Day 436 A day of disappointment.

Today was a day of disappointment.  Our planning for today had been set so that everything was to go in our favor.  The tides, the currents and the winds.  Nope on all three.  The tides and currents that our navigation program said would help us never materialized.  The tides and currents were supposed to be heading up Johnstone Straits at speed of over 3.5 knots to propel us along at a great clip.  That is why we had to wait till 1100 to leave this morning. 

We headed out from Pearse Passage Anchorage right on schedule.  I'd even allotted time to pull up the anchor and get it cleared of all the kelp and seaweed that I ran into last night.  We left through the East entrance that we couldn't get through last night as the tidal rip was too strong.  Today--just about non-existent.  We were out free and clear.  Into the strait and up with the genoa sail.  The winds were just about right to take us right across the strait and then up the South side, nice and clear of any shipping that might show up.  We'll, we got across the strait and the wind changed to be out of the Southeast--right on our nose.  Sailboats can't sail straight into the wind.  In came the sail and on we went under motor--AGAIN.  Mother Nature just won't let us have a nice day for sailing.  The weather forecasters had told us two days ago that today's wind would be out of the Northwest.  Then it was updated to the West.  Today, it shifted around to the Southeast!  Rats--foiled again.

The tidal currents of 3.5 knots that were supposed to propel us up the strait never did a thing to help us along.  We continued along at just barely 6 knots into a 20+ knot head wind and considered ourselves lucky we got that good a speed.  We passed fishing boats and sailboats all headed Northwest down the straits and saw a few boats headed our way.  Not a single cruise ship.  I guess, they left earlier in the week and will be back through in a few days.

As I have said in previous posts, vigilance pays off.  As Tracy was keeping lookout, she saw something strange in the water ahead of us.  It ended up being a log boom.  A big collection of logs normally towed by a tug boat.  The rules are that any tug must have an AIS running to tell other boaters that they are coming so we can watch out for them.  Here was this log boom with a tug beside her and no AIS.  Tracy called them on the VHF radio to let them know and there was no response.  I guess they either didn't care or didn't want it known that they were running with no AIS signal.   If she hadn't been watching, we would have run smack into the middle of the boom.

On we went.  Winds straight at us slowly heading up the strait.  It was to be a long day of over 57 miles to get to Turn Island Bay but we thought that with the tidal currents, we would have no problem and should have been here by early evening.  We didn't pick up any real speed with the help of the currents until we were clear up at the end of Johnstone Strait just West of Race Passage.  We hit eddies and overfalls(whirlpools) that shot us along at over 10 knots for a short time.  Then over to Ripple Shoal just East of Race Passage for another power shot for Zephyr.  Again we surged along for a short time and made up so distance.  Other than those two bright spots, we had a slow day.  We had so hoped to be able to sail right up the strait for a good 45 miles.  It was not to be.  Oh well.

We finally made it into Turn Island Bay(50 21.091N  125 27.776W) about 2030 and dropped the anchor after a long 57.6 mile trip.  It didn't set so we pulled it back up and did it again in a different spot.  This time it held just fine.  If a t first you don't succeed--etc.  Tracy had already made dinner while in transit so we let the kids out to play and run around the deck while we settled in for what was left of the evening.

Tomorrow, we have a two part day.  Off at 0530 for Plumper Bay (about 13 miles)just North of Seymour Narrows to wait out the current change.  That early in the day, the tides are just turning from heading South to heading North so we will have to wait till they change back to heading South for us to pass.  That should be happening about 1200.  We will just drop the anchor and sit and wait.  At 1200, we will up the anchor and set off for the narrows to hit them at slack tide.  It's the only safe time to pass through them.  They can reach currents of over 12 knots or more.  It's another 13 miles until we will be clear.  From there, we will continue South and try and find an anchorage for the night.  Not quite sure where as that will depend on what time we get through the passage.

The journey continues.