Alaska Trip Days 84 and 85

9/5- 6/11

Shearwater, B.C.

Miles Travelled:  18

(Tor reporting)

The first weather report of the day is issued at 0400.  We all woke up at 0700 and turned on the radio to hear what was predicted for the day and listen to the latest observations.  Jess and I were both concerned about rounding near Ivory Island at the south end of Reid Passage after the coming storm because the swell on the ocean was expected to reach 5-6 meters in our area, not to mention having to wait out the storm for 2-4 days in Boat Inlet.  The forecast called for winds increasing  in the afternoon and holding light until then.  Because of all of that, we decided to get in gear and head to Shearwater, before things started to pick up.

We took the sneaky route for small vessels through Reid Passage which avoids most of the swell around Ivory Island.  Weather was holding and the trip down Seaforth Channel went fairly quickly.  The mild roll didn’t affect any of the crew and we made it to the marina in Shearwater just when the winds were piping up to 20-25 knots (on the nose).  We are glad to be tied to a dock for laundry, grocery etc.  We were able to moor to one of the last spots as there were a whole bunch of boats that were heading south and hiding out this rather nasty patch of weather at the marina.  Seeing as the whole marina only has room for 20 or so boats we were glad for our spot.  We took full advantage of the facilities by heading off on walks with the boys and doing laundry as well.  Unfortunately the (expensive) internet access we paid for was spotty and unreliable, so we did what we could with updating the blog, but got a refund.

The weather report was still scary poor and we ended up opting to stay a second night waiting for better weather.  We had a chance to socialize with a number of the other boaters and had a fabulous time.  We even walked the boys up to the local playground, where they completely covered themselves with wood shavings from the ground.  We are still sweeping up the mess on the sole in the cabin. 

A very friendly gal stopped by our boat and admired our nesting dinghy stowed on the foredeck.  Turns out she and her husband have been cruising for more than a dozen years and have a nesting dinghy they just love.  We were invited over to the boat they were on (having left their sailboat in Bella Coola to motorboat with friends) to celebrate one of their daughter’s fifth birthday.  It was great to be included and Odin and Lars seemed to really enjoy the festivities too.  The boat was plenty big enough for all of us as it was the ‘Paspatoo” which is a gorgeous wooden yacht, probably between 60-70 feet long and impeccably maintained.  Richard and Jill (the owners) sure have a lot to be proud of.  As a sidebar, a very good friend of ours in Port Townsend (Todd O.) did some extensive planking and cap rail work on the boat in the Eighties.  The owners had very fond memories of the whole experience and it made it feel like we all live on a very small planet.