Sunday, 03 August 2014

We move on today towards Port McNeill, B.C. We have been out for a month and are in need of supplies and fresh water. We will also have access to a laundromat and a good internet connection. Most of the marinas in the islands have a satellite connection, but the band-width is limited. They ask that we do no down/up loading of large files and limit our use to email only.

We travel down Cramer and Spring Passages to cross Knight Inlet and into the Village Group of islands. Along the way we spot our friends on "Rubinesque" and they hail us on the radio. They are returning from McNeill and we exchange greetings.

Our anchorage for the night is in Farewell Harbour, off Berry Island. This puts us just off Blackfish Sound and about 17 miles from Port McNeill.

Monday, 04 August 2014

Our passage from Farewell Harbour to Port McNeill is timed to have the ebbing current give us a speed boost and to avoid the early morning fog. We had some entertainment along the way in the form of humpback whale and Dahl porpoise sightings. The Blackfish Sound and Cormorant Passage are the bodies of water that we are traveling through and they are teeming with schools of sockeye salmon. The fishermen are out in force and so are the marine predators. We sight four humpbacks and more porpoises than we can count in the two and a half hours that it takes to get to North Island Marina. Port McNeill has it all for boaters and the marinas here are full during August, reservations are a must. We have lots to accomplish: laundry to do, grocery shopping, supplies to take in, fueling the boat, clean up the boat and enjoy a few meals ashore. We plan to be in town for three nights.

We meet up with a few friends while here: Byron and Sue off "Eagles Gig" and Rod and Susan off "Merlin". Merlin is heading out tomorrow for Seymour and Belize Inlets, where we are headed next.