08/01/2012, Campbell River
We headed out early bound for Campbell River. We have been out for awhile and we decided to spend some time tied to a marina. The wind was perfect when we came out of the harbour so we put the sails up. We have been traveling down narrow channels for so long it seem odd to look out and see miles of open water. We sailed all the way across Discovery Passage and tacked back. We had cell service so we called in to a marina, they called us back two hours later to tell us they were full. This is getting to be a drag all these people out in their boats. We called the next marina and they said no problem. We tacked again and continued sailing. It was getting to be about 1 pm and we decided to head to the marina. We were unaware of the currents that set upon Campbell River. They sit just south of Seymour Narrows and generate quite a current. It looked like a river on top of the water, needless to say a low powered sailboat could make no headway. When we realized that we were going backwards, we turned around and waited it out. At 4 pm the current had reduced enough for us to make headway. We docked and signed in. This marina is affiliated with a hotel, so we have use of the showers, exercise room and hot tub. We are right in the downtown area. We walked Oliver then headed up to the hotel resteraunt. Oliver has done great, we were out for 9 hours today.
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07/30/2012, Gorge Harbour
We needed to move onto a marina since Suzie has been battling a stomach problem. Gorge harbor marina listed nearby medical facilities and "reservations recommended". The entrance to the marina was tight as we approached, we began to hear chatter on the radio. Apparently the marina is very busy and boats were anchored out on a "standby basis", so much for staying in the marina. We circled the bay looking for an anchorage. The first spot wasn't good for holding but we soon had the anchor down. We put the motor on the dinghy and cruised to the marina. This was a marina and onshore resort. It was packed, we stopped at the store and bought a few essentials. I walked down to the wharf to check on moorage. There were two young people rushing around just like Les Schwab snow rush. I asked about moorage but they were booked out. Oh well back to enjoy a quiet anchorage for the night
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07/27/2012, Von Donop Inlet
We are backtracking now so I combined multiple stops with highlights. At Port Neville we met a couple that retired in June and left July 1 for a 2 to 10 year trip. We had appetizers with them and discussed retirement, their plans, our plans and exit strategies. They had a nice boat, but seemed to need to catch up in some areas. We pulled out of Port Neville initially planning on a 10 mile day, but the rapids were in our favor, the weather was good so we pushed onto Shoal Bay, about 19 miles. We happened to hit "Pizza" night. The dough cost $5, everyone throws on toppings from their boat and we all dig into each other's pizza. We got in a shower($5ea) and laundry($7). We left at 5:45 the next morning and hit the next two rapids on our way south. The day was uneventful, we cruised to a nice anchorage with about 10 other boats. When we arrived there was a boat named "Alliance" out of Seattle that had to be at least 200 feet. Looked a little out of place in our little anchorage. They and about 6 others pulled up anchor and headed out. There are some boats in here that we had seen up in the Broughtons. It is much busier than when we headed up in June. We went for a hike in the woods this afternoon. It was the first hike that we could do in a month. The anchorages up north are very visual, but they are so steeped sided, that you are limited to roaming around at the shoreline. It felt good to put in a couple of miles. There is a store and restaurant about three miles away, we are going to hit those in the morning. When we got done with our hike we noticed the warning about wolves and how to react if you see one. Maybe we will hear some howling tonight.
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07/20/2012, Echo Bay
On to a marina for a couple of days. We are almost out of water so we need to stop somewhere. Most of the marinas, such as here and Sullivan use stream water. The government says that the water should be boiled, there are two or three marinas that treat their water. The guy on the dock said "we drink it" so we are going to fill here. This place is very popular, we are going to hit the "pig roast" on Saturday night. The marina roast a pig and boaters bring potluck for $20 ea. should be good time. When you stop at a marina you have to look the other way at prices, they need to survive over a four month window. We are paying $41.50 a day for moorage, $20 a day for electricity, showers are $5 each, wash and dry are $5 each, garbage is $10 for a big bag and $5 for a small bag. They claim to have some cell service, "it moves around and is effected by the tides, try over by the ketchup or yesterday it was over by the mayonnaise". I haven't found it yet. We hiked over a hill to "Billy Proctor's Museum", and old building that a 70 year old guy has collected bottles and artifacts. Billy was a spitting image of my stepdad "Rusty". His looks, speech and vocal opinions of what caused the salmon and deer to disappear, what caused the cougars and white-sided dolphins to increase and what a dumb idea to ask a 70 year old guy to travel to Victoria to go to "trapping school" for a license, when he had" "by God" been trapping for 50 years". I am going back tomorrow to talk to him again. I will be back to add more and a picture. The pig roast was awesome, with an "Irish" theme. It poured rain all night so we stayed another day, washed the boat, changed the oil and got ready for the next stop.
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