Sunday, July 31, 2016 Viner Sound

We had a very nice surprise this morning.  The sailboat, Shaunsea that is across the inlet is the same one we were with in Burly Bay.  Colleen must have the magic touch.  She came over today with four, fresh Dungeness crabs for us.  We had another loaf of homemade bread for her.  We cleaned and cooked the crab immediately.  It’s fresh crab for dinner tonight! 

Saturday, July 30, 2016 Waddington Bay to Viner Sound 1 ¼ hours 11.6 miles

The wind has never let up for any length of time.  The wind after dark was still 10-15 kts.  Fred stayed on anchor watch until 1:00 am.  He then felt it safe to go to bed.  When we got up this morning we had some decisions to make.  Currently our anchor is holding well but we are still in a part of the bay that has no protection from the wind and doing 180 degree swings.  We didn’t think we could tolerate another day and night like yesterday so we pulled anchor and headed east.  The further we went the lighter the wind.  We pulled into Viner Sound to see if there was a mooring buoy available.  There were and we headed for one of them.  Getting attached was rather difficult in an ebb tide and 10 kts of wind pushing us about.  Finally we are secure on the buoy and I think we will be much more relaxed here.  Fred saw some salmon jumping so decided to do a little fishing while he had his cigar.  The fish continue to laugh at him…

Friday, July 29, 2016 Waddington Bay

We are sorry we didn’t leave yesterday.  The anchor held yesterday so we were a little cocky in believing it would continue.  Fred took a nap and I was in the cockpit reading.  The wind was still roaring through at 15-25 kts.  Since this kept the boat heading into the wind, it was quite comfortable in the cockpit.  When Fred got up he thought a large rock at the entrance looked a little closer than it had.  Apparently some gusts of 30-37 kts pulled the anchor loose.  OK, all hands on deck!  We started the engines and I stayed at the helm while Fred handled the winch and anchor.  Waddington is a large bay but there were already about ten boats in there.  Our choices of a new spot were limited.  Normally re-anchoring is not a big deal.  However, with the wind and current in the anchorage actually causing whitecaps this was an ordeal.  I had a terrible time getting the boat in a good position.  In the middle of these maneuvers the port transmission control lever went slack.  !@#$  I hailed the other boats in the anchorage of our plight. Several folks came up to us in their dinghy’s but there really wasn’t anything to do.  I never worked so hard in my life keeping us off the rocks with only the starboard engine and high winds.  I still don’t know how we came out of this unscathed.  When Fred saw what was happening he ran into the engine room to see what was wrong with the transmission.  It looked good.  Of all the times for this to happen, Fred took a wrench and tightened the port transmission control and then it worked fine.  We re-anchored very nearly where we were before.  This was not our intent but the wind and tide had more control than I did.  We had a very anxious afternoon and night but the anchor held. 

Thursday, July 28, 2016 Waddington Bay

We had planned on heading out today but the wind is still 10-15 kts and it is very foggy.  We decided to just stay put.

Tuesday, July 26, 2016 Port McNeill to Waddington Bay 2 ½ hours 26.6 miles

I am not thrilled with this bay, although it is very beautiful, because it is always crowded.  We much prefer more isolated places.  Sure enough, it is crowded.  We anchored very close to the entrance of the bay.  We counted fifteen boats in here tonight. 

Sunday, July 24, 2016 Waddington Bay to Port McNeill 2 ½ hours 27 miles

We needed to go back to Port McNeill for a prescription that I forgot to get a week ago.  We were disappointed that there was no room for us at the North Island Marina.  We haven’t been to the municipal marina in a couple years and they don’t take reservations.  We were lucky and they had a nice 60 ft. slip for us.  This marina is actually better located.  A coffee shop, Mugz, is at the head of the dock.  They have great bakery items and lattes.  They also have pretty decent free WiFi. 

Saturday, July 23, 2016 Burly Bay to Waddington Bay 3 ¼ hours 33.7 miles

All we wanted today was to split the trip to Port McNeill in half.  This bay is well suited for this.