Kevin has joined us on a spectacular sunny day in Port Hardy. It was cool and overcast when we started today and as we ventured into Queen Charlotte Sound the fog rolled in. We crossed the strait most of the way with about 50 yards visibility, relying on the plotter and AIS to keep us away from rocks and shipping respectively. Finally on approach to Port Hardy, we had to believe the plotter when it told us we’d arrived because we still couldn’t see anything. Then slowly the rigging of fishing boats started to appear out of the mist like monsters awaiting a feast.
I talked to the harbormaster by phone before we arrived and she recommended we tie up to the Coast Guard dock since they were out of town and wouldn’t be using it. Thankfully the dock was easy to find among all the commercial boats. This harbor doesn’t appear to cater to much recreational traffic, at least at this time of the year. In fact we haven’t seen any other sailboats since we left Desolation Sound. I guess people are skittish about transiting passages this far north this early in the summer. I’m not complaining; it leaves more room for us.
Today we’ll do the usual in town chores to get ready for the next leg of our trip which will head around Cape Scott at the north end of Vancouver Island. That’ll be the farthest point north we’ll go this time. From there we’ll head south down the west coast.
Two weeks down, four to go!
Must be exciting for you to enter "new water" on this point of the trip ("new" in that you have not been there before).
ReplyDeleteI was going back through the memories of the circumnavigation and thought I'd put in my two cents about this day (I'm "Kevin").
ReplyDeleteI boarded the twin engine plane in Vancouver and we dutifully took off. As we approached the northern end of Vancouver Island, I was looking down at the fog and thinking, "uh oh, this isn't good." Sure enough not long after that, the captain made the announcement that the visibility was too poor to land and that we were continuing on to our next stop. It was the right decision by the captain of the plan, but I felt my heart sinking that I was going to miss the boat.
We sat around at the airport for a few hours before boarding for the return trip south. Fortunately, this time, the airport was clear enough for the plane to land. I caught a taxi to the docks and tried to link up with Rod and Vi.
And thus started my first sojourn upon Quijote.