Stuck on Quadra Island

On our way south, two days ago we came into Rebecca Spit, a marine park near Heriot 

Bay near the south end of Quadra Island. We were positioning ourselves for the run across the Strait of Georgia, intending to go to Comox. The weather has intervened, and two days later we are still here. Both yesterday and today, the predicted winds were 15-25 knots in the Strait. The seas in the Strait can be particularly nasty--a short chop that has you doing more up and down than forward. We have also had rain since yesterday afternoon.

We stayed at anchor for two days, and today moved to a nearby marina to give ourselves a shower and the opportunity to walk to a restaurant for dinner out. The prediction for tomorrow is for light winds until the afternoon, and we are planning to go as far south as we can manage, putting in a 12 hour or more day if the conditions allow us. We hope to make it to schooner Cove, which is a little ways north of Nanaimo. From there we can pretty well get the rest of the way south with some islands to protect us most of the way, even if there is wind.

So here is a picture of a grey day at Rebecca Spit. The first picture is of the bay enclosed by the spit--a nicely protected anchorage when the wind is up. We were anchored down where the small sailboats are in the right of the picture. The second picture is of the docks at Taku Marina looking out at Rebecca spit and the bay. Tamarisk is hiding behind the two large power boats on the right. You can see h black forestay with the genoa wrapped around it.