day 14 – Koskimo Islands to Bunsby Islands (Lo50°05.5’L127°33.0’)

Another 04:30 wake-up call, another return to bed at 04:50. There was still a gale warning in effect, but the winds were predicted to diminish. This is a good sign, but not quite good enough to lift anchor just yet. Back to bed, then back up for a lazy breakfast and to listen to the next weather forecast at 10:30. Finally! The wind warnings were over! 15-25 knot winds, diminishing, and 1-2 meter waves, sun shining. Good enough for us, let’s go!! Today’s journey was a long one – overall it was calm, but as soon as we hit that swell again I could feel it in my centre. It took about an hour to get from our anchorage to the swell, then about 4 hours to the western-most point of Brook’s Peninsula, Cape Cook and Solander Island. But once we rounded that corner, and resumed surfing with the southeast flowing current instead of jumping diagonally across it, I could feel the sea-sensitivity in my core instantly numb to comfort. I could even read my book a little bit. Another 2 hours to the south tip, Clerke point, then we rounded that corner and entered into Checlecet Bay. From there it was much smoother – the swell was behind us, winds were calm. We continued until the Bunsby Islands, at the mouth of Ououkinsh Inlet and Malksope Inlet. Anchor down in a small bay beside Small Bunsby. It feels and looks at a little different – we are no longer on the North Island, we are now Central Island. The wind is a bit warmer, the water a little smoother. I don’t know if it’s the geography, or the weather system, or a little of both, but it feels like August again!

day 13 – Koskimo Islands

Today was the first day that the Carefree Isle did not go anywhere, except for a couple of feet sideways in either direction as she drifted with the waves and wind against her anchor and stern lines. Another 04:30 wake-up call, another day of resigned acceptance that the sea was too hectic for us to venture into. Environment Canada’s marine forecast on VHF told us that another Gale warning was in effect, with big waves for company. When we created our tentative itinerary for this journey, we factored into it that there may be periods of time when the weather would prevent us from going anywhere. Especially on the west coast. We have been making pretty good time up until now, so we don’t mind stopping and smelling the roses for a while. But we are looking forward to rounding that elusive Brook’s Peninsula and visiting more of the island. Our protected anchorage is not in one of Telus’s pockets, so this morning we ventured out in the dinghy with our laptops, in search of communication coverage. On our way back to the boat, we passed close beside 2 mink whales as they breeched the surface. There was just enough time to get the video camera rolling and catch a pretty good image of these enormous beautiful beasts (which will be posted as soon as possible!). This afternoon, Cap’n Adam and JP finished working on a project started a few weeks ago – replacing the first netting on the bow, between the 2 hulls. Armin & Julie headed out with rods in search of food. Getting the stinky bait off of the poopdeck, and giving the poopdeck a good scrub-down seems to have curbed our Quatsino Sound horsefly situation, which is not as painful as it is overwhelmingly annoying. Let that be a lesson to you all – keep your poopdecks clean! This afternoon most of the crew headed out for an exploration of a secret-special-magical-creek-bed, accessible only at high tide. One of them will have to Blog about that, for I opted to stay behind and enjoy the silence and solitude for the afternoon. I also made a stir-fry dinner for everyone when they got back, so we had a relatively early dinner tonight at 6:30, so we can try to get up, again, tomorrow for the 04:00 Environment Canada Marine Forecast Update…

day 12 – Winter Harbour to Koskimo Islands (Lo50°28.0’L127°51.2’)

Fwap. Fwap fwap. Fwap. Fwap fwap fwap. That is the sound that the waves in the harbour made against the hull of the boat all night. When our alarms went off at 04:30, the sound was still just as loud as when we went to bed. The wind causing this chop was a strong one, and not getting any lighter. Before the Cap’n even started up the motors, he turned on the VHF radio for the latest marine weather forecast. “Gale warning in effect, 2-3 meter waves increasing to up to 4 meters in the afternoon. 15-25 knot winds, increasing to 35 knots in the afternoon”. Yikes, too much action for us. Considering there were already whitecaps in the waters of the harbor where we were still tied after 2 nights, we opted to go back to bed and then figure out a new plan when it was light out. Several hours later, the wind was still a’ blowin’, so we changed our intended destination from around Brook’s Peninsula to further up Quatsino Sound. That is, if the cap’n was able to get the boat off of the dock, as the wind was blowing us directly onto it. After breakfast, some pondering, and some strategic bumper placement, Cap’n Adam decided we would go for it, and make it an entire crew effort to get off of the dock. We were not as much worried about damaging the boat (it is, after all, built kind of like a tank) as we were worried about damaging the dock. Clearly it was an important lifeline for the small community, and one of the wharfingers had already told us that he had a sister who could “kick our ass” (no clue why, we hadn’t done anything to deserve an ass-kicking yet). With the stern end tethered to the dock, the Cap’n at the helm, and the dinghy already separated from the catamaran and tied further up the dock, we waited for a lull in the wind and the remaining crew pushed the bow end away from the dock, leap-frogging and being careful not to fall in. Cap’n throttled up, the Carefree Isle was off the dock and under way! And now the crew remaining on the dock just had to hop into the dinghy and catch up to the ship! We considered heading all the way up to Port Alice, but opted rather to explore some little bays and islands in Quatsino Sound, and we anchored in a small protected cove. Although our guide book told us this was a great spot for scallops, abalone and sea cucumbers, our crew member who strapped on his SCUBA gear unfortunately came back with an empty milk crate. We putted around in the dinghy, exploring the local landscape. We’ll try again tomorrow to get up early and hit the seas, but we know that there is a storm system or 2 that we are waiting on.