Seattle Trip Day 12

Wednesday August 26

I must not be too good at this trip planning business because yesterday we had a 35 mile day and today we had an 85 mile day.  Oh well, it worked out OK in the end.

Today was yet another special day for us because we had to transit Seymour Narrows.  Seymour Narrows is one of those places where small boats like ours can only transit safely at slack tide.  I had a book that told me that slack tide in the morning was at 9:15 AM, and we were about 20 miles away from there.  I decided that I should allow at least 3 hours to get there, hence a 5:30 AM wake up and a 6 AM departure.

Here is a Wikipedia definition of slack tide, or what they call "slack water:"

Slack water, which used to be known as 'the stand of the tide', is a short period in a body of tidal water when the water is completely unstressed, and therefore no movement either way in the tidal stream, and which occurs before the direction of the tidal stream reverses.^[1] Slack water can be estimated using a tidal atlas or the tidal diamond information on a nautical chart.^[2] It is a common misconception that the time of slack water occurs at high and low water, that is, at the greatest and lowest height of tide. In fact, the time of slack water, particularly in constricted waters, does not occur at high and low water,^[3] and in certain areas, such as Primera Angostura, the ebb may run for up to three hours after the water level has started to rise, and the flood may run for three hours after the water has started to fall.

As I write this I am still on the M/V Kennicott on the trip back to Ketchikan.  I just watched a short documentary on board here about the project back in the 1950’s when they blasted out 2 big rock pinnacles collectively known as “Ripple Rock” inside Seymour Narrows.  Prior to today I did not even know that had been done.  It was quite a project, requiring over 2 million pounds of explosives.  An amazing feat of engineering.

Here's a link to an 8 minute video that describes the project and shows the blast.  It's worth the 8 minutes if you have any interest at all in marine naviagtion.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=getmLam9H80

Here is the intended route for today:

Of course all the other southbound cruising boats in the area also need to transit the narrows safely, and everyone knows when slack tide is.  So as we approached the narrows we started falling into line with other boats.

We got there about 9 AM, about 15 minutes prior to slack tide, but the other boats headed right in and so I got in line and headed in along with them.

We made it through with no issues, and even got to see some Killer Whales on the other side.  Apparently I strayed a little too close to them because as I tried to get some photos of them I got a warning call from the Canadian Fisheries boat that was in the area. 

We had come down through Discovery Passage and were now in the Strait of Georgia, and the sea conditions were excellent.

It was a long run for the day, but we made our way across the strait to an area called Pender Harbour, and Fisherman’s Resort Marina.

It was a small marina, but with good services, and we enjoyed our brief stay there.

We were treated to a beautiful sunset at Fisherman's Resort in Pender Harbour.

I swear we are always the smallest boat in the marina.

If we stop here on the way north next year perhaps I'll calculate the mileage to Ketchikan and make a sign to add to their post.

 A heron visited us on the dock near our moorage.

598 miles to this point.

I did not realize it at the time, but this was the last time we fueled up - Yahoo!

Seattle Trip Day 11

Tuesday August 25 

We picked up our (my) cinnamon rolls, paid the tab, braved the mosquitoes once more and walked Bina before pulling out of Port Harvey.

We were one of the last boats to leave the dock at Port Harvey that morning.

We had a short run today, only about 35 miles, so there was no reason to rush.

We made our way down Johnstone Strait in a slight chop, but nothing we couldn’t handle.

The destination for today was Blind Channel Resort and Marina.  I had read about it in the guide books and really wanted to see it, hence the short run for the day.

We pulled in there and got some fuel and tied up for the night.

It is a beautiful area and a wonderful full service marina – but, it is expensive.  Moorage for one night at Port Harvey was $36, compared to $73 for Blind Channel.  

I took a garbage sack of trash up to try to find a dumpster.  The guy in the store saw me and told me to go in back of the store and put it on the scale.  He weighed it and charged me about $2 to dump the trash!  First time I’ve ever encountered that.

But we did enjoy our brief stay here.  It was easy to walk Bina on the beach, and the showers were great.

Blind Channel Resort had many buildings on their grounds.  Everything was meticulously maintained.

Beautiful flower boxes were everywhere.

The 150' yacht "After Eight" tied up to the end float.  The float was only 75' long, so she stuck out an additional 75' .  They dropped an anchor just to reduce the strain on the float.  Lisa says there are dinner mints called "After Eight" and speculated that this yacht was owned by the family that owns that business.

 

514 miles to this point.

Seattle Trip Day 10

Monday August 24 

We were in no real hurry to leave this morning, since we had essentially covered 2 days in 1 yesterday.  So I showered at the marina facilities and Lisa took a taxi to a grocery store for some provisions.

We fueled up here and pulled out in beautiful conditions at about 11:30 AM.

Here was the intended route for the day:

Our transit down Queen Charlotte Strait, then Broughton Strait, and finally Johnstone Strait was terrific.  The weather was good, the boat was performing well, we were rested and well fed.  All was good on Faraway.

We came across what I assume was a whale watching boat.  At first I could not imagine why so many people were on board but were not fishing.

Eventually I saw what they were so excited about, some Killer Whales in the vicinity.

 

Our goal for the day today was to reach a place called the Port Harvey Marina.  The guide books described it as “rustic,” and I have to say that is accurate.

The owner obviously works very hard to provide a good service and a good experience for the boaters that go there.

He has a small restaurant above the marina store and office called the Red Shoe Restaurant.  If you bring a red shoe, you get a free dessert.  We pulled in too late for dinner unfortunately.

I also found out from the other boaters tied there that they typically call ahead and place their dinner orders so that he has them ready when they pull in.

It was a nice calm and protected area, and a nice dock, however …

One of the main reasons that I had been using marinas more frequently than anchoring out is that my battery system was failing and getting through the night on the anchor was becoming difficult.  I do not have a “house bank” like most other cruising boats, and so I needed the shore power that is provided at these marinas.

About 7:30 PM the owner came by and said he was having trouble with his generator and had to shut down the shore power at 8 PM.  And so we had to run the generator through the evening, bothering the other boats at the dock.

The other problem with this marina was the mosquitoes.  There was a very nice walk way into an area for dog walking, but as soon as we got there the mosquitoes just erupted from the grass in great swarms.  Usually bugs don’t bother me much, but these were just overwhelming.  Both Lisa and I got bitten numerous times, which bothered us for many days.  Her bites stayed with her far longer than mine.

 Lisa shows off her bites.  Believe me, they were worse than they appear in this photo.

The owner takes orders in the evening for cinnamon rolls for the morning.  I ordered 2, then increased that to 4.  If I had known how big they were, and the cost ($4 per roll) I probably would have stuck with 2.   But they were indeed delicious.

Here are some shots of the marina and the dock:

It's just one T shaped float with the marina store and office on the bottom floor of the building and the restaurant above that.  The owner and his family live in a big house way back in the woods behind the resort.

This man had a 10 year old dog with severe arthritis.

He had a carry sling set up so he could lift her out of the boat and put her in this little wagon.

Then he would wheel her up the dock and over to the grass. 

477 miles to this point.