Southbound from Port McNeill

July 29, 2011

After docking at the Port McNeill Fuel Dock Marina Patrick hunted for spare parts (none found) and Miriam did the final shopping for provisions before Spirit heads back into the USA on August 5, 2011.  That evening we had dinner with Ray and Sue Biggs at the “Sportsman Steakhouse” in Port McNeill after appetizers on “Seventh Wave”.

July 30, 2011

This morning we said goodbye to Ray and Sue Biggs onboard ”Seventh Wave” and headed out from Port McNeill in heavy rain and occasional fog, never having more than 2 miles of visibility, and most of the time just one mile.

The rain and fog meant the seas were calm, but the promised push from the flood tide never really materialized.  We passed Alert Bay and headed east into Johnstone Strait, where we had to dodge a few gillnetters before turning into Port Harvey, our destination for the evening.  We arrived about 1335 and docked in heavy rain.  Port Harvey was full for the evening, so we were glad we had made a reservation, since they had to turn one boat away.

We had dinner in their pub style restaurant (they have added a few items to the menu, such as steak and fries and the food was good) and reconnected with several other boats we had met over the past two weeks.  We highly recommend stopping here!

July 31, 2011

The rain had stopped overnight and in the morning we had complimentary Starbucks coffee on the barge, and purchased some freshly baked turnovers and sausage rolls for breakfast.  The tides are large this time of month, so we left at 0835 to minimize the effects of the currents in Johnstone Strait and in Cordero Channel as we headed to Cordero Lodge for the evening. We arrived at 1400 after dealing with 3 knot adverse currents and 6 knot favorable currents at various places along the way.  The skies continued to clear and we docked under partly sunny skies.

There were rumors that Cordero Lodge would be closed this season, but it is open for both moorage and meals.  We are looking forward to Beef Rouladen for dinner.

The rouladen was good as expected and we had a great evening with the three other vessels at Cordero Lodge.

August 1, 2011

The sunny skies persisted and we left Cordero Lodge at 1000 to arrive at Dent Rapids at slack water, which occurred at 1200.  Dent Island Lodge is only about one mile from the rapids, so by 1215 we were docked.  By evening, the docks were completely full.  We had made reservations at the Rapids Grill, which is a covered, but open air pavilion alongside little Dent Rapids that we had first experienced last year.  Rather than the traditional 5 course meal in the main dining room, the Rapids Grill offers a tapas style menu (small plates) cooked in front of 12 guests that sit at a high counter in very comfortable high chairs.  There are also a couple of tables for overflow, but a maximum of 20 people.  This evening there were 16 people.

Our menu included chilled gazpacho soup, grilled avocado with Dungeness crab, BC spot prawns sautéed in gin, butter and garlic, a duck confit risotto, grilled tenderloin and a dessert of chocolate mousse with fresh raspberries.

We have now travelled 638 nautical miles since leaving Ketchikan on July 12.  We have about 200 nautical miles to go before we return to Anacortes.

August 2, 2011

We leave at noon to hit the low slack tide in Gillard Passage and Yuculta Rapids.  We will stop someplace in Desolation Sound before heading to Ganges on Saltspring Island to visit Miriam’s cousin Dean Sevold.  We will not have internet until we get to Ganges, but hopefully we will have phone service most of the time.

We expect to re-enter the US on Friday, August 5.