As is often the case, we are up early and pull the anchor before 5 am. We want to take advantage of the ebb tide to work our way back to Johnstone Strait and then catch the flood tide to transit east in Johnstone. The forecast is for NW 15 knot winds this morning rising to NW 25 this afternoon.
Mornings are usually the calmest time to travel and it is certainly true this morning. We watch the sun rise and make over 8 knots of speed for most of the first two hours. At the top of Blackley Pass, I see a Humpback whale rise just off our port bow. I catch Barrie's attention and we watch for the whale to surface again. We are stunned when it comes up just in front of our bow (10 feet?) and continues under the boat. We have never been this close to a humpback!
We continue into Blackley Pass where we find incredible tide rips. At times our speed is reduced to just over 1 knot (1.13 was the lowest I saw) and we are crabbing 20 or even 30 degrees. Just as all this is happening, we are hailed by a small cruise ship that is rounding the point and will be entering the channel. We agree to pass "red to red". I hug the starboard shore but not too close since we have limited control of the boat in these waters at this speed.
Suddenly, we hear Chug called on the VHF again. It is our friends Brian & Elizabeth Miller on their boat Intrepid. They heard the cruise ship hail us and called to say hello. They are headed north to Sitka and we are headed south. Ten minutes later we pass Intrepid in Johnstone Strait. This is the Miller's first trip to Alaska on their boat and Johnstone is completely flat. We wonder if they think it is like this all of the time!
We end the day in Mayne Passage. We stop at Blind Channel Resort for dinner ashore in their lovely restaurant and will anchor out in Charles Bay this evening. It the weather forecast holds, we will finish our run up Johnstone Strait tomorrow and go through Seymour Narrows around noon. Next up, the Strait of Georgia.
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