At Khutzeymateen

Anchored in Kumeon Cove BC

In Kent Island Anchorage

While anchored in Traversay III at the idyllic tiny anchorage netween Kent and Staples Islands, Larry received a forecast predicting an unusual span of 4 days of SE winds. This prompted our decision to head North to this wilderness spot.Because of over-hunting almost everywhere, it is rumoured to be one of the last places in Canada where we can safely watch the massive Grizzly bear. If we stay on Traversay we are safe from them! 

 Making this trip could demonstrate that we STILL have our 'Offshore Credibility'. We were able to assert our mastery over some common short-handed Offshore problems we had:  no problem with sea-sickness even without medication; were able to stomach a hearty soup & lots of Honolulu buns; made sail changes ranging from 30knots and quickly down to only 5knots; engineered sail changes when the wind direction reversed. 

We were able to read the  AIS (AIutomatic Independant Surveillance) on our computer screen which not only shows approaching  vessels but also posts valuable information about how big they are, when and how how closely they'll approach our boat, and what speed they're at. I had to review how to interpret the  radar which is invaluable in heavy mist or rain and we re-learned how to use toilet and & stove '"on the slant".

Our Failures:: we unsuccessfully tried silencing the various bottles or metal pots adding unwanted percussion. This included a sudden loud metallic  rattle which reverberated through the boat seemingly from inside the mast We had some trouble learning to sleep on our offwatches  with that Symphony of worrying sounds

About 12 hours after leaving Kent Island, the winds almost died and we ended up motor-sailing most of the way here. The sails only added about 10% to our speed. We look forward to making our way to the Ranger station and seeing some bears tomorrow.