Log Entry: Friday April 30th, 1999

Double Island to Sidney

Motored from Double Island to Sidney Port Marina yesterday.   Two porpoises played around our bow for about five minutes during our crossing of the San Juan Channel! We came through Wasp Passage when we left Double Island: it was the safe route, but we did see a (smaller) boat going through Pole Pass: the narrowest passage in the San Juans.  Saw an unidentified naval vessel in the Haro Strait. Bit of chop crossing the Haro Strait: maybe one foot.  Saw the usual gaggle of seals basking in the sun. Jane thinks they look dead when they're sunbathing; I think they look more like polished stone carvings, Inuit or Haida...

We called ahead to the marina on Channel 68, but got no answer.   Perhaps because there was a lot of other traffic ... So we called on the cell phone.  There was a big schooner tied up at the customs dock, but just enough room for us behind it. We docked (did a good job this time!) and I phoned customs. The tent beside me as I called was for the annual Salmon Fishing competition: they were knocking down tables, there were dogs barking, all very annoying. The customs man was very nice.   He asked the usual questions, including how much alcohol we were carrying. We are over our limit on wine, but I told him we didn't even like the wine, so he said OK.  He did ask if we had a lockup for our extra wine, but we don't (need to have that for offshore!).  There are quite a few good-looking boats in this marina. 'Raven' beside us is a pilothouse ketch in beautiful condition; there area couple of other large pilothouse boats down the dock.

We docked in the marina for the night. We were warned that it might get a little noisy because of all the fishermen, but it didn't. The people beside us at the dock commented on Ching, thought she might be an Abyssinian. Ching did a walkabout on the dock, spent quite a bit of time on the fishing boat near us. Think she liked the smell.

We went for a walk up to Van Isle Marina to get our fishing license.  That marina is called a working marina: wonderful place, full of old boats, covered slips, wooden docks, boats with beautiful woodwork. When we asked at the office where we could get the fishing license, we were told to go to the fuel dock: waaaaaaay down at the other end of the rambling wooden docks.  On the way back, we saw a bus going by, but we were between stops: he stopped anyway (we like Sidney!) and then when we said we were only going to Beacon street, he let us get on for nothing (we really like Sidney!!).