Lots of Whales
07 August 2015 | Port Harvey, BC
Richard
This morning's trip from Joe Cove to Port Harvey, midway down Johnstone Strait, was mostly pleasant, mainly because of the scenery. First, there were multiple rivers of fog flowing around and over the islands and channels of Queen Charlotte Strait and the Broughton Islands. The fog mostly remained in the distance, so that I could photograph it without passing through it except for a few short minutes.
And second, as I passed through Blackfish Sound to get to Johnstone Strait, numerous Orca whales were feasting on the salmon run. Two of them, swimming together, can up to me from behind and I didn't see them until they surfaced to breathe about 25 feet to my port. They then dove under Osprey and came up on the starboard side, again about 25 or 30 feet from Osprey's bow. Of course they knew I'd grab the camera and so disappeared after that.
Once I entered Johnstone Strait, the rain started and the wind, on my nose of course, picked up to 15-18 knots. I only had about a knot of counter-current (which should have been a favorable current, according to the tables), so made ok progress down the strait and into the channel to Port Harvey. Like yesterday, I was anchored before lunch. It wouldn't have made sense to try to continue, because the ebb current was due to start and my progress would have slowed to a crawl for the rest of the day, with 35 miles to the end of the strait.
I may be able to continue tomorrow, but the forecast is for stronger headwinds than today so I may sit here for a day or two until the southeasterlies lighten. I'm glad I brought lots of books and crossword puzzles. There's a small marina in Port Harvey now; it wasn't here the last time I was. I'm currently anchored but if I decide to spend multiple nights here I may move to the dock.