Northbound past Cape Caution, to cross notorious Queen Charlotte Sound

May 9^th – Typical hectic day leaving for a long trip with last minute work issues.  Finally out of the house early afternoon to rushed shopping stops at the boat store, camera store and to swap an incorrect knife at REI.  Luckily Jan discovered when showing the knife to someone that the wrong model had been pulled from stock.  Film was mixed:  right 120 and wrong 35mm (my fault, too rushed).  Quick visit to the office, then off to Bellingham.  Wrote checks to cover the next couple months while our daughter drove me up to meet Jan and Popcorn who have been organizing aboard for a couple days. 

By the time we got there I was too exhausted to do anything but empty the car and have some dinner at our favorite Pepper Sisters.  At least we are on the boat, and Jan has almost everything stowed perfectly!

May 10^th – Underway bright and early on a beautiful day.  Bedwell for the usual friendly customs check in and a lazy lunch on their pub deck, soon to be torn down and replaced by a much fancier setup.  Off to Ganges for the night, but along the way a real treat: 6-8 Dall Porpoise decided to ride our bow wave to the delight of the two silly humans snapping photos and watching them cavort while the autopilot drove the boat along.  Minor snafu docking with a combination of a short slip, headed by a badly placed pole, and an evening breeze blowing the bow away from the dock.  Got the stern line on but not really enough room to use engines to swing the boat against the wind.  No harm done, just a small fire drill to liven the day’s end.  Dinner at House Piccolo for the perfect conclusion to the first day out.

May 11^th – Another lovely day.  Spent the morning doing some shopping for loose ends and enjoying the Ganges Saturday Market.  Rigged barriers to keep Popcorn in the salon or on the flybridge underway.  Got Canadian-legal bear spray, not that I ever want to be close enough to use it.  Mailed some forgotten computer files to the office. 

Underway by early afternoon, timed to catch slack water at Dodd Narrows.  Passed Telegraph Harbor and Wallace Island with happy memories of trips last year.  Short stop at Newcastle Island for the dog’s walk and to plan crossing the Strait of Georgia to make up some time.  The anchorage at Newcastle was more crowded than I expected, filling in across to the pub at Good Point, and the docks were mostly full.  Tied up next to the ferry slip, we thought, but turned out they claimed that berth too.  We hustled the dog back aboard, grabbed the right charts, and zipped up to the flybridge.  Up thru Departure Bay and then into the famed Strait of Georgia to find it glassy smooth in the sunshine with nary a ripple all the way across. 

Tried to land at Squitty Bay (who could pass up a name like that) but the small dock was filled with local boats so went across to Anderson Bay where we dropped the hook for a very restful night.  Jan was concerned that dusk was late for finding anchorage, and it was, but we had enough light and plenty of room.

May 12^th – The bright calm weather is still holding for our run to Lund.  Lund is the “end of pavement” for highway 101.  After this only three roads cross the mainland coast range before Skagway.  One of them is a difficult gravel road and another stops at the far upper end of Portland Canal, the third is the main highway into Prince Rupert.  We are into boat and airplane country. 

Had sunny Mother’s Day lunch overlooking the harbor, and full fuel and water tanks.  Then around the corner to Prudeaux Haven, anchored with a clear view of the surrounding snowcapped peaks.   Took Popcorn ashore for her duty, discovering the dinghy rows just fine so no need for the outboard noise.  Barbequed steaks for dinner in a classic NW setting.

May 13^th – Sleep in, woke to overcast skies (where’s those snowcapped mountains?), drizzle to light rain in the afternoon, plan the next few day’s travel for timing rapids, loaf, sleep some more, row the dog ashore a couple times, clean out the fridge of miscellaneous goodies for dinner.  A nice ‘down’ day.  Really needed to catch up on sleep after the pressure of getting ready to leave.  Got the dinghy stowed, dishes washed and everything ready for an early departure.

May 14^th – Up anchor at 6:15 for a pleasant run to Frances Bay to walk the dog and wait for the tides.  Started out overcast but was scattered by the time we got to Francis Bay.  Back aboard and on our way to join the small parade of boats running Yucluta and Dent Rapids, including a tiny tug towing two large barges with a lumber camp on them.  We started Yucluta about :30 before the ebb-to-flood turn, and went thru slowly to get closer to the turn at Devils Hole.  Pretty benign all the way through, with most of the small rips on the dying ebb after Little Dent Island.  Ended up at Cordero Lodge for the night, now officially “beyond Desolation Sound”.  Disappointed to find we were too early by several weeks for dinner but they were nice enough to let us tie up to a float for the night, which Popcorn likes since she gets more trips ashore to explore.  Unfortunately the resident dog is sick and not welcoming visitors, especially ones with puppy energy.

May 15^th – Off the charts normally stocked aboard and into Joe’s marvelous chart box, a tidy indexed wooden package we rented that could carry us to Glacier Bay if we had the time.  Away from the dock at 5:05, a compromise between enough light and making Greene Point and Whirlpool rapids before the ebb builds more than a couple knots.  Water fine thru both rapids.  Stopped at Port Neville for a walk.  Planning to buy stamps to mail postcards too but only chickens, deer and a continuously barking dog were home. 

Delightful cruise to Lagoon Cove under sunny skies to a friendly welcome from Bill the owner, and his friend Rick aboard his 100+ feet of beautiful corporate-charter-vessel Black Tie which he and his wife literally built.  Bill retired from advertising to buy this resort of 153 acres so he would have “something to do” (looks like plenty to us).  Fresh shrimp for dinner, gift from Black Tie.  Swapped in the second of our three C-Map chips for the trip.  Weather reports predicting strong front overnight, hard to believe under windless cloudless skies at sunset.

May 16^th – Weather still lovely this morning, clear with calm winds; the front has slowed so now predicted for later today.  Weatherman getting fooled by this one.  Going to try to get further North before it arrives.  Made Sullivan Bay and tied up before the rain started. 

Passed a house in tow that turned out to be for Sullivan’s collection of houses on floats, so got to watch them tie it up a couple hours later. Maybe just caught them at a bad time pre-season but Sullivan does not seem as happy as Lagoon Cove -- although someone here clearly has a sense of humor. 

No wind here but apparently it blew to 50 mph just west of here so thankful for the quiet anchorage.  Noted again the big microclimate variations around the Pacific NW terrain.  At least we are positioned to cross Queen Charlotte Sound from here if we chose to.

May 17^th – Weather decent this morning at Sullivan and early reports at Egg and Pine Islands are 3-4 foot combined seas with a low swell, but the low off the Charlottes can’t make its mind up which way to head.  Weatherman still predicting a series of mild fronts from it, so decided to have a look-see in case this is a window of opportunity to cross Queen Charlotte Sound.  Several Inconsiderate boaters making huge close-by wakes leaving Wells Passage (I had hoped seamanship would improve going north).  The port engine has decided to run warm, so holding it down to 1700 rpm which is in our normal 1600-1800 cruise anyhow. 

Started getting swells passing Blunden Harbor.  Got into a dense patch of logs which requiring stopping and picking our way though.  Ride ok passing Allison so decided to continue.  However passing Caution we’re taking 5 foot long swells on the beam plus following 2-3 foot confused wind waves.  Nothing risky but the combined seas seemed to resonate with Bedoeling to produce a very disturbing continuous yawing-rolling motion that overwhelmed the autopilot, requiring 3 hours of fighting the helm, and made for a queasy, stressful passage.  Captain and Admiral both kept breakfast down but it was a close thing. 

Seas turned the corner and followed us up into Rivers Inlet, so headed for Duncanby Landing to find cover soonest.  Tied up after 8+ hours at the helm, said hello to the nice caretaker who had a float to tie to but no power or water yet, and collapsed exhausted for a 2 hour nap.  Felt much better on getting up!  Popcorn found a neat beach to explore full of nature and man’s junk, plus a dog to say hello to.  Jan got a few provisions at the store.  Nice folks here too.  Scampi for dinner, fresh caught yesterday.

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