Offgrid Enthusiasts

Sometimes the best parts of a boating trip are the ones you never planned.

When we went to bed at Thormanby Island on our first night, we already knew Day Two wasn’t going to begin quite the way we had hoped.

Our anchor windlass had stopped working.

And unfortunately, we had about 200 feet of anchor chain sitting on the bottom.

So before we could continue north toward Desolation Sound, there was one small problem to solve:

How were we going to get 200 feet of chain — plus the anchor — back onto the boat by hand?

Waiting for the Weather

The winds were gusting to around 15 knots that morning, but the forecast showed them settling down later in the day.

There was no point rushing.

We decided to wait for the better weather, come up with a plan for retrieving the anchor and head for Texada Island that afternoon.

From Thormanby to Van Anda was roughly a 4 hour run for us at around 8 knots, depending on our exact route and conditions.

But first, we had to get off the anchor.

200 Feet of Chain… By Hand

There was definitely some strategizing involved.

Because the windlass wasn’t helping us, Jared was going to have to manually pull the chain aboard.

My job was to run the boat.

The idea was to use the boat to take as much load off the chain as possible so Jared wasn’t trying to physically pull the boat toward the anchor. I needed to keep us positioned close to where the chain was coming up while avoiding driving over it.

We worked out a few hand signals ahead of time so Jared could tell me which direction he needed me to move the boat.

Forward.

Neutral.

Left.

Right.

Stop.

And then we went for it.

Little by little, Jared started hauling the chain aboard.

All 200 feet of it.

Plus the anchor.

I’m not going to pretend I wasn’t impressed.

Luckily, we both spend a fair amount of time at F45 — but I think Jared earned a few weeks off after that one.

Somehow, it all worked exactly as we had hoped.

The anchor came up, the chain was back onboard and we were free.

Huge relief.

Now we could finally point the boat toward Texada.

Heading for Van Anda

With the wind settling down, we made our way north toward Texada Island.

Our destination was Sturt Bay, beside the small community of Van Anda.

As we approached, we radioed the Texada Boating Club and connected with Jenny, the wharfinger, who directed us to the visitor dock and let us know exactly where she wanted us to put the boat.

It immediately felt like one of those small, friendly BC boating stops.

The Texada Boating Club is tucked into protected Sturt Bay, surrounded by forested bluffs and a large rock breakwater. The club has more than 500 feet of dock space, including transient moorage for visiting boats, and Van Anda’s basic amenities are within walking distance.

We tied up.

For the moment, at least, we weren’t going anywhere.

Sometimes You Meet Exactly the Right Person

Earlier that morning, we’d already started working on Plan B for the windlass.

We called The Harbour Chandler in Nanaimo and found a replacement windlass.

There was just one problem.

We were on Texada.

The windlass was in Nanaimo.

Thankfully, our friends Dennis and Tracey were already planning to meet us farther north in Desolation Sound with our aluminum fishing boat.

So we called them and asked for a pretty significant favour.

Would they stop in Nanaimo, pick up our new windlass and bring it with them when they came north?

Of course they said yes.

Problem number one solved.

But as we were about to discover, buying the windlass was only the beginning.

The Boating Community Comes Through

Not long after arriving at the dock, we noticed a marine mechanic working on somebody else’s boat.

What are the chances?

We introduced ourselves to James and asked if he would mind having a look at our windlass setup.

He took one look and quickly realized the replacement wasn’t going to be a simple remove-one-and-bolt-the-other-one-in repair.

Our new windlass needed to sit higher.

James explained that he would have to build a custom fibreglass riser so the new system would sit correctly and the chain would feed into the locker the way it was supposed to.

This wasn’t exactly a five-minute repair.

But he could do it.

We couldn’t believe our luck.

We had arrived on a small island with a broken windlass and somehow tied up almost beside someone capable of fabricating exactly what we needed.

That’s boating.

Pizza on the Boat

While we waited for Dennis and Tracey to make their way north, we settled into life at the dock.

We met up with friends aboard the boat, and they arrived carrying one of the greatest things anyone can bring after a long day on the water:

Pizza.

They picked it up from the Texada Island Inn, just a short walk from the harbour.

Maybe we were hungry.

Maybe it had been a long couple of days.

Or maybe it was just really good pizza.

Either way, it absolutely hit the spot.

We sat aboard the boat, ate dinner with friends and laughed about how quickly our carefully planned Desolation Sound itinerary had already gone sideways.

We were only a couple of days in.

One Day Became Five

Eventually Dennis arrived carrying our new windlass, and James got to work.

The repair turned into a proper project.

A custom fibreglass riser had to be fabricated and fitted. The windlass had to be installed correctly. And while we were doing all of this, we decided we might as well improve the system at the same time.

We found a local electrician who wired the windlass into our dash so we could now operate it from inside the boat, rather than relying solely on the controls at the bow.

One day on Texada became two.

Then three.

Eventually, our quick repair stop turned into five days on Texada Island.

And strangely enough, we didn’t really mind.

Exploring Texada Island

Being stuck somewhere isn’t so bad when the somewhere is Texada.

Once we knew we weren’t leaving immediately, we started exploring.

Texada has a completely different feel from the busier Gulf Islands farther south. It’s quiet, rugged and still very connected to its resource-industry roots.

At roughly 50 kilometres long, Texada is considered British Columbia’s largest Gulf Island and has only around 1,200 residents.

Mining has played a huge role in the island’s history. Gold, copper and iron were all mined around the Van Anda area beginning in the late 1800s, and limestone quarrying continues to be an important part of Texada today. Some of the old mining history is still visible around the island, including remnants, equipment and old rail grades.

One of those old railway beds now forms part of the trail system around Emily Lake, near Van Anda.

We wandered around town, explored parts of the island, went for walks and made a trip to Texada Market to top up some of our provisions.

Considering I had provisioned the boat for close to a month, we didn’t need much — but somehow there is always something you forgot.

A Few Fun Facts About Texada

We learned a few things about the island while we were there that made Texada even more interesting.

Texada is nicknamed the “Jewel of the Georgia Strait.”

It’s a surprisingly good bird-watching destination. More than 250 resident and migratory bird species have been recorded on the island, including bald eagles, herons, loons, osprey and cormorants.

And here’s one we definitely didn’t expect:

Texada has no resident bears or cougars.

The local tourism organization even promotes the island’s hiking because of the absence of those major predators.

The island’s mining history also goes way back. Texada was one of the earlier major mining areas on Canada’s West Coast, with copper and gold operations around Van Anda dating to the late 1800s and early 1900s.

For such a quiet island today, there is an incredible amount of history hiding in the forest.

Five Days We Never Planned

When we left home, we certainly hadn’t planned on spending five days tied to a dock on Texada Island.

At the time, all we wanted to do was get the windlass fixed and continue north.

But looking back, this is exactly the kind of experience that makes travelling by boat memorable.

Things break.

Weather changes.

Plans change.

And sometimes you end up somewhere you never expected to spend much time.

More importantly, it reminded us how incredible the boating community can be.

Dennis and Tracey changed their plans to pick up a windlass for us in Nanaimo.

Jenny helped get us settled at the dock.

James took on a repair that required far more than simply bolting on a new part.

A local electrician helped us improve the system while we were there.

And the people around us made what could have been a frustrating five-day delay feel like part of the adventure.

We left Texada with a new windlass, a better anchor-control setup, a few more provisions and another place on the BC coast that we’ll always associate with good people.

Most importantly…

We could finally use our anchor again.

Which was a good thing, because where we were heading next, we were definitely going to need it.

Our friends Dennis and Tracey were heading north too, and it was finally time to continue toward the place we’d been trying to reach from the beginning.

Next stop: Prideaux Haven and Desolation Sound.