Home in One Swell Fwoop

Okay...I just gave up on blogging for the end of the trip, and left everybody sitting in Pt. McNeill. So here I am, almost a year from the start of our adventure, trying to end our story. I'm referencing the ship's log as a reminder, and hope to quickly run by the rest of our trip back to Comox. That's because tomorrow we (Linda and I) will leave home for a trip to Scotland, Northern England, and Northern Ireland - so then I guess it'll be time to change the name of the blog, and try it again, detailing this next trip.
But first, back to the sailing adventure! Tues. Aug 24 - We spent much of the day tidying up the boat in anticipation of the arrival of new crew. Linda arrived on the 1630 bus from Courtenay, and we celebrated with Frank and Marchien of Windbourn II aboard Jade. Wed. 25 Aug - Windbourn departed the dock at 0900......we took a bit longer, refueled the boat, and left at 1100, arriving at Telegraph Cove just down-Island a bit, arriving at 1430. They have a very interesting museum dedicated to whales, and great beer in the tavern. As we walked back to our boat at the dock, we watched a Coast Guard Fast Response Boat returning, performing CPR to an accident victim. They were followed closely by the whale-watch vessel Naiad Explorer, who presumably had been assisting in the incident. No information on what had actually ensued, though. Dinner of spinach salad and pizza, followed by nice hot/long showers.
Thursday, Aug. 26 - We departed at 1100, with a following tidal current, hoping to view some Orcas as we passed Robson Bight - but no such luck on this leg! So a few miles further on, we pulled into Port Harvey, which has a nice new marina (only 2 yrs old) at 1600. The restaurant has a good reputation, and we partook - very nice meals, with excellent dessert of wildberry cheesecake. Afterward, we watched a movie (Invictus) onboard while outside the skies opened up and it poured. We dropped a crab trap off the end of the dock for the night.
Fri. 27 Aug - The rain was easing up by mid-morning, so we decided to push on. Our crab trap yielded four nice keeper Dungeness Crabs. We left the dock at 1120, running back down Johnstone Strait, and then into Sunderland Channel on a broad reach, anchoring for the evening at the Douglas Bay anchorage in Forward Harbour. We plotted our journey for the next day to time our tides for the 2 rapids we had to run, and had a vigourous discussion on a variety of quasi-political topics following a wonderful dinner of crab, pasta and salad. We were able to get some cell-phone coverage, so called Jan & John in Refuge Cove to let them know we'd be there in a couple of days, and then called Oleo's Restaurant in Frederick Arm to see if they might still be open for dinner the following night (Yes - still open, and happy to have us!).
Sat. 28 Aug - Several other boats in the anchorage were leaving when we got up at 0800, even though our tide calculations hinted at a later time - however, in talking with them on the radio, it appeared we were probably right in waiting another hour or two, so stayed put for a great breakfast of crab omelet. When we left at 1000, we made good time through Whirlpool and Greenpoint rapids, and ended up pulling into Oleo's Gallery in Frederick Arm at about 1500. There we met Ruth, the widowed owner, and visited in her gazebo for happy hour, followed by a wonderful dinner of Louisiana Chicken and roast duck. We chatted until well after dark.
Sun. 29 Aug - We were up at 0800, but we couldn't leave until later to get the slack tide for Dent Rapids. Ruth had baked us some humongous cinnamon buns and a loaf of bread.....yummy! We actually got underway at 1300, transiting Dent and Gillard Rapids, and arriving Refuge Cove at 1900. Kelcy prepared some delicious fajitas enroute, for supper, and on arrival we had a nice visit with John and Janet on their floathome. Friends Terry and Denny, aboard "Night Moves", were also there - so it was a bit of a party/get-together.
Mon 30 Aug - Very nice, sunny weather, but forecast for gale-force southeast for next day. So instead of staying for a visit, we decided to leave, departing at 0920. With light winds it was a motorsail across Georgia Strait, and into Comox, arriving home at 1500.

That's about it for our sailing adventure to Alaska. A week later, we sailed down to Nanaimo to pull the boat out of the water, to check the rudder from the earlier log hit. Got the bottom painted at the same time, and back to Comox in a gale, arriving back on 26 Sept.

If you're interested in the next adventure, stay tuned.....tomorrow (10 May 2011) or the next day, I hope to start the next instalment of the blog, renamed for our adventures in trying to find our Roots in the U.K.