JUNE 1 – 3
PORT HARDY – GOLETAS CHANNEL – BULL HARBOR – CAPE SCOTT – WINTER HARBOR
Port Hardy with the working boats and eagles. SO MANY of both. Heading north from Port Hardy in cloudy, rainy conditions we’re cruising along when we saw our first raft of sea otters. Hard to distinguish from a distance they resemble debris in the water. Getting closer they become super curious about us, diving and flopping, popping up again to check on us. Pretty cute to watch. These is a species that was hunted to extinction for the fur trading in the 1800-1900.
” Since 1969 they have been reintroduced from Alaska and are thriving once again. They play an important role in healthy near-shore ecology by feeding on sea urchins, which can devour an entire kelp forest, which in turn provide habitat and nursery areas for many species of fish.” excerpt from Vancouver Islands West Coast by Don Douglas & Reanne-Hemingway Douglas.
Pulling into Bull Harbor to prepare to round Cape Scott, the forecast looks calm and we’re studying the route to take across Nahwitti Bar. It can be a nasty piece of ocean if not transitted at slack tide as the breakers roll on the shallows. However, Anne of Dreamspeaker tell us to take the alternate route between Tatnall Reef and Vancouver Island and avoid the Bar altogether. LOOKS GOOD TO US!! 5AM – Hoisted anchor and away we went on calm seas and the morning sunrise.
1400 – on the dock in Winter Harbor, in our lounge chairs with beer in hand. Kristan Celeste pulls in and we meet Brian and Chris. Sailors make instant friends and we hop-scotched with them for the rest of the week, meeting in other marinas and getting to know them.
