Nanaimo and Newcastle Island

We got up at 5 am on Friday to make the Dodd Narrows passage at slack tide. This was the first real "gateway" that we had to pass through. These are extremely narrow passages that have a lot of water going through. For Dodd Narrows, up to 9 knots of current could occur at maximum flood or ebb tides. We hit it a bit early, so we had a few knots of current against us, but had no problems going through. I was a bit nervous after reading all of the guide books, which really try to scare you. However, Dodd Narrows is very short, with no obstructions, and we planned ahead. After the Columbia Bar, it was a cakewalk!

We decided to spend the first night on Newcastle Island, which is across the bay from Nanaimo. The boats were so tightly anchored that we tied up at the docks. After breakfast, we took a ferry to Nanaimo to shop and explore the town a bit. Then it was back to the boat, where we inflated our kayaks and enjoyed a paddle to a neighboring island, where the Dinghy Dock Pub is located.

On Saturday morning at 6:45 am, we woke up to someone yelling, "hey, that's not your boat!" Several intoxicated guys had boarded someone's boat and tried to take their dinghy. As it was firmly attached to the side of the boat, they didn't succeed. Instead, the owner woke up and chased them off the boat. They next tried to steal a dinghy from a neighboring boat. All of the people on the neighboring boats were roused with the yelling, and the thieves were pushed into the water. Strong words were spoken, and it looked like a fight was about the break out. The thieves finally decided to swim for the next island as they were vastly outnumbered. There they stole a boat and headed for Nanaimo. The last we heard, the police had picked them up and had them in custody. Needless to say, there was much excitement and adrenalin at the docks, and nobody got any more sleep. Fortunately, no one was hurt, and no one lost their dinghy. We were glad that our "dinghy" is our kayaks, and our "engine" is our paddles. That is much less tempting for anyone to steal.

We've now spent a few days in Nanaimo, regrouping, organizing the boat, and provisioning for the trip to Desolation Sound. We'll leave tomorrow for that portion of our trip.