Strange Things Done.....: On to MacNeill, with whales

Almost as soon as we'd posted our blog, entering Johnstone Strait, our cell signal died, and the wind came up Southeast. There had been no mention of this wind in the forecast, but we took advantage of it, and soon found ourselves sailing at 7 knots, wing-on-wing (that's with the fore and mainsails on opposite sides to catch the wind from behind). By 1030 the weather forecasters had changed the forecast to reflect reality, and we'd decided to take advantage of this by-now sunny day with a following wind. So instead of turning up Havannah Channel, we kept going up Johnstone Strait to make a few more miles of northwest. By 1400 we'd made it to the west end of Johnstone Strait, and were rounding up past Cracroft Point into Blackney Pass, which was running a 4 knot current against us....but by staying East, out of the main current we were able to minimize, and sometimes even get a backeddy push. It was here we saw our first whale of the trip....a humpback relaxing on the surface. By 1500 we had our anchor down in a pretty little bay on the north side of Hanson Island, with Koukla still keeping us company. In spite of our best efforts, we continued to be without crabs.

May 23 -

We spent a quiet night in the anchorage. I've noticed a few anomalies with my electrical system which I want to check out when we get dockside at Port MacNeill, which will be later today. Koukla is interested in finding those elusive crabs, so is leaving us for Village Channel to find their seafood and perhaps explore the abandoned native village of Mammallillaculla. We will then meet up again later, in Port MacNeill. Linda and Kathy, our wives, are planning to drive up to Port MacNeill for a short visit before we leave Vancouver Island for the North and Central Coast....so we'll be staying likely until Sunday or Monday before continuing. That should provide a bit of time to troubleshoot the electrical problems, restock a bit (we really don't need much other than perhaps a bit of fresh veggies), and, of course, visit Linda and Kathy!