT spending another night here in these conditions. Up anchor and on to Montague Harbour where I’ve moved from the hot sun to the cool comfort of the main Salon. More later.

There was a strong Southwesterly blowing in Montague harbour so I anchored at the very South end, opposite the Provincial campground. It took me two attempts to satisfactorily set the anchor and all was well. Suddenly a small inflatable approached. John was at the helm, with his wife on point. I have a couple of questions for you the guy says. What kind of anchor do you have and how much rode do you have out?

They were from a Crown 34 anchored a hundred yards downwind from me. I told him I had a Danforth (which he approved of) “thank god it’s not one of those CQR’s.” ??? I told him I had about a hundred feet of line out and he said; “you’ll be needing more than that”. Hey why don’t you drop your anchor over there! We’ve anchored there before and it was fine”. “Well, we all gotta sleep.” I said. So I moved and that was the last I saw of them. Bastards left the next day. Anyhow, the spot I’m in now is just fine.

After starting this log entry this morning, I crawled back into bed and slept until noon. Nice. I got up and had bacon and eggs but since my bread had gone moldy, I had them bare ass on the plate. A first for me. After lunch I set out to explore in Skully. I motored through the channel separating Parker Island from Galiano, and around Gray Peninsula. The beach was pretty crowded with campers so I continued up the West coast of Montague until I found a lovely little isolated beach with no one around. I doffed my clothes and bathed!

After a dinner of steak salad, I took Skully to the Government wharf and was soon on the Hummingbird Pub shuttle bus. Steve, the driver, handed out tambourines and other assorted musical instruments to the passengers and together we played along to ‘What Can You Do With a Drunken Sailor’ and other assorted hits.

Arriving at the pub, I was treated to live music and was soon enjoying a glass of house red. The shuttle bus left the pub every hour at ten-to-the-hour until 11:00pm. So after finishing my glass of wine, the waitress asked me how much I wanted back from my $20 bill. I was stunned and confused and finally blurted out, “How about five dollars?” Idiot. When’s the last time you spent $15 on a glass of house red?!

I had intended to overnight in Montague and then sail up Trincomali Channel to Wallace, Ruxton or De Courcy Island. But not wanting to move every day, I decided to spend two nights in Montague before heading South toward home. On the second night, I drove Skully to Miner's Bay on Mayne Island. It was interesting cruising through Active Pass.

Montague Harbour

Click for chart view.

Shell Beach on Portland Island as seen from Trouper 2 en route to Montague Harbour.

Fortunately I managed to sneak under the high voltage power lines.

Must be nice!

Steak salad for dinner.

Enjoying Richard Garvey at the Hummingbird Pub.

I'm not sure what's going on here.

Darkness fall on Montague Harbour. Check out all the anchor lights.

Bareback bacon and eggs. No toast!

My private piece of beach.

Skinny Dipping.

All of my friends.

Snack time.

The view from Miner's Bay, Mayne Island.

This is Gray Peninsula, where I harvested a half dozen oysters.

Bringing my oyster haul safely aboard.