3May10

Susie, the Sheppard's guest, was set up to fly out of the Port Hardy airport, so we took off to cruise the 18 miles west to Hardy Bay. It was still blowing hard and we had some ebb current in the channel exiting Port McNeil, so we hobby-horsed for a bit while going straight into the 25 knot wind, but the current soon dropped off and the waves grew less steep and more comfortable. But it was a good couple of hours to sort out the boat after cruising in flat water since leaving home. (In other words, pick up all the stuff that went flying!)

Quarterdeck Marina in Port Hardy was nearly empty given we're ahead of most cruising boats. The pub at the marina was OK, but the good part was the Quatse Nature Trail that heads a few miles up the river at the head of the bay. Kermodei and I had a great hike, and the gravel bottom of the river looked like very good fish habitat. I talked to someone at the Fish Hatchery who said it was a world-class steelhead stream.