We complete the last major crossing of the trip - rounding Cape Caution - and then we travel back through the Broughtons to Shoal Bay - our last stop before the rapids and fully tuck in behind Vancouver island.
9/3/2023
Early start from Pruth Bay to avoid afternoon weather. It was sad to be leaving, but good to be getting on our way. We got great wind the moment we made it out of the Kwakshua channel - 15 knts of wind at a broad reach. We were going 7 knts as we approached Fury Cove, so we decided to keep going and make it to Millbrook Cove in Smith Sound - about 10 nm further. This will take some distance off of crossing tomorrow and make it possible (but unlikely) that we can make it all the way to Port Hardy in one day. It ended up getting a bit choppy for the last hour or so, but we continued to have the wind so we got out of it quickly.
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Milbrook Cove was big and well protected - but the afternoon winds really picked up. It was probably blowing 15 knts in our protected cove and lighthouse reports were of 30-35 knts out in Queen Charlotte Sound - glad we weren’t out in that! We had a pretty lazy afternoon - Sara and Angela drew on the rocks with chalk and we dingied around the bay. We dropped the kayak for BioLuminesence (which Sara cannot get enough of) and had a lovely taco dinner. Bioluminescence was amazing here - much better than at Pruth Bay. Sara was so excited - she kept telling us to paddle harder and push the paddles this way and that to make more. I tried to take a picture - but of course you can’t see anything.
9/4/2023
We made it to Port Hardy! We had a rougher crossing. The seas were very similar to the last time we crossed Cape Caution, big elevator rollers. That should have been fine, but we had no wind and the waves were coming over our stern and made for an uncomfortable rocking feeling all morning. Sara slept through most of it, but when she woke at 8a she was very sea sick. In retrospect we probably should have woke her and brought her up to the cockpit when the seas started to get big. Here’s a quick video to try to show what the seas felt like.
At around 10:30a, the wind finally picked up - about 7 knts over our starboard - which made things much more comfortable and Sara’s stomach started to settle. It wasn’t until about 12:30p that we made it behind Keats island and seas became flat again. We made pretty good time once the wind picked up, about 6 knts, and we made it into Port Hardy by 3p.
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We were very excited to arrive at Port Hardy, but the town itself left something to be desired. It was very similar to Port McNeill - it felt like a logging/fishing town that was in the process of reinventing itself into something more. We had dinner at a nearby diner - which was ok - and tried to go into town for desert, but everything was closed. Still, we got all of our major projects accomplished - refueled, propane refill, water topped off, and we did a small grocery run just to cover us for the next day. Angela ended up getting a hotel so she could work - real life is starting to rear its ugly head again, bummer. But it is exciting that Angela’s business is still thriving and she has a full plate of work to come back to.
I’ve done a bad job with pictures again - sorry. I’ll try to do better as we slow down over the next few days.
9/5/2023
We had breakfast/coffee in town and got underway around 9:30a. We are headed for a place called Sointula on Malcolm island. We had heard of this town from a man & wife on a boat called Oasis. They had built this boat - a 50+ foot steel trawler - and taken it everywhere in the world, from the tropics to the Arctic/Antarctic. They had decided after 30+ years of travel that Sointula was the place they wanted to end up. If that’s not a glowing endorsement then I don’t know what is. It was about 20 nm to get there and we anticipated getting in around 2-3p.
We had some great weather and we made it in around 2:30p - we are definitely getting into the shoulder season now, all of the marinas have space for us!
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We tied up right across from Oasis - full circle moment for us. It’s a beautiful boat and here it was 3 months later awaiting our return.
Cliff (from Oasis) gave us a quick overview of the town - apparently everything in town is a co-op. This is a left over from the town’s founding - Finnish miners from Vancouver left to start a utopian (Marxist) community and founded Sointula. The socialism part didn’t work out super well - but the community esprit-de-corp remained, including a coop grocery, hardware, coffee shop, etc. All of the buildings and public spaces were impeccability maintained and the people were super friendly. We bought dinner (a take home and bake thing) and unfortunately the grocery store was closed so we had to come back at 9:30a the next morning to stock up. There was a hike you could take out to Bere point where apparently the Orcas frequent to rub themselves on the pebble beach. Sara and I decided to take this one on - 6 miles, not a small hike for the little lady.
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The hike was fun (although rainy), but unfortunately no Orcas. The trail had several art projects along the way - including a notice from the Sointula department of silly walks.
We got back to the boat late - almost after sunset. Angela had made the pasta meal that we purchased in town so we ate dinner right away. After that, off to bed!
9/6/2023
We had some errands/groceries to do this morning - including a huge clean on the whole boat. We also reorganized so that the shoes are kept out in the locker instead of under the stairs - which we hoped would keep the floors cleaner inside. Angela did several loads of laundry while I headed into town to do some grocery shopping. It’s about a mile walk, so carrying two bags of groceries plus a full backpack really wore me out. As soon as I got back, the harbormaster said she would have lent me her truck, next time - this town really is super nice.
We headed out around 2p - a very late start. We had 30 nm to go today, so with a bit of luck we would get there just before sunset. Our route took us through Blackfish Sound - a well known place for seeing Orca due to the currents trapping salmon there. We didn’t see any Orca (despite Sara and my desperate pleas), but we did see some very active humpbacks breaching, tail flaps, and fin flaps.
We also saw some very active bird flocks feeding in these very specific spots - presumably because of an eddy capturing fish here for feeding. It got loud when you got close…
Fortunately, we made it in before dark - but only just so. We pulled in a 7:45p (sunset is at 8p) and the owner was on the dock to meet us.
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Lagoon Cove was a fun little stop - very different from Blind Channel Resort which I had been comparing it to in my head. It’s a fairly rustic spot - but rustic in a fun way. They have a small gathering area that they call the warehouse and the docks are well maintained. Angela in particular was a big fan.
When we got off our boat and started walking up the dock - we started to hear trumpet music from one of the boats - a serenade! Turns out that the boat (the V+) frequented this place and often has a world renowned musician aboard - he is associated with the Vancouver orchestra (we will need to look him up).
There were a few loop trails in the nearby woods and since it was getting late, we ran up the hill to the lookout at the top. It was only once we got there that we read the footnote on the map which informed “Trees have grown in over the years and the lookout is less than scenic”. Oh well, was a fun walk anyway.
There is coffee served on the dock at 7:30a tomorrow - I guess we know when we will be leaving!
9/7/2023
I had some early morning boat maintenance to do - one of our Davits had become loose so I had to remove one off the stanchions for fix it. I got started around 6:45a while Angela took Oakley ashore. I managed to wrap it up right at 7:35a - just in time for coffee and departure. We have gotten far enough south that we are starting to see blackberries again - and Sara and I have become quite the connoisseurs of berries of all shapes and sizes. I picked a big cup full and put them on my toast and into Sara’s pancakes (once she woke up for the day).
Just as we were pulling out, a heron landed on the dock and some porpoises came right by the dock to say farewell. Just a crescendo to the lovely experience.
Our route took us through the Chatham Channel - which we took on a favorable tide and got going 9 knts in the narrowest part of the channel. It was great to get some early morning speed - we expect that the Johnstone Strait will be slow going, so we will probably need that head start if we are going to make it all the way to Shoal Bay today (50 nm away). We even saw some seals hauled out on the rocks right as we turned into the Johnstone Strait - many of them newly born this year. They may not have even been alive when we started this trip…
We slowed considerably going into Johnstone Strait - down to 3 knts at times. I was a bit worried we wouldn’t make it to Greenpoint Rapids in time - but, in response to my worry, a 10 knt wind picked up right over our stern and gave us an extra knot of speed. It had been a lovely day - sunny with beautiful mountains in the background and calm enough that some radiant mist had formed in the smaller coves.
Despite the wind boost, we made it to Greenpoint Rapids with only about 10 min to spare. We passed through without incident - breathing a small sigh of relief.and on to Shoal Bay - arriving at just after 6p.
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Shoal Bay was cute - but seemed like it was slowly falling apart, although maybe that was just the end of the season. They had a garden with a donation payment option for any veggies you take and there were a handful of cabins for rent which looked to be in good repair. It looked like in days past there was an outdoor pub and pizza kitchen - but it looked like that hasn’t been open/operating in many years.
We ran into some other boaters on the dock and they asked us so many questions about our travels. It was fun to be on the receiving end of questions (like we were the experts) instead of getting the doubting questions we got on the way up (you are going where? You know how far Glacier bay is, right?).
Tomorrow - it’s through the big three rapids (Dent, Gillard, Yucultla) and on to Cortes Bay!