Friday, September 20, 2013

Back in Civilization/ Port McNeil to Sydney,BC



Ginny and I have been happily married for 50 years , have 2 sons and 6 grandchildren. We have been avid boaters since the mid 1970's. We have sailed in various parts of the world making 'bareboat' charter trips in the Washington and Canadian San Juans and Gulf Islands, Maine,the British Virgins, South Pacific's Moorea and Tuamoto's and New Zealand. We owned and raced a J-24, Laser, and cruised a Newport 30 before buying a long range trawler in 2003 and cruising the waters of the Pacific Northwest and the 'Inside Passage' of British Columbia to SE Alaska for the last 10 years. After first owning a 2000 Selene 47, and 2002 Selene 50 (both named 'Ina Marie', we now, in the 'bell lap' of our boating days, own, operate and thoroughly enjoy 'Ginny C' , our 2007 Selene 42.


September 8-21, Port Mc Neil to Sidney, BC, This is Fall cruising at its best!!


For the next 10 days we will be cruising south to reach Sidney BC to pick up Tucson friends, John and Dianne Kidd who will join us for the last week of this incredible trip back to Olympia via the BC ‘Gulf Islands’, Washington’s beautiful San Juan Islands and southern Puget Sound.




Sunday, September 8, 2013
After a full good days rest, laundry, refueling and a bit of provisioning we spent a delightful Saturday evening with Steve Jackman and his lovely fiance` Jessica.  
It is Sunday morning and the fog has burned off by late morning so we untie and head out for Booker Lagoon for a night in the Broughtons hoping to do some prawning.  We time the entrance rapids perfectly after our 23 nm run.  Unfortunately, no whales sighted as we crossed Queen Charlotte Strait.  We set the prawn and a crab traps after anchoring in one of this beautiful lagoon’s best protected coves.  Along the way we make phone contact with Chuck and Chris Quist on ‘Esprit d`Four’ at Echo Bay and plan to meet up with them at Mound Island in the Broughton’s ‘Indian Group’ on Monday.

To see our locations and routes click on this text

Monday, September 9, 2013

We will exit Booker at 10:40 slack tide and current through its narrow entrance.  We rise early enough to pull the prawn trap and crab trap. The fog is so dense I set a GPS waypoint at our anchor spot so I can find the boat to come back to.  I will find the trap floats based on using my depth finder as there is just one 300 foot deep hole where the prawn trap sits.  I know the general direction in the 1/8 mile visibility around the corner of our cove.  The crab trap is within 100 yards of the boat and its floats are barely visible so we pull it first, [empty again] and then creep along the shore line around the opening  to our cove and follow depth lines to the 300 feet line.  Within a few minutes we spot the prawn floats and pull the pot with about 170 nice prawns.  So I set a course back to the waypoint I had set and the boat comes into view about 1/4 mile away from it.  By the time we haul anchor fog is lifting to 1/2 mile visibility so our exit from the lagoon at slack water is a non event as is the rest of this short 18nm day on into safe Mound Island Cove.  Once there, we are hailed by Len and Barb Nielsen  from Pt McNeill who we met several years ago at Lagoon Cove and again last year at Jennis Bay . They come alongside and we have a nice visit. We put out the crab trap and this time get 4 nice ‘keepers’.  The Quists arrive mid afternoon and we spend the evening with them catching up and exchanging our summer cruise experiences over a nice potluck dinner and some good wine.  




Tuesday, September 10  and Wednesday September 11, 2013 Port Neville and Sidney Bay

To see our locations and routes click on this text

 


When the fog burns off late morning these days the skies are clear and the water ‘mirror calm’.  With these calm conditions it is time to head south through the 60-70 miles of the Johnstone Straits.  Quists are staying back a day to meet other friends but we will take the first 32 miles of them to Port Neville, about 1/2 way, and then after clearing through Current Passage, head out of the Straits up Chancellor Channel and then on into Sidney Bay about 7 nm up the beautiful fjord , Loughborough Sound.  We go by Robson Bight, a favorite spot for orca whales, but they aren’t “home”...or at least we can’t see them in the fog! But suddenly we are surrounded by a huge school of at least 50 porpoises and “play”  with them for quite a while.  We reach Port Neville mid afternoon.  


The first two hours are in fog and the rest of the way clear.  These sometimes treacherous waters are flat as a pancake all the way.  We enjoy a restful afternoon and evening reading and napping. ...and finish with a crab/prawn dinner. Too much breeze to kayak. “Figment”  who we met in Sitka also comes in and anchors. 



We make an early departure for our 28nm equally calm run on into Sidney Bay on Wednesday arriving about noon.  This pretty spot has about 100 feet of dock complete with a charming library and benches owned by a couple who have homesteaded up her for the last 35 plus years.  We have a nice visit with these friendly hosts.  They give us suggestions where to crab, prawn and fish.  Guess what? By the end of the day we have three more nice crab and a 17 pound Ling Cod in the boat which I caught with a light spinning rod with 10 pound test line.  Almost a ‘trifecta’ but the prawn pull was poor. (While I was busy “provisioning” , Ginny had another delightful kayak outing).






Thursday, September 12, 2013; Owen Bay and Friday September 13, Prideaux Haven Cove in the heart of Desolation Sound

To see our locations and routes click on this text

Thursday our goal is Owen Bay to stage and time our passage through Upper Rapids and Hole in the Wall Rapids tomorrow morning.  We awake to no fog and exit Sidney Bay at 8am and hit Green Point Rapids 8 miles south right at slack, pass Blind Channel, then head south east for the last 4-5 miles of Johnstone Straits, and on into Discovery Channel and then 8nm miles up Okosillo Channel into Owen Bay completing the 31 nm run just about 2:30 pm. We really get slammed sideways for about 300 yards in Upper Rapids with a 4 plus knot current right at the entrance to Owen Bay. Quists catch up with us for the last 12 miles.  We set our anchors and have them aboard for a dinner of fresh Ling Cod. (Chris and Ginny are a great potluck team).

It is Friday morning and slack current at Upper Rapids and Hole In the Wall is not until noon so we sleep in a bit, pull  3 more keepers out of the crab trap and hoist anchor at 10:30 clearing the rapids about 40 minutes before slack with 3.8 knots running with us. We have no real difficulty but do get tossed around a bit as we pass through.  The weather is clear and warm and the seas are calm.  This route which we have taken many times between Prideaux Haven and here is a spectacular 32nm along Calm Channel, Raza Passage and Waddington Channel.  We always look forward to the fabulous mountain views and today is no exception.

We arrive Prideaux Haven late afternoon because of the late morning slack current timing we had to wait for.  Quists are still with us.  After setting the prawn trap with fresh Ling Cod carcasses and guts we join them for “heavy” hors d’oeuvres and then it is off to bed after a bit of cracked crab.



Saturday, September 14, 2013 Oysters, Clams and Prawns Galore- off to Sturt Bay and Sunday, September 15, Pender Harbor.

To see our locations and routes click on this text

It is up at 7am so we can clam and pick oysters before the 8:30 low tide.  We run in the tender to our clam/oyster beach about 2 miles away across Homfray Channel and within an hour plus a few minutes have more oysters and clams than we can begin to eat in three meals.  Not only that, we then pull over 300 prawns out of our prawn traps!!!! Jackpot, our best prawn pull ever!!
Weather predictions are good for the North Georgia Straits for the next couple of days so we hoist the tender, say ‘good bye’ to the Quists and head out for Sturt Bay on Texada Island 30 miles away.  Sturt Bay is a small mining community in the heart of a huge Limestone Quarry on the east side of Texada Island.  The locals are welcoming and very friendly and they have a limited amount of dock space in the bay for guest boats at their ‘Texada Boat Club’.  There is also good anchorage in the bay as long as SE winds are not blowing hard.  We arrive late afternoon sharing the docks with 4 other boats, relax, read, give away and eat some fresh oysters and crab and hit the sack early. Ginny picks the rest of the crab and vacuseals it along with the prawns. 

We have a leisurely departure Sunday morning for our 23 mile run into Pender Harbor, to stage the last part of our crossing of the Georgia Straits into the Gulf Islands.  We wait a bit for the fog to rise, leaving mid morning with 1/2 mile visibility. After just 1 hour in transit the fog lifts for the rest of the day. A pretty uneventful run. We dock as usual at the Madeira Harbor public docks and settle in for a quiet afternoon in the rain.



Monday, Sept 16, to Chemainus; Tuesday, Sept. 17 to Genoa Bay, to Wednesday, Sept. 18, Docked in Sidney, BC.

To see our locations and routes click on this text

Monday, September 16, is a long 49nm day crossing the Georgia Straits into the Gulf Islands.  Weather is for 10-15 SE winds changing to 10-15 NW during the day.  This would indicate fairly calm variable sea conditions.  We leave at 7:30 for the approx. 7 hour run.  Two hours into it just past Mary Island and Welcome Passage we hit 15-20 SE winds giving us 2-4 foot choppy seas of steep short waves on our nose.  This brings a lot of up and down, but little roll.  Lots of spray over the bow as it drives through this nasty chop which lasts about two hours and then finally calms and the seas flatten out.  We exit the GS and enter the Gulf Islands through Gabriola Passage 1.5 hours before slack with almost 4 knots of current on our nose.  There are big overfalls on both sides of us but we stay right in the center and pass through with little effort.  

Two hours later we dock in the tiny harbor of Chemainus.  We have not been here for about 4 years but really like the spirit of this Vancouver Island lumber town with it clean fenced houses, flower gardens and the incredible historical murals painted on the walls of many of the village’s commercial buildings.

We feast on oysters and steamed clams and it is early to bed after our long day on the water.



Tuesday, Sept. 17. on to Genoa Bay
To see our locations and routes click on this text

We awake again to clear skies and walk into town for a yummy  breakfast at the Utopia Bakery.  We stock up on baked goods and their good bread before returning to the wharf and making our 17 mile run down beautiful Sansum Narrows into Cowichan Bay and then on into Genoa Bay, always a favorite stop in the Gulf Islands.  We run two plus hours on our auxiliary ‘get home’ engine just to give it some needed ‘run time’.
After a relaxing afternoon at Genoa Bay , we enjoy a delicious dinner at the marina’s good restaurant.

Wednesday, Sept. 18. at Sydney, BC

To see our locations and routes click on this text

Once again the predicted rain has not yet arrived as we awake to calm water and almost totally clear sky.  We have another short run of just 14 nm into Port Sidney, arriving late morning.  

“Blue C’s” cruising friends Carl and Carol Cederberg join us for coffee and a nice visit before their departure on a golf outing to central BC.  Carl’s previous meticulously prepared cruise plans for several former Alaska trips, generously offered and shared, coupled along with ‘Wild Blue’s/Alex Benson’s Alaska Cruise blogs, [along with a few other cruise blogs] have been invaluable planning tools for us in laying out this year’s trip of a lifetime.
We will spend the rest of today and tomorrow updating the blog, doing laundry, cleaning, provisioning and taking care of minor maintenance items as we await the Friday afternoon arrival of Tucson friends (previously mentioned) to share the last leg of our trip south back into the USA and on in to Olympia approximately a week from now. Unfortunately, weather predictions are not the greatest in terms of rain vs sun, altho no huge storms are predicted.

On Thursday afternoon Marlyn Copeland stops by for a visit. She and Husband Peter are early Selene cruising friends whom we met at the Second Annual Selene Rendevous in Port Ludlow.way back in 2004.  Although her passion for boating changed to reigning horses several years ago we always enjoy reconnecting and catching up when we cross paths, usually when passing through Sydney where they live between her active life competing [and often winning] with her horses all across North America.  Todays visit was no exception.  We are sorry Peter, home ill, could not join us.










































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