June 21, 2019 - Nanaimo & north past Campbell River

We spend Thursday onboard waiting for the winds to die down.  They were originally forecast to die off by noon, but then the forecast changed and they were going to remain strong through the night.  Friday is forecast to be a good day to make some miles heading north toward Campbell River.

It blew most of the day, between 10 to 20 knots. 
Outside we could see big waves and rough conditions.

We spent the day looking at weather, chatting, admiring boats, etc.  Basically it was a very low stress day.  We decided to get up early Friday morning and if the forecast is basically the same we will head out and make the long trip north to the entrance to Johnstone straight and Seymore Narrows.

Alex and I contemplated the seaworthiness of this vessel.

Especially in rough ocean conditions.

It is a Florida Bay Coaster.  I've seen ads for them in boating magazines, but this is the first I've seen in person.  Very different looking boats.

Florida Bay Coaster Boats

Reebok our cat is a bit on the timid side, and he is still not really coming out much because we have Alex and Paulo onboard.  He has managed to hang out with us all from time to time, but usually runs and hides of somebody gets up.   But, he is warming up to our guests, slowly.

The boats that came in and anchored closest to us both had problems with fouled props.  The first had a line dangling off the side of their boat that tangled in the prop when they backup up to set the anchor.  The owner had to go in the water and cut the line off.  He was in the water for about 30 minutes.  The other boat had wrapped a kelp bed around his prop and drifted into the anchorage and dropped the hook very close to us.  Both boats fixed their issues however.

Poor guy had to go under his boat in cold water.

This prop was wrapped with kelp.  They spent at least 40 minutes getting it off.

Tons of AIS targets near us.  Almost all were large commercial boats though.
Most pleasure boats were staying put Thursday.

Several of these canoes paddled through the anchorage.

Friday morning we awoke and found the forecast had not changed.  We pulled the anchor around 6:00AM and motored out into the straight of Georgia and about 15-20 knots on the nose.  It was a reasonably smooth ride though, and the winds slowly subsided, until it was down to about 2 knots.  The water turned glassy smooth.  It was a great ride all the way past Campbell River.  We will be anchoring in a few hours just north of Campbell River so we can be ready to catch Seymore Narrows about an hour before slack tomorrow morning.

PERFECT conditions heading north towards Campbell River

The cats are mellow and enjoying a smooth ride today.

The boat has performed flawlessly so far.  Not so much as a hickup.  It's nice to have such a reliable boat!