Unencumbered by any wind whatsoever, we circumnavigated Saltspring Island and on 29. March anchored in Montague Harbour at Galiano Island, one of our favorite places in the Gulf Islands. Sometimes when moving through the Gulf Islands one sees the coolest boats, like this tall old girl headed south in Trincomali Channel: 
The weather was nice, but it was cold (39F on deck, 49F in the cabin every morning) and except for one cormorant occupying each of about 36 mooring buoys, we had the whole anchorage to ourselves (in summer I have counted 75 boats and more, just in the anchorage and mooring field). We did the typical dinghy exploration of the surrounding islets and onshore, and had a fine time, like on Montague’s north-facing shell beach: 
However, our attempted departure of the Gulf Islands into the Strait of Georgia at Porlier Pass on 31. March was thwarted by our hour-and-a-half tardiness in getting underway – combined with a foul tide, 25kph of wind on the nose, and a 3-4 foot chop in Trincomali Channel. Under the circumstances it seemed unwise to proceed through Porlier Pass so long after slack, and alternative anchorages presented more of a detour than we wanted, so we scooted back to Montague for one more night. The champagne was by then perfectly chilled. Oh, the humanity.
We two fools transited Porlier at slack on 1. April without incident, which is fine by me – I tend to dislike narrow places with lots of rocks and big currents. While I fretted at the helm, GB took a pic of one of his favorite ATONs* on Virago Point in Porlier Pass:
Once again, we were forced to deal with the common no-wind conditions in these BC islands, so we decided that if motoring was our only option, we’d motor as far as we could. Destination: Garden Bay in Pender Harbour, northeaserly across the Strait of Georgia and about 59-60 miles distant. Strategically, Pender Harbour is a jumping-off point for boats traveling the 45-48 miles to Princess Louisa Inlet, and that is certainly what we intended to do. We found the only available wind about 6 miles from Pender Harbour — a 15kph headwind ushering in a little squall o’ sleet and 1/2-mile visibility. Ever the gentleman, GB took the helm and got his face froze while I checked the charts and directed him from under the comparative warmth and shelter of the dodger. Sometimes it really pays to be navigator.
We tucked into the Garden Bay anchorage in front of the marine park, coincidentally near two other boats we would soon meet again… 
– m
* "Aids To Navigation" in Fox-speak
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