June 27, 2008 Port Hardy to Walker Cove

We had a leisurely morning in Port Hardy and sailed out of the bay in the early afternoon in light winds. Two Humpback whales spouted off the bow as we approached the Deserter Island archipelago. We also saw our first cruise ship of the voyage, coming on off the ocean. It was a mammoth Princess liner. It reminded me of that giant alien UFO from the movie “Independence Day,” looming over New York City. Here at Walker Cove we are preparing for “the crossing,” a 40 mile stretch of open ocean. It is the most exposed body of water along the Inside Passage. I’ve been going over my old courses and charts and monitoring the weather. Looks like we may have a window tomorrow morning, so we’re getting everything ready to go at 4AM. Cape Caution is a bad spot because of the shallow waters that stretch out to sea around it, which is a recipe for giant swells. Silent Partner has been around the Cape 4 times before. Hopefully, weather permitting, we’ll have as good of luck as we’ve had on past transits. Everything is ship-shape. I’ve put the standard precautionary double-reef in the mainsail. Colleen has prepared all of our food for tomorrow so we don’t have to cook out there in the big swells. Now we can just sit back, relax, and keep a sharp eye on the weather….

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