After May 1st, we were clear with our insurance to move further north and cross the 51st parallel. So we spent a day in Allison Harbour, checked the weather and we headed on our way, leaving at about 5 am.
Cape Caution is aptly called. You have the Pacific Ocean and its usual westerly swell, converging with the inflows/outflows of Queen Charlotte Strait, Fitz Hugh Sound & Rivers Inlet. We timed our passage to be entirely at 'flood' tide so that we'd have incoming tide along with the westerly swell. Unfortunately (and fortunately) this meant that we had a weather window with NO wind in the forecast. So we ended up motoring for 50+ miles, mostly in the fog, with 1-2 meter swell on the aft quarter (this means roll-y from side to side).
Everything went as planned and was very smooth. We did have a hitchhiker that joined us for this leg of the trip. This little bird (I think a Ruby-crowned Kinglet) was about 2 miles away from shore when she/he found us and was clearly very tired. We tried to help, but we couldn't get close enough to it to find a safe place and she just couldn't hold on. Eventually, we thought she'd found a safe space in the dingy. Unfortunately, she didn't survive the journey and we found her expired when we arrived in Pruth Bay. :-(
Once we got in the shelter behind Calvert Island, and into Fitz Hugh Sound we were delighted with the sky clearing and beautiful views all the way around. (Still no wind).
Boat cat Leia was not too fond of the crossing, she wanted to snuggle and be held the entire way. So I held her, and Dan drove. She just couldn't anticipate which direction the waves were going to come at us.
In Pruth Bay, we enjoyed the hospitality of the Hakai Institute. If you are unfamiliar with this organization, there is some amazing research they do about our oceans.
One of their recent 'long reads' https://hakai.org/field-notes/ is pretty cool, but they have lots more to read and fill your free time. You can learn more about them at https://hakai.org/. Not only are they one of the coolest organizations, they have an amazing research facility center that has an amazing beach.
West beach at the Hakai Institute, Pruth Bay, Calvert Island.
All in all, we had a great passage and now are off to explore the many other special places in Northern British Columbia along the inside passage. We've got miles to cross! Onward!
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