Sailing and Stitching

Monday was a mixed bag of choices for us, as gale force winds were forecast for Queen Charlotte Strait, just outside of our docks at Echo Bay. We also received word from Ray and Kathy, on " Summer Breeze ", that they would be sailing for Echo Bay from Lagoon Cove. So off we went to see Pierre, and organized another session of painting for another day of moorage. We painted the white trim on his lodge, and by early afternoon our friends were sailing into the bay. Cocktails were then in order, followed by a dinner on Jade-1.



Summer Breeze arriving Echo Bay - notice the lovely white railings and trim on the lodge, painted by us.






By Tuesday (25 May), the winds had cooperated, and it was time to move on. The two boats left Echo Bay and sailed out through Arrow Pass and into Queen Charlotte Strait, bound for Alert Bay. We had beautiful conditions with 20 knot winds on the beam or behind us the whole way.....and a following tidal current, as well. By 1430, after a boisterous (but not rough) sail, we'd arrived at the village of Alert Bay which is a mostly First Nations town near Vancouver Island. We walked to the U'Mista Cultural Centre, a museum with a great deal of First Nations artwork which had been taken from the natives during the "cultural cleansing" and anti-potlatch times.



Masks at the Museum Alert Bay (photo borrowed from Internet, as no photos allowed inside).





The town also has a large number of totems, especially in the burial ground. Although the weather was wet and cool (about 13C), we had a good walk around town, and returned to the boats for a fine dinner on " Summer Breeze " . Wednesday morning we walked into town to have breakfast in a restaurant, but they were all closed, and we ended up having Egg muffins and sticky buns at the deli at the supermarket.




Totems in the burial grounds, Alert Bay





Following a short walk about town, it was time to head across to Vancouver Island and Port McNeill, where Linda was planning on meeting us.
With no wind and flat calm, it was a short motor across to the marina, and within an hour of tying up, Linda had arrived. Of course, that gives us reason for another party....so cocktails it was!
She'd brought along some supplies from home, which we planned to use for restocking along with supplies purchased in town. Summer Breeze also had a major sewing job, as their sail had ripped on the way across to Alert Bay. We spent all of Thursday shopping, stocking, fuelling, laundering, showering, and otherwise preparing for the next leg beyond Vancouver Island.



Our route so far, from Blind Channel, to Matilpi, Lagoon Cove, Kwatsi Bay, Echo Bay, Alert Bay, and then to Pt McNeill.

The sewing and stitching on Summer Breeze's mainsail was an all-day project, and although we managed to get it repaired, the cloth seemed to be mostly sun-weakened and aged, and unlikely to last much longer. Mort MacDonnell, however, a friend from Courtenay, emailed us that he had a spare sail to fit. With Linda's having driven up for the visit, we had our car available. So as I sit catching up on the blog, Ray and Kathy are presently driving back to Courtenay to pick up Mort's sail. The weather forecast was unsuitable for our proceeding today, and looks good for tomorrow....so hopefully tomorrow (Saturday) morning will find us crossing Queen Charlotte Strait toward Cape Caution - as far north as I've (to date) sailed on this coast.






Port McNeill Harbour