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……...
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