Day 3 -Beaver Harbor (Just South of Port Hardy), Wednesday,
August 15, 2012
After our crazy night, we were glad to be out of Campbell
River. We waited until the current in
Seymour Narrows settled to about 6 knots and then just throttled up flew
through it. No problem. This treacherous stretch has taken out many a
ship in its day. There’s quite a story
about how the Canadians blasted an underwater mountain out from the middle of
the passage to make it safer. The key is
to pass at slack current or close to it, as is the case in many Pacific
Northwest Passages. At 25 knots this is
not as big of deal as at 7 knots, but still, always something to plan
around. I tried to balance our late
departure waiting for the currents to settle with the expected winds that tend
to kick up later in the day in Johnstone Strait and then balance that with the
morning fog that is so common around here in the mornings. All in all, the entire passage all the way
was smooth, quiet, and, for the most part, pretty clear. Thank God for no problems with the Strait of
Georgia or Johnstone Strait. I pray that
continues as we’ve got scarier crossing to make on the West side.
Time-wise, we’ve only been gone a few days; however, we’re
by Port Hardy in Beaver Harbor in a really beautiful cove. More on that later. Port Hardy is on the North tip of Vancouver
Island so you could say that we’re already nearly half way around the island;
however, we plan on spending the next few weeks poking our nose into many of
the inlets and harbors along the West Coast of the island. These are expected to be the most challenging
waters we’ve ever encountered but I think the crew and I are up for it. All systems on the boat are running
flawlessly, thanks to Ron Meng and the crew at Islands Marine Center, the Ocean
Sport Roamer builder/dealer on Lopez Island.
Currently, my trip meter tells me we’ve put on 256 nautical miles (295
statute miles) so far. Not bad for 3
days but I’m ready to slow it down and do more hiking, fishing, kayaking,
beachcombing, photography, etc.
OK. Back to our trip
from Campbell River to Port Hardy… As we
were transiting Johnstone Strait we noticed a huge pod of dolphins. (Is that what they are? Flock?
No. Heard? No. Pod?
Maybe. I’ll stick with pod.) As we pulled the throttles back, many shot
over to us and frolicked in our bow wave and our wakes. It was simply incredible… hundreds of
dolphins all around us and dozens swimming right beside, under, and all around
our boat…literally, feet from us. It was
by far the best dolphin encounter we’ve ever had. Val commented that Connor’s classroom sure beats
a brick one. (Connor is home schooled
and does his work whenever we’re not having fun… the problem is, we’re always
having fun!)
The further north we got the more fog threatened to slow us
down. All I had to do was turn the radar
on and it seemed to miraculously burn off as we approached it. We only had to slow down for a few minutes
and then just a tad. The fog did add a
certain mystery to the setting. I think
it’s beautiful in its own way.
Realizing we’d be in some pretty remote places the next few
weeks, we decided to stop at Telegraph Cove for lunch. It’s a funky little resort with interesting
shops and restaurants and a boardwalk around the entire cove. And, they had Internet access. I want to have everything caught up before we
leave civilization! We enjoyed our fish
and chips on the outside deck in the wonderful cool air and glorious warm
sunshine.
We spent a few hours at Telegraph Cove and we were all
getting pretty tired from our lack of last night so we decided to find a little
cove by Port Hardy and have a nice relaxing evening on the hook. We ended up only 3 miles from Port Hardy in
Beaver Harbor and found the neatest little cove completely filled with so much
wildlife. As we anchored, there were
Coho salmon jumping everywhere, several in the air at any given moment. There were curious seals checking us
out. Various kinds sea birds were all
singing praises. A massive humpback
whale came to check us out and swam directly under our boat. His “swoosh” as he went under actually lifted
the bow of the boat a few inches. That’s
the closest we’ve ever been to a humpback.
He fished around our boat all evening.
They are amazingly graceful and beautiful creatures.
As soon as the anchor was set, Connor launched the dinghy
and I threw the kayak in the water. We
were off to catch those salmon. Within
15 minutes, we each had one.
Dinner! Val started prep in the
kitchen and Connor and I cleaned the fish.
We enjoyed our first fresh salmon meal of the year in an amazing
anchorage.
What a day it has been!
Tomorrow, we’ll sleep until we’re caught up on our sleep and then we’ll
make the short trip into Port Hardy for fuel and water. Then, depending on the forecast, we’ll fish
or find an anchorage close to our “staging” area for the crossing around the
North tip, Cape Scott. I get nervous
just thinking about that. For now, it’s
bedtime! Goodnight.
