Happy Mother's Day!

Walking in Comox





Across from our dock at Port Neville, B.C.

Chrome Island Lightstation, near Comox, B.C.

Dear Family and Friends,

Happy Mother’s Day! Our last blog post had us in Comox on Vancouver Island. Leaving there early on May 6^th, we continued to travel north in relatively good conditions to the very top of the Strait of Georgia which, for those of you who live in Bellingham and environs, has its southern end at the top of Lummi Island. We hugged the west side of the infamous Cape Mudge which is known for its tidal rips and “confused” seas. Fortunately, we found it to be quite calm. Just as we got inside the Campbell River marina, the wind started to howl, and Merlin and Xanadu both had docking challenges that tested our captains. Then the rain came! We did a quick walk shoreside—mainly for the sake of the dog—but quickly returned to the warmth of our boats.

On May 7^th we left Campbell River at dawn, knowing the wind was supposed to come up around noon. Our route was up Discovery Passage—a main shipping channel also used by cruise ships on their way to Alaska. It was our first time on this route and, even though the weather was gloomy, it was beautiful and natural scenery. We were interested to see the site of the former Ripple Rock, a shipping hazard that was blown up in 1958. We stopped for the night in Port Neville, a protected bay along Johnstone Strait on the B.C. mainland. We stayed at a government wharf (dock) and were greeted and helped in by Alex, the caretaker of the property. It was our first night in a somewhat remote place (no roads here). The store and post office closed last year. Our only other land resident was a black BEAR who greeted us at the top of the dock! Fortunately, Rod had given me a “bear bell” that day which scared Mr. Bear away. (Or maybe the fact that there were four of us and a dog.) We had happy hour with a fellow from Port Orchard, WA, who is single handling his small (24”) sailboat to Alaska. We had seen him earlier near Comox.

On Mother’s Day we left Port Neville but found Johnstone Strait to be a little rough. The seas were building because of opposing tide and wind, so only went 12 nautical miles today and pulled into Port Harvey (probably not on your maps). We anchored at the protected head of the bay and did a little exploring with our dinghy.  We will get an early start in the morning as that is the calmest time to travel in these waters.

Signing off,

Susan, Rod, and Katie

Mr. Bear saying hello!