Photo: Mountains in Sunday Inlet.

"Northwest Gales, 30-40 knots," said the radio once again. We decided to go anyway.

This time we were prepared: mainsail double reefed and up before we left the anchorage, small jib on the foredeck, dinghy deflated and stored on the cabin roof, and all hatches and portlights latched. Both of us wore full foul weather gear and boots.

Leaving Kootenay was scary: seas breaking over the rocks at the entrance and wind howling, but once we got beyond the near shore area, the seas turned from mountains to mere hills. We sailed south with the wind, 20 miles to Sunday Inlet, the autopilot working like a champ. A fog bank hovered off shore and at one point we saw the dim outline of a cruise ship going by and heard its horn. At Sunday Inlet we found rocks at the entrance, confused seas and calm water inside: the standard West Coast Charlottes entrance. Three thousand foot mountains towered above our anchorage with hanging valleys to tell us of past glaciation. Moon jellies and lions mane jellyfish drifted in the water. Eagles and ravens called from the shore. And we had it all to ourselves.