Circumnavigating Vancouver Island - It's been a long time...

Cruise Around Vancouver Island - June/July 2013  (Part 1)

Hi! We are Howard and Linda (and our lovely pooch Murphy) and we sail on the sailing vessel "Silhouette", a Catalina 36 MkII.
This post is a capsule view of our cruise this past summer around Vancouver Island and a way of creating a blog for the posting of future voyages.  The plan was to travel around Vancouver Island in the company of four other Nanaimo yachts (and one from Washington state), who will meet in Port McNeill July 7th (my birthday!) before heading out Goletas Channel and around Cape Scott.

June 19-25th: Departed Nanaimo on June 19th under cloudy skies and managed to sail about 2.5 hours in Georgia Strait until the south-easterly died out and then motored the rest of the way to Scottie Bay on Lasqueti Island.

Because the dinghy was tied on the foredeck we hadn't noticed that the hatch was open, until Linda had gone down below about 2 hours after getting underway and noticed that much of the water we had shipped over the bow had managed to find it's way on to the v-berth mattresses!!  Worst hit was the memory foam topper.  Yikes, a bit of a rough start to the trip, but our spirits aren't dampened!
Got the mattresses out for a basic dry in Scottie Bay (until a shower caused us to rush them back inside).

Decided to sleep in the main cabin overnight...
The next day it was quite rough outside; a Saturna 33 came in just as we were preparing to head out to check the conditions in Sabine Channel.  We managed to head out into the channel and were being bounced around pretty good (winds NW about 25+) and decided that we would spend another day at anchor rather than beat against it - heck we're on holidays!  The next days brought partly sunny skies, some showers and a motoring passage to Desolation Sd. where we decided, once we had fuelled up in Refuge Cove to stay the night at the dock and get things dried out proper.  Met a couple (Jamie and Tara) on a Catalina 34 - SV "Latitudes".  Had a nice happy hour and visit.  No problems timing the Yaculta rapids (we've been many times), but it was running pretty good with these spring tides.
Saw a couple of orca...

The 23rd of June found us anchored in Shoal Bay.  On entering the bay we noticed our old friends Mark, the resort owner and Kelly, (SV Bluespower) on the docks - great, there will be a jam session tonight with the guitars!  Was able to set the hook in my preferred spot on the west shore.

 Visited that night and the next day we were invited by Mark to join 'the gang' on the Bessie J for a cruise up Phillips Arm and the river to try our luck for trout and see if there are any grizzlies on the shore.  Well, it was a fun day for sure, didn't catch any trout but we did see a grizz in the grasses at the river mouth!

A (relatively) early night as we need to time currents tomorrow for Green Point and Whirlpool Rapids.
June 24th departed early for points west, but stopped for fuel at Blind Channel and had to wait a half hour for them to open, but that worked in our favour for timing the run anyway.
Ran up Cordero, Cancellor and Wellbore Channels without incident; well, other than the tugboat with tow entering Whirlpool rapids southbound without anyone apparent at the helm...?  A peaceful night in Douglas Bay, but no keeper crabs.  :(
June 25-July 7th:  June 25th we continued up to Johnstone Strait, hoping for a southeasterly, but it was light and we motored all the way to Port Harvey where we anchored in what I like to call 'Broken Boat Bay' since the old penny-fleet fishing boat has been resting, usually under water, for at least 20 years.  This is the same bay that Linda and I, with Murphy saw a cougar crossing the drying shoals several years ago when Murphy was just a pup.  It was quite a gulp moment when the cougar stopped in its tracks sizing us up and down! ...  Well this year was no less exciting when on the morning of the 25th, while raising anchor, noticed a young bear on the shore eating mussels off the old boat and so, stopped and took a few photos...

I think Linda might have been wondering if I was going to be a condiment to this grizzly's breakfast, as I was drifting at an alarming rate toward shore...

The next few days were spent in the Broughton archipelago, visiting Lagoon Cove, (sad to see Jean alone without Bill at the helm, but nice to see her soldiering on...) Potts Lagoon, (a couple of keeper crab, :) and Farewell Hbr anchorages before heading to Port McNeill on June 30th. In Port McNeill we decorated the boat for Canada Day, did a light provisioning, as Linda will be heading down Island on the greyhound bus to work one more flight before her 'official vacation' begins and watched the eagles at play...

Had a side trip visit to Alert Bay and went to the museum and walked the town.  It's been several years since we've been there...

July 2-6: After Linda left on the greyhound for her last bit of work before vacation, my faithful four-legged companion Murphy and I proceeded back eastward on the 3rd across Blackfish Sound and anchored at Crease Island where I stayed for a few nights. The winds over the two days were blowing about 20 + knots with gusts, but I doubt it was that high in the anchorage, nevertheless on raising the hook on the 5th I had to pause every so often to clear kelp from the chain (and also go back and motor away from drifting too close to shore), when the anchor was within sight and I had cleared the last remaining fronds of kelp I noticed the CQR hanging on the swivel awkwardly, grabbed it quickly and brought it aboard because the swivel bolt had broken!!  I lashed it aboard and motored out to Blackfish Sound, which was quite lumpy and thought I'd rather wait until tomorrow and go back and anchor, BUT, I need to fix the anchor first, yikes, so motored back into Farewell Hbr until clear of obstructions and then proceeded to look for another shackle or two in my spares...   Was able to jury rig a fix and anchored off Maude Is. for the night before crossing to Pt McNeill the next day.  Here is the "AnchorLift" swivel showing the broken SS allen screw.  Don't think I'll replace with the same!

During the trip back across to PM I was chatting on the VHF with Jim Borrowman (MV 'Gikumi') about some orcas seen off Donegal Head.  After the conversation I heard from Harvey, and then again Rick, so it looks like the rest of the "Circle the Rock" gang will be meeting up in PM for the trip around Cape Scott.

July 7-12:  Well the entire flotilla is here at the docks in Pt McNeill and it took a concerted effort for them to make it up Johnstone Straits due to the high northwest winds over the last few days.  'Dance Lightly', an Ontario 32 with Barb and Harvey;  'Blue An Teak' a Fraser 36 with Anna and Allan; 'Propinquity', a Hunter 34 with Mary and Rick (and crew) and 'Nightfall', a Garden design 40 foot motor vessel with Peg and Jim.

Had a great meal and birthday party and got underway July 8th for Goletas Channel and Bell Island anchorage.  

We stopped to fish along the Gordon Is. group and were rewarded with an approx 7 lb chinook salmon.  The crew on Propinquity also caught a similar sized fish so there will be plenty of fresh seafood tonight!           

We had an amazing potluck which we hosted on 'Silhouette' and enjoyed getting to know our travel companions better. 

  

Silhouette, anchored at Bell Island

The following day the 'Circle the Rock' gang continued up Goletas Channel to Bull Harbour.  

Goletas Chnl - looking east

Bull Harbour

Unfortunately, Jim & Peg on Nightfall were not able to continue with us, so after saying our goodbyes everyone made it an early night because...

With the weather looking promising we arose early (before 5am), Harvey and I took the dogs ashore and we were underway by 5:15 July 10th...  There were breakers over Nahwitti bar so we all decided to take the south shore around Tatnall reefs. There was a pretty sunrise, dramatic light and large waves as the southerly winds meant there would be no sailing and lots of bobbing around and crashing through the seas, at least until we transited around Cape Sutil and Cape Scott.

Heading to Cape Sutil, then Cape Scott

There were a few worrying moments when Allan radio'd from 'Blue An Teak' that they had encountered some engine overheating and might have to turn around, but he found a loose belt and thankfully was able to continue on.  Things did indeed calm down after rounding the cape, but just when it looked like we might get a favourable angle on the winds they died down to under 10 knots and the best we could do was motor sail a bit before finally entering Sea Otter Cove.  The entrance can be a little tricky especially with seas from the south or west (which we ere encountering) as the seas are evident right up to the rather narrow entrance.  All transited safely and made their way through the very shallow anchorage... although on the chart the cove seems quite large the navigable portions are actually less than it appears (more about that later).  Some exploring of the anchorage that day, yet another potluck and enjoying the sunshine (finally!) and with a bright forecast continuing for the next few days.

We were getting underway the next morning, busy with main sail up and anchor being stowed, when the dreaded shallows reached out and grabbed us (of course on a falling tide!) causing a 5 hour delay for 'Silhouette' and 'Dance Lightly' (who stayed to keep us company while the tide fell then rose)...  ouch, nothing hurt but our pride though... thankfully, due to the soft mud and eel grass bottom.

Nonetheless it was a great opportunity to check the bootstripe and visit with Barb and Harvey...

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