We leave Spencer Spit in low clouds and occasional fog. The trip back is fairly painless except for the 5 knot current we find approaching the Anacortes ferry dock. Dave steps on the throttle and takes it up to maximum wake speed. And hands the helm over to Melissa. Perhaps the kayaker we passed appreciated the wake we gave him to negotiate or maybe he gave us the finger. The wave he gave us seemed innocent enough. We get to Anacortes and fuel up. The boat took about 180 gallons of diesel. We then docked the boat and cleaned her up. Melissa went off to get some more Anacortes Beef only to find they left they "OPEN" sign on while being closed on Sunday. Bummer!

We separate from the Gemini and head off to Spencer Spit to position the boat for our final jump back to Anacortes. We show up early and find a mooring buoy open. Dave takes the dinghy to shore and pays the ten bucks. Hmmm - ten bucks to avoid anchoring. Dave is getting soft. Still - we are out every night without tying up to dock. Could have avoided tying up at all if it were not for customs and a bit more water conservation. Screw it - use the water. We are on vacation after all.

Dave decided that we should leave before low tide. Something about measuring the depth on the stern and determing that there would be only a foot clearance at low tide made him not want to sleep in. Dave rose and cast off a couple hours before low tide heading for Roche Harbor where we would become welcome to the United States again. We tie up at Roche to clear customs to find out that we have brought back black listed tomatoes. After searching the boat for more contraband CBD leaves with our tomatoes. We ask if we can stay to go replace the tomatoes and they comply directing us to back up with the end of the dock. Melissa goes up the dock to buy replacement tomatoes and returns with a bunch with exactly the same Canadian sticker. Sheesh. Off we go meet up with friends at Jones Island. We get there before noon but missed the last mooring buoy by minutes. Dave is sure he could have got it but a 10 knot wake from a 15 ton boat would not have been appreciated by others. We meet up with our friends on their Gemini 36 and they raft onto us for the night. OK - cats and dogs - powerboats tied to sailboats - what is next? Remember that Dave and Melissa have chartered more sailboats than power so they are what you might call switch hitters.

Dave has never gone through the west side of the Gulf Islands. Over to the government docks at Chamainus on the "Big Island" we went in search of water. Dave finally realized that we might need to get water before returning after all. It would be close but if we could find some convenient water, it was worth the stop. Dave had already approached two marinas in Telegraph enquiring if we purchased fuel could we fill the water tanks. Both rejected the notion so off we went to the government dock where we could get it for free. Chamainus is a cute little town - next time we will stay longer. Melissa did a little grocery shopping and after Dave filled the water tanks we slipped off for the next port. We poked our nose in Genoa Bay but did not like what we saw. Too exposed to the south wind we were experiencing. So we headed further south to Portland Island. A fabulous spot. We anchored stern to and took the dinghy all the way around the island. It is a great hiking spot.

Across the Straights we go again. The water was a bit stirred up from an earlier high-wind warning but perfectly comfortable. Waves were less than 2 feet but a bit confused. We were headed for Dodd Narrows near Nanaimo with a goal to hit it about slack. As planned, the passage was absolutely calm - only about a half a knot current was detected. Down to Telegraph Harbor - port of slime. A weird brown foaming stuff forms on the water down here. In this bay, it was everywhere. Gross even. Anyway, we motor up the bay to anchor easily enough. The hard part was going and finding some eggs and beer. Apparently these cannot be purchased on credit and we need to go back to the boat to get cash. Sigh. The bay had little to recommend itself. The cruise in the dinghy through the "cut" was entertaining but there is little to do in this bay. Probably not on the repeat list.

Breakfast was a sausage and egg scramble with fresh tomatoes. Mmmm.

The trip back down through the inlet was spectacular. Dave is now three out of four - another painless passage through Malibu Rapids. Now all of the mountains were showing their snow covered peaks. The trip down was peaceful and no weather to speak of. Arriving at a very nice bay off Hardy Island amongst vacation cabins was quite nice. Figuring out how to rig the boat for stern tie took a little more getting used to. Dave really should remember to take his sandles to shore when stern tying. We invited the neighbor over for a glass of wine and had a quite enjoyable time.

Weather: Sunny and warm. Almost good enough for swimming.