We left at 7:15 from Lagoon Cove. We timed Chatham Channel perfectly. What a difference that makes going through at slack 😛
We went 34 miles down Johnstone Strait. We were bucking the current the entire time! 3ish knots against us. It was super swirly and confused most of the ride. Besides that, it was another WONDERFUL cruise and day. We have one more gate and we are home free! That is Dent, Gillard and Yuculta Rapids. Can this glorious weather hold for just one more day?
Blind Channel Resort is FULL. We are docked next to the fuel dock. Which was super handy, as the fuel hose was long enough to fuel us at the dock. Also, the water hose (at the fuel dock) reached as well, so no need to dig all that out. The current should be pushing us against the boat next to us when we leave, so we are going to walk our boat back onto the fuel dock so we don’t smash into them (it is a 60 foot Selene) — unless they leave first! Fingers crossed! I wanted to ask them what time they were leaving in the morning but didn’t get a chance. (PS they didn’t leave and it was really easy to walk our boat back!)
We went up and paid for our moorage. $3 / foot in the throes of tourist season. Ouch. I didn’t realize there was an anchorage across the way or we might have stayed there 🙂 I really like where we are at, as the entire marina has to walk by our boat to go do anything, so lots of visual interest.
There was an 8.8 earthquake in Russia and BC is under a Tsunami watch. I got up around midnight to look around. The STARS though!! Wow. I stood and watched them for a bit. Saw the MOST spectacular shooting star and then went back to bed.
This morning, the emergency map does not include our area. I am glad that we made it this far south so quickly. I haven’t seen any widespread damage reports yet,
We pulled out of Blind Channel and headed for the rapids in PERFECT timing. Wow, the amount of people transiting the rapids was unbelievable!
We saw 4 whales, a colony of sea lions a little after Gillard, a seal and 2 jackasses.
We wanted to go to Refuge Cove. Woah, that was so stressful! Come to find out, it is a holiday weekend. No wonder. We went across to Squirrel Cove. Lots of room. (although there are 35 boats in here right now!) Took the dinghy to the general store. Sad we missed out on burgers though. We are thinking of coming up here the first week in September. Maybe it won’t be as busy. Although the burger joint might be closed then, who knows.
We feel as if a giant weight has been lifted from our shoulders! We don’t have any more gates – well maybe Dodds Narrows.. but we aren’t worried about that!
Tomorrow.. Strait of Georgia and Comox.
Talk Soon.
As usual, great pics and descriptions, What is a gate?
Hi Phill,
A gate is when the water makes progress difficult or even impossible. Rapids need timed properly, it’s best to wait for certain conditions in large bodies of water, etc. So, you wait for the tidal gate to “open”.