We saw WHAT?

We enjoyed spending Canada Day in Campbell River, BC. It was fun to walk around the festival market and watch the parade. And remember when I shared that a gentleman we met told us not to get too excited about the fireworks show? Well, happily he was wrong, it was amazing. In his defense he did sell explosives for 50 years, so his bar might be a little higher than normal.

Imagine waiting for the fireworks, sitting on the jetty, brushing away hummingbird sized mosquitos, watching boats position themselves in the water while a ferry and a cruise ship go by. It was definitely something different and we loved it. The show was spectacular.

Every time we move from one place to another, we spend hours passage planning. We reference nautical charts, 4-6 different guide books, online boating resources, 3-4 different weather apps, and shared knowledge from forums and FB groups. If anchoring we are looking at water depth, holding material (mud, sand, rocks, wood), if it is an exposed or protected site, and overnight into next day details. Any time on the water we are researching wind direction and strength, wave height, wave vs wind direction, tides, currents, radar, precipitation, etc… It can be overwhelming, but it is necessary for comfort and safety. We use our phones, computers, chart plotter, websites, apps, and our radar. Sometimes it feel like a part-time job, but unpaid, and big consequences if you mess up. ;) I cannot imagine doing this in the ‘olden’ days. Talk about intimidating.

If I got a nickel every time someone was surprised that we are sailing in cold or wet weather, I would be about $1.25 richer. But really, humans regularly choose to do things in cold weather; we ski, snowmobile, sled, play sports, etc… Sailing in inclement weather is no different. Except – we are just feet away from a cozy cabin, cocoa, toast, blankets, and all sorts of comfy things. I was at the helm a few days ago all bundled up in cold, rainy weather and I loved it. And the tradeoff...amazing summer days in British Columbia – I will take it.

I'm not crying, you're crying. Timing is everything. One day we had a set time we needed to leave a marina is morning because of the currents and eddies outside of Campbell River. We had a few conversations about whether we should leave a little earlier or later, then ended up leaving as planned. We pulled up to the fuel dock, filled up, and as soon as we pulled out of the marina we saw these orcas. Just 2 or 3 minutes one way or the other and we never would have seen them. When you see whales, there are very strict rules about what you can do as far as speed and direction. Because of the potentially dangerous water conditions we had to keep going the same direction we were going, but slowed down. They paralleled us all the way down the river until it opened up into the Straight of Georgia. What a dream!

Did I I mention that weather, tides and currents dictate everything we do out here on the water? I know I have, but the last couple of days have reinforced that in my mind in a big way. Yesterday we had to transit three major sets of rapids, Yuculta, Gillard & Dent (there are lots of YouTube videos highlighting them). We needed to arrive at the start of Yuculta right at 9:20am. We had about a 10 minute window either way, but that is it. Once there we would transit Yuculta with some moderate eddies and rips, but that would get us to Gillard at the right time, then to Dent before it turned and got unpassable. Within minutes of our transit the rapids and eddies and rips would begin forming again and withing a few hours be in full deadly force. We spent a lot of time checking and double checking our numbers, were up at 5:30am to get to the location, began at just the right time, and made it through in about 20 minutes. We got thrown around a bit but kept everything in control and came out the other side just fine.

A few days ago we had another rapid or two we needed to transit to keep making our way north. We spent hours figuring out our options. The plan was to be up in time to head to a fuel dock a nautical mile away from our anchorage, fuel up, then make it to Green Point Rapids with just enough time to pass. Well, we made it to the fuel dock on time, but then were held up by an unexpected problem that wasn’t resolved in time.  We missed being able to transit by probably 20 minutes. We could have tried again in the afternoon, but then we could not have made the next set of rapids before night. So, there we were, a full day behind what we had planned. We tied up to the dock and looked around. Come on…..Blind Channel Resort? We would be crazy to complain about being stuck in a place like this. We went for a hike and will be having a lovely dinner at the restaurant. We will worry about the rapids later.

I spend a lot of time at the helm and never see any wildlife. Every time we've seen animals George is at the helm & he spots them. Who knows what we've missed while I've been there.

This week we transited Green Point rapids with no problems. Then we decided to go up Loughborough Inlet. We sailed until the wind died, then motored looking at the beauty around us. Then Geo did it again, “Whale.” It was a huge solitary humpback. We watched it for about 20 minutes and as it got closer we turned the engine off & drifted. Before we knew it it circled around & came straight at the boat. It went past the back of the boat, maybe 10 yards away, then dove again. Once they show their fluke you know they are going deep & will be back up in several minutes. As we were talking about how amazing it was that it was so close, suddenly it came out from under the boat! I was looking right down its blowhole (nostrils?) & it was quite loud as it exhaled right there at us. We both jumped, & George may have squealed a bit, but neither of us had our cameras ready. We were speechless. It was an amazing experience. I think we were both shaking for a while. What a beautiful creature.

Then, yes, then, George saw something in the water. As we got closer I used the binoculars & thought it was an otter since it was brown & furry. That would have been cool, but the shape was not right. Then it turned & I saw it’s face. It was a bear! A big black bear! We stayed back & watched as it swam to shore. Once there it scrambled up the rocks, turned to look at us, shook off, then headed into the trees. Sorry, no pics, but talk about something unexpected & sort of magical. The downside to that experience is that now I am certain there are bears in the woods all around us, bears swim, we live in a boat, near where bears live in the woods, & bears swim. Am I making myself clear? Our hike today felt a little more scary than before & I sang Do Your Ears Hang Low over & over because they say bears will stay away if they know you are there so make lots of noise. I can’t think of a song more annoying than Do Your Ears Hang Low, & guess what? It worked. No bears today.