Too Early to Rise

 

This is what a 0430 departure looks like.   The red lights in the pilothouse are to help with night vision.  

We needed to make 104 miles today and beat the current at Porlier Pass in the Southern Gulf Islands as well as the current at Campbell River. The currents were both were projected to be foul (against us).   At Porlier pass we faced about a 1.5knot foul current.  At Campbell River, that' is another story.  Well, one out of two ain't bad...

It was still really dark when we departed Montague Harbour this morning.   Being all bleary-eyed didn't help, I'm sure.

BOLO (Be On the LookOut..) for large semi-floaty things in the water.   This former tree was maybe 70' long, very waterlogged, and massive...   Hit one of these and it would definitely leave a mark, if you are lucky (if not so lucky, it would sink your boat).   Not good.

These are, unfortunately, not that uncommon up in the Pacific Northwest.  This and crab pots are the primary reasons we do not travel at night.

If you are ever in doubt as to where the main channel lies - just look for all the crab pots and there you will find the channel.   Why the authorities allow people to place crab pots in navigable channels is completely beyond me.   This is a dangerous and damaging practice.   I'll just add this to my long list of confounding people behaviors.

Passing the secret (not so) naval base at Nanoose in the Winchelsea Islands near the middle of the Strait of Georgia.

And this is why we love boating.   Flat calm water and surrounded by snowcapped mountain peaks.   It feels like we are in the middle of a bowl out here.   And we see whale spouts all around us (but we can't see the whales).   I think I saw a small whale spyhop though.

At the confluence of Johnstone Strait and the Strait of Georgia (at the north end) the two currents meet and make for some odd turbulence, overfalls, whirlpools, and surprisingly choppy waves.

We were getting a relatively nice 1 knot push most of the day until we hit this point.   Then we were facing 7 knots of foul current (foul means against the direction we want to travel).

7 knots foul in a boat that only does 7.5-8 knots makes for some really slow going.   Those last 3 miles took 3 hours!

While we were making 8 knots through the water, we were only making 1.4 knots over ground.   This picture is just south of Campbell River.

104 miles, 14.68 hrs motoring, and burned 52 gallons of diesel.   Long day.

We made it in time for dinner at Moxies, a local eatery near Discovery Harbour.   Come to find out that this is a chain and there is one in Fort Lauderdale too!

The Roasted Cherry Tomato and Whipped Feta over Toasted Sourdough is spectacular.

So is this Mile High Mocha Mud Pie with caramel and dark chocolate sauce.   I'm in no danger of getting any blood in my sugarstream tonight...

Sunset from the docks at 2115 (9:15pm) tonight.   I love the long days!

We will spend a few days here in Campbell River to rest and reprovision for Canada.   We don't really bring anything across the border as the authorities (USA and Canada) just make you toss it out.

At this moment, Thursday looks promising for another long day (86 miles) up the notorious Johnstone Strait to Port McNeill at the very north end of Vancouver Island.  That is our jumping-off point to round Cape Caution and continue our northward journey.

Buenas Noches!