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This morning Tim and Terry fired up the engine at 6 and I laid abed writing for a while. Eventually all and sundry crawled up on deck and we drank coffee (tea) and munched on toast, scrambled eggs and sausages. Donna is really spoiling us.

A bit later we did a drive-by of Telegraph Cove with a few morning dolphins. Leslie and Bob were still in their bunks or at least down below, so they missed them. We also checked out Alert Bay but we won’t stop until Port Hardy. Then we will top up all the tanks and head to Bull Harbour on Hope Island. And then tomorrow is Cape Scott and the Pacific Ocean.

I did my first docking of the trip in the tight marina at Port Hardy, but managed to bring the boat into the fuel dock successfully. Since this is the last civilization we fuelled up and had showers. Then it was back out and motoring the last 20nm to Bull Harbour. I sent off a last few messages before reliable cell coverage disappears.

I am having no luck with my tracks. Today’s died moments out of Port Hardy. In any event we arrived at Bull Harbour early evening and dropped anchor in 12′ of water. It’s a new moon so the tide was expected to rise up to 11′ more.

We ate dinner, sorted through our offshore gear and then hit the sack.

Tim and Terry were getting up at midnight to weigh anchor and cross the Nahwitti bar. Les, Bob and I were set for the 4am shift.

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B Timothy Keith
–a la iphone!

forgive the typos. It’s 6 am and my eyes are still blurry

Morning. Breakfast. Work on the engine. After an hour or so encouraging noises emitted from the bilges and soon the old Perkins was humming along. All it took was a few phone calls and the only two wrenches Tim hadn’t packed.

In the meantime I had a shower and ate my third apple of the trip; that’s a bad habit I’m going to have to break. Somewhere around 10ish we’d fueled up, topped up the water and cast off heading for Johnstone Strait with predictions of 15-20 and no idea what the current was doing.

Well when we hit Helmcken Island we figured it out: it was against us and so we were motoring at 6 knots with a SOG (speed over ground) of somewhere around 2. Eventually we called it and anchored up for lunch in a small bay on the south side of the island.

Terry zoomed around in the dinghy like a kid with a shiny new bike and the rest of us chilled. We’d seen a few sea lions fishing in the currents as we approached but no one had followed us in. Damn sea mammals.

Then we were off again. The winds were a steady 20 knots on the nose so we decided to raise sails and make the best of it. I can’t say we made much progress but it was a good exercise and as the waves grew it was likely a smoother ride. Eventually we had two reefs in the main and the foresail furled in to about 90% and it was a smooth ride for the next few hours. At some point int he Strait we met a Holland America cruise ship that had Tim’m mother on it. He tried to contact the boat but was ignored.

By now we knew we wouldn’t make Alert Bay or Port McNeil before dark but we were determined to try. Tim’s actually pretty gung-ho on the whole night passage thing. There was one likely looking anchorage at Growler Cove on the north side of West Cracroft that we had as a plan B, and as we approached it at sunset our growling stomachs made the decision for us. We set anchor, shed layers and convened in the salon for wine and hot food.

It was veggie soup and samosas and Leslie was in heaven making smacking noises and stealing food off my plate. I think she enjoyed it.

By this time it was 11-ish so we went up on deck to the blackest night I’ve ever experienced. No moon, no stars, no city glow, just one faint nav light beyond the entrance to the cove. Eerie.

And then to bed.

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So that was an interesting day. The internet is flaky so these entries are a bit of a mess. I’ll clean them up when I can or when I get back to civilization. I’m pretty sure my damn phone spent the entire day searching for cell towers and that’s why the battery was gone before noon. So the track from yesterday is split in two and missing the middle bit.

I’m sitting in the dock in Blind Channel Resort listening to the geese and being swarmed by tiny bugs. The geese here are seriously loud and the bugs are seriously annoying.

Yesterday we cast off from Squirrel Cove fairly early and motored in the glass calm water. As a result we arrived at Yucalta Rapids an hour or so early so we tacked back and forth to kill time.

The Rapids were a non-issue. We did see a ton of sea lions on a rocky beach, so we turned around and engaged in mutual gawking. They were louder than we were.

The day progressed until we hit Green Point rapids which we took at max ebb so it was a fun little ride with 6 knots of current helping us along. After the Rapids we raised the jib and motor-sailed back and forth up the channel for an hour or so until suddenly the motor died.

Apparently we had been cruising in the smaller tank at above average rpms and run the tank dry. Unfortunately the Perkins doesn’t like that and restarting it proved impossible because we couldn’t bleed the lines. Tim and I fussed with it for about 20 minutes while the rest of the crew sailed back towards the rapids where we had come from. We were 8 nm or so from two lodges (Cordero Bay and Blind Channel) so we got on the radio and called for assistance. Blind Channel sent out an aluminum cruiser and 30 minutes later hooked up a tow to our bow line.

It was an hour back to the marina and a docking without power worthy of R Shack Island, but soon we were tied up and ready for dinner.

An exciting day…

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The Track Part I

The Track Part I

A long day since yesterday.

Speaking of which we pulled out of Degnen Bay on the slack tide and transited Gabriola Pass and headed across the strait. We were greeted with 15 to 17 knot winds and had a hell of a sail for a few minutes. Then things calmed down and we slowly headed across the strait. Eventually we dropped the sails and motored on to Pender Harbour and dropped anchor in Garden Bay. Donna cooked up a delicious meal of 9-bean soup and cod which we ate up on deck.

Not to long afterwards we all headed to bed and that was the end of Day 1.

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This morning the rain woke us around 5 but we drifted back off to sleep. Around 7:30 everyone was on deck and ready for breakfast: strawberries, yogurt, granola and French toast. We are not losing any weight on this trip.

There are 6 of us aboard. Leslie and I have the aft cabin, Tim and Donna occupy the main salon and Bob and Terry are sharing the v-berth. Bob is from Winnipeg and slowly retiring to Pender Island. Terry is also retired although damned if I can remember where he’s from.

After breakfast we up-anchored and swung around to Hospital Bay for fuel and water. Then it was out to Malaspina Strait and another long day.

As soon as we cleared the harbour we raised the sails and put in a few hours on a beam reach. As the winds died and shifted we decided to try out the spinnaker. A big, beautiful sail emblazoned with a rampant bull, the spinnaker is a bull of a sail to control and we all learned a lot getting the damned thing flying. As the winds shifted we managed to pull the spinnaker to the side and flew it almost like a big gennaker. This allowed us to point a bit higher and we kept it out as we headed up the strait.

Eventually however, the wind died and we fired up the motor again. It stayed sunny and calm for the rest of the day. Past Powell River and Lund, through the Copeman Islands and into Desolation Sound. Tonight’s destination is Squirrel Cove.

Some where along the way we diverted to Refuge Cove. But after tying up we realized there was nothing open and the showers were still closed for the season. So we cast off and went back to Squirrel Cove. All tied up, Leslie and I investigated the closed store and showers. Back at the boat an otter was greeting the crew but took off a few minutes after we got back. Dinner was almond chicken and red wine but it was already late and soon we decided bed was in the cards.

Cell is crappy here so pics tomorrow. Maybe. It might be a few days.

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