Home again

We made it home....friends Janet & Mark and Jim & Virginia, on board Rosie, came out to escort us home the last two hours of the trip. It was fun being greeted with horns and waves! And, as Virginia shouted to me, "You cheated death yet again!" Always a good thing.

After leaving Nanaimo we headed through Dodd Narrows and into Montague Harbor. We counted 110 boats in the harbor at anchor - we didn't count the boats at the marina or the ones on the provincial park mooring buoys. Good thing Montague is huge, eh? We had warm weather - easily in the 80's - and a really calm night. Then we had to go to Roche Harbor to go through US Customs. I really, really dislike Roche Harbor (unless I'm going to the marina, of course). It's always windy, there are always a TON of boats in there, and the customs dock is, like, 80 feet long - with at least 4 60' boats waiting to go through customs. And, of course, since it's customs, no one except the captain can get off the boat. Usually there's someone to grab a line for you, but it does mean Bob gets to jump off the boat while we're still a couple feet from the dock. (Although, I've gotta say, I can bring that stern in pretty darn close.)

We made it through customs and went over to Shaw Island to anchor for the night. And here's another reason we like boating in Northwest waters - we see things like this, from time to time. Isn't she lovely?


So, now we're home, I'm done blogging for another few months or so, or at least until the next trip......

Meet you all over on facebook.

Sunday, July 25
Day 40 (but who’s counting)

Happy 31st birthday, Douglas! (Wow, my youngest is over 30 - can’t lie about my age any more. I don’t think it’s possible for a 40-year-old to have a 31-year-old, is it, Trina???)

We’re back in Nanaimo. Got blown in here this afternoon after a long day. We left Comox at 5:30 this morning, in strong wind warnings. We decided to take a look and see if we could get to the south end of Denman Island, at least. Well, gosh, it was pretty darn calm, wind speeds about 10 (they claimed 15, but it didn’t seem that strong) and a fairly low swell……2 hours later we were at the end of Denman Island. “Hmmmm,” says we, “still seems pretty good. Let’s go on a bit, we can always anchor in Parksville.” Of course, we did remind ourselves that the area between Denman Island and Qualicum is probably pretty rolly, since it’s wide open to the Straits. Here’s a picture of what the waters looked like as we headed towards Nanaimo….


If we’d seen that, we’d have stayed put. As we went further south, the winds got stronger. Here in Nanaimo it’s blowing about 22-25 knots right now. This place is insane. There’s some kind of bathtub race going on, and right now, as I sit on the visitor’s dock at the Nanaimo Yacht Club, I count 23 boats coming in and out of this bay - not included the 35 or 40 boats sitting at anchor over at Newcastle. Note to selves: Do not come to Nanaimo on a sunny weekend!Newcastle boats

We feel as though we’ve come through a time warp. Friday morning we were in quiet Grace Harbour with a few other boats stern-tied to shore in relatively peaceful Desolation Sound. And we thought THAT was crowded! Ha. Coming back into civilization is a rude awakening. Guess I’ll have to actually brush my hair and put on decent clothes to go up to the yacht club! We’ve gotten used to everyone in fleece and jeans with rumpled hat-hair. We fit right in.

Tomorrow we’ll go through Dodd Narrows (our last Securite call of the season, probably) and anchor in one of the Gulf Islands. Then we’re thinking we’ll go through US customs on Wednesday morning at Friday Harbor. We have Nexus cards, but when we came north Canadian immigration told Bob that his card wasn’t in the system - mine was, so, clearly, I am more trustworthy than Bob. They finally took his info over the phone when he read his ID number off the Nexus card in his wallet. I don’t know what happened - we got the cards at the same time, from the same customs officer….Oh, well. We’ll see if they got it straightened out when we try to come through the border. I should be safe - I have no citrus fruit, no potatoes, no onions and no guns. Now, Bob, on the other hand……….how far is Leavenworth, KS, from Oak Harbor????

Still in Comox

The strong winds in the Straits of Georgia continue, so we are still at the dock in Comox. Comox gets a lot of the fishing fleet from Queen Charlotte Sound, and we're docked next to a few.


Since we took their picture, we felt obligated to purchase a ling cod from one of them...for only $40 I have 10 pounds of ling cod in my freezer, not to mention a HUGE head and tail - yay, good crab bait! While the crab bit on my prawn heads up in Clayden Bay, we haven't caught a single prawn since then, so I'm out of bait (I used up the salmon parts that Mary flirted for). So on our way south we'll be mining the Gulf and San Juan Islands for more crab.

We had a wonderful dinner last night at the Blackfin Pub...a perfectly fine reason to come to Comox any time. They have a lemon cake that is fantastic. I tried to replicate it for Becky's birthday a couple of years ago unsuccessfully, so I asked if the chef shared the recipe. He told me to email him, so I'm going to give it a try. His veal schnitzel was great, too......

We'll head out for Nanaimo tomorrow. We asked the fishermen this morning about the route to take and the winds - they have the local knowledge that makes boating so much easier. They told us to stay put today but that tomorrow it'd be okay, even in the 15-knot winds. We're going to take their word for it.

"I'm French kissing life square on the mouth, sailing out on the sea"
-Kenny Chesney

Comox, BC

We crossed the Straits of Georgia this morning at 5:00AM, since that's about the only time of day the winds die down enough. BC has had a really windy July, due to an offshore high pressure system that has been sitting in one place for the month. Plus, while a high pressure area in Washington gives us lovely, pretty windless weather, up here it is accompanied by strong winds. There have been gale warnings daily in the Johnstone Strait and Queen Charlotte Strait areas, and strong wind warnings in the Straits of Georgia. Sigh. We decided to come over here today, since today's "strong wind warnings" were lighter than tomorrow's warnings. C'est la vie.

We spent two days in Desolation Sound before coming across. Desolation Sound is lovely, but not my favorite area. It's so crowded. Every anchorage is chock full of boats, and no one seems to get up early and leave. Farther north, one gets used to getting up and getting out by 6:00am.....once you cross the rapids that separate Desolation from the Broughton area things are more laid back....but, for those of us who do get up early, it means that when we arrive at a new place, no one has left yet, so we end up kind of hanging around, waiting for room to anchor. Not something that either one of us likes to do. So, after getting blown all around for a couple of nights (one in Squirrel Cove and one in Grace Harbour), we looked at each other at 5:00am today and said, "We're goin' over, Ricky!" (Inside joke - trust me, my kids are laughing at this.)

We expect to be home next weekend. I will call Janet when I know what day, and she will notify my WOWie peeps, and of course, we'll call all the kids.........

Mother, Mother Ocean, I have heard your call....

Shoal Bay, BC

Coming home.

We left Port Harvey this morning (July 20) at 5:00am. Port Harvey is the last, easternmost anchorage in the Broughton Archipelago. We entered Johnstone Strait in gale warnings (but that's been a daily occurrence up here)about 5:30 and headed up Sunderland Channel. We had to stop for an hour because we were a little too early to go through Whirlpool Rapids (they were running at 6 knots when we got there - too fast for Nellie), but by 11:00 they were at 3.5 knots and doable. That got us to Green Point Rapids at exactly slack tide - wow, I think it's the first time we've ever gone through them at slack. Piece of cake. We are at the government dock in Shoal Bay, a great little spot for any of you who feel like cruising up here with us some time.....On the dock at Shoal BayView from the Shoal Bay dock


We will spend the next few days up here in the Eastern Johnstone Strait area, then head over to Campbell River on Friday, when the winds are supposed to be calm. (But we'll believe that when we see it.)

We only traveled about 40 statute miles today, but we entered a different climate....we went from fleece and warm jeans to shorts and flip-flops. Ahhhh, it feels like summer today! (And this morning it was cold - about 50F - and foggy and drizzly.)Clouds over Eastern Johnstone Strait

Passed a bunch of very small, white ducks (for lack of a better word) with black heads. If Jeff and Bev would just get Braveheart up here with us, I could've radioed Jeff and asked him what they were - he'd know, I bet. Where's Mary when I need her???

Just in case anyone is keeping track, I now have the leverage. (See early post from Von Donop)

July 18

We're in Lagoon Cove, one of our favorite places in the Broughtons. Bill (the owner) is telling his bear stories, and we feasted on a bunch of prawns - not caught by us. Bill has the magic touch when it comes to prawns. Lagoon Cove is about the only place up here where you get a kiss and a hug and a big "Welcome back!" when you come in. There are a few hiking trails up here, so we decided to stretch our legs a bit. Well, we hiked to "lookout point" (never did find it, btw) - ummmm, we were surrounded by birch and cedar....anyone remember what trees I am most allergic to?? Yes, that'd be cedar and birch. By the time we realized it, we were already up there, so we just continued (I have lots of antihistamine on board, and I did remember to take my allergy pill today)....now, I don't want to complain that the trail was a little steep, but we got to one part of the trail and there is a knotted rope - because you have to rappel up and down the trail! Yeah, I did it. But I deserve something good (I'm thinking dinner in Comox).

We decided this morning that we're tired of dodging winds, so we're turning south and coming home. (Janet, I need to go shopping for new walking shoes when I get home. We have to start training for the Wings of Gold Half Marathon.) I have a wedding dress to finish sewing, a couple of quilts to finish for the quilt show in November, and, doggone it, some summer to enjoy! Plus, we've missed Bob's mom's 88th birthday - which is in two days, but we won't be home for it. So, Happy Birthday, Borg!

Three weeks in the Broughtons are enough. We've been to all the spots we like, some several times, we've crossed and recrossed Queen Charlotte Straits three times - it's time to come home!

July 16

Sointula means "place of harmony" in Finnish. It's also a tiny little town on Malcolm Island near Port McNeill in the Queen Charlotte Straits. We didn't actually intend to come to Sointula today, but.....

This morning we were in Port McNeill. We've been monitoring the weather, hoping the winds would die down (it's been pretty crazy). Every morning at 4:00AM the local lighthouses issue reports giving the wind speed and sea state. Right here, the light house is Pulteny Point. This morning I guess the lighthouse keeper decided to sleep in, as there was no report from Pulteny Point. So, we listened to the next closest lighthouse, which is Scarlett Point. Scarlett Point reported winds of about 10-15 knots, with a "low westerly swell" and a "2-foot chop." Okay. That's not exactly perfect, but it's not terrible. (Remember, this is not the LOCAL reporting station, it's just the next best.) So, we took off at 6:00AM - a little windy, but not too awful. We ran up (that would be westward) the coast of Vancouver Island in between Vancouver Island and Malcolm Island and turned north to cross Queen Charlotte Straits and go back to the Broughtons. Ha. Double Ha. Those 10-15 knot winds became more like 15-20 knot winds, and that "low westerly swell" looked much more like 6-foot waves with a 2-foot chop on top of them. We took the battering for, oh, maybe 15 minutes, then looked at one another, said, "This is ridiculous" and turned the boat around. As soon as our back was to the wind and waves it got much better, so we decided to come down to Sointula, which is just across the water (about 3 or 4 miles) from Port McNeill. Here we will stay until the gales cease. The last weather report we heard indicates that we'll be here another day...maybe Sunday will be better.

There is a Burger Barn in Sointula. Well, it IS Friday, after all.....what else would we eat on a Friday??? The town is about 1 1/2 miles from the marina, but, although the wind is nuts, it's not a bad walk. Sointula reminds us of Lopez Island - everybody waves. It's a unique little (and I do mean LITTLE) town. The store here is a Cooperative, begun in 1909 by the Finns who founded the town, making it the oldest grocery store in BC. This place was started at the end of the 19th century by a bunch of Finns from Vancouver. It was a commune, where everything was communally owned and everyone was equal - including women! (Let's hear it for the Finns!!) Remember, this was in 1900 - equality for women was a looooooooonnnnngg way off for the rest of the world. Lots of artists, granola-eaters and tree-huggers live in Sointula. It really IS like Lopez island! There is a farmers' market tomorrow, and I plan to be there with my cloth bags, ready for action. (Too bad I didn't bring my Birkenstocks. I don't think Crocs have the same esoteric appeal.)

Bottom line: we're at a dock much more than we planned and certainly more than we like to be, but we're safe and snug while we listen to the wind howl (there are even whitecaps INSIDE the breakwater).

There are bikes here to borrow, so maybe we'll give that a try tomorrow instead of walking into town.....

I'll get pictures of Sointula tomorrow.......

Port McNeill, 2nd time around

We came across the straits today during a gale warning....the water was flat as a pancake, with no wind to speak of. Don't know where Environment Canada gets its weather info, but I'm guessing that weather.ca may be more than just a convenient way to see if it's going to be nice at home. There have been gale warnings every day for the past 4 or 5 days, so we decided to just go ahead and go for it. We leave early (about 5:00AM) and so far we have missed the winds.

We both thought we'd lost some weight - me, mainly because my jeans are too big - but now I have decided it's just because they've gotten stretched out from being worn many days. (If, when it dries, it can be easily brushed off, it doesn't count as dirt, right?) You'd be surprised at how many days you can wear a pair of jeans. Today we put on anything that was clean and took two big LL Bean bags (the BIG ones - thank you, Ross) of dirty clothes up to the laundromat. Ahhhhh....when we were in Sullivan Bay we washed only a couple pairs of jeans and shirts each - had to limit ourselves to one load only, given the price of laundry! ($5 to wash, $5 to dry, plus tax)

We will stay here tonight (and maybe tomorrow, we'll see how the winds look) and then I'd like to go to Sointula, just across the way, only about 4 miles from here. After that, we're going to wind up Tribune Channel - we found several bays and areas that we have never visited, so that's next. We'll start up Knight Inlet and see how it goes. That inlet connects directly to Johnstone Straits, though, so if it's windy we may change that plan. We always seem to be running from the wind up here....unlike home, a high pressure area up here means high winds. At home, when we get our summertime high it's lovely sunny weather - not so much up here, although we have had some sun, finally.

So far, the seafood tally has not changed: Crab - 16, Shrmip - 43, Fish - 1 (how sad)

Sullivan's Bay, North Broughton Island

We left Echo Bay on July 3, fishing along Cramer Passage(with no luck). We anchored in Waddington Bay and listened to Environment Canada pass along gale warnings. Bob put out a 2nd anchor and an additional 100' of chain and we dug in. It was crazy! Wind speeds over 20 knots in a protected bay. Sheesh. It continued until July 6. The wind was stronger than the currents, so our boat didn't move an inch while we were anchored. When we woke up on the 6th we were surprised by the quiet - no more howling wind. We decided that we'll be staying on the eastern side of the Broughtons - we had planned to go over to Sointula but that'll just have to wait for another week or so. Left Waddington Bay early on the 6th and came back "inside" to Laura Cove. A pretty little place - but it was pretty popular. There were 6 boats in the cove - we were all stern tied, so everybody had plenty of room. The weather turned gorgeous - summer came to the Broughtons! It was in the 80's and just lovely. As the weather turned, so did our luck with local seafood. We trapped 3 dozen prawns (big ones!) and Bob brought in a nice rock cod.

Pretty little Laura Cove
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Laura Cove was home for two days, then we came up to the north islands and stayed in Clayden Bay, another place we remember liking. As we cruised along we were kept company by 6 or 7 dolphins. They swam alongside us, leaping and cavorting in the water. They're such fun to watch! They'd swim along on one side then swim under the boat and leap up on the other side. One posed for Bob - I swear they know what's going on!Take my picture, Bob!

The crabbing is amazing in there - and it's not deep. At home we put our crab pots in about 80 - 100' of water, but here we caught 8 in only 40 feet. (Those 8 were spread over 2 days, lest any Fish and Game people are reading this.) The crab we pulled in were huge - easily 2 pounds each.

Today we came over to Sullivan's Bay Resort....I like this place, with all the cute floating summer homes. It's laundry day, so we can begin feeling human again - ahhhh, clean clothes!

Canada Day!

Thursday, July 1


Happy Canada Day! We’re at Pierre’s at Echo Bay…..this is probably the “fanciest” marina in the Broughtons….at least the fanciest we’ve ever seen. (It’s the Broughtons’ answer to Roche Harbor only not quite that snooty.) These boats are from the Saanich Yacht Club. Saanich is ‘way down near Victoria, so this is almost as far from home for them as it is for us. Evidently they come up to Pierre’s every year for the holiday. They appear to be having a great time!

We like coming to Pierre’s. They now have a partner, Jerome, who is just great. He’s just about the most helpful fisherman we’ve ever met. He helped Bob fix the downrigger, then gave him all kinds of helpful hints about where the fish seem to be biting around here. He even donated a bunch of prawn heads for us - great crab bait! We’re dropping the prawn pot this afternoon and will leave it out until the 3rd when we toddle off to the next anchorage.

While I enjoy it here, what with power and water and all the amenities, I really do like to be sitting at anchor in a nice little quiet bay. When we leave here we’re going to head over to the southwestern portion of the islands, near Blackfish Sound, where the Tyee and halibut appear to be biting. Then we’ll probably head back to Port McNeill to do some laundry. (Laundry up here costs about $10 a load to wash and dry….it’s easier to go back to Port McNeill, where I can get more fresh veggies and fruits while my clothes are drying.) We’ll come back to the Broughtons after one night, providing the weather cooperates. You can see by the low dark clouds in the pictures just what kind of weather we’ve been having. I’m hopeful that July will bring summer up here! Bob brought a bunch of shorts (silly man) and he’s eager to start wearing them.

Today we got the autopilot working! This just reinforces our decision to stay south of Cape Caution this year…..

And one for the guys who sit around and talk boats with Bob…..here is a picture of Bob’s dream boat, just sitting across from us. Looks like it’s a fairly new (maybe 2000 or newer) Nordhavn. Mmmmm, wish we had that extra $1M just sitting around. Yesterday, at Shawl Bay, we were next to a 1984 Krogen, which is MY dream boat….we could get one of those for only twice what Nellie’s worth!

Shawl Bay, BC

Sunday,

We left Port Hardy at 0500 (yawn) in order to fish along Duvall Point (according to our beautifully-French-accented dock neighbor, that’s the ONLY place to catch King Salmon)…arrived, along with a bunch of fishing boats, and proceeded to troll. I did my part - I kept the boat at under 2.0 knots and in over 320 feet of water……..Bob got everything ready, trolled for , oh, I don’t know, maybe 30 minutes - and OOPS….the cable on the downrigger got caught. Soooo, we finally had to cut the cable, leaving the weights and cable on the sea floor. Our story is that we actually hooked a 200-pound halibut and the two of us couldn’t haul it up so we had to cut the line. We’re sticking to it.

So, we went back to Port Hardy (not a super great town, by the way - makes Neah Bay look good) in search of another downrigger cable. Ummmm, it’s SUNDAY. Nothing is open, so Bob said, that’s enough, let it go. We left Port Hardy’s government docks (not much to recommend there, either) and headed across the Queen Charlotte Straits for the third time. (Lucky for us the weather has been very calm). While we were running, we were accompanied by a really huge sea lion. He/she was simply enormous - very pale, almost white….but simply enormous. Entertained us for a few miles while he/she dove and surfaced. We anchored in a little bay in the Walker Group for the night. It was calm, it was peaceful, it was BORING. But, we caught five crab, so all is not lost.

Total so far: crab is now $20 each (based on the $110 paid for the fishing license.) No prawns so far. I’m disappointed.

Monday

After pulling up more crab and cooking them, we left our anchorage and headed back to the Broughton Archipelago, where we feel a lot more comfortable. This is our fourth crossing of Queen Charlotte Straits…..all the stories are hooey. They say the Straits are dangerous, scary, etc., etc. So far, we’ve been lucky. They’ve been fine. Today, it was calm as a mill pond. (Next year it’ll be insane and I will eat these words.)

We’ve anchored for the night in a tiny cove on Dickson Island. Absolutely nothing to recommend it except total isolation, which isn’t a bad thing. We’ll take off tomorrow for a little more fishing…..still hunting for anything with fins!

Tuesday

We went to Sullivan Bay Marina here in the Broughtons, which had the necessary cable for the downrigger, AND a to-die-for cherry turnover, hot from the over. Yum. After fishing for a few hours, (no luck) we anchored for the night in Carriden Bay, which could easily win my “best anchorage in the Broughtons” award. We were alone in a lovely big bay, as still as a mill pond…..and pulled out three spot prawns. Okay, so 3 prawns is not a lot, but at least we know the bait works.

We are spending tonight (Wednesday) in the Shawl Bay Marina. We’ve been here before - a nice little marina, with pancake breakfasts for travelers. We won’t be leaving until AFTER breakfast. Tomorrow we will go to Pierre’s at Echo Bay - a favorite marina. Tove and Pierre are just the best hosts ever. Tove greets boaters wearing a tiara and carrying roses - how much more welcome can you get, eh?

Okay, we're listening!

Okay, we finally listened…….this is as far north as we’re going. We are in Port Hardy, BC, the northernmost town on Vancouver Island.

Thursday, we left Port McNeill and crossed Queen Charlotte Straits on our way to Cape Caution. We anchored in a little harbor on the east side of the straits - Allison Harbour. No one there but our two boats. It was serene and beautiful. We were visited by a bear (I didn’t seem him/her, Mary did.) who was hunting for crab along the shore. Just a really lovely spot. Yesterday morning we tried to leave at 0500 to go around Cape Caution - "tried" being the operative word. When we raised the anchor, our windlass jammed - completely dead. We cannot continue without a windlass - that's a major setback. (Thank goodness the windlass died when the anchor was already up!)So we came back across the straits to Port Hardy, the northenmost town on Vancouver Island. It's a commercial fishing center, so we were able to get the windlass fixed by 7:00pm last night. Today Bob will reinstall the windlass and we'll take off tomorrow. But this is as far north as we're comfortable going this year. We're both disappointed. We planned for this trip for months, spent a lot of money on getting everything ready, not counting the 3 month's worth of provisions that we have on board....but we both agree that this year we're just not "meant" to get to Alaska. Shoot, I'm not sure we're even supposed to be on board the boat! Bob's really disappointed in Nellie....he's worked so hard on this boat, and she's been reliable and completely safe, even when we've been in some really bad waters. But now he simply hasn't confidence in her. We'd rather be around for another twenty years boring our kids and grandkids with sea stories.

So, the plan is to go up to the Walker Group for a day or two - just a bit northeast of Port Hardy in Queen Charlotte Sound - and hope to catch a Tyee (that's Canadian for King Salmon)or two. Then, Bob would like to come back to Port Hardy on Tuesday, since there is a representative from Simrad coming to town, and he has questions about our non-working autopilot. (Yet another thing that isn't working on this trip.) After that we're heading over to the Broughtons for a few weeks. I love the Broughtons, so I'm completely satisfied with that choice. You can sit for days in an incredible little anchorage with nothing but eagles, bears and sea lions for company.

Speaking of aquatic critters, on our way to Port Hardy yesterday morning, we passed a colony (herd? group? pod? school?) of sea otters. It's extremely unusual to see them, but there they were, just off our port bow. We slowed down to watch them play. They're amazing.

I expect to be posting a bit more frequently than I expected, since there are a number of Wifi hotspots in the Broughtons - most marinas have wifi, and we plan to visit all 5 marinas. (Yup, in an area thousands of square miles large, there are FIVE marinas - and we're not talking Roche Harbor-size, either. They hold, maybe 15-20 boats. That's it.)

So, we're off tomorrow fishing. Well, okay, Bob's fishing. I'm reading or quilting. Next post will come with pictures, hopefully, of Bob holding a salmon, halibut, or ling cod - or all three!

Cheers!

Welcome to Alert Bay, BC


Alert Bay is the traditional home of the 'Namgis First Nation. It's a great little town with the terrific U'mista Cultural Centre. The carvings alone are worth seeing, but the video that runs is really interesting - and very poignant. After watching the video, which depicts the creation of the U'mista Centre, it's almost difficult to wander through the great log building, seeing all of the masks and robes that were worn at potlatches. The history here is that in the early 1900's (around 1919) the government (the US government did the same thing)made the tribal potlatch illegal and demanded that the tribes give all their masks and coppers and other potlatch accoutrements to the government in Ottawa. Then their children were forcibly removed from their homes and put into foster care in other towns, where they "learned to be white." It was really sad (again, we did the same thing in the US - must have been considered the thing to do with aboriginal peoples). In 1980, those artifacts were returned to the 'Namgis tribe, and they have created the cultural centre - U'mista is Kwakiutl for "return." Anyway, a very interesting place to visit.

The front doors of the U'mista Cultural Centre - carved by local, tribal artists

This trip reminds us of the old joke: a man was in a great flood, and sat upon his roof in the floodwaters, praying: "Dear God, please save me." Well, a young girl on a jetski came by and asked him if he wanted a ride. He said, "No thanks, kiddo, God's gonna save me." Then, a boy in a rowboat came along and asked if he wanted a ride, he again replied,"No thanks, son, God's gonna save me." Later, a US helicopter came by and the soldier shouted down, "Hey, Pops, you need help?" He said, "No thanks, God's gonna save me." When he ultimately drowned, he railed at God in Heaven, asking Him why He hadn't saved him. God said, "First, I sent a jetski, then I sent a rowboat, finally I sent a helicopter. Is it my fault you won't listen to me?" The moral is: something has gone wrong with Nellie every single day of this trip. Nothing huge, but every day it's been something. Now, we are running on our backup computer.....that makes us nervous, since after tomorrow we will be several days away from any kind of help. So, we have decided that we will go north, but probably not all the way to Alaska. It will still be there next year....We want to be sure that we're listening. This just doesn't seem like the year to go that far.

That said, tomorrow looks like a good day to go around Cape Caution (aka Primrose Point). It's another long day - about 50 miles. Tonight we'll look closely at the charts and find a few safe places, in case the weather deteriorates and we can't make it the whole way. Once around, we'll be in Queen Charlotte Sound, and we'll travel slowly up through the area, into the Fiordland Recreation Area, which is about 7 days north of Cape Caution. The next time we have any kind of internet access will be in Bella Bella or Shearwater (First Nation villages), so it will be several days before I can update this blog.

In happy news, The USA BEAT ALGERIA in the World Cup! We are first in our group!!!

Made it to Port McNeill!

Bad news, good news, bad news……

Saturday
Well, the bad news isn’t all that bad, really. We tried to leave Lund at 0530. Had the lines off, ready to take off, when Nellie chose not to start. Not a click, nothing. By 0615 Bob had figured out it was the solenoid (for which we have a spare) and was able to start the engine. We got out of Lund just after the commercial fishermen, about 0630. Unfortunately, that meant we couldn’t catch the slack tide at the first of the Yuculta Rapids. Sooooo, we won’t be catching up to Steppe and Mary tonight. (They are in Forward Harbour, just past the fifth rapid.) Sailing directions all say to begin going through the rapids one hour before the slack tide before the ebb (confusing, I know, but ask any AP graduate, they’ll explain). Our timing put us there only 15 minutes late, but that 15 minutes means we’d be entering the worst of the rapids after the slack - just too dangerous. So, and here’s the good news, we are anchored in Von Donop Inlet, a long, narrow inlet about 4 miles deep, in Desolation Sound. We’ll go through the rapids tomorrow at noon, and expect to make it through all 5 in one swell foop….we’ll radio Steppe while we’re going through, and we hope to meet up with them in Forward Harbour.

Now, if the story ended there, it’d be good, but you will have noticed the lead phrase…..the good news of spending a quiet day (after the 3 looooooonnnng days) was somewhat marred by Karen’s grounding Nellie on the way into Von Donop. Yup. I did it. (This gives Bob all kinds of disgusting leverage that I have no doubt he will use frequently - or at least until he does something stupid, then I get the leverage.) There is an enormous rock in the center of the channel in Von Donop, and I remembered from last time we were here that we had to hug the south shore in order to miss it. I was at the helm and I didn’t have the chart blown up enough, so I didn’t notice that there was a section of shore that shoaled out…..so, next time Marty or his boys dives down to check Nellie’s keel, there will be a few extra dings. Bob checked the bilge and the prop and it doesn’t appear to be damaged. The bottom here is mud, but it looked like a bunch of small rocks along shore - and sounded more like rocks when I dragged over them. Sheesh.

So far we have had fantastic weather - the sun makes an occasional appearance, and it’s actually better up here than it was at home. No wind today, but of course that can change at any moment. Steppe emailed us that it’s supposed to be okay to go up Johnstone Straits on Monday, so we should be in good shape, and in the Broughtons by Tuesday. We won’t have Internet connectivity for a few days, so by the time you’re reading this we’ll be on our way to Port McNeill.

Sunday

We made it through all 5 rapids, and entered Forward Harbour around 5:30pm. This morning, at 9:00, we got a VHF call from Saratoga Sue - you’d have thought it was a holiday, we were hopping up and down, excited to hear from our friends! They had stopped, waiting for us…..amazing, how a friendly voice on the radio can make you feel comfortable.

This view is looking down Chancellor Channel, - what a gorgeous day it is. Bright sun, relatively calm seas….we entered Greene Point Rapids on a strong ebb tide. The water was running about 6 knots, but we were already committed, so on went…..the whirlpools were exciting - pulled Nellie left, then right..but spit us out right where we needed to be. Definitely going to be a destination on our trip planner for next year! Absolutely beautiful.

We got into Forward Harbour and there was Saratoga Sue, waiting for us. What a happy homecoming we had! (Much vodka and scotch was consumed. Ahem.)

Dropped a crab pot, so we collected dinner for tonight. Not as much luck with prawns….Mary had 9, so we had appetizers.

Tomorrow will be a long day. We’ll be taking off around 0500 and heading down Johnstone Strait for Port McNeill, where we’ll stay a couple of days. Lots of stores, a liquor agency (!), a Laundromat, and a ferry over to the First Nation village at Alert Bay. Looking forward to it. Hmmmm, who is on my Christmas list?? There could well be First Nation gifts……...

Lund

If you got on to Highway 101 at the tip of South America and drove that highway until you came to mile 0, you'd be in Lund. Specifically, you would be in the parking lot of Nancy's Bakery in Lund, BC. That's actually not a bad reason to visit Lund, by the way.

We left Nanaimo this morning at 5:45AM, expecting a calm crossing of the Straits of Georgia. Calm is a relative term. It means "not death-defying." So, it was calm. It was not the most comfortable 2 1/2 hours I've ever spent, but then, it was not as scary as the last time we crossed the Straits, so what the heck. It was a really long day on the water - we arrived in Lund about 3:30pm. We'll take off tomorrow morning around 6:00am and attempt to make it through the first two rapids - the Yucultas and the Dent Rapids - probably staying in Shoal Bay the rest of the day. In 2007 we were able to navigate all 5 rapids in one go, but I think we were lucky and had just timed it perfectly. "Perfect" doesn't usually fit in our way of boating, though, so we aren't expecting to repeat that feat. (But it would certainly be nice.)

Trivia for the day: Captain Cook, of South Pacific fame, is the one who named it "Desolation Sound." Apparently, his crew was homeesick for jolly olde England when they arrived here. (I had not ever heard of him being in these waters until I'd read BLUE LATITUDES, by Tony Horwitz. A decent read.)

I am using stolen Internet access here, so we can't stay on line long. The next place we may have Internet access will be in the Broughtons, or at Port McNeill (on the northern end of Vancouver Island, several days away). We plan on slowing down some as soon as we get north of Desolation Sound - we're both tired from the long, tiresome days. Today was the third 9-hour day in a row.

Bob got his fishing license yesterday in Nanaimo, and I'm eager to catch some prawns. The Canadian limit on prawns is 200 per pot, so I'm pretty sure we'll be okay, shrimp-wise. Of course, Bob's hoping for halibut, lingcod and/or salmon....I'm pretty much hoping for anything with fins. I have the cookbook Janet lent me - The Galley Guru - so I'm ready to make sweet music with those ingredients!

We hope to add pictures next time......so far, it's been kind of boring scenery. We really like the lush green Broughtons, so I'll add some pictures then....maybe a bear or two.

Nanaimo

We've never gotten this far in only 2 days before....we're really booking, trying to catch up to Saratoga Sue. The weather has been favorable for us. We got some wind this afternoon, here in Nanaimo, but it's supposed to die down by early morning. We will cross the Straits of Georgia tomorrow early, around 6:00AM, before the winds start. Keeping fingers crossed that Whiskey Golf is inactive in the morning.....otherwise, we'll take the long way around. (If you haven't read Clyde Ford's Whiskey Gulf you should - a little scary for us Georgia Strait travelers.

Okay, the print size on this pc is about 10% so I'm going blind tryibng to type....will post more when we get to another place with Internet access.

Alaska Bound

“Mother, Mother Ocean, I have heard your call……”

The 2010 adventure finally begins!

With one brand spanking new fuel tank (and one old, dented one) Nellie’s back in the briny (or will be, as soon as the tide changes). We’re leaving Oak Harbor about 20 days after our original departure date. Not too bad (cough, cough)….We’re spending tonight (Tuesday) in Coronet Bay, on the north end of Whidbey Island, and will catch the 0630am slack tide through Deception Pass in the morning, hoping to get through Canadian customs at Bedwell Harbour before noon. (With our Nexus passes, it only takes a phone call.) We’ll have a long day, maybe a 10-hour cruise, on Wednesday, getting to Clam Bay on Thetis Island for our anchorage. Then, on Thursday, we’ll head to Nanaimo, where Bob will get his Canadian fishing/crabbing license and Karen will eat ice cream on the dock.

We won’t need to reprovision for a few weeks, so we’ll be fine until we reach Port McNeill on the north end of Vancouver Island. We’ll hope to catch up to Steppe and Mary Williford there. (They are currently stuck in Desolation Sound with engine trouble - perhaps this is NOT the summer for anyone to cruise north.) We’d like a little company as we go around Cape Caution. (And why the HECK did someone name that point Cape CAUTION? It isn’t scary enough, entering Queen Charlotte Sound, without THAT name??? What’s wrong with Primrose Point or something?)

Hopefully, the winds will abate and the sun will shine and Neptune and Poseidon will decide to lie quietly for a few weeks….or at least until we get to Ketchikan. Bob’s hoping for lots of salmon, halibut, crab and shrimp in the Broughtons - last time we filled the freezer with crab, and friends were bringing in over 150 shrimp per pot. (I hope I remember EXACTLY where they put their shrimp pots!) I have plenty of jerk seasoning, skewers, coconut and pasta, so I’m prepared for lots of the little critters. I’m egged on by Ellen Harmon’s pictures of the crab enchiladas and huge spot prawns…..yo, Ellen! Leave a few for us, eh? (I’m practicing my BC accent.)

I already miss all the kids and grandkids - and my head is full of ideas for Becky’s wedding in October……Hmmmm, maybe a red and black wedding with white buttons, a la the Inuits? Or not - oooh, how about a NW orca theme? Okay, back to reality……….

And on to other news - THE US TIED ENGLAND 1-1 IN THE WORLD CUP! How cool is that? (All you Sounders fans, let’s hear some cheering! Oh, okay, that’d be you and me, Trina.)

June 13, 2010

We're ready to head out for the summer (assuming, of course, that the Northwest will actually GET summer this year). The boat's provisioned, the clothes are on board, the new fuel tank has been installed.....we're ready to go. We hope to get Nellie back in the water on Tuesday (maybe even Monday). We will head out as soon as she's in the water. We will try to catch the 7:10PM slack at Deception Pass on Tuesday, then anchor in Bowman Bay and get an early start on Wednesday, hoping to pass through Canadian Border Patrol before noon at Bedwell Harbor and head up to Clam Bay that afternoon. It'll be a long day, since that's a fairly long run, but we'd like to get into Nanaimo on Thursday afternoon.

We'll try to update the blog at every opportunity - Nanaimo being the first place we are likely to have Internet connectivity. I will post pictures of the beautiful Broughton archipelago as soon as we get there.