powell river

"So, you're going up north in a sailboat?"
"Yup - hopefully to Alaska!"
"Hope you don't want to do any sailing..."

Yeah, they were right. We've been doing a LOT of motoring. Winds almost always seem to be on the nose, but that's just our luck. Note our famed trip to Kingston. So of course, we're going through a bit more fuel than our budget allotted for ($150/month) - and once again, we needed to make a stop - this time in Powell River. There weren't any anchorages around, so we got fuel and stayed at the public dock for the night - even found a trusty Safeway with good ol' wifi (caution to any boaters who want to go to Safeway in Powell River - it's at the top of Cardiac Hill. We were a little concerned about this name until we walked up "Cardiac Hill" - it is a hill, but even Jason, who is old, made to the top without a problem).

We woke up at 6:45 in the morning to an unidentifiable metalic noise that seemed to coming from either our boat or very close by. I emerged to find a fishing boat had parallel parked between us and another boat - they didn't quite fit and our anchor was hitting their hull - in which they didn't seem the least bit concerned. I mentioned it to the captain, who looked to be about 17. He mentioned back to me that this was the fishing part of the public dock and when were we leaving? Oops. We had been told of this transgretion the afternoon before, but also told it would be fine for a night. We left soon thereafter.

49°50.12'N 124°31.8'W

eggmont harbour

After spending a long day retracing our steps out of Princess Louisa Inlet, we tried to hit Harmony Islands, another BC marine park, but after attempting to anchor at least 3 times in 3 different spots were unsuccessful and our faithful Rocna wouldn't set, so we headed across Hotham Sound to Eggmont to stay the night on a public dock. Public docks in BC are great - you can stay up to 3 hours on the dock for free, and to stay overnight is relatively cheap in comparison to a marina ($0-$30/night - yup, some are free). The docks are barebones - no power or water - but they serve our purposes - mainly a safehaven if the anchorage doesn't work out and we're running out of light. Eggmont had a great trail to Skookumchuck Narrows which I hiked in the morning. The rapid wasn't running full speed, but I still wouldn't want to be out there in anything but slack water. In case you're wondering, here's what the narrows look like at their meanest - when kayakers instead of sailboats frequent them...

49°45.02'N 123°55.75'W

princess louisa inlet

Princess Louisa Inlet has been on our radar since we first defined this Inside Passage shakedown trip. We've seen pictures and read accounts, but none of it compared to the actual thing - the fjord was littered with waterfalls gushing with the snowmelt in nice weather and Chatterbox Falls at the head of the inlet was just blasting with water. We stayed for 3 days enjoying the sounds, the views, the hiking and the great neighbors. We docked at the public dock just below the falls (free) and met a great group of people. We hiked to a trappers cabin 1500 ft up and to yet another waterfall - well worth it no matter what the guidebooks write. We've been told that this is the best there is - so far, it's been great - but we're still looking forward to the rest...

50°12.26'N 123°46.15'W

boat maintenance

We left Shilshole with only a handheld VHF that worked. We have a shiny new VHF mounted at the nav desk but the reception has never worked. We've narrowed the problem down to the coax cable running through the mast (worst possible scenario) or the masthead antenna (not a terrible problem but still a trip up the mast). So we hauled Christy up to the top of the mast and determined without a shred of doubt that the coax cable running inside the mast was shorted out somewhere and needed to be replaced. Of course.

We brought along 70' of RG213 just in case we needed to replace the internal coax. We made several frustrating attempts to run the coax down the existing conduits but no joy. After several hours up at the masthead, Christy was getting pretty pooped. So we lowered her and I went up to the top. I pretty much knew I was going to get anywhere with the problem but I figured I'd go take a look and install our new LED anchor light/tri-color while I was up there.

Well.

Let's just say this: I didn't get the VHF antenna run. I pulled the old anchor light off, dropping a crucial piece in the water. I got the new light half installed only to strip one of the bolts and drop the screwdriver into the water. The only phillips head screwdriver big enough to install the bolts being used for the LED light. Awesome.

Decided to spend the rest of the day drinking beer and kayaking around the anchorage. Christy took some great photos while up at the masthead so we burned them on several CDs and dropped them off at other boats in the anchorage so they could have cool pictures of their boat in Smuggler's Cove. We had wine, appetizers and some great conversation with Ian and Hanna aboard s/v Yonder before running over to m/v Nor Epi and having dinner with Greg and Leslie and their friends from South Africa.

It's amazing how being in a place like this around people like that can turn a day around.

49°30.88'N 123°57.81'W

smuggler's cove

We chose to cross the Strait of Georgia. The guidebooks are filled with wide eyed tales of steep eight foot seas and bashing and wind and general uncomfort. We also noted a high wind warning in effect for the afternoon. Rather than wait around for that we chose to scoot early. Plus, we'd had plenty of the crowded confines of Newcastle Island bay. We decided to put the dinghy up on the foredeck rather than leave it hanging on the davits off the back of the boat to get swept away by the monster seas we were about to face.

We pulled out of Nanaimo but directly in our path is this little obstacle called "Whiskey Golf". WG is a torpedo range used by the Canadian and US navies and it was active today. We decided not to participate in torpedo testing so we motored around it and out into the Strait of Georgia. The wind was howling not at all. The seas were not steep nor eight feet nor bashing. It was a nice quiet motor (as quiet as motoring can be anyways) across. Christy napped for most of it.

Our destination was a spot called Smuggler's Cove. Apparently, this cove has a history of use by smugglers (who'd thunk it?) such as Larry "Pig-Iron" Kelly and served as a hooch storage area during Prohibition. When I mentioned before that Dodd "Narrows" was narrow, it turns out I was wrong. Dodd Narrows is a veritable Lake Michigan compared to the entrance of Smuggler's Cove. Christy and I estimated the narrowest point in the opening at around 30 feet wide. Which means less than 10 feet of water on either side of the boat lay between our delicate fiberglass hull and bedrock. But the water depth at the entrance was just fine. We laid off for an hour or so outside waiting for a low tide to pass so we could at least run aground on a rising tide but once again, never hit anything.

This was also our first attempt at a stern tie. For those not familiar, this anchoring technique involves setting the anchor and backing the boat close to shore where one person rows the dinghy to shore with a line to tie off on something. This prevents the boat from swinging and allows more boats to be stacked in a tight area. It sounds easy in theory. Reality is a tad different. I bought 200' of MFP which is a nice polypropolene based line that floats so it won't get caught in the prop. We then bought another 200' of cheap polypro in case we didn't have enough. That was a mistake. Cheap polypro sucks. It kinks, hockles, doesn't coil for shit and can't hold a knot. After making a train wreck of all that line, I finally decided to shitcan the polypro and just use the MFP. Much happier.

Hello World is currently tucked into an unbelievably beautiful cove, anchored from the bow and tied to shore from the stern. A seal just cruised by checking things out and a couple geese are sitting on the shore. We're surrounded by little granite islets and coves waiting to be explored by kayak. It's places like this that make we wish we had our friends and family with us so they could understand just how great these places are. If this is any taste of what's to come in this trip, the Inside Passage will wildly exceed our expectations.

49°30.88'N 123°57.81'W