(Note: Catching up on some days for the trip. After a while I will probably not try to have a daily post; but will do write and try to cover what we did over a few days. We have been out of cell / wi-fi range for a while so this will cover a bit of ground.)

After spending a couple of days in Oak Bay, we left for Sydney in an overcast morning. Once again motoring and not sailing - such is the torment of the Pacific Northwest (PNW) sailor a large part of the time. We went out through several obstructions that were clearly marked. About halfway to Sydney, we came to many that were poorly marked.

Crab traps. Strings of them across the passage. In Canada, the marking of the trap location did not follow what the rules are in the US; very conspicuous red and white buoys. We saw many traps marked with only one or two very small dark floats. Some no larger than 6" diameter and about a foot long. Several times we almost ran over one, only dodging it at the last minute. You don't want to catch one; the line could easily foul your prop and put your boat out of action.

We successfully navigated the trap minefield and managed to get some fuel in Sydney. When we looked at places to anchor, we discovered what many regular Northbound sailors already knew. A large part of many anchorages in Canada are now taken up by private mooring floats. It seems that the rules for now are a little bit of a free for all, with little regulation and folks are putting out moorings even if they do not have a boat. From what I understand, the rules are supposed to change soon, so the potential value of any existing mooring may go up.

Land speculation on the water!

Since boats on a mooring do no behave the same in wind or tide shifts as a boat at anchor, it is very difficult to anchor with them. So off we went to find a nice quiet spot to ourselves - and find one we did!