We spent two days in Port McNeil.  Then on the morning of May 24th we decided to cross Queen Charlotte Strait.  LaMouette was the first to leave and as we rounded Malcolm Island we headed across to Blunden Harbor.  All went well.  We pulled into Blunden Harbor.  Such a beautiful place.  As you can see in the pictures there was an old house there plus you could see where the long house was built.  We took a long dinghy ride in and out of the little nooks and cranies.  It was glorious.  In the morning we left to go around Cape Caution which is in Queen Charlotte Sound.  Puffin stayed relatively close to us--just in case.  It was not as bad as it could have been.  There were 1-2 foot rollers but all in all a good passing.  We pulled in to Fury Bay (thanks you Hummels!!!!) and anchored in front of the openings.  We went to shore where we found lots of shells.  The mussel shells we found were 6-8 inches long.  Larry even found an abalone shell!  We spent two nights in this beautiful bay.  We could have spent longer and may on our way back.

 

Sunday May 27th found us going to Codville Lagoon Marine Park.  LaMouette had a seaplane buzz us and then wave at us.  I thought he was going to hit the mast!  Planes wave at you by tip their wings up and down, in case you did not know this.  The entrance to Codville Lagoon Marine Park was narrow with lots of rocks but we made it in.  We went to the 2nd lagoon and anchored while awaiting Puffin and Velveteen Rabbit.  It was cloudy and rainy but beautiful.  The trees surrounding us were old growth but had never been harvested as they were growing on mostly rock.  Their bark was silvery.  Larry and I watched two Canada Geese tend to their young.  We also saw a weasel and what we think was a common merganser.  All three boats thought we would see more bears but we didn't. 

 

Monday, May 28th.  We left codville Lagoon Marine Park for Shearwater.  The Alaskan Ferry passed us.  The sky is blue with no wind.  We all got fuel.  LaMouette took 10 gallons.  Since leaving Bellingham we have used 24 gallons of fuel!  Not bad!  We all took showers and some of us did laundry.  We met for dinner at the pub at 6 and had wonderful meals.  Today, May 29th, the guys will change the oil in the boats and we will resupply.

 

I cannot explain to you all how very beautiful it is up here.  A friend of ours, Bill Dingle, went on the original SPAM TOUR in 1999 and would say to Larry:  "If this is as far as we go, I am very happy!"  Well, we are going further but we are all having a wonderful time.  Our next major stop is Prince Rupert.  We have met some wonderful boaters on this adventure!

We were up early and there is light rain.  We headed towards Johnstone Strait where it was relatively flat and so we went.  The sun came out to give us a pretty day.  One BC Ferry past all of us.  There was a lot of drift in the water but we managed to get by without hitting anything.  We pulled into Port Harvey and the three of us anchored behind Mist Island.  It was a peaceful and quiet night.  In the morning we headed down Havannah Channel to Chatham Channel.  To enter Chatham Channel you must line up two range markers as it is very shallow.  It was a pretty as Larry and I remembered it and peaceful.  The decision was to anchor in Cutter Cove.  The day was sunny and all of the guide books except one described it as protected from all winds.  We felt safe with the prediction of small westerlies to blow throughout the night.  All three boats plus their captains and crew stayed awake listening to strange sounds.  One of Puffin's cats refused to go into the V berth.  The next day we all agreed that it must have been anchor chains rubbing against the rocks and permeating thru the hull.  We all hope that we never hear this sound again.

 

As we headed out it was cloudy with light rain.  We were headed for Potts Lagoon in Clio Channel.  We anchored in the second bay where the sun was shining.  The bay was calm.  Just what we all needed.  We all took well needed naps to recover from the night before.  All of sudden were awakened by Steve on Puffin yelling: "Bear, Bear on the beach!"  No it was not their cat who is called Bear.  It was a momma black bear and her cub!  The digital pictures attached are poor quality but hopefully the ones we took with our 35 mm will be better.  After a restful night we headed for Port McNeil.  We went through Baronet Channel into Blackfish Sound.  We went behind Cormorant Island into Port McNeil where we are now.  This is our laundry and provisioning stop plus we all agreed to eat out.  While at the marina who comes walking our way but Bruce Henninger from Corinthian Yacht Club.  He is here with his Dad on a "go fast" boat.  In scanning the marina and the parking lots around the markets, there appears to be more eagles than seagulls.  Quite an awesome sight.  Tomorrow we plan on heading to Blunden Harbor on the mainland and to prepare for our trip around Cape Caution.  It is our first open ocean crossing.  Think good thoughts.  More to come.

We stayed at Garden Bay in Pender Harbor fueling LaMouette and adding some fresh groceries.  The store there is fantastic.  We all met for dinner at the Pub.  While there, Larry as usual struck up a conversation with the couple sitting next to us.  We had a nice dinner and asked the couple to take some pictures of us in our SPAM hats.  As we left the Pub, they hailed Larry and I over to their boat (a 50 something foot power boat) and dropped a bottle of wine from their bridge into our boat.  We will share it in Alaska.

 

LaMouette left early with plans to stop in Lund; however, it was still early when we got there and we decided to go a bit further to Squirrel Cove.  This is one of our favorite anchorages.  Puffin joined us while Velveteen Rabbit stayed in Lund. 

 

Our next plan was to head towards Big Bay on Stuart Island through the Yaculta Rapids--the first of many!  Getting out of Squirrel Cove was lumpy and bumpy but as we turned into Lewis Channel there was light wind and ripply seas so we all put up our head sails.  We had a wonderful sail as we crossed Deep Passage.  The sky was blue and one could see many snow-capped mountains.  We headed up Calm Channel to the Yaculta Rapids.  We were an hour early but decided to make a run for it.  LaMouette was first---smallest boat, smallest engine.  I kept thinking of the Little Engine that Could and we did it!  We crossed over to Stuart Island and went to the Community Dock for the evening.  We hung around Big Bay until 5:30 p.m. to go through Guillard and Dent Rapids.  While waiting for slack our three boats made several circles, some kind of dance I suppose.  Then Puffin went through followed by Velveteen Rabbit.  We were next!  We were through Guillard and approaching Dent Rapids.  We just powered right on through.  We decided to stay in Shoal Bay.  The docks were rickety but fine.  The view unbelievable.

 

A boat named Big Brevit whom we met at Nanaimo was there.  As I talked with Dorothy and Larry I realized that we had met them some 10 years ago in Friday Harbor.  What a coincidence.  They have a Defevre 48--Absolutely wonderful!!!

 

We left in the morning for Blind Channel Resort where we topped off the fuel tank on LaMouette, did laundry and took showers.  It is raining and we are in our cozy little boat with the heat on.  Tomorrow we will head towards 2 more rapids and contemplate Johnstone Strait! 

We had a great first nite on Sucia Island in Shallow Bay.  We share a bottle of champagne (thank you Randy and Lorretta!) on Puffin.  In the morning we headed out to clear Canadian Customs in Bedwell Harbor.  It was a beautiful clear day, little wind.  Puffin, Velveteen Rabbit cleared Customs.  LaMouette was boarded but once the Agent found out we had Nexus, the interview and boarding ended.  We left Bedwell Harbor and rounded the corner to Swanson Channel.  About 3 miles along the way, LaMouette had to shut down her motor because of overheating.  We rafted next to Puffin but then all hell broke loose.  Surprise gale winds hit us and we quickly cut away from Puffin.  We put up the jib and started back to Bedwell Harbor.  The wind was too much and we started to head for the rocks.  We had to call the Canadian Coast Guard to help us.  They not only did but a whale watching boat, customs boat, parks boat and the RMCP appeared!  We sailed into Bedwell Harbor and the Parks boat got us into a slip.  It was the water pump pulley that went bad.  So the manager of Poets Cove had it delivered to her water taxi.  Larry fixed it and all is well.  The six of us showered (no not together!) and then had dinner at the Pub toasting an exciting day.

In the morning we left for Pirates Cove on Decourcy Island.  We were all near each other and we all stern tied.  The next morning we left for Dodd Narrows to Nanaimo where Velveteen Rabbit needed a part for their autopilot.  In the meantime, LaMouette discovered that the new windlass had malfunctioned.  So Larry called West Marine, of course, and a new windlass was delivered to us.  Steve and Larry spent a large part of the day installing it.  We all went to town and had dinner aboard our respective boats. 

We are up at the crack of dawn and we are now heading across Georgia Strait to Pender Harbor on the mainland side of B.C.  We are anchored in Garden Bay.  The sun is shining but  there are clouds in the sky.