5:30am one of us got up to pee, it was flat calm, so we pulled anchor and got underway.
It was another big ebb tide at 7:30am, which could be detrimental as we pass Slingsby Channel. It was calm seas and logs galore until the Walker Islands, and then we started taking salt over the flybridge at 7:00am with three hours to round Cape Caution. Yes, Slingsby Channel was the culprit.
Thank goodness for Tessa solving (we hope) our stabilizers issue. They were making these rough seas “comfortable”, and we use that term loosely. Fish boat … you doing ok? If not, we’re not stopping to attend to your needs (we are towing our 16’ Aluminum Riverhawk). When they say heed caution when Slingsby Channel is at a full ebb, they aren’t kidding. Dodging logs in big seas is no fun. Wheeee, who needs Disneyland for a wild ride?
But thankfully once past Slingsby Channel, Cape Caution was a sigh of relief. Low 3ft westerly swells off our port side still gave our stabilizers work, but the hard workout was in the rear view mirror.
Once tucked into Calvert Island, Tessa proceeded to wash the boat from top to bottom, as we had just had a very nice salt water bath. The water flattened out, we listened on VHF to the Canadian Coast Guard help a grey whale with fishing gear wrapped around its tail nearby, and enjoyed the beauty of transiting “The Central Coast”.
The North End of Calvert Island has the Hackai Research Institute, some stunning fine sand beaches, and some great fishing. River’s Inlet is known for their big salmon, we caught an 80lb King salmon back in 2008 at the head of River’s Inlet. Shearwater is the main stop in the area for provisioning, fuel, and a burger if you’re tired of eating seafood. This year, and 2020, all First Nation Villages are closed to outsiders to try to prevent Covid from affecting the communities.
We cruised on past and anchored in Raven Cove and couldn’t believe how warm it was.
After Tessa did some touch up work on cleaning the front windows, she mustered up the energy to go in front and around the port engine to check to see how the stabilizers oil was doing after a ten hour run. Tom was dying to know. She squealed with excitement, and Tom thought there was something wrong. She responded no, break out a glass of wine, we didn’t lose a drop of oil!!
