Biscuit and I have been doing daily walks and swims on Newcastle Island and generally enjoying pretty high temperatures for this area. Daily highs are in the high 80's with plenty of sun with strong NW winds bringing in some serious smoke from the 800 or so wildfires burning in the BC interior. Evenings cool off nicely, though, and there is always some activity to watch from Starbright's cockpit at anchor. The Dinghy Dock Pub sponsors a weekly sailing race and it is fun watching the racers thread their way through this crowded anchorage as shown in the picture! I am not sure what the turning marks are, they may be anchored vessels.
A pleasant week has unfolded here in Nanaimo with a few nights at anchor and a couple of nights at the Nanaimo Yacht club so that we could explore some more of Vancouver Island. Even rented a car and had a day excursion to the VanIsle West Coast at Uclulet. That area is definitely on the list for future journeys. The latter half of our stay here has seen the arrival of the pretty strong NW winds mentioned above. This results in a number of cruisers piling up in the anchorage to await better conditions to cross the Strait of Georgia, straining an already full anchorage and causing some questionable anchoring choices from the late arrivals. I got a little uncomfortable not being able let out enough scope for the higher winds with a couple of these yahoos so took a couple of nights in the mooring field for safety.