Day 7 - Campbell River to Octopus Islands

We’ve got crew! We have been joined by Scott’s parents – Gary and Lorraine Borstad. They were in good form for our 4am departure from Campbell River to get through Seymour Narrows. Wind picked up on our way through (really appreciating the pilot house and new windshield wipers!) and we took a little break at Kanish Bay and had some breakfast – the last of the salmon and egg sandwiches. 

Sun came out, currents and wind shifted and we headed out again around Granite Point and into Okisollo Channel. A nice downwind leg – threw the line out and the jib up. Gorgeous channel – so green. Came across the path of some playful dolphins – one in particular breached and swam on its side beside and under the hull. Smiles all round. 

Headed into Owen bay and dropped anchor and the prawn/crab trap for a few hours. No crabs, but everyone caught up on some z’s. Pulled anchor and headed out on another favourable current over to Octopus Islands Marine Park – lovely little group of sheltered islands. Scott got the dingy rigged up and out for a little sail. Lorraine and Gary cooked up a delicious dinner. All tucked in for the evening. 

Observations - days are so full it seems as if they are a week long. 

 

Have we mentioned how grateful we are that Nordri has a pilot house?

Happy Lorraine.

Gary at the helm.

White sided porpoises - FAST.

Gary and Lorraine post-dolphin party.

Kim and Patchi

Uber fromage couple yacht shot. Wow.

Scott takes Patchi out for a spin at Octopus Islands Marine Park. More sailing than we've done for the last few days.

Day 6 - Campbell River

Still here.  Another solid day of boat work (Rod, will it ever end??). Troubleshot a poor vhf antenna - built a tester antenna, bought a new one, re-routed coax everywhere, up the mast, down the mast, rewiring, problem solved! But it still took ALL DAY.

Up the mast.

Day 5 - Campbell River

Yup, a full day in Campbell River. Kim had a meeting and there are a few jobs that require shore power and access to marine stores and Canadian Tire. We may have gotten a bit ahead of ourselves in purchasing mason jars and a pressure cooker - but if we keep catching fish at this rate, we gots to preserve!

We couldn't have actually left even if we wanted to - crazy winds and unfavourable tides to get through Seymour Narrows.  I (Scott) got some good patches on the dinghy...we didn't name her Patchi for nothin'.

Making the holes bigger.

Filling the holes.

And filling them some more.

Day 4 - Sturt Bay to Campbell River

Woke up to gale force warnings as predicted. You could feel it on the boat. This would be the day Nordri gets tested. We were the first up with our anchor, but the last to actually head out. Did so many rounds of the harbour that someone from the dock actually hollered an invitation for us to tie up...we were on our last lap. Scott was busy getting the boat a little more set-up for a windy day.

The initial plan was to head north around Savory, but the wind evened out before we got too far beyond Texada and we ended up B-lining it for Campbell River. Seemed like the right thing to do given the currents and NW gale warnings forcast for the evening.

Just as we got the sails up - wind died. What do we do when the wind dies? Drop the fishing line. With in 10 minutes we caught 2 salmon! Only one made it into the boat - a nice medium sized guy. Filleted him right there and threw the carcass on the bbq to snack on while we motored the rest of the way in.

Found a spot at Discovery Marina and enjoyed hot showers and very close proximity to a Canadian Tire. Wind picked up just as we came in and blew very strong all night.  Nice to be tied up tonight as it was howlin! No photos today, we promise to make it a priority tomorrow!

Day 3 - Smugglers Cove to Sturt Bay

Slept hard. Scott got up early and ground up some of the matchstick coffee we brought along - knowing we only have about a weeks supply of these delicious beans, I enjoyed the cup even more. Got the vinyl registration numbers on the side of the boat (this is how we roll), pulled up anchor and drove over to Secret Cove for a bit more diesel and a place for me to do a teleconference meeting. Hot day again as we headed out and up Texada. Not much wind to speak of until late afternoon when we rode a nice downwind breeze. Hit 5 knots against a 1 knot current. It felt great. Tucked into Sturt Bay at a decent hour. A little fuzzing with the anchor and we were in for the night. Pushing north!  Didn't take many photos today, but here's one for Mario... My best attempt at holding that loooooong lens steady while snapping a photo of Mr. Washington's tug conversion!