PORT HARVEY

Just a quick post today - it has been a very long day, I'm tired and I have crab pots to check...

We left Big Bay this morning at 11 AM after waiting around for too many hours for the flood slack tide to let us get through Gillard and Dent Rapids. We could have gone earlier (5:20 AM!) during the ebb slack tide, but then we would have been fighting a head-current the rest of the day. By waiting, we got anywhere from a 1 to 3 knot boost from the current all the way down through Johnstone Strait.

We were also lucky in that the wind was from the southeast heading out Johnstone Strait. The more normal situation for this time of year is to have a northwesterly wind which would then be going against the current, causing waves, havoc and misery for all. With the wind going the same direction as the current, there were no waves. It wasn't perfect -- it was cloudy, cold and it rained, but I would take that any day over fighting an oncoming sea.

We were headed to Port Harvey, partly because I had heard George had rebuilt his pizza oven after having his marina barge sink a couple of years ago (the reputation for George's baking has been around for quite a while). Although the oven has been rebuilt, and is in operation, we pulled in to the marina too late to get our pizza order in for tonight. The consolation is that we did get our order in for freshly-baked cheese and bacon croissants for tomorrow morning.

Elaine threw together a great chicken curry dish for dinner which we carried up to the "dining room" at the head of the dock and ate with all of our dock-mates, who were having pizza -  a nice social get-together.

We were advised, when we first tied up to the dock, that we should throw our crab pots over the side and there would be a good chance of success. We dropped them down before we went up for dinner, then checked them when we got back - two females & one undersized male. All had to be thrown back, but the traps are down again, just waiting for those guys.

We will probably head up into the Broughton Island area tomorrow, although the forecast calls for another pretty gloomy day. Who knows, maybe we'll just sit here and wait for our crab pots to fill up...