North Harbour
28 July 2007
The weather definitely didn't cooperate with our plans to go to Klaskino Inlet. Before we even got off the dock, another sailboat came in from the inner sound and told me that bad weather was expected in the afternoon. While I was talking with the guy on the other boat (NW Raven), John was listening to the weather broadcast and hearing the same thing. We didn't want to stay on the dock, so we moved to nearby North Harbour.
On our way to North Harbour, we went past a big Coast Guard boat that we think would normally be out patrolling the coast. That made us feel extra good about our decision since the weather wasn't actually bad at that point. There was only one other boat anchored here when we came in yesterday afternoon, a very large motor yacht. By the time we went to bed, a very large sailboat had also joined us. Overnight we added a fishing boat, and NW Raven anchored nearby a little while ago. Now the weather is getting bad — rain and wind approaching 20 knots even here in our sheltered anchorage — and I'm glad to be snug inside Solstice.
We listen to VHF channel 16 when we're anchored. An hour or so ago, we heard a boat hailing another outside off San Josef Bay about 15 miles away. (Outside means on the coast as opposed to inside Quatsino Sound where North Harbour is.) We switched channels to listen to their conversation. They said it was rough. The one boat had been thinking about looking for shelter in San Josef Bay, but the other boat indicated that there wasn't any there. (San Josef Bay is totally exposed to the southwest.) Both boats are headed for Winter Harbour now, and we're kind of watching for them since we can see the approach from here. The Coast Guard boat has left, and I'm wondering if they heard the boats and decided to go closer to them. We didn't hear any other calls on 16 that would prompt them to leave shelter. (As John would say, I'm just making things up now, but it seems reasonable to me.)