Lasqueti Island & Pender Harbour

The strong north-westerlies in the Straits of Georgia calmed down, so we departed Nanaimo headed for Pender Harbour. The wind was light for the first two hours but then picked up from the SE, so we set the sails and beam reached for a couple of hours. Our route took us close to Lasqueti Island, an area we haven’t explored in the past, so we decided to alter course and head for Boho Bay.

Boho Bay is well protected from the forecasted 15 kt. winds from the NW. There are several very scenic anchorages a short distance away that we would have preferred but the forecast made Boho the prudent choice. The tidal change was 16.9′ in Boho and overnight numerous logs and debris had filled the bay.

We took a short dinghy ride over to Jedidiah Island, a BC Provincial Marine Park, and came across a catamaran on the dry flat getting bottom work completed.

Jedidiah has numerous hiking trails and abundant wildlife including wooly sheep and goats.

After two nights we weighed anchor headed for Pender Harbour, a short run of 16 nm. The 11-14 kt. wind was from the NW and the snowcapped mountains NE of Malaspina Strait were visible in the distance, and no rain expected. We sailed downwind for the first few miles and after rounding south of Texada we were hard on the wind till we reached the entrance to Pender.

In the afternoon the skies cleared, the wind died down, and our anchorage in Garden Bay – Pender Harbour was nice and calm. We dinghied over to Madeira Park and did some grocery shopping. The new refrigerator / freezer is both good & bad because now the ice cream stays frozen, so we stocked up.

We stretched our legs for a bit and visited the Thrift Store picking up some reading material. Within a short distance of the marina are two grocery stores, a liquor store, two gift shops, a pizza restaurant, and a tavern with a great view.