Day 404 & 405 Two for the price of one!

Today, you will get two posts for the price of one!!

Yesterday, we left East Inlet along Grenville Channel and made for Kelp Passage Cove next to Lewis Island and Porcher Island.  We upped anchor at 5:45 and took off to take advantage  of the out going tide.  Apparently, at Klewnuggit Inlet--right beside East Inlet, the tidal current splits and some goes both ways in Grenville Channel.  A fact that Nobeltec and their software don't know.  You can face a flood tide one moment figuring it will help you later and then it reverses and you get it right at you again.  We left during the later parts of the ebb tide and that helped us part of the way out of the channel.  We did see the spot where the tide changes and our speed dropped by over a knot.  

The only other big boat we saw was a BC Ferry heading South.  We never saw any big boats heading North which is fine with us.  They make a nasty wake that really throws us around.

We exited the channel and headed over to Lewis Island and into Kelp Passage Cove(54 00.859N  130 15.757W) and dropped the anchor.  Our "buddy boat", Astarte showed up about 10 minutes later.  They made better time being a power boat as they left about 45 minutes after us..  The anchorage got a bit hinky as the day passed.  While it was nice and Sunny, the cove had winds from the Northwest and a tide coming in from the Southeast.  The tide won and Zephyr kept her stern into the wind for a change.  As the tide turned, she swung around to face into the wind the way she is supposed to.

By early evening, we heard fog horns from the other side of the island that protected us.  By 2030 hours, the fog started flowing into our little cove in waves.  By 2130, we were pretty well enclosed.  Not peas soupy, but darn close.  We were a bit concerned as to what this morning would bring.

This morning dawned with some fog still in the cove and more outside it.  Astarte left shortly before us and headed out the East entrance.  They stopped about half way out when they ran into a big fog bank.  They were ready to turn around and come back and anchor when they saw us heading for the North entrance.  We talked on the radio and they decided to follow us.  If it got too bad, we would both turn back.  I took out the cord from the VHF radio inside Zephyr that runs our "new" fog horn(found in a "free" box at Sea Marine).  I turned on the VHF and keyed it to automatically sound the horn.  This way we can be on deck as it does its job.  Every 2.5 minutes, it sounds the horn for about 5 seconds. 

The North entrance to the cove had no where near the fog the East had.  We had primarily low clouds more than fog.  I shut off the horn shortly after we left the cove.  Two fishing boats that had been ahead of us moved out of the way as the fog horn sounded.

We took off across the sound avoiding all the "dead heads"(logs in the water) and made it into Prince Rupert(54 19.206N  130 19.215W) by 1100.  A 20.9 mile trip.  The previous days had  been 33.9 so today was a piece of cake.

We'd called Prince Rupert Rowing and Yacht Club on Thursday afternoon as we entered Hartley Bay and made reservations and it's a good thing we did.  Astarte made theirs this morning as they crossed the bay and got the last spot.  The marina had even gone to some of the boats already tied up and asked them to leave as more boats were coming in and they were booked full.  We both had to wait a few minutes while they made room for us.

When we got off Zephyr, we checked the zinc fitting on the back of the propeller and found that it was finally gone.  One of the screws that holds it on had fallen out at some time over the past day or so since we had last checked.  I'm not sure how the screw came undone but it was gone.  We took off in search of a diver to replace it. 

When we checked in at the office, they gave us the name of a diver and I called him after we got back from Safeway.  I left a message to call me.  The girls in the yacht club office gave me another name to call but all their divers were gone for the weekend.  Those folks gave me another name and he answered his phone and said he'd be down in an hour or so and do the job.  An hour later he arrived and surveyed the job and left to get his equipment.  While he was gone, the first diver I called showed up.  I told him that I had already found a diver and he left.  

By the time the diver returned, I had another set of screws painted(stainless steel screws should not go against the zinc)to stop the reaction that happens between stainless steel and zinc.  It makes the zinc degrade faster.  We had installed the previous back at the end of February so it only lasted 13 weeks.  A short time for most zinc as they normally last about 9 months.

Our Telus cell phone won't work here even though it shows all the bars like Verizon so I sent them a email and asked why.  The Verizon wifi gizmo that has served us so well also doesn't work here as they don't have the equipment in Prince Rupert.  I emailed Verizon about that also.  Since we will be back in the US by tomorrow and in to Ketchikan by Wednesday, I will probably reactivate my US account for the wifi chip.  We'll see what their answer is the next time we can get internet.  I'm currently using the free wifi that the yacht club offers.

We called US customs and let them know we will be in Foggy Bay tomorrow(it's in the US) and into Ketchican by Tuesday.  You have to get approval to stop in Foggy Bay before checking into the US or they get huffy.  With that done, we are ready to go.  All we still have to do is fill the water tanks and we're set.

Well, that's about it for now but as always, there is more to come.