Pacific NW

Expeditions

We left the abandoned village at the break of dawn, motoring out of a maze of islands and channels and out into the wide Queen Charlotte Strait. Our decision to wait out the rough weather proved wise, and we had an uneventful but pleasant passage to Port Hardy. The sun came out and Christoph and I played the accordian in our T-shirts. It has been a strange beginning of March in that the weather has been so warm, and there has been very little wind. We are doing way more motoring than I expected, but we consider it a small price to pay for this astonishing weather. For the record, we made it to Port Hardy on 26 gallons of fuel! Four-stroke motors are wonderful things. As we neared Port Hardy, a thick and pronounced sheet of cirrus clouds began pulling themselves across our blue sky from the west, and the barometer began to drop. A sure sign of rain. I took care of many errands in town, which wore me out. I begin to get a negative association with towns when I’m cruising. They are places where I need to run around, take care of “busyness”, and spend lots of money. But nonetheless, I was thankful for our stop and for all the services the town had to offer. Christoph and I were looking forward to catching the movie in the one theater in Port Hardy, but our hopes were dashed when we found the theater all boarded up and partially destroyed. Our evening plans were revived, however, when we inquired about the hot tub at the hotel next to our marina. “Sure you can use it, just hope you get in before the hockey team arrives” said the woman behind the desk. The “Houston Luckies” took over the hotel later in the evening, but we had a nice relaxing soak, and are looking forward to the natural hot springs we will encounter in northern B.C.