ALLISON HARBOUR (June 29)

Okay, we’re on the move again! At least Port McNeill was a decent place to lay over if you have to do that, but it’s nice to get cruising again and not be tied up to a dock. There was no wind this morning when we got up, but we couldn’t leave right away, we had to wait until the marina opened at 8 AM to pay our bill. It was a pretty hefty bill, with three nights dockage, daily electrical charges, almost 300 liters of diesel fuel, and propane.

We got away just after 8, heading to Clam Bay on Nigei Island, in preparation for a rounding of Cape Caution tomorrow. We couldn’t believe how calm and glassy it was out on Queen Charlotte Strait after three days of strong winds. Visibility was a bit limited at times, so we kept our navigation lights on and used the radar just to make sure nothing would sneak up on us.

For most of the day, conditions were like that. In fact, it was so calm, we decided to change destinations and cross to the north side of the strait and anchor in Allison Harbour rather than Clam Bay. We were crossing through the Walker Islands when the ocean swells started up. Just a couple of feet high and very smooth to start with, but the closer we got to the end of the strait, the larger the swells. We almost bailed out when we were passing Shelter Bay, as the swells were in the 5-6 foot range, getting closer together and the afternoon wind was picking up too. Elaine convinced me to push on to Allison Harbour, and we got in without any difficulty.

It’s a very protected anchorage and relatively shallow for around here. We quickly anchored, then I got the dinghy in the water and set out the crab pots.

The weather forecast still looks favorable for the next couple of days, so we will probably get around Cape Caution tomorrow, then we might head up to Shearwater for Canada Day, this year being the 150th birthday of the country and lots of celebrations planned…

PS - The crabbing was excellent! I soon had four large crab which I cleaned, then handed off to Elaine for cooking. We picked out all of the meat and ended up with a large bowl full of crabmeat, some of which we froze, some of which we used for crab tacos...