Crossing to Silva

On Monday, while Sam was playing planes, trains and automobiles, we headed out into the remnants of what the locals were calling the first big southeasterly.  The wind made a mess of the Strait of Georgia and we had a rather long way to go to get across it. We considered other options, like waiting it out a day, but decided to go rather than spend another day in the marina, however nice the showers and Wi-Fi. 

It wasn't a bad decision, but the crossing was somewhat rough. At times there was so much water crashing over the deck, it was finding its way down into the cabin through the companionway. That's a path I'm going to have to figure out how to staunch. After plowing through the worst of it, it took us a while to empty the bilge. We pumped out a lot of water. 

After the crossing, we spent the night in Silva Bay on a comparatively peaceful evening.  Silva Bay is well protected, but it's downfall is its popularity. With the marinas and all the mooring balls, there isn't much room for folks like us that just want to swing on an anchor.  We set the anchor well with a lot of chain out and then pulled in a fair amount so that if the wind shifted we wouldn't be blown into a boat tied to a mooring ball.  In most bays the boats all blow around and keep the same relative separation, but it doesn't work so well when some boats are on a ball and others are on an anchor.  I would never try to anchor in Silva Bay in the middle of the summer. It must take on the feel of a demolition derby.  With so little chain out, we survived the night intact largely because it was such a peaceful night.