MV Independence: Day 5 - Crossing Into Canada

Monday, July 12, 2010
Last night the wind howled. At times I believed there were wind gusts of maybe 20-30 knots. But now this morning, there's cloudy skies and only a few remnant gusts and breezes, though definitely not as strong as last night.

We left Prevost Harbor at 0825 to continue our trip N. Haro Strait was very rolly and once again there was a huge ebb tide to contend with. Again we crabbed our way across Haro Strait and into Canada. The current was going W, we were going N, but we angled our way more ENE - its just really kind of funky. Kim made breakfast en route. Because of the waves and the strong current I didn't call early enough to take advantage of the CanPass system. When I called CanPass they simply said, report to Bedwell Customs dock for processing. Okay on to Bedwell then.

Just as we were entering Bedwell Harbor and customs, a very large sailboat passed us and tied up right in the middle of the customs dock. There was no room in front or behind him, rather you would have to navigate more into the marina and around the back to get to the customs dock. It would also put me "bow in" not "bow out" as I preferred. My manueverability was hampered by having to tie the Zipper up on the port side of the boat. So I wasn't too happy. As a result, Josef angrily stood on the bow of the Independence and yelled across the bay, "Move yer boat, or I'll move it." He, like me, was none too happy. Luckily the sailboat skipper moved his boat forward and we were able to tie up in a small space behind him. As we approached the customs dock the sailboat skipper said to Josef, "There's plenty of dock space on the other side." I said in a low barely audible voice to Josef, "Easy. Let's not lose it." Fortunately Josef just glared at him. As I was docking in the limited space provided by the sailboat another boater commented on my great docking job. I did bring the Independence in perfectly in a tight spot without any issue.

I trotted up to the customs shack and got our clearance number for entry into Canada - 20101930209. I finished before the sailboat skipper, trotted back to the Independence and said,

"Lets get out of here before he comes back." I didn't want any more challenges with this goofy sailboat skipper. We quickly untied and moved on our way. Our next challenge is going through Pender Canal that separates North and Sound Pender Islands. By taking the Pender Canal route we will save an hour or more cruising. The current was running S (ebbing) and the tide was falling. As we cruised through I had Josef up on the bow just to spot the shallows - the lowest it got was about 4' below the keel. Going through Pender Canal is always a fun challenge.

We now moved around Razor Point, up Navy Channel, and into Tricomali Channel and eventually Montague Harbor at 1212. We got a mooring buoy on the W side of the bay. Listening to the weather radio there's forecasts for gales in S Georgia Strait for later in the day. For now the wind was from the SW at less than 10 knots. We settled in and decided to do a Zipper trip to Ganges for groceries. However, it was decided to leave Hank the dog at the boat instead of taking him. This would make for easier grocery shopping and less stress for all. It was a good decision.

We picked up a variety of groceries and most importantly some good Canadian whiskey. When we came back Josef made a great Greek Salad. Here's the recipe.

1 tomato, chopped
1 bell pepper, diced
1/2 English cucumber, cut into small chunks
1/2 C yellow onion, diced
1/2 C kalamata olives, pitted and halved
2 T fresh basil, chopped
1 t dried oregano
1/2 t dried dill weed
2 cloves garlic, minced
2 T olive oil
1 T red wine vinegar
1/4 C feta cheese, crumbled
salt & pepper to taste

Cut veggies, add feta and spices and mix well. Then add olive oil and red wine vinegar, chill and let set for 30 minutes or more.

We had a great dinner of Greek salad, grilled steaks and spinach Nan (Indian flat bread) with Tzatsiki. I grilled the Nan on the BBQ until just toasty. Then I dipped the Nan in the steak juice added some Tzatsiki - it was incredible. What a nice evening.