We were up bright and early to reach Surge Narrows (Beazley Passage) to navigate at near slack water. Currents build from dead calm to speeds of up to 13 knots within 3 hours, generating heavy tidal overfalls. There is only a 15 minute grace period to get through at slack water.

We stayed for 2 days celebrating our 23rd wedding anniversary at Octopus Islands.
Octopus Island Provincial Park is located between Quadra Island and Maurelle Island in Okisollo Channel. It is both remote and accessible at the same time. Nestled among a group of islands through which the waters of Johntsone Strait funnel into the Strait of Georgia. The area is undeveloped and pristine. We dropped the crab traps and had a bountiful of crab.

Hole in the Wall just outside the marine park is a mecca for fishermen that use the back eddies to catch the churning fish. To travel though these currents it must be done at slack There is only a 10 minute period where one can travel through. Hole in the Wall has strong turbulence and eddies along the north side of the west entrance.

As we continued our journey we decided to go up Johnstone Strait to Blind Channel (West Thurlow Island). The Blind Bay Marina would be our destination. It is a popular cruising stop and during the summer season would be extremely crowded, in fact a reservation would be necessary. The second week in September found half a dozen boats. We choose this place as there are forest trails to help stretch those legs out.
Ken and I decided to take the hike. Liz and Richard would stay at the boat as Liz was not certain that the hike would be good for her knee. We befriended a dog at the end of the warf. We called him Rex. We kept trying to send him home but he would have no part of it. As he led the way we came to a sign that read "Beware of Cougars, and Bears. We no longer tried to send Rex back in fact we were more than pleased to let Rex lead the way.

The Big Cedar Trail (45 min) leads across a creek and up through an old growth cedar rain forest. An 800 year old cedar tree, 24 feet in diameter, resides at the end of the trail. This forest has been harvested 3 times since 1872. It was quite remarkable and fortunately we saw no wildlife other than Rex.

Off to our next destination. Granite Bay on Quadra Island. Granite Bay is a landlocked bay , offering excellent protection in all weather. We had come to the Canadian Version of The Ozarks. We had the rickety old shacks, the characters that had to make us grin. Were we in OZ? Strange but oh so beautiful. Life traveling at a snails pace but everyone content to be in this place. Magic mushrooms? BC home grown marijuana? Two of the characters, two sheets to the wind( a nautical term) were collecting jellyfish for research for the government. Getting paid $1.00 a jellyfish. I am not so certain they were telling the truth.

The following day Liz and I were to catch a flight out of Campbell River having completed a ten day vacation with nothing but sun, great fishing and great company. Ken and Richard would continue on for the next four days putting the boat back into its slip until the next adventure.