After a few 5:00 a.m. departures, today’s “about 7:00 a.m.” departure felt luxurious. So luxurious that most of us, apparently now adjusted to early mornings, were underway well before 7. Today is as close to a lay day as we hope to have in Canada, with fewer than 60 nautical miles to travel in mostly calm water without super strong currents. We still had to pay attention, though. Logs were everywhere.
Near the mouth of Seaforth Channel we faced a choice: a slightly shorter but more exposed route through Milbanke Sound, or the longer-but-more-protected Reid Passage, Oscar Passage route. Conditions were fairly mild, so we took the most direct and exposed route. We had ocean swells for a couple hours and Dog Star got a chance to sail.
Bottleneck Inlet is a favorite anchorage on this stretch of coast. It looks tiny on a chart and feels intimate inside, yet there’s room for at least a dozen boats. Great holding in moderate depths, too, which can be hard to find around here.
Tomorrow we have an early start, a long day, and hopefully some sunshine. It’s a beautiful cruise if we can see!
58.6nm today
376.3nm total
