Update from club member Mark, who is headed to Alaska with crew

Sunday 12 May

Our alarm failed to work or wake us up but Jenny fortunately had a look at her watch only 15 minutes later and she quickly got all hands on deck. It was 6:15 am and we had to get back through Malibu Rapids at 7:15. With 5 nautical miles to go from the dock at the end of Princess Louisa Inlet, we still made it just in time and were the last boat to get through the placid rapids. 

I almost wouldn't have left due to the incessant hard rain but Jenny and Laszlo said they wouldn't mind steering. Fortunately, Once past the rapids in Jervis Inlet, the showers were much milder. We motored all the way back to the Strait of Georgia, which took about 7 hours.

On the way we saw the most colorfull rainbow either one of us ever saw in our lifes. Jenny took a panoramic photo of it with her iPhone 5 and I hope to send it soon. 

We crossed a large pod of about 20 dolphins but they were too bussy hunting to come and play. 

In the Strait of Georgia, the wind blew really hard. We motorsailed close hauled for a little while to clear the headland to the north.   We smashed into waves that were quite big for our little boat but finally rounded this lee shore and had an exiting and sometimes exhilarating downwind run from there on. At one time I saw an opaque wall of rain catching up with us. "Waw, that's cool!" said Laszlo as I pointed it out and not a second later we were drenched. I could litterally feel the force of the water on my back pushing me forward. I've never been in rain this nasty in my life before. 

We kept goig for 6 hours, milking that wind till sunset. We past on several anchorages along the way, just to keep going, and ended up in landlocked and tranquil Squirrel Cove, a bulletproof anchorage. 

Laszlo attempted to fish from the anchored boat after dark but again for naught. And this morning our crab pot came up empty as well after spending the night on the bottom of the cove. 

We have spent all morning at the local general store to refuel, refill the propane tank, and the boat water tank--with jugs because there is no hose. We did some boat cleaning and showered and will aim for the evening slack around 8 pm to go through the Yaculta and Dent Rapids area. 

No photos were taken except for the rainbow due to the nasty weather. Today, Monday 13 May, is still as bad.


Saturday 11 May

Those were the days, such as BBQing in sunny Green Bay yesterday:

 But that same evening, knowing our good luck was running out and we would go back to "normal" Pacific Northwest weather, I rigged up the tarp over the cockpit and as I write this evening it is sheltering the companionway from an endless downpour. Fortunately we are docked and don't have to sail or motor through this. We're just playing cards without any motivation to even deploy the crab pot. That's telling!

But let me go back to this morning.  We left Green Bay at 6:30 am without catching any crab overnight, a mayor disappointment obviously. So we had to fall back on mere cereal for breakfast. 

After motoring up the rest of Agamemnon Chanel we debated for a little while on whether to refuel there at Secret Bay which would be our last opportunity to do so on our way to Princess Louisa Park and back. This would have taken an additional hour and we decided against it.  We'd simply risk to go the whole way with what was left over in our tanks. We had to make it through Malibu Rapids on time after all, at slack water.  So we continued into Jervis Inlet without worrying much about the issue anymore. Except 20 minutes later stronger than expected current against us slowed us down 30% and would therefore increase our fuel needs! We started to skirt the shores to avoid as much current as possible and made the best of it. 

Light rain fell on and off for the remainder of the trip and Laszlo's fishing line somehow ended up all twisted and mangled and he had to cut off some to solve the issue. Needless to say we still didn't catch any fish!

Here are a couple of pictures taken in Jervis Inlet:

 We got to Malibu Rapids without emptying what was left in our first fuel tank and since the second was still filled to the maximum we knew fuel wasn't going to be an issue. Not this time.

The entrance to Malibu Rapids:

 We arrived there about half an hour later than we should. Slack only lasts a few minutes and then the current increases frightenigly rapidly again. Fortunately we heard the boats that were coming through chatter over the radio and we knew we would arrive only about 15 minutes after true slack water. 

So we battened up the hatches, checked our life jackets, switched to the second fuel tank to make sure we wouldn't run out if gas in the middle of the rapids, and held on to our cameras, and then I gunned the engine and committed Mariposa into the narrow mound of the rapids. 

I saw a sign saying "Slow." There's a rather curvy S-turn so I reduced speed. But the very first eddy threw Mariposa quite a bit off course. Muttering an appropriate four letter word I immediately gunned the engine again and could then overcome all further turbulences without problem. We zoomed through pushed by about 2.5 knots of current with a highly excited crew. 

We were now in Princess Louisa Inlet where waterfalls come crashing down from all sides:

 With beautiful 120 ft high Chatterbox Falls at its end:

 This is a place described by a certain Earl Stanley Gardiner as follows: "There is a calm tranquillity which stretches from the smooth surface of the reflecting waters straight up into infinity. The deep calm of eternal silence is only disturbed by the muffled roar of throbbing waterfalls as they plunge down from sheer cliffs. There is no scenery in the world that can beat it. Not that I've seen the rest of the world. I don't need to. I've seen Princess Louisa Inlet."

Obviously the good earl could have travelled more, but this is still a pretty darn good place to visit (only 6 daysails on Nightshade from the WAC, hint, hint).

We hiked to the foot of the waterfall and also about an hour up the trail to the trapper's cabin. That's when the downpour began and we haven't left the shelter of the boat since we reached it. We rotated our soaked clothing and shoes in front of the propane heater and now that we're about to go to bed most of it is already dry. I hope this rain will abate by the morning...

Some hiking pictures:

Friday 10 May

We have found a wonderful anchorage here in warm and sunny Green Bay. There's even a little waterfall. A short fishing attempt is being abandoned in favor of the deployment of the crab pot as I write.  We have kept the remains of the previous crab as bait. 

Fishing and crab pot deployment:

We left Nanaimo at 10 past 10 after showering and breakfast. Nanaimo:

After listening to the radio to make sure the military area was open to boaters and after motoring out of the bay, enough wind was found for an ideal sail. Unfortunately, it very gradually died away. We decided to have lunch and do dishes before hoisting the spinnaker. By the time we had done all this there was hardly any wind left to keep the spinnaker full and we took it back down after only 10 minutes. Once more we moved along with the dull noise of the engine for about 5 hours, But tiny Green Bay is totally worth it. There are still a few houses but they seem to be unoccupied vacation homes.  This is the first anchorage of the trip that we have all to ourselves! Our only neighbor is a curious seal who came to check us out. 

And now for another BBQ with this unbelievable stroke of good weather!