Cape Caution, Port McNeill

We planned to leave Pruth Bay/Hakai to round Cape Caution Thursday. But this morning (Wed) we went ashore to get online and check weather sources, and the plan changed. Thursday now looked nasty, and today, Wednesday, looked fairly good! But it's 99 miles from Pruth Bay to Port McNeill and it was already 8:30 a.m., 3 hours later than we'd have left if that had been the plan. The choice: go for it or wait 5-7 days for the next weather window. Ugh.

So we raced back to Phoenix, loaded up the dinghy and took off, traveling at 1800 rpm, approx 12 mph with the boost from a flooding current (instead of 1400 rpm and 9-10 mph, our usual).

Conditions were cloudy (but calm, no rain or fog, and light wind), so off to a good start. Eventually it got uncomfortably rough, but not scary: variable 5-8 foot seas, rough enough to be very careful when walking around, but still not scary. Fortunately Bob reminded Cathryn to apply a scopolamine patch, so as long as she sat on the centerline and stared at the horizon she was ok. Going below deck for any reason made her feel sick. Bob was fine except when he kept his head down reading or studying charts. 

Finally we got out of the beam-on western swells from the Pacific Ocean, behind Vancouver Island, and everything improved, including sunshine!

And then two humpback wheels rose out of the water 50 feet from the boat to welcome us to Port McNeill!

And finally 8.5 hours and 99 miles later, we arrived at Port McNeill, found both marinas full for the night, so dropped the anchor in the bay for the night and collapsed into dinner, wine, then bed. 

The waters we'll travel for the next 3+ weeks are very protected, so no more weather stress, just fun! We're happy and well.