Another early morning! We left the dock at Comox at 5am and headed out into the the calm, blue gray morning. The Comox Bar looks a little tricky, but it’s really not. The depth is at least 15 feet, marked by red buoys, and there’s even a lighted range if you like. The conditions in the Strait were very pleasant for the cruise up to Campbell River, and by the … Read more
Our alarm went off just before 4:30am this morning…enough time to check the weather, get a few sips of coffee, and figure out if we were going to need to change the plan. Again. A gorgeous, calm morning so far! The forecast, however, showed an increase in wind, plus a strong wind warning (SE 15-20kts and 15-25kts) south and north of Nanaimo, but also said it should diminish in the … Read more
Day 2 and we’ve already resorted to a Plan B. Originally our plan this morning was to leave Ganges around 7:30am to make Dodd Narrows by noon, just prior to slack, and then continue on up to Tribune Bay on Hornby Island — a long day (67nm). However, the forecast looked like we might very likely get beat up a bit from Nanaimo north. We’ve learned from experience that if … Read more
We’re back!! The 2025 Flotilla to Alaska officially began last night at Prevost Harbor on Stuart Island, but most everyone was in Anacortes the night before, so we had some extra time to get acquainted before our first official meeting. We left Cap Sante around noon yesterday, and Carrie (on Ranger Tug 29 named IF) got some great photos of a pod of transient orcas off of Shaw Island, including … Read more
Saturday – We opted to leave our nice calm spot in Smuggler Cove this morning and go south down the Strait of Georgia rather than waiting for tomorrow, even though we knew there was a chance it would be bumpy. The forecasted wind (15-20kts except near Vancouver Island 25kts) would be from the NW, which means mainly behind us, but still with a long fetch where the waves could build. … Read more
Before leaving Lund this morning, we walked up to Nancy’s Bakery for breakfast, bought a loaf of fresh bread to-go, and then stopped in the market for some fresh salad greens and a couple other fresh things we might want in the next couple days before getting back to LaConner. We left around 9am and cruised about 43nm to Smuggler Cove, a Provincial Marine Park we have not been to … Read more
Blenkinsop Bay was calm and beautiful this morning. A tiny bit of fog laying low on the water, but clear besides that. Unfortunately, our timing wasn’t great for the current in Johnstone, and we had as much as 3.8kts against us in some places. We expected current against us, just perhaps not quite that much, and for as long. Luckily though, some of our Pacific white-sided dolphin friends from yesterday … Read more
Skull Cove was shrouded in fog when we woke this morning…no surprise really. We pulled our anchor and slowly motored through the narrow opening. The fog kept us company off and on (mostly on) until we reached Johnstone Strait. Our original plan was 47nm from Skull Cove to Mound Island (about 6.5 hours) but we decided to go farther, and aimed for Port Neville (71nm). We had some pretty swift … Read more