MAY 18, 19 and 20 .

Before I continue I forgot to post some pictures from the previous days.

Janice doing all the work, rowing in Miles inlet.

Curtsy in Fury Cove overlooking the white sand beaches to Fitz Hugh Sound.

 

Fury Cove beach

 

The ‘girls’ on Waterford in Fury Cove.

The ‘boys’ on Waterford in Fury Cove.

We left our name at Fury Cove.

MAY 18,

We were taking it easy this morning and watched Bert pull up his anchor around 9:00 am, a familiar site after a few weeks travelling together. …. I had a picture but can’t find it right now.

We headed for Pruth Bay and the Hakai Institute. This is a marine research center on Calvert Island, started by some B.C. philantropists. For more info see https://www.hakai.org/

On our way there I saw about 15 eagles sitting on Rouse Rock in Fitz Hugh Sound. In the meantime, Vaughan tried to get our watermaker going, but no luck. The pressure did not want to stay up. We just have to be careful with our water.

We arrived at Pruth Bay, on Calvert Island, after about 3 ½ hours motoring. The wind always seems to be on the nose so we have not done much sailing at all. We do put the mainsail up when it is choppy to give us some stability, but we did not need to do this today.

After setting the anchor in about 30 ft of water, we dinghied over to visit the Hakai Insitute. There is a main lodge and several other buildings in a lovely setting. The first young woman we ran into, to ask directions to the famous West beach, looked at Vaughan and said, “Is your name Vaughan?” We were both flabbergasted. Turns out she had been in his canvas shop and he had given her a piece of canvas. Her name was Kaya and she was part of 60 other scientists spending the summer at the institute. They work 2 weeks on and one week off. They fly into Bella Bella and get picked up by boat there for a ride to Hakai. We walked through a well-kept trail to the most marvellous white sand beach on a large bay. It reminded me a little of Pacheena Bay. We spend a lot of time there and Mejan and Bert joined us later. I took a picture of my Keen sandals, as Peter Simpson and Michelle had inspired me to buy these sandals after showing a picture of themselves walking on this same beach at a Bluewater Cruising presentation a few years ago, wearing these kind of sandals. And we wrote our name in the sand.

Vaughan impressed with the vast expanse of West Beach on Calvert Island.

My Keen sandals. Picture in honour of Peter Simpson and Michelle.

 

Mejan and Bert on West beach on Calvert Island.

Intriguing rock formations

 

 

I found the famous ‘mosquito’ mask, carved in a tree and we spent time on our phones and computers to catch up with family and friends, since we were able to get some wifi.

MAY 19.

Today was another easy and relatively short trip to Codville Lagoon, on King Island. We passed Curtsy in Hakai Passage with Bert and Mejan sitting outside on their deck with their auto pilot going.

Around 12:00 noon we arrived at Namu with its dilapidated docks and buildings. Just before we arrived there we saw two bears on a beach, a black and a brown one. The black one took one look at us and ran off into the woods on its long legs. The brown one stood still and kept a close eye on us.

Namu used to be a thriving fish cannery many years ago, but over-fishing and the change in technology has made this place obsolete. We did not see a living soul, so we suspect there is no caregiver anymore either. The docks looked too far gone to try to tie up to them. We floated around for a while with Curtsy and Watermaker and then headed for Codville Lagoon.

 

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Namu,_British_Columbia

On the way over to Codville Lagoon, on King Island, we saw another whale doing a fluke flip. Codville Lagoon is a large inlet and there was lots of room for many boats. We decided to anchor away from any powerboats to avoid the noise of their generators. The 3 of us found a lovely spot and not half an hour later a power boat anchored right in front of us, running his generator all evening and most of the night. Murphy’s Law, Mejan called it.

MAY 20.

After an easy morning we took our dinghies to go for a hike to Sager Lake. We beached our dinghies on the rock at the entrance to the trail and hiked for about ½ hour up the mountain on a well maintained trail. When we arrived at the lake we were awe-struck. It was a gorgeous, crater-created lake with a golden glow and a lovely sand beach.I could not resist the look of the lovely lake and went for a swim. It was nippy, but not too cold. The sun was warming me as I stretched out in the water near the shore. It might have been too cold if the sun hadn’t been there. The only disturbance in the natural beautiful setting was the fact that we could receive phone service, so several of us ended up messaging our family and sending some pictures. Not everyone appreciated this intrusion on our nature trip. ;-0

Landing near the trail to Sager Lake in Codville Lagoon.

Hiking to Sager Lake.

The alluring Sager Lake with its golden glow, and red sand beach.

Picture of me swimming in the lake to follow.

Bedtime now, May 29,  and tomorrow we are off to either Dundas island or Foggy Bay in Alaska. Probably no wifi for a few days.

 

 

MAY 15, 16 and 17.

 

On the advice of Gerry Wolfe, our friend and weather man in Victoria, via InReach, our satelite communication device, and after listening to the VHF, we decided to stay in Miles Inlet another day. Mejan called us on the VHF at 6:00 in the morning to confirm our decision to stay put. The winds were 20-30 knots at Egg island, not a good time to cross Cape Caution.

It was a lazy day, pouring with rain till 2:30. Slept in late, made pancakes, finished reading another book, Half-blood Blues, and Vaughan worked with Bert on the electricity. The batteries weren’t holding a charge and he filled them with distilled water.

Bert and Vaughan working on the generator to check the batteries.

 

When the rain stopped we all came out of our boats. Mejan brought over some yummy cookies she had baked during the rain this morning.

Yummy, home-made cookies by Mejan.

Vaughan and I went for a dinghy ride and saw the waves still crashing in at the mouth of the inlet. It must have been a rough night out there.

Entrance to Miles inlet

It is amazing how protected from waves and wind all the anchorages are. We have slept peacefully every night so far. Vaughan was trolling for fish and managed to catch three little ones when I was with him in the dinghy. Later he went out fishing with Bert and came back with a nice big fish we ate for supper.

First catch too small, Vaughan put it back in the water.

Self-caught 0-MILE diet.

MAY 17.

We decided to go for it! Sail past Cape Caution, because the winds had died down. We left a 6:45am and encountered a light western swell of about 1-2 meters, which did not make for a completely comfortable ride, but our boat took to the waves quit well. We passed the southbound BC ferry, or actually,they passed us, probably going 20 knots, while we were going between 6 and 7 knots. By 11:00am we were close to Fury cove, our destination for the day, and I saw a puff of air coming from a small whale. The little black fin came up out of the water and it looked like it was a small pilot whale.

We were anchored at 11:45 am in the beautiful anchorage of Fury cove on Penrose Island, with its lovely while beaches and a view over the islands into Fitz Hugh Sound. Half an hour later Curtsy and Waterford arrived. We went and explored the beaches and the little island.

Bert and Vaughan in Fury Cove on Penrose Island.

That evening we had a lovely potluck on Waterford, to celebrate our successful crossing of Cape Caution. Later on Vaughan and I watched a ‘B’ movie on out boat, since the electricity had kicked in again and we had lots of power.

MAY 11, 12, 13 AND 14.

May 11. Enjoyed a quiet peaceful night, in Port Neville, partially due to Mejan’s secret cough medicine concoction and the essential oil, ‘Breathe Again’, from Young Living (for which our future daughter-in-law Jenn is a distributor).

Mejan’s magic potion, cured the tickle in my throat.

We left this morning at about 8:40 am. We are a little confused about what way the current is going, but it is supposed to be a minimal speed, so we decided to leave Port Neville. The weather is cloudy with some rain showers off and on. The view of the Vancouver mountains is as gorgeous as ever.

View through my window.

I made a nice breakfast of Egg Benny’s with tomato, bacon and homemade Hollandaise sauce, while underway. Very tasty. We are now heading for Telegraph Cove to meet Don and Janice on the s.v. Waterford, fellow BCA (Bluewater Cruising Association) travellers to Alaska.

We tried getting into Telegraph Cove, but, first of all, nobody answered our call on the VHF Channel 66a, and secondly, the Cove was way too small for our big boat. We were happy to have our new bowtruster getting us out of that little cove. We ended up continuing to Port McNeill. Upon arrival, we checked in and paid our $134.00 for two nights on the dock, did the laundry and some shopping. Bert and Mejan arrived a little later and Bert went straight to the post office to pick up his new solar panel. His other one had burned out.

That evening, after a lovely dinner at the Sportsman Restaurant, Vaughan and Bert were busy fixing things on their respective boats. Vaughan needed to install a new horn.

Vaughan repairing the horn in the sunset at Port McNeill.

Bert kept being interrupted by friendly boaters while he was trying to install his new solar panel.

Bert talking to Paul and Donna from the 42ft Norhavn ‘Reflection’.

The next day we stayed in Port McNeill and met Dave and Meta from the 70 FT Norhavn, ‘Invictus’, which we have seen many times, moored in their homeport at VanIsle Marina. They invited us on board for a drink and a cup of tea. It is an amazing boat, with, I believe, 6 beautiful cabins, a huge salon and an engine room both Bert and Vaughan were drooling over.  Later that evening we went to Curtsy for a yummy sauerkraut and sausage (zuurkool met worst) dinner.

On Saturday, May 13, we left around 10:00 am to cross to Blunden Harbour on the, mainland, the other side of Queen Charlotte sound. We passed the light house at Malcolm island and had an uneventful 3 ½ hour crossing.

Malcolm Island

Curtsy and Waterford arrived an hour later.  After a restful little nap in the afternoon we had a cozy Happy Hour, well actually 2 ½ hour, on our boat.

Don and Janice arriving for Happy-Appy Hour.

On Mother’s Day, May 14, we travelled from Blunden Harbour to Miles inlet. The sea was pretty rough with about 2-3 meter seas. We are currently sitting pretty in this well protected anchorage with Curtsy and Waterford.

 

Sorry followers. I am not getting a strong enough WiFi connection to post my blog and pictures

For the time being I have posted pictures on Facebook. We are currently in Shearwater on Denny island. Yesterday I went for a swim on a crater lake on King island at Sager lake. We are having a great time, travelling with Curtsy and Waterford

 

Wednesday, MAY 10.

We both were woken up at about 12:30 am by some violent rocking of the boat, It must have been a cruise ship passing by in Discovery Passage, one of the 224  cruise ship trips this summer up the B.C. COAST to Alaska. Fortunately, I had put all the dishes away or they would have been strewn all over the galley.

This is the cruise ship that passed us last year, same spot as this year.

We had an easy morning and left around 9:45 to catch the ebb tide towards Seymour Narrows.  We had travelled through the Narrows last year, so were not too anxious to go through them again this time, despite the many warnings about crossing these Narrows near or at slack tide in all the Marine Guides. Our good friend Ed, who is a fisherman, had just told us the other day that one can easily cross 2 hours before or after slack. So, we decided to give it a go and crossed 1 ½ hour before slack tide so we could catch some more ebb current after the Narrows. It turned out to be an easy crossing and we became the object of many photographers who were travelling in 3 whale watching boats next to us. Since there were no whales in the Narrows our sailboat became the next exciting thing to view and take pictures off.

seymour-narrows-Chris-Corrigan-flickr

Check out this video of the largest non-nuclear explosion in Seymour Narrowss; https://www.liveleak.com/view?i=c3c_1373089619

We have been in constant touch via phone messenger with our fellow travellers, Mejan and Bert on the s.v. Curtsy, who had left a week earlier. We found out that they had left Kanish Bay, just north of Seymour narrows, that morning at 6:00am to catch the current to go to Port Neville off Johnstone straight. We decided that we would try to join them there that night. And after travelling 8 hours in calm seas, sometimes fighting the current, travelling at 2.2. knows, we met up with them around 5:45 p.m., in Port Neville, a beautiful Bay, surrounded by large mountains, some covered with snow, with no other boats or human beings around. We anchored in 20ft of water and enjoyed a lovely chicken dinner, listening to the sound of the bird and later to the sound of the rain.

Below see picutres of our meeting up with Mejan and Bert in Port Neville. The early morning picture of our boat was taken by Mejan. 

MAY 9, 2017

The light woke us up at 6:00 am. Vaughan started hauling up the anchor at 6:50 am and we were off at 7:00 am. We are heading for Campbell River, 94 nm, about 174km. At 6.5 kn/hr, it would take us about 14 hours. Let’s see if we make it.

We love travelling along our beautiful Vancouver Island with its snow-covered

Vancouver Island at Rathtrevor Beach

mountains and lovely beaches, such as Rathtrevor beach, just south of Parksville.

We catch the occasional snooze and enjoy lovely meals and snacks while underway.

Yes, we made it! Anchored in 30 ft of water , at 7:55 P.M., just behind April Point Lodge, the same spot we were in last year, just across from Campbell River.

We had a great 13-hour cruise. No wind and calm seas all afternoon, and the current with us. We even had a Humpback whale greet us with a lovely tail fluke wave. He was huge. Later on a lonely Doll Porpoise crossed in front off our bow. The most interesting thing we experienced was feeling and seeing the divide between the north and south inflow of the current around the island. We saw the demarcation line running south of Cape Mudge, right towards Mittlenatch island. The boat slowed right down for a few minutes while we crossed the line. The flood enters from both ends of Vancouver Island, from Juan de Fuca in the South and Queen Charlotte Straight in the north. A strange phenomenon and the first time we were consciously aware of crossing and seeing this line.

Now for a quiet, peaceful evening and a rum and Ginger Ale for Vaughan.

1:45p.m. May 8, 2017. We Are OFF the DOCK!

FINALLY. It has been a long week, with Vaughan working late into the night to finish the last job and me telling friends and acquaintances over and over again that we are leaving soon for Alaska.

Vaughan at work

We had a great breakfast with Isaac and Jenn and Melissa came to wave goodbye with Ori and Rosezita. That was a little hard on me, to kiss Melissa and the little ones goodbye for such a long time. I was too upset and forgot to take a picture. 😦

We said goodbye to our neighbours in our little marina.

Now here we are, the only sailboat in sight of many miles, with only a few ferries passing by. It is a calm, cloudy day with the wind, 11 knots on the nose again. Not sure where we are heading yet today, DeCourcy or Porlier pass…….

Oops, I was wrong, there is another boat out here. One little sailboat, sailing wing-on-wing, with, in the background Galliano Island, where my friends Janet and Brian have their house for sale.

I gave Janet a call and fortunately they were home on Galliano. They are frequently away travelling, so we were lucky to catch them home. Here they are, waving on their deck.

Janet and Brian’s place on Galliano Island.

We’re making good speed, with the current. We average about 7 knots/hr.  We went through Porlier  pass at 5:30 pm, one hour after slack, with the current against us. Encountered some turbulence in the water, but our 120 horsepower engine powered through it at 1700 rpm, at 5.8 knots. Normally we travel at around 1500 rpm.

With 17 knots of wind on the nose we are heading for Silva Bay. Arrived 7:00 pm. Anchored in 30 feet of water and let out 120ft of chain. We are safely anchored for the night.

Preparations for our trip.

It has been quite a journey getting ready to leave on our 4-months trip to Alaska. We have had several friends sharing their adventures with us about sailing to Alaska. Albert Zeeland from Hawaii, and Jim Randle from Saskatchewan, both sailors, spent several hours with us sharing stories about their time sailing and, for Jim, living in Alaska. Albert gave us all his old charts and Jim shared his brother’s phone number with us to contact him in Juneau. David and Jillian Cohen, from SNSYacht Club, shared their blog with us about their travels and Jim and Trish Bowen inspired us with their fabulous presentation at a Bluewater Cruising Association Speaker’s night. Kate and Dave Poulson invited us on board their beautiful Norhavn 47, Segue II, to share some of their experiences travelling to Alaska. We had a wonderful evening at John, the Cruising Captain from SNSNYC, and Caroline Preston’s place talking about their trip to Alaska a few years ago. They also gave us some books, charts and other pamphlets on Alaska. We spent many times discussing our plans with our fellow travellers Bert and Mejan Reym, from the s.v. Curtsy. We received a going away present from our son Isaac, a snorkel, mask, flippers and weights in case we needed it in an emergency to work on the propeller or to go snorkelling for fun. All this was very much appreciated.

We purchased medical insurance for the US for a year; from US customs we purchased the decal for vessel permission to enter the US; we received a private vessel permit from the Glacier Bay National Park to enter on June 19th, 2017, for 7 days; we bought maps and books of the southern and northern coastal areas of BC and Alaska; I made a 3-page shopping list and spent about a $1000 shopping at Costco’s, Thrifty’s and Fairways for the basics; we notified our credit card companies about our travels; we bought some US money, at a terrible exchange rate, $1.39 CAD; bought rolls of loonies and quarters for laundry; we made sure we had a US courtesy flag; Vaughan set up a website for the InREACH program so anyone interested can track us; we managed to sublet our dock for two months and our mooring for 4 months; we will be meeting with Isaac and his fiancee, Jenn, tomorrow, just before we leave to give him all our important papers and keys; we had a lovely family dinner with everyone last Saturday night at Don Mee’s, in Chinatown (see picture below).

Many other smaller details have been taking care off. Vaughan will do a last check on the motor, batteries and other necessities today and tomorrow morning and then, hopefully we will be off!

 

Waiting to Leave.

A few more days and we are off. Vaughan is working hard finishing some jobs and I am still shopping and visiting with grandkids. See pictures below by clicking on title or on More Posts  below.

Oma with Rosezita, Ori and Raphi

Wynona and Serenity.

Opa with Ori and Rosezita