July 20, 2012
LaConner WA

WE ARE HOME!!!
We cruised into LaConner and our home slip in Shelter Bay yesterday afternoon about 1:00 pm.
We were 3 days short of 3 months on the water!!  Not bad.

Polkinghorne Islands

For the last legs of our trip we left Port McNeill on 7/10 and crossed Queen Charlotte Strait on flat foggy water.  We stopped and Gary fished and caught a nice salmon for our friends Bruce and Peggy Littlejohn who were joining us the next day.  We spent that Tuesday night in Polkinghorne Islands where and unpredicted 30 knot wind kicked up.  Fortunately Gary ALWAYS gets a good anchor set so we stayed right where we were supposed to.
The next day our friends joined us and we rafted together in Sutherland Bay in Drury Inlet in the Broughtons where we all enjoyed a wonderful salmon dinner. 
On the 12th we all made our way to Turnbull Cove and shared that space with about 8 other boats AFTER we pulled our prawn pots and got a nice haul again...we shared!

The 13th we continued through the Broughtons to Kwatsi Bay and had a bit of a happy hour on the dock with the other boaters who were there.  There was a Dutch couple there on a 78 ft converted fishing vessel who have been on the water for 5 years and plan 5 more years on their cruise around the world!

We then made our way south towards Johnstone Strait but heavy winds (greater than 40 knots)were being predicted and, discretion being the better part of valor, we ducked into Port Harvey.  We were pleasantly surprised.  You have to keep in mind that even the best of these little places is pretty rustic.
We were at Port Harvey several years back VERY EARLY in the season and were not too impressed but things have changed.  Very nice dock!  Gail and George who are the owner/operators are wonderful.  They have an unbelievable well stocked store, a nice little restaurant and hot fresh cinnamon rolls and coffee at 0700!!  To die for!  There were 4 boats there this night...all riding out the strong (near storm force) winds on the strait.  Johnstone Strait is like a wind tunnel.  It is narrow and long.  It is also one of the most beautiful bodies of water around here.  On a calm day I love it.

                                                       Johnstone Strait wind in our favor

A boat going the wrong way that day.  He got wet!

The next day the winds were still whipping but they were from the NW and we were heading SE on an outgoing tide...perfect...so away we went and had a very nice FAST ride down the strait.  A little bumpy but going our direction was just fine.  By the time we rounded Chatham Point the water was flat.  We made our way back into Cameleon Bay, dropped the prawn pots and settled down for the night.  The next morning we pulled up about 3 gallons of prawns and continued on to Campbell River (home of last summer's dreadful haircut!).  Did a bit of grocery shopping (fresh produce) and headed over to the Copeland Islands just about at the entrance to Desolation Sound.

Sunset in the Copeland Islands looking across the northern Strait of Georgia toward Vancouver Island

                                                              Sunset at Winter Cove
From the Copelands we continued south to Thormanby Islands and Buccaneer Bay.  It is a beautiful bay with an outstanding beach with WARM water.  Diesel actually waded chest deep in the water and acted like he liked it.  The bay does open to the north and a NW wind kicked up turning Buccaneer Bay into Buckaroo Bay.
  I slept through most of if and we got out of there early in the AM.  We thought we would be fine as again we would have a following sea and we did until we got back out into the waters of the open strait.  We were playing around with 5-6 ft seas.  I have learned over the years how to anchor everything down inside the cabin so that everything rides well.  We were happy when we got back into BC's Southern Gulf Islands and out of the wind which was supposed to have eased to light in the early morning but DIDN'T!!.
We spent our last night on the hook at Winter Cove on Saturna Island with about a dozen of our closest friends!!  There is a lovely Provincial Park there with a nice trail and a dinghy dock for your use.
From Winter Cove it was about a 6 hour trip home.  As I said we were 3 days short of 3 months out.
It feels good to be home.  I am glad I did the blog.  My goal was to take you along with us.  I didn't quite get to do it in real time because so many of the places we go are so remote that we don't have Internet access or phone ability for sometimes a week or more at a time.  But I think what I did was better in the long run than nothing.  I hope you have enjoyed traveling with us.  I have been astonished at the number of followers and viewers I have had.  I thank you.
If you have any desire to boat to Alaska or the remote BC waters Gary and I will be happy to share with you all the knowledge we have picked up on our 6 trips.  You can e mail me or contact me through Facebook.  Good luck in your boating adventures.  I has been my pleasure boating with you.
Signing off,
Channel Dancer