Day 32 - july 13

Day 32 – July 13:

Stewart called in to Air Nootka; receptionist said to call back and
she’d see if she could find a pilot!!...we were joking that she was
probably cruising the coffee shops trying to find anyone who knew how to
fly a plane!! In any event, the Beaver came in on schedule and I ferried
Stewart out to the plane in the dinghy and minutes later he was airborne
for the bright lights of Tofino. The cruising guide made a big deal of
how much the “busyness” of Tofino can affect you after cruising down
from the North!!
We will miss Stewart, the boat seems emptier and I feel badly for him
that we didn’t get to sail as much as we expected; we either had too
much wind and had to stay in shelter or we had no wind. We did have some
good long passages but still there was high percentage of motoring. He
was also keen to see a bear but we didn’t see one; the couple on Luna
Eclipse said they had seen bears on the beach every day so far!

The skipper forgot to buy ice when we were in Tahsis so Ralph and I will
start Leg 3 with a small backtrack to a fishing resort called Critter
Cove back up Cook Channel and through Eliza Passage; about 9 miles away.
We got some sailing in and decided to stay on the dock at Critter Cove;
I think Ralph was keen to try their café plus it started to RAIN and
RAIN..again. Later, Dave Letson, who we first met up with in Zebbalos
was there in Die Flynn. He used to be the caretaker at Hot Springs and
is now cruising in his custom power boat; after many years of sailing.
He claims to have circumnavigated over 20 times. He goes solo because
his wife is not comfortable on the water. However he and his wife are
going on a 5 week canal trip in England, starting in Bath. ( we were
there cycling many years ago and there are something like 14 locks to
get up out of the valley from Bath…a very steep trip on a bike also!)” I
may have already mentioned it but we seem to keep bumping into the same
group of boats: Dave in Die Flynn, Splinter’s Apprentice couple from UK,
Luna Eclipse, Whisper and now we will add the boat with the Lab.

As we were getting our ice stock, the dock guy pointed out a bear with 2
cubs; same day Stewart leaves and we see our first bear.
I started to update the blog sites but for no reason my computer quit;
seems the battery needs to be fully charged or it is not happy. Now that
we have a flaky inverter that only likes to work when the motor is
running or we have shore power, I have limited time to do the updates
and spend the time with the flaky sat phone to get them uploaded…. That
is why these are late.

Ralph and I are closing in on the 600 mile mark and should pass that
tomorrow on our rounding of Estavan Point.
The books and Dave all confirmed that crossing this can be tricky,
currents tend to set you on the rocks if you don’t leave enough sea room
and the shallow water can dust up if the wind is blowing strong. We have
a route planned, about 32 miles; weather is not supposed to be too bad.
We plan on a earlyish getaway of 07:00 and hope to arrive at Hesquiat
harbour in the afternoon. This bay is where Cougar Annie lived and her
old homestead and famous gardens have been partially restored; I hope to
be able to find it. The latest article in Pacific Yachting said that
there is a new owner who has taken on this project on his own initiative.

Todays position: 49-38.97N/ 126-36.77W