Dave Scobie in the M17 Sweet Pea zooming down Haro Straight.

We were pretty overpowered for a while and the tide rips we encountered were unexpectedly strong. At times we were sailing along at 5.5 to 6 knots with the dinghy surfing on a following swell and catching up with us, smacking the back of the boat before turning sideways and then being snapped back into line when the tow line went taught. Watching Jim in the M17 Grace who had his dinghy pulled up tight against the back of his boat made me do the same which helped the problem a lot.

Jim working on hoisting the headsail.

It was a rough ride for while until we could take advantage of ducking behind Henry Island for some smoother water. Once again, at Turn Point (and area known for strong rips) we encountered some disturbed waters, but with a lot less wind. This time we had a problem of sails slatting due to the lower wind levels and rough water. Jo and I said "bag this" started the outboard and powered through. Although we were motoring at an rpm that should have given us about 4 knots, we were hitting GPS speeds of 7-8 knots as we rounded the point motor sailing. There was a lot of debris to navigate around in the rips around Turn Point.  Once we rounded the point the water was beautiful again with a nice breeze but we were so close to Prevost that we just motored in.

Prevost Harbor Dock full of Monty's

The dock at Prevost was able to fit the entire group. This was a great set-up. We enjoyed the island making the traditional "Hike to the Treasure Chest" and schoolhouse deep into the woods. The Treasure Chest is a fundraiser for the small Schoolhouse on the Island. There is no-one there watching it. It is full of souvenir T-shorts, hats, sweatshirts, etc that are sold on the honor system. In fact, they don't even want you to leave money. Instead, every item comes with an IOU and a self addressed envelope to send the payment back in. We picked out a couple of items and hiked back.  I think all in all, we hiked about 3 miles.

Jo "shopping" at the Treasure Chest

This morning was a quick motor over to Pender Island, Poet's Cove to check in through Canadian Customs. There was some large traffic to contend with as we crossed the shipping lanes.

Larry's "Corndog" and Eldor and Dorothy's "Motu-Iti" dwarfed by an ocean goliath.

Bosun wasn't too excited about motoring across an International Border.
The check in went fast and we elected to grab a slip a the beautiful Poets Cove Resort for the night. A couple of boats moved over to the mooring balls in the marine park just north of here. I'm glad we chose the marina for tonight as it's 10:30pm and it's blowing hard right now. Forecast sounds like a lot of wind the next few days. We are scheduled to depart at 9am in the morning for Ganges but this much wind could make that a pretty rough trip of about 13 miles. We'll have to wait to see what's up in the morning.
 
So, now you are caught up. Tomorrow, maybe a report from Ganges Marina...or.....? Being that we are on vacation to have a good time, if it looks like a miserable trip we might just stay here. Boat's heeling 5-10 degrees in the slip right now when it gusts. I bet the water is rough out there.
 
That's it for now...
 
Sean, 'Jo and Bosun
Montgomery 23 Dauntless