Port Hardy to The Charlottes

From Alert Bay we headed up to Port Hardy where we picked up Mary and did some provisioning for the trip north.  Norm and I walked into town to find the grocery store shortly after we tied up to the dock.  We were hoping to have the shopping done by the time Mary’s flight arrived so we headed off in what we were wearing.  We forgot to take into account that it is much warmer on land than on the water so by the time we got to town we were roasting in our fleece and rain gear and did some undressing on the streets of Port Hardy.  I hadn’t changed out of my gum boots and by the time we finished shopping I had bruised the bottom of my left foot and wasn’t looking forward to the walk back to the boat.  These boots were not made for walking.  Thankfully, the store offers a taxi ride with a grocery purchase which we gladly accepted. 

After passing the end of Vancouver Island we had to cross Queen Charlotte Sound to get back to the mainland.  This was our first bit of open ocean.  Cruising around in the protected waters of Vancouver Island, one doesn’t experience the swells of the ocean.  The crossing went well and nobody got seasick.

We made our way to the north end of Bank’s Island to make the trip across Hecate Straight to the Queen Charlottes.   The weather was mostly cloudy with some showers and rain but there were some notable highlights.

At Myers Passage I took this photo because the water was so smooth that the reflection was a mirror image of the scenery.  We turned this picture upside down and were convinced that the computer was putting it right side up.

In Laredo Passage several pods of Dalls Porpoises joined us and swam in front of the boat.  From a distance we could see their dorsal fins and once they detected our presence they swam rapidy in circles until they figured out our location.  Then they raced over at the surface with their dorsal fins up looking like a school of sharks and began frolicking in front of the boat.  They are about six feet long with thick bodies.  The markings make them look like a pod of baby orcas.

At an anchorage in Weinberg Inlet Norm and Mary caught a 20 lb. Spring salmon trolling from the dingy.  We got three dinners and several sandwich lunches out of it.