Jamming South in Johnstone Strait

 

We departed Port McNeill at 0800 and passed by Alert Bay about 0900 this morning.  That's where I took this shot.  We were enroute to Blind Channel Resort, about 60 miles south.   We jammed south to get out of the predicted "nasty winds" over the next week.  We didn't want to get stuck up in Port McNeill.

As you can see in this picture, the water is nice and flat, so very light wind (3-5 knots)!   That's why we went today.  Tomorrow, the winds are supposed to be 25-30 knots.   We could have done it, but why?

Orca in Johnstone Strait off of Port Harvey.   So cool!

We came upon this old square-rigged schooner, technically, I think this particular configuration is called a "brigantine".  That's a two masted sailboat square rigged sails on the foremast and a fore-and-aft sails on the mainmast.  You can see the crew climbing up into the rigging to manage the sails.   Not for me!

I hate clear-cut logging.   Just so you know my position on this matter...

No need to dwell on it here but look at the scars it leaves on these slopes (light green or brown areas).  The good news is that these loggers didn't denude the entire area, so their restraint is appreciated.   Throughout Canada and SE Alaska, we saw entire mountainsides laid bare from clear cutting.

Here is the same thing, just more recent activity.  Nothing grows in these areas for many years.

You probably can't tell from this picture, but we were moving at almost 14 knots through these rapids at Race Passage by Helmcken Island in Johnstone Strait.

The camera always makes the water look flat, but I can assure you that it was not!

We pulled into Blind Channel Resort, right on time at 1600.   We are here for two days, partially to wait out the predicted winds.   Today was an ice-cream day on their patio.

Blind Channel Resort is owned and operated by a couple originally from Germany.   The resort consists of a few cottages/cabins for guests, a small general store, and a 20-slip marina.  Access is by boat, no cars here!  The restaurant serves real German food, and it is quite good - that's on the agenda for tomorrow's dinner.

Tomorrow we will be hiking around this beautiful island to see the giant old growth cedar.

Being somewhat impatient, we couldn't wait until tomorrow, so we did a brief hike today out to Viewpoint and back.

That's the marina in the background.

Below are a few pictures from our hike.

Here is the creek that runs into Blind Channel Bay.  We are standing on the wood bridge that spans the creek.

This was a cool looking fungus, about 9" across.

Funny looking lumps of some fungus on this old stump.

Ferns carpeted the forest floor.

My brethren!   Go Slugs!!!

Clear aquamarine waters and a piece of bull kelp at Viewpoint.

Goons gazing out over the channel.

Lush rich foliage and very soft loamy spongey ground over bedrock.  The tree roots only go down 6" to maybe a foot, but they may span 20' or so around the base.

We saw lots of trees that had blown over and exposed their root platform to confirm this.  I can't call it a root "ball" for obvious reasons...

Rare Horsetail Grass...  For you, Patty!

Squirrel!

Maybe Salal or maybe Huckleberries! Huckleberries are one of my absolute favorites.    Each berry tastes like a handful of blueberries.

Salal, not so much…

Astute reader/observer, Carolyn, says that's Salal.  Darn!!!

We headed back to the boat and got this shot of the tiny marina.   Our boat can hardly be seen in the midst of all these larger yachts.

We are the third boat from the end, next to the lone sailboat and behind the little Grand Banks 36 motorboat.

Then it was dinner time.   Halibut, steaks, asparagus, and polenta.   And a Long Cellars 2021 Reserve Cabernet Franc.   The wine was excellent but was too big for the halibut; it worked well with the steaks though!

Ross captured this pretty shot of the sunrays streaking through the 1981 Grand Banks 36, Unicorn V, owned by Jim and Shannon from Vancouver.   They keep this boat in bristol condition.

On that note, Gute Nacht!