Dent Island to Port McNeill

Spirit departed Dent Island Lodge at 0605 under calm skies and headed through Dent Rapids.  Winds were predicted to be gale force when we reached Johnstone Strait, but we thought we would beat most of the winds.  By 0750 we had cleared Greene Point Rapids, reaching speeds over the ground of 15 knots, with mild turbulence on the downstream exit for nearly one mile.  We had originally intended to also transit Whirlpool Rapids, but the predicted currents were nearly 8 knots and viewing the rapids through binoculars convinced us that it would be foolish to attempt today, so we continued down the channel and entered Johnstone Strait at 0930.  The ebb tide up Current Passage both helped and hurt, since the winds were steady at over 25 knots, with occasional gusts to 30.  The eddies and rips were more severe than in Greene Point Rapids, with Spirit taking several rolls of nearly 20 degrees as the current and waves pushed us around.

However, conditions improved as we headed towards Port McNeill, with the biggest danger the amount of floating logs which we had to dodge.  The ebb tide continued to help us until we were 1 mile from Alert Bay, just 7 miles from Port McNeill.  We moored at Port McNeill Fuel Dock and Marina at 1500, having covered 78 nautical miles for a total distance traveled of 359 nautical miles.  Two other Selenes were there, Serena and Celestine, along with a few other vessels all waiting for calm enough weather to cross Cape Caution.

After re-provisioning with fresh vegetables we re-examined the weather and decided to defer the decision to cross Cape Caution until morning.  The decision, with seas to 3.8 meters at the West Sea Otter buoy, convinced us to spend another day in Port McNeill.

We spent the day on maintenance chores and then pizza for lunch at the Sportsman Steakhouse and Pizza place close to the head of the dock.  We watched the weather all day and it looks like we will be able to cross in the morning.

Our intended destination is Green Island Anchorage, but weather will be the final voter.

We have included a picture of Bill Craven at the age of 13 with his parents and their first grandchild, taken in Ketchikan in 1952.