Video highlights from our travels from Naniamo to Victoria
Travel stats covered in this blogpost:
Distance: 69.8 Nautical Miles
Time spent traveling: Approx 15.5 hours
Duration: 6 days
The red line indicates our travel covered in this blog post
Google Map Locations (click to view on google maps):
We left Naniamo after spending two really great nights there. The anchorage and docks were basically deserted compared to when we were there about a month and a half earlier. We had anchored out the first night, but when wicked winds starting blowing in the morning, we opted to move to the deserted docks. Docks are THE BEST THING when you have a dog, because you get to skip all the rigmarole of getting Disco, you, and the dinghy ready to go to shore. So yea, we were psyched about the $15 dock spot.
I know we have mentioned it before, but New Castle Island is AWESOME! It's huge, well kept, has showers, and no one is there! Perfect place for an off leash dog run around the island.... which is about 6 miles. Enough gushing... back to boating.
So we left Naniamo and headed towards Dodd Narrows, which is where changing tides squeeze water through a narrow opening, causing heavy current. We showed up on the North side of Dodd Narrows about 30 minutes prior to slack tide (no current) arriving. After waiting for the boats from the South catch the last of the dying tide going north, we caught the very beginning of the tide going south and safely transited Dodd Narrows!
We motored the rest of the way to Montegue Harbor, which seemed like a ghost town compared to when we were there about 7 weeks prior. Montegue Harbor is a huge, well protected bay, that's about 30' in depth everywhere- in other words it's a great anchorage.
Sunset at Montegue Harbor
Maya at anchor in Montegue Harbor
The colors were spectacular, but much different than a regular sunset
We were heading south to Victoria to meet up with family for the weekend, so after one night in Montegue Harbor we continued south to Sidney Spit which has a great little beach and nice anchorage. Again, it was basically deserted, but I'm sure in mid summer it's jam packed due to its proximity to Sidney and Victoria.
Sunset from Sidney Spit
Disco on the sandy beaches of Sidney Spit
Maya at anchor in Sidney Spit
The next morning we woke up to deteriorating weather, but decided to continue south regardless. South of Sidney Spit, two large bodies of water meet: Haro Strait and the Strait of Juan de Fuca. We were riding the tide south with wind blowing off of Juan de Fuca, which caused waves to stack up, making for an uncomfortable ride. Couple that with cold temps, hard rain, and a healthy bit of wind and needless to say it was kinda rough. Not in the sense that we were in danger... more like "I'm so ready to not be out here right now".
We managed to scoot past a point and tuck into Oak Bay, where we decided to drop the anchor. Unfortunately, ocean swell from that biting wind was coming straight into the bay causing us to pitch and roll.... screw that! We pulled up the anchor and made a final dash to Oak Bay where we picked up a slip for the evening.... hot showers cure all!
The next morning we made the final leg to Victoria under great weather conditions. We found our way to the Causeway Marina, which is in the heart of downtown Victoria. It's really awesome being able to park your house right in the middle of a major metropolitan town (for like $35 a night).
Pulling into Victoria... very busy waterway!
Our dock spot at the Causeway Marina
Empress Hotel in the background
The super famous Empress Hotel!
We met up with family and whipped up the town- touring local breweries and we even had a drink at the super fancy Empress Hotel. To make things even more fun we met up with French Canadian boaters, L'excursion, who we had met in Sidney Bay almost 2 months prior. It was so nice to see familiar faces in Victoria!
Drinks at the Empress
Group shot!
Group selfie!
Craft Brewery Flight
Our friends, L'excursion, on the left. This is at an Irish bar in downtown Victoria
Disco dog not caring about being in front of a famous hotel
After a couple of whirlwind days in Victoria it was time for us to head back to the United States. The next blog will cover our last few days of our big trip along with what we had going on immediately after our arrival back to Anacortes.
As always, thank you so much for stopping by and reading. Please feel free to leave a comment/question and I will get back to you!
Thanks again and see you next time!
-Mac, Jenny, & Disco
Disco trying to stay warm in a pile of blankets.
