At the beginning of August, 2016 I started out on a two-month cruise on the Plan B. This was a shake-down cruise, as it was the first time I had been out on the Plan B for more than a few days.
Janet joined me for a couple of legs of the trip. Here we are heading out into Georgia Strait, with Janet catching up on her email and ‘Betty’ driving while I take pics.
Scenes from Hornby Island – Tribune Bay and Heliwell Park
Janet wanted to eat this urchin, but summer is not their season!
Speedboat blasting through the rapids in Seymour Narrows.
Plan B blasting through Seymour Narrows a few days later.
Plan B on a misty morning in Small Inlet, Quadra Island
Enjoying a swim later that day in Newton Lake
The Pacific Yellowfin at Shoal Bay. Looking north up Phillips Arm.
Paddling up the Phillips River.
The Phillips River estuary.
Shark Spit near Cortes Island
Some people need to have it all!
A group of sea lions having a snooze in Gillard Pass.
Waiting patiently at Althorp Point for the gale warnings to end in Johnstone Strait.
Sunrise in Johnstone Strait the next morning.
Careful navigation required in Beware Passage! (Broughton Archipelago)
The abandoned native village of Karlukwees.
The beach at Karlukwees – composed of shells, broken glass, and bits of metal.
Meeting a black bear on the beach at Karlukwees.
Foggy scene the next morning – precursor to a sunny day.
View from one of my favourite anchorages.
The same scene the next morning.
Heading out into Blackfish Sound on a stormy day.
Close encounter with a humpback whale in Blackfish Sound.
Village of Sointula – Place of Harmony
Plan B in Sointula harbour.
Erin and Sheila joined me for a few days. Here we are admiring a mural in Sointula.
This is their first visit to Alert Bay!
U’mista Cultural Centre in Alert Bay. A must see!
Alert Bay graveyard with grave markers from two cultures.
Heading out in the fog to look for whales!
We are rewarded a few hours later with a pod of orcas appearing out of the fog in Blackfish Sound.
The fog burned off mid-day but patches remained here and there among the islands.
The flotilla of kayaks that gets us to shore.
The last remains of the native village of Mamalilaculla.
Another lovely anchorage at sunset. (Seabreeze Cove, Gilford Island)
Erin and Sheila concentrating while navigating through the Archipelago.
Billy Proctor at the door to his museum in Echo Bay.
A portion of Billy’s collection of salmon lures in his museum.
Erin paddling Sheila around in ‘the mattress’.
Dolphins cavorting around the boat in Kingcome Inlet.
Pictograph at the head of Kingcome Inlet.
Erin preparing to dispatch a crab for dinner.
Belleisle Sound.
Belleisle Sound.
Sea lion colony at the entrance to Fife Sound.
A mess of crabs came up in the crabtrap one morning!
We kept a potful for a crab feast.
The seiner Queens Reach repairing their net next to Plan B in Sointula harbour.
It’s now August 31st, and Plan B and I are in Port McNeil to resupply. Erin and Sheila started the long drive home this morning and I will head out again tomorrow for a few more weeks of cruising.