No need for an alarm this morning. At first light the birds started singing and continued their songs till we were up. We were packed and ready to go by 7:45. The moon shown brightly last night and the seas had calmed. We went around the South side of Clark Island and then headed toward Orcas Island. The current seemed to be the least next to the shore. We took a break and watched the current slow in strength. We needed to do the next crossing at slack so taking a food break was good. In the distance we saw the large dorsal fins of two male Orcas. A stellar sea lion with the head the size of a large grizzly bear surfaced near us. I was glad when he did not get any closer.
Nice place for a food break.
There were quite a few houses on the islands as we paddled by. Several of them had a maze of staircases to reach the beach located below. We were fortunate today as the wind and current seemed to be with us or hugging the shore when we could helped.The long crossing of the day was between Waldron Island and South Pender. Once we did the crossing we were in Canada and needed to check in at customs before we could touch land. As we rounded a point we saw the Canadian flag and the custom building.
The building at the end of the dock is where there is a custom agent.
There was a custom agent here, but he directed us to the phone outside of the building.
This is where we were to report our entrance into Canada.
We picked up the phone and were connected to a custom agent in Ontario. He asked for our passport numbers and if we had any alcohol or weapons. We were then given a number to keep with us to show if we were stopped by any Canadian official. The process was quite efficient. The day was beautiful and we had gotten further than we had planned.
Hard not to paddle when the seas are calm!
Nearby was Beaumont Provincial Park. This was Victoria day in Canada and the sites were almost full. We started unloading next to where most likely a party was going to occur. Before we started though we were approached by a man who said that he had been saving a site, but had gotten word that his friends could not make it that evening and that we could occupy it. We were quite thankful for his offer and quickly set up camp in a quiet area. Somewhat stiff but thankful that we had a good paddle day.
Always glad when the tide is up when we are loading or unloading.
The mosquitos are out, not looking forward to sharing our bodies with them. Plan to continue our northward direction tomorrow.
Nautical Miles paddled today 21