Long Awaited Update

Well, we have been trying to find wifi or cell service anywhere for the last week to post some pictures and a blog update to no avail. It shows just how remote the areas we have been hanging around in, I guess.

To catch us up to date, we ended our last blog when we arrived in Pruth Bay, at the Hakai Beach Institute. It was a lovely stop that ended up being drawn out to a total of 4 days due to a gale. The first two days were amazing. We spent the time hiking to the various beaches around the institute -- I think we made it to all but three of the 8 beaches that were available. All were super fine white sand you couldn't bear not to take your shoes off and walk in barefoot.

West Beach at Pruth Bay

 After walking off our calluses and picking up all the abalone shells we could carry, we hunkered down and put out extra anchor scope as a gale was forecast to show up in the evening. Winds were predicted to be 35 knots, so we made sure the anchor was set well and went to bed.

Hiking between the beaches

Sleep was not very forthcoming. At about 11pm the storm arrived, bringing heavy rain and the promised wind. Unfortunately due to the topography of the area we were staying in, it increased the wind locally to around 50 knots. In the storm two boats behind us drug anchor and were motoring around in the roaring wind and rain in front of us trying to get their anchor reset. Thankfully ours held perfectly as did the one for the yacht just upwind of us. Joe spent about 3 hours in the captains chair through the worst of it watching the radar to be sure no one was dragging down on top of us. We have rode out worse storms at anchor before, but not in a crowded anchorage where it isn't just about your anchor holding, but your neighbor's too. It was a very interesting experience.

On the fourth day, Kyrie pulled up anchor, and tried to head around Calvert Island, bound to cross around Cape Scott at the top of Vancouver Island. That was a pipe dream as the seas just hadn't had time to settle enough to comfortably make the crossing with breaking 10' waves right on top of one another. To keep us moving, we headed down Fitzhugh Sound to Millbrooke Cove in Smith Sound for the night, just north of Cape Caution.

The morning brought better weather, and we left Millbrooke Cove at 6:30 in the morning, dead set to make it around Cape Scott this time. The weather cooperated, and we had a lovely sail for about 5 hours across the entrance to Queen Charlotte Sound on our way to the cape. Unfortunately, the wind died on us, and we had to motor our way around the cape. We then pushed on to Winter Harbor - about 30 miles south of Cape Scott. We pulled in around 9:30 and dropped anchor about 2 miles outside of Winter Harbor as we were too tired to mess around with docking for the night.

The morning came up foggy, so we ran into Winter Harbor on the radar, and docked at about 7:30, intent on picking up a couple groceries, and getting the kids off of the boat. Winter Harbor was a cute little town. Not too much going on, but we were able to meet two other cruising sailboats there, and vastly enjoyed their company for the afternoon. That evening, a fishing boat arrived, and as we gawked at their catch, one of the women aboard recognized Kristen--from a book club in Anchorage nine years ago! They had two boys for Levi to play with, a daughter for Rachael, and Megan had already latched on to the little girl on one of the sailboats. Needless to say, it was a fun evening.

Laundry day, Winter Harbor

Typical Boardwalk view, Winter Harbor

The next day, we said goodbye to our new friends--one sailboat was bound north for Cape Scott, while the other was heading south like us--and pulled away from the dock. We had another long day planned, although nothing like the trip around Cape Scott. However, there was another cape involved--Cape Cook--which was also notorious for nasty weather, and we wanted to get while the getting was good. Brooks Peninsula behaved and we were able to run straight to the Bunsby Islands. On the way, we were passed by a group of Risso's Dolphins--the first time we had ever seen them. Later, Joe slowed the boat down because he saw something odd in the water. It took a few minutes to figure out we were looking at an Ocean Sunfish! First time Kristen and the kids had ever seen one in the wild, and it swam right underneath our bow as we watched. At one point, it sank beneath the surface and looked right back at us, apparently as curious about us as we were about it.

Ocean Sunfish!

The Bunsby Islands were a lovely spot to stop and we wished we could have stayed and explored, but, once again, the weather forced us to move on. Another blast of strong southerly wind was on its way and we decided being tied to a dock somewhere safe would be a good idea. Walters Cove, here we come! After negotiating our way through the slalom run of an entrance, we grabbed a spot at their free dock! Soon, other boats began to arrive, including our friends from Winter Harbor, on SV Arctic Loon. Megan was thrilled to see her little friend again. After walking around, exploring that little community and restocking a few supplies, we had a lovely evening, hanging out in Kyrie's cockpit, getting to know their crew better.

Finally, up to today now. We left Walters Cove around 9:30 this morning, hoping to sail. At first, it didn't seem promising, but after about two hours, the wind filled in enough to fly the spinnaker. Big Blue kept us going for about four hours until we had to turn for our anchorage. The wind was enough at that point, however, that we switched to our working sails, and used the genoa for another 45 minutes to get us to the approach to Nuchatlitz Provincial Park. Once again, it was a maze to get in, but a beautiful protected anchorage. We were told there are amazing beaches to go beachcombing on, and it certainly looks like it. Unfortunately, the wind did not cooperate and calm down enough for us to want to put the dinghy in the water and get soaked on our way to shore. We hope tomorrow morning to be able to visit the beaches.

We're being followed! A couple of hours after we were settled here in Nuchatlitz, Kristen glanced at the AIS and noticed Arctic Loon on its way in. They are now anchored not far from us, and I think we'll be traveling together for the next day or two. The plan is to play a bit in the morning, hopefully, and then head deeper into Esperanza Inlet because another southerly gale is about to rear its ugly head tomorrow afternoon. Our current plan is to pull into Tahsis, at the top of Tahsis Inlet, to wait out the storm, before continuing the inside route to Nootka Sound and later, Hot Springs Cove.

You're up-to-date for now. We'll post pictures as soon as we can! Keep following us to see where the wind blows Kyrie and her crew next.