Whisky Gulf

Day 7 started off at 6:30am.  Bound for Pender Harbor on the east side of the Straight of Georgia means that we must cross this large body of water that can get rough at times.  The weather forecast was for light winds in the AM although clouds and some rain were coming in.  We figured it was a good time to cross although Whisky Gulf was going to be active.   Whisky Gulf is a torpedo testing area in the Straight of Georgia.  It’s used by the Canadian and US military and when its active they do not allow any boat traffic whatsoever.  This area is extremely large and lies right in the path of our intended route.  To get across we must travel around the restricted area adding a little more time to our passage but not a big deal.  The first ¾ of our passage was flat calm then things got a little rough but not too bad.  Later we talked to a couple that left Nanaimo at 9am.  They said the crossing was extremely rough and they heard there were even some rescues going on.  Good thing we left when we did!

We pulled into Pender Harbor Garden Bay (Garden Bay Marina and Pub).  After talking to the locals we found out you could hike to a lake just up the road.  A short hike revealed a beautiful lake that looks like the high mountain lakes we have back home.  Skylar jumped off the rocks into the lake and had a blast swimming!

We took a really long dinghy ride exploring the many inlets in Pender Harbor.  Dinner at their pub was really good that night and everyone was very friendly.