Leg 4: Final stretch back to Blaine, Washington

  

Day 12: Port McNeil - Port Neville 40 miles

Sea otters like the islands south of Port McNeil. We saw several slowly moving out of our way as we past them by. There is an Orca sanctuary just south of the town. No orcas this time, even though the chinook salmon seemed to be everywhere. Several humpbacks surprised us. 

Day 13: Port Neville - Seymour Narrows - Gowland Harbor 47 miles

This stretch of water is tricky. The morning forecast called for gale force winds blowing down Johnston Strait. But with the wind behind us the whole way, we made the harbor easily. However, with the wind blowing in the anchorage, we could not see the bull kelp. When the wind settled that evening, we were surrounded by massive kelp fronds that could again break the surface of the water. We slowly pulled up the anchor without using the propeller. I could not even see the anchor when it came out of the water it was so covered in kelp. We just let the current drift Iolair out of the kelp forest. Once we blew out of the kelp we anchored in the center of the channel with some other boats that seemed to know better. 

Day 14: Gowland Harbor - Pender Harbor 57 miles

We hit a clump of kelp as we left the harbor. Seemed to clear past the propeller OK, but we have noticed a new vibration in the drive shaft. Not sure what the cause is, but no leaks and we have plenty of speed. Lots of humpbacks and some orcas in these waters. A massive humpback breached 4-5 times in the distance. Another large humpback surfaced to our surprise just 50 feet from the boat, heading away from us quickly. Pender Harbor is one of our favorite stops. We will rest a day here and I'll get in the water to see if there is anything wrapped around the propeller shaft. 

Day 15: Pender Harbor, BC - Blaine, Wa. - 75 miles

We rested in Pender Harbor for day and enjoyed some nice weather on the Sunshine Coast. It is remarkable how different this feels from everything in the Great Bear Rainforest. The following day we pulled up the anchor at 6:30 AM and continued south. There always seem to be humpbacks just south of Texada Island in the Strait of Georgia, and once again we were treated to show. A whale continuously breached in the distance. A few years ago, we saw another show in this same area. We stopped counting after 13 full breaches. We were the only boat around on a windy, choppy sea. It is undoubtable one of the most remarkable things to witness in nature. I have yet to catch a picture, and I am not sure a photo could ever come close to the feeling. 

We pasted the huge city of Vancouver. The Strait of Georgia was busy as usual. Ferries, cargo ships, fisherman, and many more sailors crowd the waters in this area. Rounding Point Roberts we checked into the United States on our phone, and motored into Blaine Harbor with several other day sailors out for a nice evening. Fred and Ethel, our representatives from the Blaine Seagull squadron, were perched on the boat next to us. Blaine is still a noisy, birdy place. We are hereby calling this journey complete. Kelly, Jay, and Ralf signing off.....for now. 

Kelly darn near throttled me after this iceberg selfie. That little clump we climbed out on fell off.

Thanks Iolair. You took good care of us once again.