54 degrees F at 50 degrees latitude / Blunden Harbor

Blunden Harbor or Blunden Harbour ( the fancy British spelling) May 25-May 28, 2023

50d 54’.24” N and 127d 17’.23” W

The blog title:  54 degrees at 50 degrees - is to mean it is 54 degrees Fahrenheit inside Soulstice and we are at 50 degrees latitude. With the Dickinson heater on,  it becomes 69-71 degrees Fahrenheit and is very comfortable. The humidity also drops from around 68% to 45% ( we have a battery-run weather station inside Soulstice ). As the Norwegians say, “There is no bad weather, only bad clothing!” 

We left around 7:30 am from Port McNeill on May 25th and headed north a few nautical miles and then crossed Queen Charlotte Strait. It was glass out. We did get the wind but on the nose so no sailing and hoping once we made the starboard tack we might get to sail close haul or close reach but the wind was not that strong. Motoring it is… We knew this adventure would be a lot of motoring. The winds here can be gale force to minimal and so avoiding the gale force time to be out on the water involves choosing less than ideal conditions for sailing but still safer for continuing the passage. So it is and so it will be….

I just listened to the forecast this morning 5/27 as I am writing this on WX3 the VHF station that gives weather reporting from the Strait of Georgia all the way to Hecate Strait. We attempted earlier to listen for these stations as there are 10 different WX Canadian ones. We had poor reception we suspected earlier but now realizing we were not in the Canadian mode on the VHF. There are 3 modes:  Canadian, USA, and international. This is one of those many things returning to Soulstice and getting back into the cruising mode that sometimes is forgotten. We have luckily had cell service intermittently so we were not dependent on the radio.

 Additionally, we have the satellite forecast via Predict Wind using the Iridium GO but definitely realized the satellite forecast underplayed the winds for Johnstone Strait due to the best resolution obtained at 50K. This was a lesson learned and luckily not the hard way but seeing that the Canadian Forecast for these waters was very different from the satellite. Stephen and I could have chosen to leave in conditions we thought were sufficient and safe but only to find out GALE force winds were forecasted and not the occasional gust of 22 or 23 knots forecasted by Predict Wind. 25-35 knots is very different from 15-20 knots and ALSO to include on the nose against an ebbing tide. 

So… we now feel more dialed in with the weather. We noted a weather station at Port Hardy and so the reception could be crystal clear due to that but hopefully, we can get the VHF forecast as we head farther north. We also will probably text a friend using the satellite to help us get accurate forecasts before making any big crossings/crux moves to aid with our decision-making in the future. 

The Cape Caution rounding has multiple different strategies. Some use Blunden Harbor as the launch point, some use God’s Pocket on the very northern tip of Vancouver Island and some use Bull Harbour (Hope Island).  If using Bull Harbour, you must navigate the Nawhitti Bar which is similar to any bar crossing ( like Oregon Coast), timing is essential and if off very unforgiving. God’s Pocket is small and does not afford room for a lot of boats, is very busy, and has deep depths for anchoring. It does provide a shorter crossing though. We are conservative and decided to take the Blunden Harbor route, longer crossing but no bar to worry about, plenty of room in the anchorage and anchored in 20ft in good holding. We are pleased with our decision. 

We did find some recommendations before rounding Cape Caution and I wanted to share them to just give you an idea of how this cruising thing goes at times… 

1. Check the weather forecast  Central Coast from MacInness Island to Pine Island
2. Check the lighthouse station reports at Pine Island, Egg Island, and reports from Hebert Island to West Sea Otter
3. If the wind is>15 knots or the sea is> 3ft at West Sea Otter lighthouse the ride IS GOING TO BE UNCOMFORTABLE FYI
4. Check the current/tide table at Nakwak rapids, if a large ebb and > 15 knots would not go because too rough at Jeannette Island, Slingsby, and Egg Island. 
5. Go Early morning
6. Anchorage Refuge - 1 out of the 2 listed is currently closed ( Skull Cove as of April 2023) other one is Miles Inlet- small - only room for 4 boats ( did not give sizes)
7. Once pass Cape Caution, stay well to port to Egg Island and Dugout Rocks - once past Dugout Rocks put the westerlies to your port stern quarter and ride the swells and waves into Rivers Inlet. 

Our intended anchorage after the rounding will be Millbrook Cove ( 38 nm from Blunden) reported as good holding anchoring in  3-4 fathoms in mud fair to good holding or if doing well on time Warrior Cove (70nm from Blunden) reported as 2-3 fathoms in mud/sand/kelp and good holding. Both are well protected. The guidebooks we are using are The South Coast of BC, North Coast of BC, and Southeast Alaska by Don Douglass and Réanne Hemingway-Douglass. The Douglass guides are well-known and the most reputable. Regardless, because there are so many nooks/crannies of coves/inlets, often the listed anchorages have mentioned “unreported bottom”, “not all hazards reported, keep alert”,  “watch out for log booms”, “ wouldn’t be surprised to find williwaws blowing here” and waterfalls/rapids and sneaky rocks ( depends on tidal state to be noted)  seem to abound. So not the open ocean but certainly as mentioned before very technical cruising. 

Our time in Blunden Harbour has been fun. It is a nice well-protected anchorage and large in nature. It does afford room for many boats although there are only 3 of us in here. We did have a 4th boat including us entering our 1st night but they left by morning. When I see someone leave I assume they are heading south because the winds behind give you a much more enjoyable ride. The other 2 boats have stayed and so I assume they too are waiting for the Sunday weather window to head around Cape Caution. As I put in my tracker note, I do wish Cape names were better like Cape Rainbow or Cape your Chin Up - bahahaha. 

We got the paddle boards blown up on our 1st night - we have a 12 V DC electric motor that utilizes a charging port but last time used it seemed to get too hot for our liking, so only the hand-held pump is used. We got that 12 V pump in La Paz MX purchased out of a guy’s trunk next to a chandlery and we were psyched but only used it twice. The handheld pump works fine and gives us a workout :) We enjoyed a lovely 2-hour paddle around yesterday and will make that an afternoon event again today. The anchorage is very shallow in several areas at low tide. We noted lots of orange starfish, eelgrass, and large ribbon-like seaweed covering the bottom. One fish was spotted, moving too quick to ID  but definitely no schools of fish were seen. 

There previously was an Indian encampment here but no longer active. There is a dock to shore but it is prohibited for you to go ashore as it private land of the Natives. I noted one house down from the dock and a local on shore yesterday. They had a bed sheet drying on a line as well. 

We had the crab pots out with success. 3 Dungeness and 1 red rock from the 1st and 2nd days. We will see if we get anything today. Stephen also scored a rock sole jigging off the bottom. Initially, we were excited it was a halibut but after better fish identification and help from Amahra, an amazing fisherwoman in AK with her husband Matt, she asked us if the skin was rough or smooth? She reports that Halibut have smooth skin and this guy did not. So flounder or sole, TBD but we think a Rock Sole. Nonetheless, additional food source and we plan to make a yummy Thai soup, Tom Yum Kung, and the fish will be put in the soup amongst some other veggies for dinner tonight. 

We had a great crab feast last night and used for the 1st time the crab-eating tools gifted to us at Christmas by Matt and Amahra. Stephen and I are hand pickers and mallets and such tools we don’t have but I can say I was super pleased with the claw crackers:) and the tiny pickers used to get the meat out of the tiny spaces. It is also an east coast thing, but if you find someone did NOT get all the meat out, basically you investigate their shell shrapnel and if you find meat that was not eaten you berate them - ha! How embarrassing… MD/VA attitudes happening! 

Our days are spent reading here, blogging and I am trying to keep up on Spanish. I was doing an online program where I could speak to native speakers but I do not have internet service well enough to continue this. I am saddened by this but knew this would happen. I have some books and will try my best to continue my studies but already feel like I have regressed sadly. This sacrifice is only short-lived and when we return I will become quite active again using the online program and hope to go to Uruguay this fall as planned for an immersion. Stephen would like to go as well, so that is part 2 of this adventure but one thing at a time. 

This blog ends up being more of a diary/journal for us but we do appreciate if you enjoy it. I was not a fan of doing it initially when we started several years ago but it has afforded us the ability to review our travel and memories, many of which I would have forgotten without these blog entries. I hope everyone is well and also having some time for reflection in their lives. It always takes me an adjustment period to get in the cruising mode. I have to “chill out” so to speak and change my pace. I am feeling more settled now in our routine on the boat and more importantly, finding the pace enjoyable and the serenity that goes along with it is hard to find in any other holiday trips I have done. Why? Because you truly do need a significant amount of time for the change to happen and most vacations are packed with events/sightseeing. Very few are this extensive in time and include this amount of free time for reflection, reading, and writing. I am thankful for the experiences on Soulstice and thankful for the time to explore this raw beauty in British Columbia and Alaska.