Home Again, Home Again....

Tuesday 23 July – The starter/solenoid was ready for pickup at 1015, so with that all fixed up, Linda and I picked up Gary (and his wife, Wendy) and we drove up Vancouver Island to Port Hardy, arriving at 1400. While the others did a bit of restocking shopping, I reinstalled the starter, now working well. We had an early dinner at the Quarterdeck Pub, then Linda and Wendy drove home to the Comox Valley, while Gary and myself watched a movie (“The Lone Ranger”), then had an early night.

Wednesday 24 July – We were up by 0700, had a quick cereal breakfast, settled accounts with the marina, and then moved over to the fuel dock to top up the diesel. By 1015 we were underway under overcast skies and fog, and a light northwesterly wind. By 1120 the fog was starting to lift as we passed by the Masterman Islands, turning Southeastbound.. At 1230 we were still passing into occasional fog banks, in light and variable winds, now motoring past Pultenay Point on Malcolm Island....at least we were getting a 2 knot push from the flood tide. It seemed a bit early to put in for the day, so we continued past Port MacNeil in Broughton Strait, now in clear skies. As we motorsailed past Alert Bay at 1345, I radioed to Telegraph Cove, who had a slip available....and by 1430 we were tied to the docks at Telegraph Cove enjoying the fine summer weather. We walked the boardwalks and admired some of the fine-looking salmon being landed here. We visited the whale museum, which has several full skeletal remains of various types of whales....then had a beer at the pub before returning to the boat for dinner. The marina here has very nice shower facilities, so we took advantage of these, as well.

Thursday 25 July – At 0800 when we arose, the overnight fog was just lifting to a beautiful sunny day with moderate northwest winds. We topped up the water tanks and by 1030 were underway into Johnstone Strait. The wind and tide were both cooperating, and we had a beautiful sail downwind. By 1500 the wind was increasing as we passed by Havannah Channel, and the tide was still with us. We reefed the sails and kept on. By 1700 we were off Sunderland Channel and approaching Kelsey Bay, in a still-strengthening wind, and with the seas becoming a bit more unruly. Even with our reefed sails, the wind was now gale force....so we turned up Sunderland Channel and had an exhilarating run down the Channel the 6 miles to Forward Harbour. By 1830 we were anchored in quiet waters in 55 feet of water, and barbecued some steak for dinner. Time for another movie (“Les Miserables”) on our chart plotter cum entertainment centre, before retiring atg 2230.

Friday 26 July – The strong northwest winds were continuing in Johnstone Strait, according to the forecast, but using the inside route we should get the same direction, but not as much force.....so we had blueberry pancakes for breakfast, and waited for the tide. By 1100 we had the anchor up, and the ebb tide was slacking off. As we exited the inlet the overcast skies became sunny and clear, with a nice northwesterly wind of 15 knots. We were able to motorsail through Whirlpool Rapids 45 minutes before the slack tide, and continue on a broad reach past Loughborough Inlet and through Greenpoint Rapids, with the wind picking up to 20 knots and allowing us a very nice sail. By 1430 we were approaching Shoal Bay and entered the bay looking for a tie-up or anchorage....but lots of boats were hunkered down here, with no room on the docks or in any safe anchorage spots. So we continued into Frederick Sound (another couple of miles). Several years ago I'd stayed at Oleo's Gallery, a restaurant with docks and a float-home. It was still there, but Ruth, the owner/proprietor, or her son, were not there. We tied up and made friends with the dog, hoping they'd come back later in the afternoon....but it was just us, the dog, and a cat. At 1830 I pulled some stuffed chicken breasts out of the freezer and made up a dinner, and we relaxed on the boat while the wind howled outside the little protected bay we were tied up in. We watched another movie (“Django Unchained”), and with no sign of anyone arriving to allow us to stay or boot us off, we settled down to a peaceful night.

Saturday 27 July – Although we'd sailed through Whirlpool and Greenpoint Rapids near, but not at slack tide, we were intent on clearing our next tidal rapids, Dent and Yuculta Rapids, as close to slack as possible. So we were up at 0630 and underway at 0715. Fifteen minutes later, our engine was overheating. By now I had lots of experience clearing this type of problem, and discovered a wad of eelgrass in the intake, and had it cleared fairly quickly, as we sailed along in 20 knots of northwesterly breeze. At 0815 we were sailing through the Dent Rapids with a 2 knot push, and reached the Yuculta Rapids 20 minutes ahead of slack water, at 0830. We then had a very pleasant sail past Calm Channel and into Sutil Channel, and with the wind picking up, had to put a reef in the sails, while we continued to sail at over 8 knots. By the time we were sailing past the south end of Reid Island, we were on a close reach, heading into Herriot Bay in Northerly 30 to 35 knots of wind......but we were tied to the docks at the Herriot Bay Inn by 1300, with time for a beer and lunch, showers, and a short walk up the hill to the grocery store for fresh vegetables for dinner. Although cellular coverage is poor in this area, a kind fellow at the grocery store drove us to the top of a hill to call home, as the plans were to continue home to Comox in the morning. We cooked up a pork tenderloin dinner, and then went to the pub for our last night out on the boat. The people of Quadra Island/Herriot Bay know how to party hardy. The pub had a jam session with local groups or entertainers invited to perform, and the entertainment included several rock groups, a country group, a piper on bagpipes, a standup comic, a fiddler, a harmonica player....a bit of everything. One group in particular caught our fancy – a bluesy, folksy music group named “Brodie Dawson and Friends”. They hail from Campbell River, and both Gary and I will be watching for them again, as they were extremely talented and entertaining. It turned out to be a late night (for us), as we didn't get to bed until well after midnight.

Sunday 28 July – In spite of the late night we were up at 0730. The skies were clear, and the wind forecast for a pleasant Northwest 15 knots – perfect for a run back to Comox. We couldn't leave the docks right away, as several other boats further out on the docks needed to get away first, before we'd fit out the slot between the docks. In walking around these docks, I was mortified by the condition of them, with the pilings supporting them being extremely eroded, and only tied on with a piece of line (not ever really tied – the “knot” was only a half-hitch!). I couldn't believe the docks had held together with all of the boats tied to them, through the strong and near-gale force winds we'd just had.

This is how the docks are tied to the pilings

The pilings at the docks at Herriot Bay are a bit "iffy"

 At any rate, we got underway by 0930, and an hour later we were off Francisco Point, at the south end of Quadra Island, in calm and clear weather. Wind continued to elude us as we motored southbound past Mitlenatch Island. We had a go at trolling for salmon as we passed Sentry Shoal and then a shallow area opposite Gary's home, called “The Hump”. Alas, we had very little luck here, with only a very small Coho Salmon which was returned to the sea to grow up.

Gary's big Salmon Catch

Still without wind, or fish, we motored on into Comox, arriving at our home port at 1730, to be met by Linda and Wendy, our wives. Now to clean up the boat and get ready for the next adventure!