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!