Sailing the Gulf Islands. Snorkeling, Cactus, and Sailing to Where the Water Is Cold | Episode 5 |

With a historic heat wave on the way, we left our cabin in the forest and set off aboard Sea Dream of Clyde to where we knew there would be natural air conditioning. The water around the south end of Vancouver Island, which comes in fresh daily from the deep Pacific Ocean is perpetually cold. Huge tidal exchanges and lots of currents cause upwellings, which brings cold water from deep down up to the surface. Swimming in this area is a in and out affair!

We checked out Narvaez Bay on Saturna Island, stopped by Rum Island for a snorkel and to check out the beautiful flowering prickly pear cactus, and then finished the trip off with a day working aboard at Sidney Spit on Sidney Island.

While there was only sporadic wind, we made the most of it, and took advantage of favorable currents to travel quickly while motoring. During the three days we were out on the water, the all time heat record for Canada was broken, not once, but three times, topping out at 49.6c away from the coast in Lytton BC !! In our home town, the mercury pushed 40c which is extreme for this part of the world. For the most part, we were perfectly comfortable aboard, with the cold water against the hull keeping the boat cabin cool, plus lots of quick swims to cool off.

Thanks to Alex for the sweet thumbnail photo of Sea Dream of Clyde in action!

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