SOUTH AROUND CAPE CAUTION

When I put the coffee on the stove at 4:30 this morning, I noticed the lights on in a few of the boats at anchor in Fury Cove. The wind was still and the forecast had not changed, so we were expecting a "reasonable" rounding of the Cape. Being further south, and a bit later in the summer, the sun didn't rise until around 5 AM, but that was when we pulled anchor and headed out.

The first couple of hours were pretty calm as we approached the open ocean, although the swell did build up to 2-3 feet. Unfortunately, the swell was from the west, which meant a beam sea - swells hitting us on the side - a bit uncomfortable with all the rolling. To minimize this effect, we headed further out to sea, into the swells at an angle. Once we were far enough south, we angled back in toward the Queen Charlotte Strait and had the swells, pretty much, at our stern, which was more comfortable.

When we passed Cape Caution heading north several weeks ago, we saw only one other boat on the water. Today, we left Fury Cove with five other boats heading south, and saw another half-dozen or so while we were out there. The wind was light all day, from 5-10 knots, and varied from southeast to northwest. The skies were cloudy most of the morning, but cleared a bit, and showed some blue sky, in the afternoon. A better crossing than our first time.

The further we got in to Queen Charlotte Strait, the calmer the water became. As we were passing the Walker Islands, we saw several whale spouts and a couple of pods of porpoises - must have been a good feeding area. We slowed down for a while so I could try trolling for a salmon, but gave up after a half hour without any bites. I really don't have the right fishing gear for salmon, so that may be the end of my try at salmon fishing.

We were fully around the Cape, and into Queen Charlotte Strait by about 10 AM, so with the conditions favorable we decided to keep going to Port McNeill, another 40 miles or so. The winds remained light, the sun came out and we had a favorable tide, and even though it was a long day, it was a nice voyage down the Strait. While we were underway, Elaine took a shower, washed her hair, then sat out on the foredeck using the sun and breeze as a hair dryer.

Once docked at Port McNeill, after a 9+ hour day, we re-provisioned at the grocery store, then grabbed a quick bite at a local pub before an early bedtime...