Ports and plans

So our timeline for getting into Canada for the Olympics has been severely constricted by Mandy's big corporate client eating up the first two days of next week with workshops. The soonest we can leave will be Tuesday night. That leaves a lot of water to cover and not a lot of time to do it in. I had originally planned to leave on Monday morning, take a leisurely amount of time, as the wind dictated, to get up there, and settle in a bit before getting to our event.

Now, there is virtually no margin for weather, and we may in fact wind up motoring much of the way, if travel is possible at all. Fortunately, the forecast looks fairly benign, but a storm covering the Strait of Georgia, or a missed current gate at Deception or Gabriola passes, could put us seriously off our game.

My plan right now is to head out on Tuesday night and take advantage of what ebb current is left to get as far as Everett. We might get there very late, but as there is practically nowhere to anchor, we can just tie up at Everett Yacht Club for the night and use our reciprocal moorage agreement to catch a few hours sleep.

I say a few because I figure, wind or no wind, we have to be underway at 0400 the next morning to make a 1300 slack at Deception Pass (lord help us if I have looked up the wrong dates for any of these tide or current tables). It will be a long day as we get through the pass and well into the San Juans, hopefully to Reid Harbor or thereabouts by 1800.

From the northern tip of the San Juans, we'll jump across to clear Canadian customs at Bedwell at a time of our choosing. It's a short crossing, so if we need to recover from the long day before, or if we lose a day for some reason, it's easy to absorb into the schedule. We have the remainder of that day to rest up.

The next day, we work our way north in the protected waters of the Gulf Islands, passing out through either Porlier or Gabriola passes to get a hopefully early evening anchorage in Silva Bay. The latest word from Waggoner's is that the bay is so crowded with derelicts and other permanent moorings that anchorage can be hard to find, similar to Eagle Harbor on Bainbridge Island, so there is some chance we won't be able to stay there, at the closest Gulf Island anchorage to the lower mainland. If that's the case, there are almost no safe alternatives on the east side of the islands, and we'll almost certainly have to duck back in and anchor somewhere inside and be forced to deal with another current gate the next morning (not to mention a correspondingly earlier departure, on a day that's going to be plenty long enough already).

Assuming all is well in Silva Bay, we'll get up around 0300 and head for Vancouver, a five to six hour crossing. That will put us into False Creek around 1000, and we should be able to slide right in to our reserved slip at the Harbour Authority. Then it's off to find the ticket office and pick up our will-call tickets, because the luge is the same day! Straight from the ticket office to the Sea Bus terminal on the south shore of Coal Harbour, across Vancouver Harbour to the Sea Bus/Olympic Bus Network terminus in North Vancouver, then onto a bus for the three hour ride to Whistler. Watch Olympics, get back on bus and do it all in reverse, save the sailing bit. If we're lucky, we'll be in bed by 0030.

If things go wrong further south, and we don't get out until Wednesday, or some other evil befalls us before crossing into Canada, our backup plan is to pull an all-nighter on the 12th (after resting up, hopefully, somewhere in the San Juans). We've gone from the San Juans straight to Vancouver before, and it's not a super-fun trip, particularly if we have to motor the whole way, but it is possible, and we can clear Customs at the marina in False Creek. Somebody is bound to be super-crabby if this turns out to be the case, however, because that's a lot of long night watch to stand. Particularly if the radar isn't working. Double-particularly in the debris outflow from the Fraser River. So, we're very much hoping against having to take that option.

After all that, I am very much looking forward to the remainder of our stay in Vancouver. We have a few days after the event, and it's going to be nice to just wander around and soak up the atmosphere in the city. We couldn't ask for a better location, and in fact most people staying around False Creek, so close to the Olympic Village, the GM Place ice hockey and BC Place opening and closing event venues, will be paying outrageous sums to be there. As is often the case on the water, we feel as if we're just sneaking in to the best part of the city, right in the heart of all the action, way out of our league. I'm excited at the opportunity... even if we get there late, and flush all the money spent on tickets and bus transport to Whistler, I'll still hopefully enjoy something of the trip just by being there.