Day 61, Monday, August 22,

Left this morning around 7am heading to Roche Harbor to check into customs. We arrived in Roche about 8:30 and had to wait until 9 for the customs agent to arrive to check us in. I did have a contraband orange that I had to turn over to customs, other than that we were cleared to enter the USA. YEAH!
We said goodbye to Jerre and Ute as they were going to take the long way home with a few stops along the way, Ben and I put the pedal to the metal and headed towards Port Townsend. We had a good crossing and made good time we even got to see a pod of Orcas just below San Juan island. The poor things were surrounded by "whale watching" tour boats. There must have been 15 or 20 in the pod. It was very cool to watch them.
When we finally arrived in Port Townsend the reciprocal dock was full.... Called Port Hadlock, they wanted $1.25 per foot, called port Ludlow, they were full up so we headed for Kingston marina and secured recip moorage at the dock. So after a good 9 hrs at the helm we finally tied up for the evening.
At least we are close to home, only about a 2 1/2 hr. drive tomorrow and we'll be in Port Orchard.
So excited to get home!

Day 60, Sunday, August 21, Provost Harbour

YAs usual, we left at the crack of daylight to catch the tide heading for the good ol' US of A. I'm so excited!
Funny how in the past when we wanted to cruise somewhere we just headed out and went.... Now that we are "experienced" boaters we understand the importance of checking the tide and currents. Makes a big difference in fuel and time when you are going WITH the tide instead of against it!
We have learned so much from Jerre and Ute on this trip, everything from how to set an anchor, how to read a tide book, where the best fishing holes are, how to NOT generate garbage.... This has been such a great adventure, I'm so glad they let us tag along!
We took the dogs ashore to the Stuart Island park and let them sniff around, wonder if they remember being here a month ago? We didn't do much exploring as we will head to Roche Harbor in the morning to check into customs, but I'm sure we will be back here again.

Day 59, Saturday, August 20, Montague Harbor

Day 59, Saturday August 20, Montague Harbor
The trip through Dodd Narrows was a piece of cake, and sleeping in was heaven! I slept until 8am, WOW!
We said goodbye to Nanimo around ten and arrived at Montague Harbor about 2:30.
Again it was smooth sailing, we had a little turbulence at first but once we passed through the narrows it calmed down nicely.
Montague Harbor was PACKED when we got here, holy cow, every body and their dog must be heading home for the summer. We almost couldn't find a place to anchor!
Tomorrow we will be back in the USA at Stuart Island. I think we will go through customs at Roche Harbor. So excited!

Day 58, Friday, August 19, Nanaimo

We left at the crack of dawn heading towards Nanaimo, it was a smooth cruise and we arrived around 10:30. We were able to get a spot at the reciprocal dock at the Yacht Club, it's only $5 per day and they have power, water AND a garbage dumpster! SCORE! Although the town/store is only a short walk away we had stocked up at Port Harvey so we didn't need anything from town.
It was nice not having to unload the skiff to take the dogs ashore. I love Nanaimo, I would love to come up and spend some time here.
Once again the temps are in the 80s so I decided to take a dip in the water, OMG it was wonderful! However, although it was easy to get into the water from our swim step.... We do not have a ladder in which to get back on the swim step, and I am way to old to herf myself up and out... So I ended up swimming around the dock until I found one of those emergency ladders to climb back on the dock.
Note to self... We must get a swim ladder for the boat!
Tomorrow we head for Montague Harbor through the Dodd Narrows, the tide isn't until noon so we get to sleep in! Thank God!
I am so ready to get home!

Day 57, Thursday, August 18, Tribune Bay

We headed out from Hariot Bay bright and early around 6 am to catch the tide. Down through the Strait of Georgia to Hornby Island. We just had small swells so it was easy cruising. Once again the temps are in the 80's and Ben and I are dying from the heat. Here I was whinning about not having any summer and BOOM it hits us all at once! CRAZY!
As always Hornby Island is beautiful, the beaches are packed and the water is so warm, I wish the Puget Sound was this warm!
We took the dogs ashore to the beach and they loved playing in the water. I was surprised how much Itty Bitty liked getting into the water, maybe it was the heat but she was out to her belly.... which of course is only about 3 inches deep, but still, so brave of her!
The beach was covered with sand dollars, I have never seen so many sand dollars in my life! Both white and black ones, I didn't even know there were black sand dollars. Weird.
In the morning we head out to Nanaimo, Jerre wants to leave at the crack of dawn so hopefully we can get reciprocal moorage at the Nanaimo Yacht Club. So it's early to bed again tonight!

Day 56, Wednesday, August 17, Hariot Bay

The day dawned sunny but windy, we pulled up anchor around nine and headed out Okisollo Channel and down through Hoskyn Channel to Hariot Bay. The trip only took a little over two hours and we didn't have any of the wild waves we had the day before.
I spent the entire trip on the back deck cleaning crab. As a matter of fact I'm gonna eat some of them suckers tonight for my dinner!
We anchored in the bay and headed into town in the dingy. Had lunch at the cafe and did a load of laundry and picked up a few things at the grocery store.
I was surprised to see people playing in the water and lounging on the beach. Are they crazy OR WHAT! Although it's a beautiful day it's still only about 72 deg. And the water is only about 55 deg.
Of course if you live here year around I guess you get used to the temps.
I however can't wait to get back home to normal summer temps.
Of course after spending the summer up here in the no sun zone I'll probably die of heat exhaustion when we get home and the temp gets above 80.
We are heading out bright and early... Around 6 am to catch the tide for our next stop on our journey home.

Day 55, Tuesday, August 16, Owen Bay

Once again we are back in Owen Bay, home of the Lingcod and crabs. Both Ben and Ute a set out their crab traps as soon as we anchored, and Ben tried too fish but the winds were just too much.
Our trip over today across Johnstone Strait was certainly an adventure! The wind and waves made the trip very strenuous and tiring. Especially without auto nav. The waves push the bow of the boat all over and you are constantly correcting direction just to keep heading in a somewhat straight course.
The crabbing was AWESOME, when we checked the traps we had ten crab and right of them were keepers. YUM
Tomorrow we head out to Hariot Bay, that's where we spent the days on our way up broke down with the exhaust issue. We'll only spend one night there, then it's off to Nanimo. Getting closer to home every day.

Day 54, Monday, August 15, Port Harvey

Once again we were surrounded by bears this morning... I love this place! After taking the dogs to shore we loaded the skiff and headed out about 9:30 down Tribune Channel to Knight Inlet then through Chatham Channel towards Johnstone Strait. Chatham Channel was exciting... Talk about a narrow little passage. Holy Cow! I can see why charts and navigation equipment is so important around here! All these endless passages and channels crossing every which way. You could be lost for years up here and never find your way out!
The weather was a little overcast today, kinda cool and when we hit Knight Inlet the water was pretty choppy, after our Queen Charlotte crossing, the dogs DO NOT like choppy water! Poor little Sadie gets all freaked out!
We pulled into Port Harvey around 4:30 it was a long day of driving for Ben. I don't mind starting the boat when we are going through easy passages and calm water... But in the narrow inlets I let him drive.
It's nice to be on our way home. Another week and we should be back in the states.

Day 53, Sunday, August 14, Wahkana Bay

I can see why everyone spend their summers in the Broughton Islands! It is amazing here! The picturesque bays and inlets surrounded by majestic mountains covered with trees, waterfalls and wildlife.
We were accompanied on our journey up Tribune Channel by several dolphins who spent a good 10 minutes first playing in Jerre and Ute's boats wake then took up position in front of our bow and scampered in our wake for awhile. I did get some video of them and will post it when I can get internet on my computer.
We anchored for the night in Wahkana Bay, so incredibly beautiful, we again had a dolphin feeding along the shore line for about an hour or two, and as we watched her/him frolic Ben glanced back towards the stern and saw a little black bear along the shore flipping over rocks looking for crabs for dinner.
When we took the dogs ashore we were a bit nervous about the bears, didn't wanna get eaten! Ben searched for a spot that looked safe and as we pulled up to shore there was another bear about 100 yards down the beach! We hurriedly had the puppies do their business and quickly got back to the safety of the boat.
It was a beautiful warm evening and I love this little bay, tons of bears, whales and dolphins. I will definitely mark this place on my map as a spot to come back and visit!

Day 52, Saturday, August 13, Tracy Harbour

Today was a long and exhausting day!
We went to bed early but poor little Itty Bitty was sick all night long. Nothing wakes you from a dead sleep like the sound of a dog puking in the bed! Poor thing was sick all night, I'd just get one mess cleaned up and there she would go again. Neither Ben nor I got a wink of sleep after midnight.
We sent out around 5:30 heading out for Queen Charlotte. The weather had said only 3 to 4 foot swells.... but they fibbed.
The fog was thicker than pea soup and the ocean was ANGRY!
Ben and I took turns at the helm as we were both so tired from being up all night.
Fighting the swells is exhausting! And I kept losing Ute in the fog. SCARY
We finally made it to our destination after 12hrs of fighting the water. We did have a few unfortunate incidents. Although I did remember to lock down the fridge this time, the waves were so bad I did lose my air pot that I keep the coffee warm in, it went flying of the counter. And the dogs were terrified by the boat rocking and rolling.
It was almost 6 by the time we made it into Tracy Harbour and anchored with Jerre and Ute.
After a quick trip to the shore for the puppies, and a bite to eat it was in bed for the both of us.
We did get to see several whales coming into the harbor, and even a black bear was sniffing around the harbour, the first bear we have seen on our adventure. That was kinda cool.
Tomorrow will be a better day as we will be cruising the Broughton's inside and won't have to fight the open water.

Day 50, Thursday, August 11, Namu

Went out again this morning to hunt for the elusive Halibut.... but with no luck.DAMN them Halibut!
We explored more of the old cannery, I took a bunch of pictures. It's so cool to imagine what it was like when this place was alive with people and activity.
Around noon we saw Jerre and Ute cruising into the bay so we decided to call it a day and head into the inlet and anchor for the rest of the day.
I spent the afternoon sitting in my lounge chair up on the fly bridge reading a book and enjoying the sunshine while Ben napped on the couch.
In the morning we head for Fish Egg Inlet.

Day 51, Friday, August 12, Fish Egg Inlet

We headed out this morning with Jerre and Uti for our next stop on our journey home, Fish Egg Inlet. Should be an easy day, only about a 4 our 5 hr. drive.
I'm getting excited about getting back home.
We stopped at Fish Egg on our way up and it is a pretty little cove. Lots of easy access for the dogs to go ashore. We anchored around 4 and enjoyed a nice dinner then took the dogs for a walk.
It's early to bed tonight as tomorrow we will be heading around Cape Caution and down the Queen Charlotte Strait so it will be a long 12 hour day. Jerre wants to head our at dawn so I have my alarm set for 3:45 so we have time to take the puppies ashore and load the skiff.
I hope the fog and weather cooperates!

Day 49, Wednesday, August 10, Namu

We are back again in Namu hunting the elusive Halibut.
Yesterday we started our journey towards home, we left Shearwater with the intention of only making it as far as Fancy Cove to spend the night, but with several hours of daylight left we decided to head on into Namu so we could have a good start in the morning on Halibut fishing. After a 6 hour day we made it into Namu around 8pm.
I love this little bay, the old cannery and the surrounding islands are beautiful!
We didn't have any luck this afternoon jigging for fish, but the sun was shining and I really enjoyed sitting on the front bow with my pole and a drink just relaxing in the sunshine.
After we came back in and anchored we decided to take the skiff over to the old cannery and snoop around. Jerre remembers playing basketball in the old gym here when he was 14. That was a few years ago!
Everything is deserted now, the cannery shut down years ago and the houses and cafe and store have long ago been abandoned.
It was very cool walking through the old cafe and houses. The cafe still had the menu board up on the wall with the daily special written on it. Everything is falling down and overgrown, kinda reminded me of Ocean Falls. We spent several hours rummaging through the buildings, I thought it was very cool.
Jerre and Ute called on the radio and said they had left Shearwater and were heading our way, they were going to spend the night in Codville inlet and meet up with us tomorrow in Namu.

Day 48, Tuesday, August 9, Shearwater

When I get home I am going to stand in a hot shower and let the water continuously run for as long as I want, or until the hot water runs out. Whichever comes first. I'm so tired of these water saver showers. (Get wet, turn off water, soap up, shampoo hair, shave parts, turn on water and rapidly rinse off)
Water is so scare up here I even heat up salt water to wash my dishes then rinse them in fresh water. As they say... Water water every where and not a drop to drink.
The other big issue is garbage, none of these little towns or islands are willing to take your trash, and the few that will take your garbage charge a fee. Up to $5.00 per bag. So any food waste goes overboard, anything that can be burned on shore is, it's the little conveniences that I miss.... Like water and dumpsters. And internet and phone service and even tv. Although I've never been much of a tv watcher, it was always going in the background, and I miss that.
We have been waiting for the store to open at one for a few groceries, then we will head down to Namu for some Halibut fishing.
I'm glad we are starting our journey home!

Day 47, Monday, August 8, Shearwater

We have decided that our freezer is full and we have all the Salmon we need so we are going to head to Shearwater for some last minute supplies and then head to Namu for a few days and try our luck fishing for Halibut.
Jerre and Ute are just about at their limit so they will fish here a few more days then meet up with us at Namu and we will start making our way toward home. :-)
Will I miss Canada? Yes I have to say it has been an adventure, the fishing was not exciting... The catching fish was very exciting! Seeing all the new places was AWESOME. But I'm defiantly ready to head for home. We are going to go back the way we came, slow and easy, taking our time. I expect the weather to get warmer as we make our way south, I hope!
When we got to Shearwater this afternoon we found out that the only store in town doesn't get stock until tomorrow so it looks like we will be hanging around until tomorrow afternoon before heading to Namu.
I'm not sure where we will get cell service again, but I'll update when I can.
We should be back in the states by the end of the month.

Day 46, Sunday, August 7, Lockhart Bay

Holy Cow did we have a thunder and lightning storm last night! Poor Chloe was terrified all night, she tried to crawl under Ben's pillow every time a boomer went off.
The storm passed right over the top of us, it was crazy.
We didn't go out fishing today, I had a killer headache last night and today I felt like I had been run over by a truck. Don't know if it was the change in the barometer because of the storm or what. So I spent the day in bed and Ben napped on the couch.
Jerre and the fishslayer went out fishing and caught several Coho. I think we are about ready to start heading back towards home.

Day 45, Saturday, August 6, Kynumpt Harbour

I sure miss the sunshine and summer! I haven't had a pair of shorts or a T-shirt on for a month! Rain and cold. Of course if I wanted a tropical vacation I should have headed South instead of North!
I'm definitely ready to go home. I think I've had enough of fishing for a lifetime.
This morning we headed out to once again catch the tide change. Raining like a booger. Ben did manage to catch a nice Coho right off the bat. But other than bottom fish, which we threw back, and lots is sea weed. That was it for the day.
Around noon we called it a day and headed back in to anchor.
Looks like another big storm heading our way
Good day to nap!

Day 44, Friday, August 5, Kynumpt Harbour

Boy howdy did it rain last night! Talk about a torrential downpour!
I picked up a book on Ocean Falls at the little 'shack' that serves as the marina office. I finished reading it last night, very interesting. I guess there is also lots of old pictures and history on the Ocean Falls/Rain People web site. Weird how a town can spring up and then 70 years later be completely gone!
Headed back to Shearwater we once again saw whales at the same point ad when we were coming up. Would like to spend some time hanging around there! It's so cool to see them spouting and slapping their tails.
After a quick stop at the store in Shearwater we headed out to Kynumpt Harbour to anchor for the night.
Tomorrow we start fishing again. Hope we have better luck than then the past few days.

Day 43, Thursday, August 4, Ocean Falls

Day 43, Thursday, August 4, Ocean Falls
Today Ute and I walked over to the townsite of Martin. Just around the corner and down the road from Ocean Falls. Although it has a bigger population than Ocean Falls, there must be at least 6 or 7 houses, it still appears pretty deserted. At one time they had a little store, it's gone now, but we did run into a local lady who grew up in Ocean Falls and she had lots of stories to tell about growing up here, watching the town grow, then sadly watching it fade away.
After out walk to Martin we headed back to the boat dock and stopped by to talk to an old fellow who also know some of the history and he gave us a tour of his collection of relics. He had the old tin signs from the local Martin Inn hotel as well as some of the room keys, he was kind enough to give me a souvenir.. one of the old room keys. Very cool!
I know why they call themselves the 'rain people', with the tall mountains surrounding this tiny bay no sun ever shines here!
We did do some crabbing and both Ben and Ute caught some nice big crabs. Yum!
Tomorrow we head back to Shearwater for more fishing. Just a few more weeks and we will be heading for home.

Day 42, Wednesday, August 3, Ocean Falls
What an awesome trip today up to Ocean Falls! We saw a pod of 5 gray whales when we turned into Fisher Channel. They were blowing and surfacing and tail slapping. I tried to get some pictures, but of course the pics I did get turned out all blurry and the every time one of the whales slapped a tail I was too late with the shutter. I tried to convince Ben to circle around so I could get more pics, but no go.
Ocean Falls is an old deserted timber/mining community, there is a dam here that supplies power to the islands and a big lake behind it. There is also a bunch of old deserted buildings from the sawmill and mining days, it looks like an old ghost town. Pretty COOL. A old school, old 7 or 8 story hotel, and an old 7 story apartment building, a bunch of old houses. It looks like one day everyone just picked up and left. Weird. Wonder if any ghosts are still hanging around? Ben and I walked through the old apartment building, it was pretty creepy. I loved it!
We walked up to the dam with the dogs, they enjoyed the exercise and getting off the boat.
There is also a cast stature of a mermaid on the water when you first pull into the docks, the story is that a local made it to honor his granddaughter who disappeared when she was 15, it happened years ago. Very cool.
We are staying here a couple of days. We are on the docks so we have power and water for a change. I'm glad, I was tired of fishing anyway and I wanna take my ghost detector up to the hotel and see if I can find any ghosts! COOL