Wednesday, June 29 Port McNeill to Allison Harbour 4 hours 36 miles Joan’s birthday…

We are unhappy because we missed a wonderful weather window to travel around Cape Caution.  The last three days here have been rainy but there was no wind.  Today as we travel across Queen Charlotte Straight the swells gradually increased to 4-5 feet.  We listened to the weather at West Sea Otter buoy and the report said the sea was 1.3 meters in height. We have learned the hard way if West Sea Otter is over one meter for get it. Emerald Star handled the rough water very well, however, Fred was at the helm and less than thrilled. Of course before we set out I secured anything loose, just in case.  Allison Harbour is very large with many good anchorage spots.  There was only one other boat in there when we arrived.  When we got settled Fred gave me my give of jewelry.  I love jewelry!  Ask my sisters or my daughter. They think I have a sickness.  We put the dinghy down with hopes of placing a crab pot and going sightseeing. Unfortunately the battery was dead so Fred hooked up the charger for while. The rain got more steady and heavy so plans of sightseeing today were put off.  After several hours of charging, the dink started and Fred took the crab trap out in the rain. 

Tuesday, July 5 Kwakume Inlet to Shearwater 3 ½ hours 35 miles

It is another rainy, foggy day, but no storm.  Shearwater is the only marina in miles & miles so we usually stop here on our way north & south. They also have a latte place, good grocery store and a nice restaurant. They also have a nice laundry facility but I use the machines on the boat (yippee!). As it turns out, they have a big boatyard. On our trip from Fittz Hugh Sound to Lama Passage we saw two humpback whales.  Just cruising, no fantastic breaching or anything.  As we approached the marina we saw that the north side of the dock was free.  The dock is a T shape and the north side is open to the wake, wind and chop.  As we were docking and Fred was in position to use the thrusters to push us in, unbeknownst to him, the bow line fell into the water and promptly  fouled the bow thruster.  !@#$  Fred got us on the dock beautifully, anyway. However, now the motor for the bow thruster works but there is no thrust.  This will be a problem for tomorrow.  There is a new Wharfinger here.  He is a pleasant fellow named Bernie.  The last two years we encountered a real sourpuss here.  The dock was about half full when we arrived.  We didn’t have a reservation so we were pleased to get on the dock.  As the afternoon progressed the dock filled up completely.  We noticed a flyer that said the “Fish on five” were performing at the pub.  When we asked what kind of music they played we were told classical so we reserved a great table near the front.  The dinner was so-so but the band was great.  They are a group of five members of the Okanagan Symphony Orchestra. The group consisted of 2 trumpets, one trombone one French horn and a small tuba thing (we really don’t know what it was).  They are on a fishing trip and are stopping at a few places along the way to perform.  Their repertoire consisted of John Philip Souza, Henry Mancini, the Beatles and various classical pieces including the William Tell Overture.   

Fish-on-Five

Monday, July 4 Allison Harbour to Kwakume Inlet 4 ½ hours 54 miles

We have been stuck in Allison Harbour since last Wednesday.  It has rained every day.  We checked the weather at least three times a day to see if we could get out and pass Cape Caution.  The wave report at West Sea Otter (the one we need to be safe for travel) has been 2-3 meters every time.  This morning the wave report was down to 1.4 meters so we headed out.  Not far out of the cove into Queen Charlotte Straight we encountered the ocean swells.  Sure enough they are over 3 feet, but not too bad.  They were not coming frequently and Emerald Star handled it very well.  The wind was not over 15 knots the whole way.  Traveling at 11-12 knots we were past Cape Caution in 3 hours.  As we turned into Fitzhugh Sound the water became almost calm.  The only traffic we saw all morning was two fishing boats and two barges.  We were going to stop at Fury Cove (lovely anchorage with a white sandy beach) but the weather was so good we headed up to Kwakume Inlet.  We entered at low tide, which means all the ugly little rocks were visible.  We anchored just inside in 58 feet of water.  We put a new Rocna anchor on the boat last winter.  We are very pleased how quickly and easily it sets up.  As soon as we anchored the heavens opened up again. Per our rain gauge we are getting approximately 1 inch of rain a day.  

Friday, July 1 Allison Harbour

The rain and waves at West Sea Otter are keeping us here another day. Fred suited up in his raingear and went out to pick up the crab pot.  We had one large male crab (females must be thrown back).  We decided to keep him and have some crab for dinner.  There is this marvelous set-up that was left on the boat when we bought it.  There is a large crab pot and a propane stove that can be used to cook crab outside instead of smelling up the inside of the boat. 

Thursday, June 30 Allison Harbour

The rain & gloom continue and West Sea Otter continues to show 2-3 meters of waves.  We are stuck for awhile. We have everything we need so it is really no hardship.

passing time playing dominoes

trying to get our Globalstar phone to work

Tuesday, June 28 Port McNeill Our 25th Anniversary

We are just doing laundry and getting ready to leave dock tomorrow morning.  The drizzle isn’t letting up so we are heading out anyway to do a little shopping and walk Merlin.  On our way back from the grocery store Fred pulled me into the florist and presented me with a beautiful bouquet from Heather for my birthday which is tomorrow.  We are heading out to Gus’s Pub for our anniversary dinner.  All in all a peaceful day.

June 27 Port McNeill

Fred has some errands to do and I am going up to the medical clinic to get some prescriptions refilled.  It’s raining lightly but we carry on.  They have a pretty neat system at the clinic.  Walk in patients pay a $75 and one sees an MD.  The MD I saw today walked in, did not introduce himself and muttered something about a medical student there.  The MD pulled a prescription pad and asked “what do you want?”  He didn’t even take a history. Well, I got what I needed and headed down the hill to the pharmacy.  We have to stay another day to wait for the meds to come in.  It is illegal to mail prescriptions from one country to another so my regular mail order medicines will just stack up at home.  Because we are gone more than 3 months we need this refill mid trip.  We had a treat this afternoon; Lady M came in to dock. She is a 164 foot mega yacht that we had seen in the Broughton’s.  While we had dial tone, Fred took advantage of it and got the %$#@ Oceans e mail to work, so now, when we have “space phone” service, ie Globalstar phone service we can send and receive e mails. He also got the weather station to work. It had gone south several days ago after working flawlessly all winter. The thing is a Davis unit made in San Leandro, just a phone call away.

Davit is built into the upper deck railing

Lady M at Port McNeill

 http://www.charterworld.com/index.html?sub=yacht-charter&charter=luxury-motor-yacht-lady-m-1168

Sunday, June 26 Lagoon Cove to Port McNeill 3 hours

Another beautiful sunny day. We could become used to this. We got an early start out of Lagoon Cove to head over to Port McNeill.  Our journey today takes us through Knight Inlet and then out in Queen Charlotte Straight.  We saw dolphins playing by the shore in Knight Inlet.  We were hoping that they would come over and play in our wake, but no joy.  

http://www.town.portmcneill.bc.ca/

Friday, June 24 Blind Channel Resort to Lagoon Cove 5 hours 43 miles

We got an early start because the winds pick up Johnstone Straight in the afternoon.  We are always on the look out for wildlife.  It is so exciting to see wild animals in their own setting.  We were lucky to see two black bears today.  They were on the beach turning over rocks.  One was in Johnstone Straight and one was in the Blow Hole.  We find them by seeing big black "rocks" that move.  Wildlife blends in so well.  Our timing was excellent.  We made it thought Chatham Channel and Blow Hole without hitting and rocks. As usual, Fred was “a little up tight” because the “hole” is a small hole and this is a big boat.  We pulled into Lagoon Cove and met our old acquaintances here.  http://bluebookofboats.com/Marin/LagoonCoveMarina.htm
Bill Barber owns the place and is a charming fellow who is the best storyteller I have ever heard.  We had a nice time at Happy Hour up on the dock.  All of the family run marinas in the Broughton’s have a 5 PM Happy Hour on the dock.  The purpose is to meet other boaters and share stories and useful information. We met a number of interesting people. The family on the boat in front of us had a beautiful Sheltie. I don’t think we have ever seen one of these on a boat before. Diane (sheltie lady) suggested we take the dogs up the large lawn area and let them play. The Sheltie, MacKenzie, was a hoot. He was full of playfulness. Poor Merlin was overwhelmed.  They ran around a little together but then Merlin came up to me to be held. One of the reasons we got a Cavalier King Charles Spaniel was because they do not require a lot of exercise.

Lagoon Cove Marina

historic workshop

very cute place

Thursday, June 23 Blind Channel Resort

We listened to the weather and it sounds like high winds and chop in Johnstone Straight so we stayed another day.  It is rainy and dreary. I finally got tired of staying inside and we all went for a walk in the rain.  It wasn’t cold, just wet.  Merlin thinks nothing of rain.  The tide was out so I took Merlin down to the beach.  I figured I would give him a warm bath when we got back to the boat.  He had a great time.  He would go into the water up to his knees and pick up rocks from the water and stack then on the beach.  I wonder what he is thinking…  We met a lovely young couple on a beautiful 52’ Ocean Alexander (Ink On Paper”).  They are traveling with their two sons until August