1. Antipodes in Port Hardy
2. Tug Pulling Logs
3. Birdes catching a ride on loose logs.
3. Birdes catching a ride on loose logs.
4. First Mate washing the windows to ensure great viewing.
5. Log Barge
The path today: Departing Brown’s Bay off Seymour Narrows Area toward
Discovery Passage, Johnstone Straits, Queen Charlotte Strait to God’s Pocket; which is the jump off point for crossing over to the mainland side of Canada and to points north (Alaska).
Brown’s Bay is a small and rustic marina that also hosts an RV park. We were the largest boat in their marina. Several of locals took our lines and helped us tie up. This is a very friendly and low key marina.
Sharing their parking lot is a fish processing plant. Initially, we found an unsecured internet connection and were able to download but we were never able to connect again.
After a quick dinner, we took a long walk to stretch our legs. Just across the dock we came across “Kent” who recently purchased a Kady Krogen Trawler. His wife completed a round of chemotherapy and they want to cruise to Alaska. He retired three years ago after 32 years with AirCanada. He urged us, “Just go and do it, you just never know what life has in store for you”. We smiled knowingly.
The RV park is quite beautiful and the amenities are appropriately sized and matched to the rustic look however they appear to be nearly new (smallish community building, a store, a greenhouse, washrooms, laundry, picnic tables, a fishing platform with cleaning facilities, outdoor BBQ facilities etc...) . There were about 8 or so RV’ers that were set up for the entire summer – all grey haired folk. For a long weekend here in Canada there was room for many more. They have a stunning view.
While up on the hill for our walk we nearly bumped into a deer. We got some great pictures of the boat in the marina, and of the really large/robust sea weed (kelp) – should be called sea rope.
I (Lara) am enjoying the long days. The sun comes up slowly providing subdued light before 0500 and it is still light close to 11pm. It is actually a tad warmer here than we expected; shirt sleeves and shorts for the locals (sweaters and jackets for the Arizonans). Water temperatures are in the 60’s. A few days ago I had on gloves and a scarf! Water temps were in low 50s then.
Today is laundry and cleaning house day. This means the generator is on and Jim likes to fully load it. We microwaved, turned on every light and Lara even used the blow dryer!
Before 0800, we were hailed by The Silver Shadow. “Motor vessel in the Johnstone Passage, this is Silver Shadow”. We thought it was a tiny sail boat in front of us saying a “Howdy Do”? Turns out he was a Cruise Liner that was overtaking us (coming up from behind). Nice chap to warn us of his arrival. We had the radar in tight (about a mile range) and he was about 2 miles behind.
We saw a bald eagle swoop around the water looking for a fish. He then returned to his perch atop a tall tree.
We also saw a humpback whale just in front of the boat. We were directly behind him so we got to see an interesting angle as he lifted up and then dove. Several dolphin stopped by for a quick bow frolic (I hope to upload a video). More dolphins were nearby fishing in little groups. A lone seal (our friend Brian, couldn’t recall their name and once exclaimed, “Hey Look! It’s a Sea ?... a Sea ?…its a Sea Beaver!).
The currents continue to interest us as they can take our typical speed from 7.5 knots up to 13.0 knots (a new high) or slow us down to 1.1 knots (a new low). They also can create very difficult handling scenarios where the rudder can’t keep up with the current shifts and the autopilot gives up. There have been a few areas where Jim has had to hand steer the boat for a few hours at a time.
The weather report for this area is telling us that there is a weather front arriving this afternoon with gale force winds and small craft advisories. This type of weather combined with the tidal activity is something that we are unfamiliar with and we’re watching it closely.
Boat traffic is decreasing as we are now in the more remote waters and it is getting cooler. We are surrounded by snow capped mountains.
Later - The poor weather never materialized and we had a quiet and uneventful cruise up this beautiful and barren coast. We are at the northern most point of Vancouver Island and must stop to make a new plan for crossing the open ocean tomorrow.
It was so calm that we baked up a batch of lemon bars (from scratch as we had a lemon from May) followed by meatloaf.
Goofy Boat Name: Twenty-Four/Seven
Discovery Passage, Johnstone Straits, Queen Charlotte Strait to God’s Pocket; which is the jump off point for crossing over to the mainland side of Canada and to points north (Alaska).
Brown’s Bay is a small and rustic marina that also hosts an RV park. We were the largest boat in their marina. Several of locals took our lines and helped us tie up. This is a very friendly and low key marina.
Sharing their parking lot is a fish processing plant. Initially, we found an unsecured internet connection and were able to download but we were never able to connect again.
After a quick dinner, we took a long walk to stretch our legs. Just across the dock we came across “Kent” who recently purchased a Kady Krogen Trawler. His wife completed a round of chemotherapy and they want to cruise to Alaska. He retired three years ago after 32 years with AirCanada. He urged us, “Just go and do it, you just never know what life has in store for you”. We smiled knowingly.
The RV park is quite beautiful and the amenities are appropriately sized and matched to the rustic look however they appear to be nearly new (smallish community building, a store, a greenhouse, washrooms, laundry, picnic tables, a fishing platform with cleaning facilities, outdoor BBQ facilities etc...) . There were about 8 or so RV’ers that were set up for the entire summer – all grey haired folk. For a long weekend here in Canada there was room for many more. They have a stunning view.
While up on the hill for our walk we nearly bumped into a deer. We got some great pictures of the boat in the marina, and of the really large/robust sea weed (kelp) – should be called sea rope.
I (Lara) am enjoying the long days. The sun comes up slowly providing subdued light before 0500 and it is still light close to 11pm. It is actually a tad warmer here than we expected; shirt sleeves and shorts for the locals (sweaters and jackets for the Arizonans). Water temperatures are in the 60’s. A few days ago I had on gloves and a scarf! Water temps were in low 50s then.
Today is laundry and cleaning house day. This means the generator is on and Jim likes to fully load it. We microwaved, turned on every light and Lara even used the blow dryer!
Before 0800, we were hailed by The Silver Shadow. “Motor vessel in the Johnstone Passage, this is Silver Shadow”. We thought it was a tiny sail boat in front of us saying a “Howdy Do”? Turns out he was a Cruise Liner that was overtaking us (coming up from behind). Nice chap to warn us of his arrival. We had the radar in tight (about a mile range) and he was about 2 miles behind.
We saw a bald eagle swoop around the water looking for a fish. He then returned to his perch atop a tall tree.
We also saw a humpback whale just in front of the boat. We were directly behind him so we got to see an interesting angle as he lifted up and then dove. Several dolphin stopped by for a quick bow frolic (I hope to upload a video). More dolphins were nearby fishing in little groups. A lone seal (our friend Brian, couldn’t recall their name and once exclaimed, “Hey Look! It’s a Sea ?... a Sea ?…its a Sea Beaver!).
The currents continue to interest us as they can take our typical speed from 7.5 knots up to 13.0 knots (a new high) or slow us down to 1.1 knots (a new low). They also can create very difficult handling scenarios where the rudder can’t keep up with the current shifts and the autopilot gives up. There have been a few areas where Jim has had to hand steer the boat for a few hours at a time.
The weather report for this area is telling us that there is a weather front arriving this afternoon with gale force winds and small craft advisories. This type of weather combined with the tidal activity is something that we are unfamiliar with and we’re watching it closely.
Boat traffic is decreasing as we are now in the more remote waters and it is getting cooler. We are surrounded by snow capped mountains.
Later - The poor weather never materialized and we had a quiet and uneventful cruise up this beautiful and barren coast. We are at the northern most point of Vancouver Island and must stop to make a new plan for crossing the open ocean tomorrow.
It was so calm that we baked up a batch of lemon bars (from scratch as we had a lemon from May) followed by meatloaf.
Goofy Boat Name: Twenty-Four/Seven
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