NOTE: Hello all.
We have experienced a short delay in our travels. Ron has been in the Seattle area for a few weeks attending to some family items that came up unexpectedly. The boat and Kirsten are currently in Powell River, BC, and the next few entries will be written while Ron is on 'hiatus'. We expect to be back cruising shortly.

We were going from Garden Bay to Princess Louisa Inlet, one of the more spectacular places on the Inside passage. This narrow, glacier cut inlet, has peaks that reach 5000 to 8000 feet. They rise sharply from the waters edge giving incredible views; although with a very craned neck. The geography continues below the water surface with drop offs so steep in many places that one can be in 300 feet of water just 10 or 20 feet off the rock wall.

We had not seen an abundance of wildlife on land to date on the trip, so we were very happy to encounter 2 black bears down close to the water as we went by. The first one was just lounging on a rock (Yogi bear style) and scurried away as Just Lucky motored by, but the second one proceeded to check us out as much as we did him! Curious bear.

We made our way to Malibu Rapids - not to be confused with Malibu Beach in Southern California - the entrance to Princess Louisa Inlet. The rapids are not like those you might find in a river, but are a narrow rock walled constriction where the tide has to pass about every six hours. The narrowness, maybe 100 feet wide or so at the smallest point, contributes to a very fast tidal flow of up to 9 knots, which is faster than most sailboats can motor. This makes it necessary to go through the opening very close to slack water, when the tide is not moving in or out very much. It isn't difficult; you just need to pay attention. Past the rapids we traveled up about another 1/2 hour to Chatterbox Falls and the head of the Inlet. The Canadian Park Service has a very long dock for all the visiting boats that is free and has a good water supply. We stayed for 3 nights and had a great time hiking, meeting other people, and just relaxing. We ended up meeting 3 other couples; one from Anacortes, one from Canada, and a couple from Sweden who were on their second circumnavigation!
And older than me!
There is hope yet!