Sunday, May 12, 2013

Day 5 We made it through Dent Rapids last night at 7 and pulled into Shoal Bay at 8pm. Had a fabulous dinner with Steve and Michelle and talked with the owner Mark MacDonald for quite a while. This is a great place even when it is gray and raining. Got up and left at 0800 to get a push through Green Point and Whirlpool rapids with the increasing ebb current. At 1700 rpm's which is normally an 8 knot cruise speed we were at a steady 11 knots sometimes as fast as 14. I am sitting at Port Harvey on the dock writing this as a small squall blows over otherwise we have had a fabulous beautiful day. The waters on Johnston strait was smooth as the wind and current were going the same direction as we were. That all changed when the tide changed direction The others did not go through the morning tide like we thought and are just now going through Dent rapids and will be bucking a large tide against them all the way. Could be a far different ride for them Raining gotta go. photos to follow when we have a better connection. Day 4, just south of Lund. Furthest point north for Hwy 101. From here you have to fly or go by boat. It has been a long day but we still have another several hours of cruising. Were going to go through Yaculta and Dent rapids tonight instead of getting up at 4 am to catch the change of tide from Flood to Ebb. Up here the outgoing tide, Ebb flows north while the flood or incoming tide flows south through the rapids. We want to catch the north bound ebb tide otherwise we will be bucking an ever increasingly strong current as we go north. The favorable tides are either early morning or evening. We will pass up the others this way and they will catch us tomorrow. Looks like my hot water tank may have a leak and will have to be replaced. Will do some checking on that at Lund where we can hang out for about an hour before we have to keep going north. Probably have to have one delivered at Port McNeil if they do not have one there. Happy with how everything else is running. No debt is towing nicely even in the lumpy seas we experienced today. The crossing of the Straits of Georgia were somewhat lumpy. Wind out of the SE created 2 -3 foot rollers from the stern quarter. Steering was a bit of work, had to manual steer because “Auto” our auto pilot was unable to keep up with the waves pushing the stern to one side then the other. Couple hours of that and then we were behind Texada Island and going was much smoother. Right now just some ripples on the water off Powell River. Gray day today, no rain yet but no sun either. Rain forecast for tonight and tomorrow. Not as wet as the last time we were at this spot in 2008. Spoke too soon, its now raining. We stayed at the Nanaimo Yacht Club reciprocal dock last night, cost all of 5.00 for power. A little exposed to idiots who blast from one side of the channel to the other to get to the dinghy dock pub. Rocked us good a few times but it all settled down by midnight. Did some shopping, picked up a bit of booze and fresh veggies for the remainder of the trip thru BC. Customs was not a problem. They had to come down because of my shotgun but they were very polite and we were thru in about 30 minutes. Not concerned at all with any of our produce or meat in the freezer. This morning the first cruise ship of the season pulled into Nanaimo. Apparently they have been stopping there for the last 7 years. Did not know that.

3 comments:

Unknown said...

Hi Tom!
Happy Mother's Day wishes to Chris … and happy cruising wishes to you both from Terry & me!
We're having a blast reading your blog … how fun! And you're such a great writer. Almost like being there!
Hey, we have a question … Can you tell us which SPOT you picked up? We're in the market, and thought we'd get feedback from you before we purchase.
Thanks! And have a FABULOUS time! We'll still be right here in Gig Harbor … reading along with you.
~Denese

Gary said...

Hi Tom & Chris, Wish the Noon Balloon was headed for SE Alaska as previously planned but plans changed so we're sitting here in Wilsonville and vicariously voyaging along with you. We see you sitting in Port Harvey and also noticed Sea Jay leaving Khutze Inlet this morning. Nice job with blog.
Gary & Lenore

Miner Debt said...

Denise, it is the original Spot Tracker first edition. I like it but there are newer versions that allow more two way communication, this one is limited to just a couple canned messages and calling for help. Highly recommend the company and the product but don't know much about the new capability on the newer versions.