Chronicle 3 Cortes Island to Port McNeill

Looking back at entrance to Gorge Harbor

May 19th: Greywolf spent a peaceful night anchored in Gorge Harbor on Cortes Island, ready to transit Seymore Narrows the following day.  Calm, warm, a few houses in sight, but no other boats...idyllic  We’ll note that in the log book.

Skipper and crew had carefully calculated the slack water at Seymour Narrows and headed for Discovery Passage, arriving an hour early. Better that than an hour late. What to do when one does not want the small vessel to get swept up Discovery Passage and into the Narrows before slack water? S-L-0-W-L-Y (even slower than our usual speed) we wandered south down the Vancouver Island coast, then let the current carry us back north.  

    What to do while drifting down the coast?  Look around.  And take photos. Of the sky.

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Some or you may recognize Powell River on the left.

Greywolf was doing 10 knots passing Campbell River in Discovery Passage with the rpm throttled ‘way back.  We hung out in a small cove south of the Narrows to wait for the last of the ebb tide to subside. 

We had company coming out of Seymore Narrows. Lela Joy's skipper called 
Greywolf on the VHF radio and asked us to move to the left side 
of the passage, so he could make a more favorable approach 
with his tow.  Yes, Sir!

Anchored in Small Inlet in the early evening, the 15 knots of wind and the late hour dictated that we not  launch our dinghy.  Allie would have to use her pee pad.

We turned our concern to Allie.  She had not eaten all day, had declined to play “Find It!”, our underway distraction/exercise. She was unresponsive to cheese nibbles. She skipped her evening play routine. Before we went to bed, we once more again calculated slack water at Seymour Narrows, in case we had to retrace our route and find a vet in Campbell River.

Allie is not a morning animal.  Monday morning found her listless.  Every morning finds her listless.  When she finally wandered out into the main cabin, she found her treat-dispensing ball and happily coaxed out the goodies.  Then she ate breakfast.  The medical team pronounced her cured.  Greywolf continued north in Discovery Passage, turning left into the Johnstone Straits.

There be dragons.
Chatham Point, where Discovery Passage meets the Johnstone Strait.

Below:  Getting ready for sea

The stove is gimbaled, so it can swing wildly back and forth if we are unfortunate  enough to get into unfortunate seas…or the wake of a Large Ship. The salt and pepper shakers have been known to relocate to the floor,  so they now ride on the stove grill.  The tea kettle is a permanent resident. The apple was temporary, on loan from  the top-heavy fruit bowl. Non-skid pads keep the butter dish and canisters in place.    Occasionally, the utensils are relocated to a corner of the galley floor before (or after) gravity has its way with them.

One reason we now own a power boat:  WINDOWS!

Note the Chart Table, a.k.a. breakfast/lunch/dinner table.  We still like to use our paper charts as a reference. That may be an attempt to feel young again, harkening back to the days of yore, matey.

The Johnstone Strait behaving itself. 

Port McNeill, our destination, was 40 miles away.  The Johnsotne Strait has a reputation for being unpredictable so we identified “bailing out points" along the way.  

We didn’t need to bail out. The tide was not with us all the way, of course, but the current was.  In the spring, the runoff from the many streams in this basin can sometimes cause the current to flow toward the Pacific all day, no matter what the tide is doing underneath.  Greywolf benefited. We tied up in Port McNeill shortly before six with laundry in our future.  A long day, but not arduous.

We needn’t have hurried. From Pt. McNeill, we would round Cape Caution, crossing Queen Charlotte Strait and part of Queen Charlotte Sound; the weather forecast was nasty for the next few days. We visited old haunts (The World’s Largest Burl) and found new places: The A-Frame Used Bookstore in a church (4 books) and a pet store, where we bought Allie a bandana for Canada Day.

School Bus!

Doug spotted the unusual rigging on this yacht.
Construction going on behind 

These kids and their coaches were on the water every day,
always staying inside the breakwater.

We first met Passing Cloud on Salt Spring Island in 2007 when we shared a gov dock with her and two other lovely sailing vessels and about 40 awe-struck eight graders from Calgary on an end-of-the-year sailing trip in the Gulf Islands. She’ll spend this summer in Haida Gwai with her present owner.

Innovative way to get the fish innards into the bay 
from the fish cleaning station.

The ferry skipper nudges (or slams, depending on the weather)
 the boat up agains the bollards and then backs into the slip. 
The ferry serves three islands, so creative boarding is required.
(Yes, that is a Poodle On The Move in the foreground.)

One thing you do when you’re waiting for a break in the weather is talk with other skippers on the dock. Allie will be eternally grateful to one skipper for a recommendation of new-to-us harbor with A BEACH where we could spend the night before we rounded Cape Caution.  We headed for Port Alexander at 8:30 on Friday, May 23rd, arriving early in the afternoon.  A very civilized departure and arrival time.  Photos of a happy Poodle and Her Beach will follow in the next Chronicle.