Charles Bay to Mist Islets (Port Harvey) June 11

Pulled up anchor at Turn Island at 2:30 and arrived at Charles Bay a half hour later.  Charles Bay is across Mayne Passage from Blind Channel Resort and provided a nice secure anchorage from which to visit Blind Channel by dinghy (with the nicely tuned motor!)  This is a very sweet resort that has been in the same family for 3 generations – and sports a very personal touch.  The store was still unpacking this years stock and had not yet opened the boxes of jewelry.  It felt like Christmas – as we unpacked the box looking for the matching earring.  We found a very similar pair and a few other goodies that found their way into my shopping bag. 

While I was shopping for silver and gold, Barrie was checking out the dinner menu at The Cedar Post restaurant.  Everything sounded wonderful and much of the menu had a German flair (in keeping with the heritage of the owners).  In fact, it all sounded so good that we made reservations! 

Before dinner we just had time for a walk through the old growth forest to the 800-year-old cedar tree.  Dinner was superb and the staff made it even more so.  Around 7:30 we headed back to the boat and enjoyed a tranquil evening reading.

Woke up this morning to a party sunny day (really just glorious) and with favorable tides decided to start by running Greene Point Rapids into Chancellor Channel then meeting up with the infamous Johnstone Strait.  Last night the weather forecast for Johnstone sounded sublime.  Today the forecast had changed to Strong Wind Warning (10-20 from the NW) and Sunday’s forecast was much calmer (5-15 from the SE).  So we debated … and we listened to other boats in front of us – “better use the diesel today and crank her up to 18, so we can get out of here” … and looked at the conditions around us.  We decided to put our nose out into it and see what it really looked like.   As it turned out, conditions could not have been better.  We had an easy transit to Havannah Channel and decided to stop at Port Harvey to look for a battery for one of Barrie’s tools.  When we were here two years ago, it seemed that the small store had one of everything!  We pulled up to the dock to discover that the store is closed.  The men on the dock told us they hoped to have it open again next year.  Not sure what happened but we are sure sorry it is no longer.

The weather gods have certainly been cooperative on this trip!  Hope it keeps up.

Dropped our anchor near Port Harvey by Mist Islets.  Then dropped the kayak and went for a paddle at low tide.  Back to the boat for a shower and to check on Barrie’s progress.  He spent the afternoon adjusting the water maker.  We both took advantage of a very marginal internet connection.  Hope this posts.  I will add some photos when we have better service.

April Point to Blind Bay Resort (June 10)

We are returning this morning to Campbell River in search of a new paddle for my kayak.  This morning the flood tide is carrying us south the 3 miles we struggled to make last night.  We arrive at Fisherman’s Wharf and find our same “parking spot”.  Once we are tied up and have checked-in with the Harbor Master (no charge), we head into town looking first for coffee and then the paddle.  As we leave the dock we see a sporting goods store just opening and agree that we will return as soon as we have found a cup of coffee. 

On the main street, we find “Shot in the Dark” and each order a latte.  This is a great local coffee shop and the owner tells us stories of local bears and town politics as he makes each of us a great cup of coffee!  If we weren’t in a hurry to catch slack tide through Seymour Narrows, we would sit down and have breakfast.  Everything in the place looks yummy!  As it is, the owner won’t let us go until he has provided us with an order of toasted homemade bread (& butter) and a bit of chicken meat for a cat treat. 

We hurry back down the street to the sporting goods store and sure enough they have a paddle that suits our needs.  We complete the transaction and continue back to the boat. 

Slack at Seymour Narrows is at 9:58 and all the books tell us that in a slow boat we should not challenge the window.  As we chart our course from Campbell River, our computer tells us that we will arrive at the Narrows at 10:18 – which is the outer edge of the window.  The good news for us is that tides today are quite small – so today’s ebb tide maxes out at 8.1 knots rather than some much larger number (like 15).  Our trip through the Narrows is both beautiful and uneventful. 

I want to return to Blind Bay (I bought a pair of earrings there last year and lost one – now I want to try to replace them).  So, we pull into an anchorage behind Turn Island to wait for the current in Cordero Channel to moderate.  We drop our anchor at noon and have a bite of lunch.  I work on the blog and Barrie naps until the water pump goes off.  The question is what is running – faucets are all off and finally he finds a leak under the forward sink.  Eureka, the fresh water leak that has plagued us for 3 years is finally found.  And the fix is just tightening the hose clamps that hold the copper hose and the plastic hose together.  Great that it is finally found.  Too bad that it was so elusive for so long.

Boho Bay to April Point (June 9)

Oh what a difference a day makes!  Work up this morning to light winds and calm seas.  Pulled the anchor and made a tour of Skerry Bay before leaving Boho.  Then followed the east shore of Lasqueti Island and over the top where we drove into Scottie Bay before heading out into the Strait of Georgia.  Light winds from the south pushed us north along the west coast of Texada Island.  This is our fourth boat trip that takes us north into the waters beyond the  Strait of Georgia.  Several years ago, we cruised to Alaska on Ursa Major with Captain(s) Josh (& Emily) Haury.  That trip took us through Seymour Narrows and the length of Johnstone Strait.  The last two years, we have taken the “back route” through Dent, Gilliard, Green Point and Whirlpool Rapids.  We decided it was time for us to tackle Seymour Rapids on our own.  With that in mind we headed to Campbell River for the night.

The trip up the Strait of Georgia was completely uneventful and the cat never left the pilothouse.  (I suppose we can use Duffy as our scary meter.)  We pulled into Fisherman’s Wharf in Campbell River at about 3 in the afternoon and spent the next couple of hours shopping for supplies we could not bring across the border (produce, eggs, etc) and forgotten cat supplies. 

At the head of the dock, Crabby Bob’s sells fresh fish and we snagged halibut for dinner.  When added to fresh raspberries and bok choy – we ate well!  But first, we untied from the dock and headed less than 3 miles up river to April Point for an anchorage.  This was easier said than done as we were bucking a current of over 5 knots for some of the distance.  We avoided the rock in the entrance (staying close to the north shore) and found good anchorage near the marina. 

After dinner, I put my kayak in the water and was unhappy to discover that somewhere along the journey I had lost half of the paddle.  I spent an hour paddling the kayak as if it were a canoe visiting the marina and the April Point Fishing Lodge.  By the time I returned to the boat, I was certain that I had to find a new paddle!  This meant returning to Campbell River in the morning.

A quiet night on the hook and slowly we are working out the kinks.  Regardless, we have made good progress on our northbound trek.

Silva Bay to Boho Bay Lasqueti Island (June 8th)

Last evening was spent on the aft deck watching the comings and goings at Silva Bay Marina.  Gabriola Island is a comfortable place, the population of 4,000 is mostly retirees by also folks who commute to Nanaimo for work and based on the graduation photo on the front page of the local paper at least a dozen high school seniors. 

Across the fairway from our assigned slip at the dock, we watched the seaplanes tying-up and taking-off.  Barrie loved the sound of the old DeHaviland Seaplane with its original-type radial engine.  Also on the dock the fish-cleaning station was getting a work out.  We watched the day’s fishermen (& women) bringing in their catch and the local guide working at the cleaning table to prepare the fish.  The local guide tossed a fishhead toward the end of the dock and then whistled loudly – seconds later a huge eagle swooped in with talons extended and scooped-up his dinner.  Just amazing the watch.  Other leftovers were fed to the seals who were hanging near the dock.  Clearly this routine had happened many times before. 

Spent a quiet night on the dock and in the morning Don brought back the missing parts from Namaimo and finished tuning-up the outboard motor.  Barrie said he would come back here to have boat work done.  Wonderful people and the price was very reasonable.   We went for a walk along the highway from Silva Bay Marina to Page's Marina and then followed the much shorter walking trail back.  Along the way found a bicycle "pit stop" with compressed air (the hose coming out through a fence) and oil.  Self service.  We then found "Moonshine Cove" with an amazing new log entrance that was made by a group from Williams Lake that has a Canadian TV show (Timber Kings) about outrageous houses.  The lintle was at least 4 feet in diameter.

By the time we were ready to leave at noon, the weather had deteriorated a bit with high wind warnings in effect (10-20 knots from the S shifting to the SE).  Evening winds were forecast to diminish and shift to the Northwest.  We decided it was time to see if we were up to the challenge (we knew the boat could handle the wind).  The cat quickly went below deck and hid under the covers.  We originally set our destination for the Sunshine Coast but that direction had the waves on our beam.  Certainly, we were not in danger but it was not the most comfortable ride.  We decided that exploring the anchorages on Lasqueti Island would allow us to change our heading by 15 degrees and that put the seas on our stern.  Near bliss.  We arrived at Boho Bay around 5 pm and found secure anchorage but still exposed a bit to the southern winds.  We dropped the hook and waited for the winds to shift to the NW.  For the first few hours, we found ourselves tightening the forestays and finding all the loose things that were going thumpity thump.  When the winds shifted  around 9 pm, we were able to drop into a comfortable sleep. 

Lasquiti Island is served by passenger ferry (but no auto ferry.)  Lots of hiking trails.  Looks like an interesting place to explore.

Prevost Harbor to Silva Bay via Bedwell

Our start this morning was quite relaxed.  Coffee in hand, we brought up the anchor just after 7:30 and began the short trip to Bedwell Harbor to clear Canadian Customs. We checked in by phone just before crossing the boundary into Canada and provided our NEXUS numbers.  As we were entering Bedwell Harbor we saw a Krogen 39 departing.  We couldn't help ourselves and hailed our sister ship "Points North."  Note - they are not in the Northwest Krogen Owners Handbook.  We will likely see them again on this trip since they are headed to The Broughtons.


This year clearing Customs was a snap.  We arrived at an empty dock and when no Custom's Agents arrived, we were free to go on our way.  Last year we sat at the dock for over an hour while a team of Agents went through every cupboard on the boat.

While lingering in the Gulf Islands is appealing, both Barrie and I love the vastness of the northern waters and set our sights on positioning Chug to cross the Strait of Georgia while the weather is good.  This was also our day to resolve issues with the dinghy motor.  And since this is a vacation, we decided to give Barrie a break and leave the job to a mechanic-for-hire.  The question was where to go to find said mechanic -- this far south the choices are many.  The farther north you go, the fewer the choices.  We decided to avoid the major cites of Sydney and Nanaimo and opted to head for Silva Bay.

We bucked a pretty significant tide for most of the morning sometimes making less than 5 knots but the 35 mile trip went quickly as we settled into enjoying our surroundings.  The tides in Gabriola Pass were not cooperating -- we would have had to wait several hours to transit that small pass - but the weather in the Strait of Georgia was cooperating.  We arrived at Porlier Pass at 12:35 with slack happening just a few minutes later.  We easily slipped through the pass and continued our trip north along Galliano Island arriving at Silva Bay at yet another minus tide and followed a sailboat into Silva Bay Marina.

Barrie had called ahead and Don the mechanic was ready to begin work as soon as we arrived.  He cleaned spark plugs and had the engine running in short order.  However, he also discovered that the impeller needed to be changed.  The part is in Nanaimo and he will take the early ferry over to pick it up.  Reminds us of home.  The good news is that the outboard engine will be tuned and ready for the rest of the trip.  Don at Silva Bay Shipyard is a great find.  Meanwhile, here we sit "captive" with a gin & tonic.  Somehow it all seems just fine.

Anacortes to Prevost Harbor

Chug "splashed down" at the North Harbor Diesel (NHD) docks in Anacortes on Friday and the weekend was a scramble to get the boat ready for departure on Monday morning.  Somehow we got most of the necessities on board (and plenty that wasn't necessary) forgetting only a few items that we will be fine without!  By Sunday night, we had loaded McDuff (the Cat) and the last of the gear. NHD was kind enough to loan us their Courtesy Car allowing us to leave our car in our own driveway -- so we left the cat aboard and made one final round trip.

All was quiet on the docks Sunday night and we woke up to beautiful weather and calm seas.  By 6 am we were off and spent the rest of the day meandering through the San Juans testing the systems and getting comfortable with the boat.  There was a fair bit of head scratching as we tried to remember how everything worked.  We worked our way north along Blakley Island and then through Obstruction Pass before crossing below Shaw Island and working our way north along San Juan Island with a drive-by at Friday Harbor (our original plan was to stop here and drop of guests but illness intervened at the last moment and we departed without our company -- next year?).  From Friday Harbor we continued north around the south shore of Spieden Island and the west end of Stuart Island before stopping for the night at Prevost Harbor.   (Almost exactly 14 years ago, we scattered my mom's ashes on the south side of Spieden Island and I always like to linger there remembering her incredible spirit.)

We entered Prevost Harbor on a minus tide making it easy to spot the various shoals.  We anchored in a small cove south of Satellite Island and then watched the tide come up 10 feet.  We deployed the dinghy with the idea of going to shore for a walk -- this is a wonderful island to explore with a school and a lighthouse in easy walking distance.  The dinghy motor started then stopped then started then stopped.  It certainly wasn't running smoothly and we decided that we would enjoy the evening and worry about it tomorrow.  We napped and read and enjoyed dinner aboard.  All in all, a bit of bumpy start but we are off on an adventure and will iron out the kinks as we go.

The Bottom Job!

Today is Chug's last day in the shop at North Harbor Diesel and she is looking pretty fine for a boat that turns 30 this year.  She sports a fresh bottom and several additional upgrades including the ability to transmit AIS. 
We had hoped to get away over a month ago but all good things take time.  With luck, she will go into the water today and by Monday we will be on our way north. 
Our plan this year is to circumnavigate Vancouver Island. 
I will be blogging away for those who wish to follow the adventure.