The scenery was breathtaking!
We burned a bunch of fuel, but in the end felt like we made the right decision. For 4 of the 8 days Environment Canada issued GALE WARNINGS, which means the wind will exceed 30 knots and seas will exceed 3 meters! We are making this passage pretty late in the season so need to pay very close attention to these warnings.
On September 10 the first of these warnings came up and we made our way to a place called Bottleneck Inlet. This is a very difficult place to find, but once in you are protected from 360 degrees in a flat calm, fairly shallow oasis.
We arrived just before sunset on a beautiful afternoon to hear dozens of bird calls off the high mountains that surrounded us. After a very peaceful nights sleep, we awoke to rain beating down on the cabin ceiling. The storm had started, yet all we felt was the rain. Less than half a mile away outside on the the passage, the wind and waves were brewing in the expected gale...
We stayed 2 days until we were sure the storm had subsided enough for us to continue south. From Bottleneck to Shearwater was a very uncomfortable and wet 50 miles. And this was after the worst of the storm had passed!
We arrived at the Shearwater Marina just before dark to one of the crappiest places we ever stayed. $100 for one nights stay on a crappy dock, with crappy internet and a crappy shower they wanted an ADDITIONAL $1 PER 2 MINUTES!!!!! to use.... This place is DEFINITELY not a place we would every return to...
At first light the next morning we made our way to the jumping off point before we crossed to Vancouver Island. Fury Cove was another well protected BEAUTIFUL place where we anchored for the night. The forecast for the next day was northwest winds which would push us nicely over to Vancouver Island.
The northwest winds never materialized, but the passage was uneventful and very pretty. We passed at least 5 federal lighthouse/ weather stations as we crossed over to the island. Apparently none of them have anyone living on them anymore, but the government still maintains the properties...
The only challenge all day was dodging the hundreds of floating logs everywhere. We only go between 5 and 7 knots so getting out of their way wasn't too difficult for us, but on a faster boat I'm not sure how much fun it would be. Some of those logs in the water are big enough to put a hole in most boats!
We read some less than glowing reviews about Port Hardy so took advantage of the good weather yesterday and pushed on all the way to Port McNeill. What a good decision. This is another lovely port in British Columbia who clearly encourage people like us to visit. The municipal marina charged $1 a foot so that worked out to almost half of what other places wanted and the showers cost $5 for the whole time we are here!
We got our laundry done this morning and will start heading down the island tomorrow. For the next few hundred miles we will have to plan each leg very carefully as currents in some of the channels can exceed 13knots!
We will let you know how we make out....
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