On the water again, finally! We left Ganges around 9:30 this morning and headed to Nanaimo, about 35 nautical miles away.

Seas were good, another sunny beautiful morning. Went through Dodd Inlet at a bit of a low tide (didn’t mean to be there so early) but went through okay except a bit of kelp in the propeller. Had to stop and clean it off.

We checked in at Nanaimo Port Authority and got a berth. Then we needed to find the marine supply store. The guys in the office told us it was just down the way a bit. We walked a mile or two and realized that it wasn’t exactly next door.

So, we stopped in at the Foundry Pub, had a beer and some chicken wings, and found out the place had moved and was about 5 miles away. We called a taxi!

Got the new seal for the water pump which has been leaking even though he replaced it in Ganges with a spare – both leaked! We also got a new starter. We have had so many problems and have overused the starter so it is going to go out eventually. We figured we would get one while we had a chance.

Darrel then spent a fun, hot 4 hours or so replacing the seal and various other things. I did a load of laundry. We both sweated a lot! It was upper 80’s.

I made crab and quinoa stuffed ancho chiles with cabbage salad for dinner. It was good but hot to use the oven! I needed to use the chiles before they went bad, though.

I just got back from walking to the store while Darrel cleaned the back of the boat of all the grease. I am now sitting with my feet in cold water with Epsom salts listening to a couple of guys playing a sax and singing some fun music. They have a small but enthusiastic audience. Tried to get a picture but it just didn’t show any detail, so no pictures today!

We are going to get up early and cross the Strait of Georgia. Then, depending on weather, we will head up to Big Bay on Stuart Island to meet up with friends.

And so it goes!