Day 66/ September 4th – Lagoon Cove to Thurston Bay

Woke up to jaunty Lagoon Cove. The entire marina was a flutter with banter and speculation about the disastrous debris that was preventing everyone from making their way home. The care taker of the place delivered a delicious fresh loaf of homemade bread to our boat as a consolation for missing the halibut fry up the night before. We had the best showers of the trip here – good pressure, flat rate, cedar stalls. Everyone puttered out after the first boat called back on the radio reporting Blow Hole was open and the narrows were clear. We filled up with fuel and water and carried on out to Johnstone Strait.

Fog again. This time much less settling with the high traffic in these parts. We could see larger vessels on the radar, but not out the window. We slowed the boat and under the drifts of fog we would catch glimpses of them. We almost retreated into Port Neville, but as we neared the fog lifted and we carried on in the sun. Coasted on the current down Johnstone and wanted to get up Okisollo, but we weren’t going to make it. Headed up to Thurston Bay Marine Park instead.

As we pulled in we couldn’t believe how warm it was. And dark! And dry! We could hear crickets and could smell the warm dry grass on the rocks. Definitely south now.

 

Day 65/ September 3rd–Blunden Harbour to Lagoon Cove

 

Woke up to some serious fog. Foggiest fog yet. So dense we couldn’t make out the boats anchored next to us. All we could do was stay cozy in bed and enjoy our morning coffee while the stove gradually warmed up the cabin. Slowly started moving along just before noon. Headed down the mainland trying to keep the shoreline in sight. Not a ripple in the water outside of a few porpoises. Another world.

Plotted down Queen Charlotte Strait towards Lagoon Cove and the radio got busy with people helping each other out through debris in the water. It sounded like it was everywhere and was slowing everyone down to our speed! Apparently really dry weather and then really wet weather, compounded by clear cutting = land slides which = serious debris in the sea. We came to it just as it started to POUR with rain. We had to slow way down and Kim had to go stand up on the bow using some arm signals we came up with to navigate the way through. We crept into Lagoon Cove Marina in the dark and were greeted by two soaked helping hands on the dock. Tied up and tucked in for the night.

Day 64/ September 2nd – Open Bight to Burnett Bay to Blunden Harbour

Scott got up early, pulled anchor and started Nordri around Cape Caution. Kim got up just in time to catch the end of the sunrise. Amazingly calm day. It really couldn’t get any better for a Cape Caution rounding. We came by Burnett Bay beach which is a long stretch of sand that is probably visited about as often as the moon because of it’s location directly under the Cape. Not often you can safely anchor in these waters and get a dingy to shore for a little exploring. The perfect place for Scott to slip a slice of kelp on my finger and propose! Of course I accepted and we enjoyed the walk up and down the beach that much more…even the part where we had to take our pants off to cross an ice cold stream.

Pulled anchor and headed for Blunden Harbour. Enjoyed the glassy calm waters and sun the whole way, A few porpoises here and there. Fish jumping around. Tucked into Blunden and had an explore of the midden beach, 3 feet deep in places. We read that 1 inch of midden is the equivalent to 300 years. This is another one of those places where you can just imagine, almost feel, the people that thrived here for thousands of years. The remains of a big longhouse hangs out over the beach. Thankful to 'Nakwaxda'xw First Nation for erecting a sign here letting us know where we are.

Smoked some salmon in the BBQ and watched a thunderstorm roll in and over us while we sipped champagne. Wonderful day.

Getting our pellicle on.

What Cape Caution looked like as we went by.

 

Scott found, not one…

…but TWO balls.

        

Day 63/ September 1st – Namu to Open Bight

Once again, plans to leave early are foiled by the distraction of an amazing place! Namu took us in and entertained well into the afternoon. We walked around the abandoned cannery and bushwacked our way underneath the deteriorating stilted houses that segregated out cannery workers by race. Hunted around for treasures and trade beads in the heaps of broken glass and ceramics. Found the exact water pump we need to replace the broken part of the old one we’ve been packing around all summer. Plucked some kale and mint. Were heading back down to the boat when we were summoned to assist with a questionable operation of balancing stacks of milled cedar off an old forklift, onto a backhoe and then onto a floating dock below. After a few attempts and 6 of us we succeeded. Were offered a big bag of bagels and salvaged some industrial light shades and funny machine parts that will make exceptional napkin rings from the workshop. We then helped with balancing 3 skiffs up onto the docks being dragged by another skiff. I’m thinking back to packing up our apartment for this trip – really nothing compared to this operation.

Headed out and down Fitz Hugh Sound. Gorgeous, fair winds and sunny. Humpbacks around have a different magic to them than when we first saw them here on the way up. Stopped in at Darby Channel and picked up a few more Chinook. The weather was so light we decided to brave it and spend the night at Open Bight. We got there just as the sun was setting which gave Scott just enough time to give halibut fishing one last go – he either caught the ground or the biggest halibut out there. Either way he lost his line and we were able to go to bed without the additional hours of food processing.

Big rollers rocked us to sleep – at least for a few hours.

We found Nordri covered in spider webs in the morning.

  Wood pipes!

   

Our new Namu mugs that fit our cup holders replacing the mugs we packed from home that don’t fit our cup holders.