The Broughton's have not disappointed. Our first stop was at a resort called Sullivan's Bay Marina. It is a complete float village. As we approached the breakwater it became glaringly apparent that we were swimming with the big boys now. I checked the available wi-fi networks and imagine this - no less than ten boats had their own systems. All with security codes. So I couldn't poach any radio waves from the rich folk. But there was a system available for us peons to use. Milo enjoyed the dog patch with real grass on a special float reserved for our canine friends. We met up with some folks we had met earlier in Prince Rupert and enjoyed our first dinner in a restaurant in a long time. I really enjoyed not cooking and the halibut I ordered (because we haven't caught any) was served with a very delicious light coconut curry sauce.

The next morning we rose early, and set out for Simoon Sound to spend a night on the hook and get some quiet time after all these harbors and towns. We set our shrimp pots at the entrance of the Sound and made our way all the way back to the very head of the bay. Lazing around, reading and contemplating a nap - when KABOOM! "What the? Then we saw the dust rising from the site of a new logging road. A little warning fellas! Please. Actually this presents a nice sequey into some observations about the state of the forest here. It's a lot different here than in the Tongass. I speculated, (and had it confirmed last night by a BC lumberman) that there is no, zip, zero, nada, forest visible anywhere that has not been logged at least once, more likely twice and in some cases three times. And the other observation I shall share is the sight of all these lousy fish farms. They are everywhere. We passed two on our way to the back of Simoon Sound. The geography is astoundin g, but the stewardship is very different than what I have come to know. But, hey it's their country. Gawd knows we have tried mightily to screw ours up over the last eight years.

Back to the fish farms, our next night was spent at Echo Bay - Pierre's at Echo Bay. Reminds me of Foxy's in the BVI, only a little fancier. Again a float village with a scheduled Prime Rib Dinner available that very night. Color me happy again! But first we walked to the shore and through the woods to Bill Proctors museum. Sitting on a hill, overlooking a delightful little bight is this strange house, open to all, filled with neatly arranged rows of shelving, all displaying do-dads and knick-knacks from all over. Old canning jars, whales teeth, ancient chain saws, all cleverly arranged and cataloged with helpful details printed on an adjoining card.

We met Bill on our way out and got into a discussion about fish farming. Bill aint no fan. In response to Rob's question about how it tastes, was it akin to wild salmon, his response was telling. "Beats me, I'd rather eat shit with the chickens than put that crap in my mouth". Tell us how you really feel Bill, and he did. He was a fountain of facts, and a bitter displaced BC fisherman. "LICE." That's what is killing the natural stocks. He quoted statistics on how many lice is took to kill a natural smolt ,in how many days. He noted that it took four and a half pounds of fish to produce two pounds of farmed Atlantic salmon. He told us about the 63 farms located across BC, and their Norwegian owners. Nope, Bill is not a fan.

Neither are we, so we got along great. So back to Pierre's for the Prime Rib that has been grilling on the Weber 8 Million for a few hours. Smells great, tasted even better. In the morning we set out for Kwatsi Bay another small marina about three hours away. We had a pretty good breeze 35 -40 knots at times, but the sun was shining and the seas weren't bad. In fact, I was enjoying the sunshine and a good book on the back deck and - Splash" I glanced up to see about a hundred Pacific White Sided Dolphin leaping out of the water and dancing in tandem. Always a pair. I wonder if they are mates? We continued on our way and are now here at the float at Kwatsi. Tonight there is a pot-luck dinner for all of the 9 boats tied up here. Hmmmm. What do I make? I want to try some salmon ravioli, but a new recipe is probably not a good idea, so, I think it will be the by now, nearly world famous deviled salmon cakes. With capers. The shrimp pots yielded a bounty of five- on e, two, three, four, five little shrimps. Not going to feed this crowd. Bill says the crap they use to kill the lice is killing the prawns because they are the same genus.