31.January 2007 – Garrison Bay, San Juan Island. Not knowing what more to expect from the Underwater Mud Entity, we chose to move the heck on. After a very challenging engine startup* we chose to motor instead of sail so as to recharge all the Fox’s gel batteries. Destination: Canada. Chosen port of entry: Bedwell Harbour on South Pender Island. We’d entered Canada several times before at Bedwell Harbour, and it was an easy 13-mile drive from Garrison Bay, past Roche Harbor on San Juan Island, around Turn Point on Stuart Island, 
and then due north across Boundary Passage. What could go wrong on such a beautiful day? 
Bedwell Harbour is a terrific place, with a fine provincial marine park near the Customs dock and a fancy resort with a restaurant GB has been trying to visit for years. Seems that every time we’ve been there the restaurant is either closed or booked full – but surely there would be a table for us in January.
The run for the border was successful – but alas, Bedwell Harbour was not meant for us this time. A sign at the head of the Customs dock advised that the harbour was now "…closed as a port of entry to all non-permit holders…"** We had never needed a CANPASS permit before, and didn’t need one this time as we intended a once-only, 6-month visit to Canada. Bottom line: no check-in for us at Bedwell Harbour. We had been rejected by Canada and spat back out. Oh, the humiliation.
Thus, we endured the marginal inconvenience of leaving Bedwell Harbour and detouring for about 17 miles south/southwest to the nearest port of entry for transients like us; it was our ultimate destination anyway, Sidney, BC (N48deg.39′.200, 123deg.20′.300). Customs check-in at Sidney was brief and painless, and the docking at our assigned slip in the marina was uneventful. A day or two later the pleasant weather disappeared and we reverted to the more typical pattern of winter low pressure systems, intermittent squalls, and rain showers. And so, here we shall spend the next several weeks waiting for the weather to improve for more extended exploration. Sidney’s not a bad place at all.
* i.e., an unexpectedly depleted starter battery that, combined with an expectedly low house battery bank, finally gave enough juice for the engine to turn over – details to follow soon, I promise.
** For a fee, regular visitors to Canada can purchase a CANPASS permit that eases check-in with Canadian Customs (which is already about as easy as dealing with a governmental agency can be; even without a CANPASS the Fox can check in through Customs in about 3 minutes over the telephone).
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