The wind and tide were just right so we went all the way to Bull Harbour to plan our trip over Nahwitti Bar and around Cape Scott. On the way we saw a Momma Humpback Whale and a baby and some dolphins playing in some ripping shoals. We anchored in Bull Harbour and immediately saw a couple of Sea Otters playing along the shores. We got the dingy down and explored the anchorage….we saw some caves, rock walls, and malaspinas. While at Bull Harbour we tried hailing the Natives on channel 6A to get permission to come to shore. No one answered to we went for a walk along the road in hopes of finding someone. Didn’t see anyone but got to Roller Bay to watch the large swells come crashing onto the beach. Apparently, the wolves are a problem on this Island but we didn’t see any….Thank God! We also started to do some projects like….resewing our full enclosure, cleaning up and general maintenance.
The next morning with light winds and lots of fog we headed to Nahwitti Bar- we got a few big waves but nothing too bad. Finally we made the Small Left Turn into the Pacific Ocean! The swells were about 6-10 feet but we barely noticed them as they slide beneath our haul. Thank Goodness for radar because we saw nothing until we started to duck into Sea Otter Cove. We would have loved to see Cape Scott but we didn’t…..we had a 4 knot current against us around Cape Scott but Dakota with her new engine just scooted along! Along the way we say many Aucklets, Seagulls, Murres and Sea Otters (as long as they were within 2-300 feet from the boat! In Sea Otter Cove we grabbed a mooring ball….it remained windy here all night. (at least there wasn’t any swell). Here we met a couple of cruising boats- SV Breezin’ and SV Castaway(I think that was the name). We all headed out the next morning at 6 to get out of the bay before low tide!
All three of us made it to Winter Harbour…we came first…but it wasn’t a race! HaHa! We all tide up to the Goverment Wharf and had to battle the horse flies until evening. Then we had a bit of a dock party….if there is more than one boat- it’s a dock party. Also there was SV Caseta.
Winter Harbour has board walks that travel all along the waterfront and the homes are built just off the walkway. They keep the board walks in fairly good shape. They have a General Store and a fuel dock, plus they have water at the docks. So we filled our tanks with water and diesel. We also had lunch at the little eatery ‘Be More Pacific’ and the Salmon was fabulous!
The three sailboats that were tied at the docks with us all left this morning before we even got out of bed. But before we had breakfast- SV Caseta was being towed back to docks with a non-working engine. Apparently, they got very dirty fuel from Port McNeill and it clogged the filter- then the filter broke as the captain tried to change it. At least they are safe at the dock and in a pretty good spot!
We are taking a few days to explore Quatsino Sound then off to go around Brooks Penninsula….but that is for another day!
DakotAdventures 
You seem do do a lot of motoring. When are you able to get the sails up?
LikeLike
Today Judy it was truly my best day of down wind sailing. We are in Quatsino sound above the famous Brooks peninsula. It is a massive winding bay leading into the interior of northern Vancouver island. We motored out of Winter harbour and turned left to travel down into the sound. The wind was blowing around ten knots from the Pacific Ocean. Out came our foresail and off went the engine. Each curve in the passage dulled the waves marching in from the open Pacific Ocean and as we progressed the wind increased to as much as 17 knots which moved us along at 6.9 knots which is a fair speed with only one sail deployed. We do love sailing with the motor off but having a reliable motor is a big part of cruising. Allowing us to move from place to place without waiting for the wind to shift directions and blow from a more favourable direction.
Wish you could have seen today. It was brilliant
Dave
LikeLike
That’s fabulous!!! Well done. You are doing it right. I’m glad you are meetinv other sailboats, masses of reqlly interepeople out there. Offshore they become family! For Brooks Pen we set off very early as the wind kicks up in the middkd of the day, folk say it has its own weather systems. We loved watching the puffins on Solander Island, we never saw them a anywhere else. I think we spent the night before Brooks Pen in a hidden cove much nearer but I haven’t got a chart any more to give you a name. It was the closest so we could get around the pen early. We first did the trip in Morwenna, a Crown 28, fin keel… Have fun, you will find some lovelg sandy beaches but watch for bears and wolves – in Australia it was crocs!!! Much love mum
LikeLike