Bull Harbour to North Cove June 18

We arose this morning just as the sun was coming up.  I put water on to boil for coffee before pulling the anchor at 5:30.  We arrived at the bar at 6:00 and were glad to find that the forecast was correct and the winds were light.  According to our fisherman expert, this is when he would cross -- before slack but also with a bit of the ebb.  According to the tide books slack will occur at 6:59.  We are crossing almost an hour before slack with light winds from the northwest.  Still, it is a bumpy ride and we wonder if it wouldn’t have been better to wait another hour.  We are riding though crests and troughs that are as much as 5 feet which is a bit uncomfortable but definitely do-able.  Of course we thought we had closed every cupboard and lashed all the loose things down but as we are being bounced around it becomes clear that we missed a few.  Barrie watches the helm and I scurry to make everything fast.  McDuff has gone below decks and is as far under the covers as he can get.

We begin the trip across the top to Cape Scott and have seas on our beam.  For the next 30 miles we rock and roll.  We are counting down the miles waiting to round the corner at Cape Scott.  Finally, we round Cape Scott in sunshine without another boat in sight.  We change course to the south and now that the seas on our stern everything settles down nicely.  Just past one, we turn into Quatino Sound and head for our first destination of the day - Winter Harbor.  There are fishermen in small fishing boats everywhere and it is almost a game of dodgeball as we make our way up the sound.  We arrive at Winter Harbour, a small fishing village with a long boardwalk connecting the houses and a dirt road that leads back to Port Hardy.  We tie up at dock and walk the town boardwalk stopping at the well-stocked grocery/hardware store, this time without making a purchase.

The weather forecast says there is a cold front moving in and the winds are forecast to increase and start shifting to the south.  So, rather than linger, we decide to find a place to anchor that will position us to round the Brooks Peninsula.  Brooks is the second major obstacle for mariners trying to navigate the west coast of Vancouver Island.  We set our sights on Klashkino, thinking that in the lull of the early evening we may find calm seas for this short journey.  Once we reach Brooks Bay, it is clear to us that the wind has picked up and the seas are hitting us again on the beam.  We opt for comfort and turn back into Quatsino but this time stop at North Cove where we anchor in a perfectly calm bay.  We will listen to the weather in the morning and hopefully get around the Brooks Peninsula before the winds begin to blow.  Dinner is smoked Black Cod, potato pancakes and broccoli.

We are excited to have the Nahwitti Bar and Cape Scott in the rear view mirror.  Often in our boat travels, we read about the difficulties and challenges of these types of obstacles and we hear folks say that they wouldn’t “go there.”  We were certainly fortunate today with good weather and fairly light winds but if that had not been the case, we would have waited for the weather to change.  And “going there” means that we will be able to explore the west coast of Vancouver where few boats travel.