A Postcard Day
But maybe that helps give you a sense of scale?
We chased Salacia, a Nordhavn 50, down the channel and finally passed them just before Burke Channel. I took some pictures of them as we passed. If we run into them, I've got pictures for them!
Rounding the Namu Conservancy, we entered Fitz Hugh Sound.
Here is a picture of us entering Green Island. the entrance between the shoals off the two islands is tight and shallow.
Tomorrow, we continue south and round Cape Caution, a 35-40 mile stretch of open ocean. The weather forecast looks good (so far...), so we will take it. Otherwise, we were planning on staying put here for a few days. Staying put is not bad as this is one of the most secure and picturesque anchorages we've experienced.
A question for those of you with an Environmental Sciences background (Ahem... Ross, Meghan...). With ocean levels rising, shouldn't I expect to see a ring of dead trees or dead tree limbs around the high-water mark? I'm presuming that immersion in salt water would kill the limbs and trees. But there is no evidence of such up here.
As you can see, there was fog coming in from the west in Hakai Channel. Hakai Channel connects the north end of Fitz Hugh Sound with the Pacific Ocean. Fortunately, the fog abated as we approached, so we had clear skies right into our anchorage at Green Island. Green Island is where we also stayed on our north bound journey to Alaska.
We saw humpback whales in Fitz Hugh Channel. One even surfaced within 50 yards of the boat, but we couldn't get cameras on it before it showed us it's flukes and dived deep.
See picture of deep thought and planning, right...
Tonight's dinner features my variation on Ginger Spring Onion Chicken. The variation is because we have no spring onions, and no snow peas, no oyster sauce, and no black soy sauce!
Substitutions to the rescue - Worcestershire sauce and Soy sauce make a viable substitution for some of the above. Add in green beans, and all is good. My Chinese ancestors are rolling over in their graves, but it was appropriately tasty. Particularly so when paired with the 2105 Padis Cabernet Sauvignon.
Bonus Question...
The high-water line is so incredibly clean and precise, rock below and green conifers above. The line is perfect no matter where one looks. It makes me wonder...
Early to bed as we depart at 0645 tomorrow!
Wǎn'ān.
As noted, we are sitting in beautiful Green Island anchorage, just north of Cape Caution this evening. Tomorrow, we will cross to Port Hardy BC and then continue touring the Broughton’s going south to Anacortes. It’s only a short open ocean passage around Cape Caution, 30-45 miles of open water, but it’s a rite of passage that we will have accomplished. YAY!
ReplyDeleteWe anchored at Green Island back in June, about a week into our adventure. The anchorage is a waiting or destination point for the crossing, remote and peaceful. It’s quiet this evening, no other boats are anchored here. We love having an anchorage all to ourselves.
I have come to learn this anchorage and many others like it have not changed since Vancouver and his crew sailed and recorded this coast. It's fascinating, as we are sitting here looking at the shoreline, and nothing but nature exists. It’s wonderful to know places like this still exist.
While we have a month to go on our “summer” tour, anchoring here feels like we have accomplished a goal. Everything we have completed from this anchorage north has been new. Peter and I have talked about and planned to cruise Alaska for years. It’s nice to complete and acknowledge that we can and did indeed do this! At this point, I’m thinking that going south will be like visiting old, familiar and comfortable anchorages "friends" the rest of the trip. I hope this is true.