 |
|
|
| Letter from Port Hardy
|
|
May 28, 2008
|
|
|
|
Hi Bob,
Just to let you know we are on our way to SE Alaska. We left Anacortes May 4th and had ideal conditions for a few days and then winter came back for a few. Now it's nice again. So far, all is pretty normal except for our first attempt to round Cape Caution.
We went from Port McNeill to Bull Harbour, as it looked like a good point to cross without going out of our way to stay offshore of the cape. Our Ocean Falls friends, Dale and Diane Hugdahl, go that way. The Native band at Bull Harbour has a nice-looking sign on their dock advising fees even for anchoring but no one came to collect.
The next day, May 16th, conditions looked just about ideal, as there had been no winds over 10 kts reported anywhere near for a day and half. The only glitch was the combined seas at West Sea Otter at three meters! I figured that that could only be ocean swells from a deep low that was way off. Light SE winds in Queen Charlotte Strait were supposed to diminish and switch to low north or northwest winds during the day.
We took off and found strong current against us as we headed around the east end of Hope Island. Then into the sound we found pretty stiff wind from the SE, causing some whitecaps and rollers. The seas were directly on our beam and re-arranged a lot of our storage, so I agreed with the admiral and we did a 180. We know of several boats that did cross both directions that day and all survived. If we had come out of the mainland side I think the waves would have been on the stern and not a big issue. That is in the "shoulda, coulda, woulda" department.
We decided to check out Clam Cove on Nigei Island, as we had heard from others that it was a good spot. The Waggoner doesn’t mention it but we think it's a great spot. The entrance requires attention but is pretty straightforward. Once in the cove there is good protection and room. Checking the routes in our new Coastal Explorer I noted that it is about 10 miles shorter to cross, too. That's because you are looking right at Pine Island as soon as you get out, as opposed to having to go around Hope Island.
When I checked the engine room Friday night I discovered the starboard exhaust hose delaminating. So much for all the preventive maintenance I do. We are now back at Port Hardy. A search of the usual places turned up no 3 1/2" ID hose locally, so it had to be ordered from somewhere to arrive the next day. Of course, this is a Canadian three-day holiday weekend, so the order won't happen until Tuesday and hopefully hose will arrive at the NAPA store Wednesday morning. Any other day and I would have it overnight.
The Quarterdeck Marina is still a nice place. I found I.V. painting a sailboat in the yard. He didn't fail retirement. He's working with his girlfriend getting his boat ready to sail down to Mexico this summer. The plan is winter back here and then over to the Caribbean next year. Randy is running the yard now, and he has been most helpful.
Another tidbit of info for you, Hobie Alter, who invented the Hobie Cats, came in this morning under tow in his big power catamaran. His fuel filters are all stopped up so he's probably here as long as we are, waiting for a fuel polishing service from Campbell River. He was towed in by a 70' Bayliner. It's one of three 70-footers the company made years ago.
We got onto BroadBand Express like you advised but only used it for a day in Nanaimo so far. Here, there is free wi-fi in the Quarterdeck Hotel lobby. Port McNeill has free service at the laundry.
That's about it for now,
Bruce and Margaret Evertz
M/V Tapawingo
|
|
|
Back to Readers Write In |
|
|
|
