Is that how the saying goes? 😅 We wanted to get some distance in today with the aim of getting towards Ucluelet in a weeks time. The forecast made promises of northerly winds… they were southerly?! So we headed away from land and tacked in towards the Yellow Bluff Bay until there was zero wind so we had to motor the last hour or so! We saw ANOTHER whale! This time he kept his distance, on his path. The beautiful humpback sprayed which alerted us to him and we made sure we didn’t cross his path as he went on his way! Another beautiful anchorage tonight- we pal. On staying here a couple of nights to explore the beaches and then catch the forecasted wind further down the west coast Vancouver Island.

We set off nice an early this morning, with beautiful views of our anchorage -looked like a mirror. But we knew it would change once we started rounding the Brooks Peninsula! With high winds forecast, we were ready for a wild day of sailing! All in all, it was a very comfortable passage, with winds not reaching the forecast numbers, we sailed with our Genoa, main and mizzen all the way up. Crossing the top of the peninsula, after some back and forth with the wind direction not making its mind up, we set the Genoa on our whisker pole with the main initially to make most of the wind we had on a deep broad reach. Eventually narrowing it down to just the Genoa for the final part of the journey. But I can’t leave out the important parts… We had a couple of orcas passing through our path a few times, but they didn’t get too close luckily. But then the final hour or so of our journey, Lizzie was on helm when the sound of a wave came. Upon looking- a mid-size humpback whale surfaced, touching side to side with our boat! We had no idea he was here! It happened to fast but by the time Lizzie could call ‘BILL THERES A WHALE’ the whale resurfaced. Still touching the boat and sprayed, soaking us and the cockpit. Luckily, I think it was coincidental that we both crossed paths as he continued his path immediately! Now we are anchored in another beautiful spot of Vancouver island, we are going to have a proper shower with fresh water, after the whales unexpected salty shower!

Leaving our anchorage on a beautiful morning, we headed into the open waters and rounded into our next anchorage at Klaskino Inlet. Once we were out far enough we managed to catch b just enough windy to set our Genoa, main and mizzen before leaving Monty (our monitor WindVane) to do the hard work. An hour or so in, we decided to take down our main as it seemed to be blocking the wind from our Genoa. With just the Genoa and mizzen, Monty steered us towards the inlet with 30knt gusts at times but it was a comfortable ride! We also managed to do some fishing along way with success! The anchorage is just beautiful and maybe one of the most peaceful and scenic we’ve been to around the island so far. Pure tranquility emphases the freedom we have to do this.

After a walk along the Boardwalk at Winter Harbour to stretch our legs on land, we moved further out of the inlet towards the entrance/exit so we were nearer the mouth for leaving in the morning. We were out for a while, tried fishing from the boat and from Ducky (our dinghy) but the current and wind was too strong for the relaxing fishing we were hoping. Result: no fish supper today! But we did have a cheeky otter standing by making sure we didn’t catch his dinner! Truest grateful to be spending this time in the open.

Leaving Sea Otter Cove, our first stop was at San Josef Bay. Anchoring was easy, dinghy to shore was short and we had spectacular views of our boat from the beautiful white sandy coastline as we had a mini picnic. A reminder that we are so lucky to have this freedom surrounded by beautiful nature. Upon leaving, we used our reefed Genoa with our whisker pole to head downwind further along the west coast of Vancouver Island. This was a perfect opportunity for us to use our Monitor WindVane for the first time! (We’d got the instrument itself from marketplace for a great price as it did not come with the wheel adapter attachment- so Billy made us one for under $100 - instead of the $500 new). We were very surprised how quickly and accurately it steered us- probably better than we could’ve done ourselves! We had 30kt gusts with big rollers from the Pacific- and it was the first time we were both comfortable in this strong of a wind as it steered us so smoothly. The monitor wind vane is our new best friend, so much so that we’ve named it ‘Monty’. Taking a turn into Winter Harbour, we took over the helm, furled our Genoa and carefully steered our way around the hidden rocks until we found our anchorage! Hopefully tomorrow we have time to visit the store here and go for a wander! For now, we will enjoy all the otters that are floating by!

Having met up with our friends on St.leger, we had a wonderful evening with their story’s and helpful tips and tricks for when they had sailed the world over the last 33 years! In the AM they waved us goodbye as we exited the bull harbour and motored over the Nahwitti Bar and around the most northern point of Vancouver Island! With not much wind, we then used our whisker pole and dropped the engine to slowly trawl with some fishing rods (few good bites but no catches im afraid). When we hit the corner of the entrance to Sea Otter Cove, we had to be careful as it can be tricky in the high winds (and it did get windier!) due to many hidden rocks and narrow entrance. Billy sawfly guided us in to the cove, past the beautiful island and rock formations and together we hooked up a storm mooring and got inside just as the winds have started howling! Now time for nice home cooked dinner and a shower!

Set off mid morning and motored to Bull Harbour, the last stop before we cross the Nahwitti Bar tomorrow! Smooth sailing with a few rollers coming in from the Pacific and caught up with our new friends on sv St.Leger en route! Now both anchored up at the far end on Bull Harbour, hopefully get prepared and a good sleep tonight before a long day tomorrow!

Leaving port hardy, we immediately reefed our main and Genoa, sailing for the most part of the first 2 hours. The sun was shining, but the gusts were up to 20kts with swirling tides. Wanting to anchor before sunset, we retired the sails for the last part of the journey and found a Beautiful place to anchor just on the other side of Nolan Point. We’re one step closer to rounding the North point of the island!

We’ve been sat in Port Hardy for a couple of days now, and today was the first opportunity we had to safely take out our friends and give them a taster of what it’s like to sail! We just jived and tacked our way around the bay for a couple of hours with a double reefed main and reefed Genoa. Finn & Caitie we’re stuck straight in, helping manually bring up the anchor, getting a feel for what it’s like to be at the helm and helping with tightening those sheets! Big kudos to them as it was their first ever time- they nailed it! Then back to anchor outside Seagate Pier, and a dinghy back to land for a coffee before departing our ways! Hopefully we can see them again on the coast to give them another day out and to catch up!

Starting the morning with a top up of fuel, water, garbage dump at Port Mcniell, we headed out further North to Port Hardy. It was a great sailing day, albeit with the Northwesterly’s, we tacked our way into Hardy Bay with a double reefed main and Genoa. With the 20-25knt winds, choppy sea’s meant Lizzie had her first batch of seasickness as Billy took the helm for majority. As we approached port hardy, the wind died down, and we motor sailed (or PAS as we’ve been told it’s called?) into the bay. Given how large the Bay Area is, it’s not a protected as we thought, but seeing a familiar boat rafted, we anchored just behind them. It gets shallow quickly after the sea plane takeoff area, so Lizzie got some good practice manually brining up that anchor a couple of time before. we got the right spot! Now it’s time to dry all our bedding whilst the sun is out, as we left the portholes open in the v berth, and the waves were fierce enough to enter and soak through- another thing we’ve learnt to check before heading out! All in all, today was a good experience for us before heading around the most northern point - the feared Cape Scott! Oh. And we saw two sea otters and a whale tail!