We got up early this morning and made the decision to cross the Straits of Georgia...always a nerve-wracking decision because you don’t really know what the next three hours are going to bring. The wind was predicted at 5-15 mph, but a friend who had gotten away 90 minutes earlier described the conditions as “sloppy.” We decided to go. I didn’t want to take chances with breakage oe cutting boards turning into “missles” as we rocked back and forth, so I took many things down and placed them on chairs oe on the floor. Tessa happily burrowed into her crate to hide out.

The crossing was a little sloppy with the waves hitting about 3’ in places and whitecaps all around. And there were times the boat decided to “surf” the waves. But we made it across in less than three hours and were happy to tie to a dock at John Henry’s in Garden Bay.

Rick hosed the salt off the boat while I put things inside back in their places. Tessa was very happy to be taken up the ramp to solid ground. As we went into the marina office, we found that someone had purchased the marina and the store and had made great improvements to both and also added a restaurant to the store. Rick was sad to discover that his favorite fish and chips diner was closed, but we found the other changes to be welcomed.

As we were cleaning up, Brad and Marsha Baker and Allyson and Mike Mandick came by in Brad’s tender. They were with TYC and were anchored just around the bay. We shared stories of everyone’s crossing, lamented over issues with boats, and made dinner plans for the Garden Bay Pub.

We enjoyed some great pizza at the pub and returned to visit with John and Carol Dorsey who were with the cruise but docked in front of us. They have just purchased a new 29’ Ranger and were on their maiden voyage. We watched the sun set as we headed for bed...planning an early departure for Squirrel Cove.