[Faster]

It is possible to negotiate SOME of these passes at times other than slack. However you must use caution and common sense and in some cases (Porlier especially) you need to be aware of the weather and wind conditions in the Strait. Even a moderate flood stream against a big westerly will create some of the worst seas you are likely to encounter anywhere on Georgia strait.

It is equally important to know which direction each pass floods or ebbs, and it's often not what you might at first surmise.

You can often find backeddies close to shore, but make sure you're not too close for obvious reasons.

Some passes are simply not worth risking... others can be easily negotiated within and hour or two of slack, depending on your direction, your timing, the size of the tide etc.

Still others, like Gabriola, have virtually no real slack time and so you are negotiating eddies and swirls even at the scheduled "slack".

But for the safest passage, try for slack, realizing that everybody else is doing the same.