Echo, Harvey, Blind, Dent and Ladysmith

July 10


We made the quick run to Pierre's Echo Bay and were joined by the crew of Zia.

Pierre's is famous for their buffet style meals, especially their pig roasts.  We happened to be there on prime rib night and even though we had not made reservations, they kindly set us a place at the table. Lots of good veggies and the beef was tasty.

July 11

We had a leisurely 1130 departure and headed for the next floating marina: Port Harvey, a mere 39.8 NM away.

Port Harvey has had a run of bad luck and the floating restaurant sank a little while back.  They are doing their best to rebuild and we were glad to stop and give them our business.  They are in the process of outfitting the new floating kitchen and the only thing on the menu was pizza.  We like pizza.  We got 2.  We also joined the Port Harvey Yacht Club and will proudly fly this fine burgee.

The back story behind the red shoe-  Seems the neighbor, an old logger, always had a red high heel hanging from a tree near his cabin. When asked why there was a shoe hanging from a limb, he replied "I always heard it was good luck to hang a whore's shoe up, so I did."

July 12 

Another quick run and we fueled up and tied up to the dock at Blind Channel Resort.  Our friends Terry and John met us there and we all had a wonderful dinner together followed by cocktails on the Zia.

Art on the docks

July 13 

We said goodbye to the Zia crew and all made promises to try and get together again sometime. Dent Island Lodge was the next stop.

One of their claims to fame is the rapid running jet boat that I happened to see go by in a flash.

He was running in less than 12" of water and doing about 30 knots!

Seals. Trust me.

July 14

The weather was looking real good for the long journey from Dent Island over to Vancouver Island, so we left at slack tide and put 108 NM under the 2 keels (catamaran joke) and the forecast was spot on.  The Torpedo Testing site WG was closed so we did not have to detour and we had a lovely ride across the Strait of Georgia, pulling into Ladysmith Marina at 1600.

Till next time.....

What are the odds?

Your intrepid crew

July 9

We spent a somewhat restless night tied up to the fuel dock in Bella Bella.  Lots of boat traffic and generally it is frowned upon to spend the night on fuel docks.  We woke up early and Ron was there to help us fuel up and take on water.  Wonderful guy. After topping off our tanks David was going to walk back to the hospital to give Sue Ellen's Doctor a bag of Golden Malted Waffle Mix (original of course) as a thank you and Ron says "Here, take my truck" and throws him the keys.  Turns out Ron had heard we were at the fuel dock and came down early just to see if we needed fuel.  Again, wonderful guy!

Sue Ellen is doing as well as can be expected, still a trooper and ready to go so we took off and traveled 114 NM to our next destination which is Sullivan Bay Marina in the Broughtons.

As we drew near I spied a very familiar looking vessel.

The Zia.  Aspen C120 Hull # 4 owned by our new best friends Terry and John out of Friday Harbor, WA. What are the odds?  We would be lucky enough to spend more time with them in the coming days.

All buildings in Sullivan Bay are on floats which appear to be made of logs. There is a store, fuel station, a small (fake) brig, houses and very nice people.

Halibut tracings w/weights 

And, of course, as soon as they realized who we were they placed us on the proper dock.  Probably because of all the decals.

Next stop is Pierre's Echo Bay Marina, a mere 21.9 miles away.

Till next time.....

Southbound

July 7 

After saying goodbye to Prince Rupert we ran south about 60 NM and dropped the anchor for the night in Nettle Basin up Lowe Inlet. 

We were joined by 2 sailboats and 3 fishing vessels. It was a calm and peaceful anchorage and we all got a good nights sleep.   

Morning fog

That was a good thing, because the tide was about to change (figuratively).

July 8

Anchor up and we sailed to Hartley Bay Village for fuel.  After topping off the tanks we headed south.  

Cruising by Butedale we decided to take a closer look at the waterfall and abandoned cannery.

Ice Cream store was closed

We tied up to the dock and met the caretaker who told us of the plans for renovation of the area and mentioned there was a trail to the lake at the top of the waterfall.  David and Sue Ellen decided to take the hike while I stayed behind to mind the boat and take some pictures.

Notice the hanging loo

I was on the dock talking to the crew of the Nordhavn 40, Sweet T, when Dave and Sue Ellen returned looking muddy and a bit serious.  Turns out Sue Ellen slipped on a log, landed on her wrist and, in her professional opinion, had broken it.

David and I had her wrist iced down and immobilized and we were underway in 5 minutes.  Nearest hospital, Bella Bella, 3.5 hours away at 20 knots.  The seas were kind and it was a smooth ride.

We were tied up to the fuel dock in Bella Bella at 6:15 and they were able to walk to the hospital from there.

Look at that smile!

Needless to say that her original diagnosis was correct!

She is doing well and has decided to continue on the journey south to Anacortes.  What a trooper!

Till next time.....

British Columbia

July 1

Goodbye Ketchikan and goodbye Alaska!!!

Fueled up and headed south.  Felice Strait wind and waves were not as forecast.  We had some of the roughest seas we have experienced for about 2.5 hours and as we passed Duke Island and approached Foggy Bay (our duckout point) the waves changed enough so that we were able to kickup the speed to 18 knots and ride on top of the waves.  Very relieved, we decided to press on and tied up in Cow Bay Marina in Price Rupert, BC.

We cleared Canadian Customs and got ready for the Canada Day fireworks.

For a small town (population 12,508) they put on an outstanding fireworks show.  Only problem is it did not start until 11:15!  It takes it a while to get dark up here.

July 2 - 4

We took off and anchored out for a couple of days, getting in some kayaking, crabbing and a little fishing.

Brown Rockfish

July 5 - 6

Back to Cow Bay Marina with one big difference. SUN!  We are back to get the boat in shape for the arrival of Admiral GiGi and the sunshine makes cleaning the boat a lot more pleasant.

Watch cat.  We first met the Sandpiper II in Hoonah, Alaska and it was good to see them again

Tomorrow we head south.

Till next time........