It's All New to Me!

It was a GORGEOUS day on the Strait of Georgia yesterday as we left DeCourcy Island, went through Dodds Narrows, past Nanaimo, and along the inactive Whiskey Golf military exercise area.

West of the Ballenas Islands I shouted 'Whoa! I think I saw an orca!' And I had! Actually there was a male and at least 3-5 females or small ones. They were generally heading northwest, as we were, so we had about half an hour to watch through our binoculars.

Here is the best I could do photographically:

There is a small fishing boat on the left, and the black 'cone' you see is the dorsal fin of the male.

We had the motor running about 7.5 hours yesterday, and covered about 45 miles. Once we passed Lasqueti Island, we were in all new waters for us. With very light winds, we were comfortable dropping anchor in Tribune Bay on Hornby Island:

This morning we got up, had coffee, showers and breakfast - in that order - then got underway again. The wind was blowing a pretty consistent 10-15 which is not bad for anywhere, but especially the Georgia Strait. Still, the 2-3 foot chop was NOT the glossy water of the day before. However, the wave direction was comfortable to ride and seven hours later we arrived at our destination. Cortes Bay is our first stop in Desolation Sound!

Facing east, Hernando Island is on the right, and the Twin Islands are on the left. Snow-capped Cascades in the distance.