Day 19: June 30

Well, it appears that our exile on Hope Island may be over. The weather
forecast is no longer showing gales at the North end of Van Isle;
forecast for our side is 10-15 kt winds so we will take this as the best
weather window we can expect. The only good part is that we now can
sleep in to 03:30 and depart about 03:50 to be ready to cross the bar at
slack, which is predicted to be at 04:50.

Today will be getting ready; rigging for offshore conditions which means
ensuring harnesses fit, shelves are secured/empty and no stuff can go
flying below. The dinghy will be stowed and tied on deck,etc.

Yesterday a couple came in on a sailboat from the south; they had
recovered a skiff with engine,etc. This morning the owners, from Winter
Harbour showed up. Apparently the tow had broken near the Bar and it was
so rough that they couldn't turn around to fetch it back. They came over
today and said it was rough on the bar ( they were crossing not at
slack) but otherwise not too bad.
At Ralph's suggestion I gave them some firehose that we use for chaffing
guards to put on their tow line. They were grateful but we saw that they
didn't use it... i'm sure they can get back without our advice!!

We did another inventory of the staples/canned goods and re-orginized
them somewhat. We've made a collection of food that is in what is now
the "day locker". When that is used up, we'll restock it from the
storage lockers. That way, we don't need to be digging in 3 locations
for foodstuffs. Our ice is still holding up and we should be ok for
another 2-3 days. That is because it is too FREAKING cold to melt the ice!!!

Stewart was able to convince Ralph to leave the boat for a hike ashore
to the village and to Roller Bay; while they were gone, I sat on the
dock and did a quick sketch of the sailing/fishing boat that has been
our neighbor since we got here. The crew is father and son from Bella
Bella; he has been fishing the coast for 20+ years. They are off to
catch halibut and hopes to make $20,000 in 2 weeks. The boat is an old
classic built in Nova Scotia in 1952 ( same year I was built and same
year the skipper of the fishing boat was born). The boat is geared for
fishing and appears that accommodation/comforts are second priority; the
son was washing dishes in a bucket last night on the dock, so we suspect
that it doesn't have a galley/sink. They seem to be doing alright; i'm
sure they'll be a lot happier when the hold is full of halibut. The
fishing skipper thinks it is great that Tatoosh's crew have not killed
each other yet after so long waiting here!

Next update will hopefully come with the news that we have rounded Cape
Scott and are in Sea Otter Cove. If all goes to plan we will be spending
Canada Day rounding Cape Scott.

Over and out from Bull Harbour, Hope Island.

PS: we are now regretting that we don't have satellite radio on board;
I'm having CBC withdrawal.