Central Coast - North from Cape Caution

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http://www.flickr.com/photos/39357204@N04/sets/72157620102232406/

Our route north would now take us out into Queen Charlotte Strait, the large, stormy body of water between the mainland and the northern section of Vancouver Island. The prevailing northwest winds can be a challenge, especially around Cape Caution, which juts out into the strait making the wind intensify. Listening to the weather forecast we heard that strong southeast winds and rain were expected the next day. Knowing this could mean a great sleigh ride up the coast, rather than fighting a headwind, we left Sullivan Bay early on June 16 and motored out into the Strait. We weather guys were right! By about noon we had 18-20 kts behind us pushing us up the coast at 8-9 kts! The Central Coast is essentially like the west coast of Vancouver Island - nothing out there until you hit Japan and lots of swells. We had a slight injury during the voyage. The lid of the chart table fell on Norm’s head while rummaging for something. Ice and beer cured everything later in the day! Lesson learned: Those little springy things that hold lids open in boats are next to useless in rough seas!

We finished the day at Fury Cove on Penrose Island. The approach is interesting - through a small channel with surf breaking on rocks on either side. Once through the entrance there is a huge lagoon with beautiful sandy beaches along the exposed ocean side. We stayed here for a couple of nights for some boat work - Norm changed the oil and re-bedded some deck fittings that were leaking. We explored the area in our little inflatable kayaks and Beth collected about 20 huge eagle feathers she found on the beach. Great spot!

Listening to the Great Northern Boaters Net on the ham radio, we learned that our friends Cam and Marianne from BCA aboard May Knot were in the area and heading our way. We organized a rendezvous at Kwakume Inlet which was only 16 miles north of Fury Cove. We had a great spinnaker run up Fitz Hugh Sound, again lucking out with a southwest wind. We spent a very enjoyable evening with Cam and Marianne - wine on their boat and BBQ dinner on ours. They mentioned they had seen a bear and several wolves on a previous visit there but we had no such luck. The next morning was cool and rainy so Beth decided to do some baking producing some great scones and her first delicious boat-made bread that I dubbed the “sea loaf”. Nothing better than the aroma of baking in the boat on a stormy day!

Our next destination was Pruth Bay on Calvert Island. At the end of the bay is an exclusive fishing lodge called Hakai Beach Resort. It is open only in July and August for wealthy people who fly in to slay big fish. We met Fred, the friendly caretaker who lives there with his wife for 10 months a year looking after the place. Talk about solitude! A short hike across the island lead to West Beach - a huge crescent shaped bay that reminded us of Schooner Cove and Long Beach. The bay is dotted with lots of little craggy west coast islands. There was pretty big surf pounding on the beach - the roar we had heard from our boat anchored on the other side. It was pretty cool to be on this spectacular beach and be the only people there! We had our sat phone with us for emergency communication so Beth decided to call the kids for a little Friday afternoon visit. Gotta like that technology for keeping in touch! When we got back to the boat a series of squalls came through followed by sunshine producing a massive rainbow - a fitting end to a great day!

Our next destination was Bella Bella to pick up our forwarded mail and get fuel and provisions. We decided to go the more adventurous outside route rather than the cruise boat channels. Heading out Hakai Pass into Queen Charlotte Sound we were greeted by squalls and large confused seas - swells of about 2 meters going different directions - and little wind. It didn’t take long before we were both feeling a little green. Fortunately Beth had a few remedies handy, the seas settled down into a rhythm and a nice southwest breeze sprung up. We headed up Queen Sound, between Hunter Island and Goose Island on a broad reach and then sailed through the Lillooet Passage into Hunter Channel and up to Bella Bella. We are still amazed by our luck with wind direction for the past few days!.

We arrived at New Bella Bella on Saturday afternoon only to find the post office closed. This is a pretty basic aboriginal village without much charm so we filled up on water and fuel and headed across the channel to Shearwater, the preferred boater’s destination with a good grocery store, marine store, internet and the all important pub. We enjoyed dinner and draft beers at the pub and then retired to the boat where we watched our first movie of the trip on Beth’s laptop - the original Shrek. Now that is a funny movie!

We’ll stay in Shearwater for a couple of days doing chores and stocking up on provisions before heading north to Banks Island and across to The Queen Charlottes. Our next update will likely be in early July from Queen Charlotte City where we’ll have internet access again.

The Broughtons

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After a great visit with family in Comox we headed north up Disovery Passage by Campbell River. This channel is where the ebb tides start to flow north and flood tides south - opposite of the Vancouver area. Just north of Campbell River is Seymour Narrows, one of the fastest flowing tidal rapid areas in BC with currents of up to 13 kts and big whirlpools. The only way through is at slack tide - when the current changes from ebb to flood - or the other way around. We decided the wait overnight for slack in Gowlland Bay, just south of the narrows and then ride the ebb north the next morning. Our next stop was Blind Channel which was amazingly quiet. We enjoyed looking at the intricate shell artwork montages that adorn the dock, building walls and event the restaurant. These were created by the former owner. With free wi fi we took our laptops to the marina deck and got caught up on things at home but being on a budget, we left the marina and anchored for free at Charles Bay across the channel.

The next day we left at the crack of dawn to get the right timing through the Green Rapids and Whirpool Rapids as we headed north for Lagoon Cove. This charming family marina is famous for its hospitality, especially happy hour on the dock with Bill, the resort owner. Boaters bring their drinks and apppetizers and Bill provides all the prawns you can eat. On this occasion Bill entertained the group by walking onto the deck with the leg bone of a bear and then spun a yarn about the bone that kept everyone in stitches!

From Lagoon Cove we headed across Knight Inlet and up Tribune Channel towards Kwatsi Bay. We had a nice breeze behind us and decided to set the spinnaker. There was some drama when the whole thing came crashing down on the deck just as Norm was raising it - the heavy furler narrowly missing his head. The halyard was stuck at the top of the mast so Beth sent Norm aloft in the bosun's chair to recover it. The seas were calm and the view from the masthead was amazing - even had the camera! This done we rounded the next point to find big wind coming up the channel. We raised the sails and beat up the channel into 20 + knots having our first good hard sail of the trip. During our sail we were passed by a couple of schools of dolphins! We kept going until we got to Lacey Falls, a spectacluar cascade of pulsing water that spills down a huge granite slope in veil after veil of white water - hence the name. After taking photos from all angles we turned around and had a fast, downwind sail to Kwatsi Bay.

Kwatsi is a tiny family marina owned by a fellow named Max who now lives there alone. His wife and kids moved to the Vancouver Island this year so the kids could attend high school. He was anxiously awaiting their return for summer holidays.

The bay is surrounded by high mounttains and granite cliffs, similar to Princess Louisa. The next morning we went for a short hike to view the waterfall we had been listening to all night! After that Beth hit the little gift shop which was stocked with sorts of great stuff including fireweed honey - perfect for tea. We did our best to support the one man Kwatsi economy!

From Kwatsi we headed west down Tribune Channel to Echo Bay, the heart of The Broughtons with its picturesque red roofed marina village set against a west facing cliff. And yes - it really does echo in Echo Bay! We stocked up, mailed a few postcards and then headed for Laura Cove, a quiet little anchorage nearby. The wind sprung up - so with 15 nots our beam we made tracks for the Cove at 8 + knots and kept our fuel tanks full!

Our final stop was Sullivan Bay on North Broughton Island, another essential stop in the area. The entire village is floating - there are only docks and float houses snd float stores and float laundry. It is like a mini Venice of the west coast. The coolest thing is the beautiful artwork on many of the fuel tanks and propane tanks. These tanks were essential but ugly until someone had the clever idea to make each one into a little creative masterpiece. Sullivan Bay has a restaurant so we enjoyed dinner out with a couple from Chilliwack who were docked next to us. And then it started to rain - what a shock after 2 weeks of sun!

Our plan is now to head further north up Queen Charlotte Strait around Cape Caution. This is a little bit more in the open ocean so a careful watch on the weather is required. The forecast is for 15-20 knots from the south east which should push us in the right direction!

Leg One - Point Roberts to Comox

After a whirlwind weekend of retirement and bon voyage parties, house cleanup for renters and trying to figure out how to get ALL THAT STUFF into he boat, we managed to push off the dock at Point Roberts at high noon on June 1st. Since then we have been incredibly lucky with the weather - not a drop of rain so far and sunshine every day. Not the BC coast we've known in the past!

We are slowly working our way north towards the Queen Charlottes - we hope to be there by early July. The first stop of our trip was Mayne Island where we picked up Beth's Mom, Sally. We then headed to the Sunshine Coast and to Princess Louisa Inlet, located up Jervis Inlet north of Pender Harbour. You enter this magical place through the Mailibu Rapids at slack tide. Beyond the rapids is a lagoon surrounded by granite cliffs and snow capped mountains that soar straight up to 6,000 feet. At this time of year the high alpine snow pack is melting fast creating hundreds of waterfalls that cascade over the cliffs into the sea below. At the end of the lagoon is Chatterbox Falls, a huge waterfall that is like a small Niagara! This area is a BC Marine Park with a dock near the waterfalls. We stayed here for a few days, hiking, kayaking and visiting with other cruisers. The cool mist from the waterfall was refreshing in the 30 dregree heat!

From Princess Louisa we headed for Lasqueti Island, en route to Comox where we visited family and dropped off Sally and our pooch, Tessa. We decided to leave Tessa with Sally for the summer - good company for her and we thought Tessa's bladder might be challenged by some of our long, overnight passages that are planned!

The boat is working great - no problems to date. We have done some sailing but winds have been light and are often on our nose, blowing down the long coastal channels. On our way back from Prncess Louisa we had about 22 kts on our bow and a few knots of flood tide against us. Needless to say we just powerd straight into it rather than making a thousand tacks back and forth to get back to the ooast. Sarah Jean II motors al atong up to 8 1/2 knots which is great in such conditions.

We are now heading north to the Broughtons, a region of thousands of islands, bays and channels across from Point Hardy.

We've posted some photos of our first leg on our Flickr site. To see the picks go to the link below.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/39357204@N04/sets/72157619514891385/

Wishing you all well. Will send more updates as connections permit!