Port McNeil to Seymour Narrows
22 June 2017 | Boat position at Seymour Narrows: 50 09.77'N; 125 20.17'W
Pam Lau and Ted Berry
Picture: This barge, loaded with something that looked like sawdust, timed it just right to go through the Seymour Narrows at slack tide and avoid the rapid currents. Note the size of the tug on the left compared to its huge load.
End of the day miles: 80
Miles since Mexico: 25,906
Weather: Sunny and warmer; wind came up in the early evening (like yesterday). Wind: Early SE then later NE and NW at 4 to 15 knots Boat speed: 3.5 - 11+ knots. We used the Genoa most of the day with motor when the current was against us.
Johnstone Strait and Seymour Narrows were areas of great concern to us because of the strong currents and turbulence found there. Timing the tides is critical. We left Port McNeil around 06:30 in order to get to Johnstone Strait, about 10 nautical miles away, in time to catch a favorable tide and current. The wind was against us from the southeast at about 4 - 8 knots, contrary to the weather forecast. It was predicted to be from the northwest at 10 - 15 knots.
It was a long cruising day, sixteen hours. We each took turns napping so we would have energy to keep alert for the treacherous stretches. I took the first watch at the beginning of Johnstone Strait. Most fishing boats going the opposite direction seemed to be turning north out of the Strait into the northern part of Queen Charlotte Strait.
Ted took over half way through the Johnstone Strait and into Discovery Channel. He encountered many eddies and rapids during his watch. The currents were with us for about 6 hours and at times, especially through rapids, "Shuang Yu" flew at SOG (speed over ground) of more than 11 knots. When the currents turned against us, we were still doing over 5 knots because of the favorable NW wind. We stopped at an anchorage called Plumper Bay, just before Seymour Narrows. It was beautiful and calm when we dropped anchor but after dark the wind got up and the anchor dragged about 10 meters so Ted had to do "anchor watch". Luckily, with all our electronics these days we can do anchor watch without going outside. We just watch our position on the GPS and chart and set an alarm to go off if we exceed say, 150 feet or 50 or so meters from our anchor. Even so, he had quite a night because he had to stay awake. Finally at 04:00 the anchor reset itself and he went to bed. I, on the other hand, slept like a log and heard faintly some wind howling in the distance.