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.......