On our way to Port Hardy

The focus of this trip was to visit Haida Gwaii once again after 24 years, and also to bring our friend Nancy along with what had promised to be a most amazing time.
We have now been able to accomplish this ... our visits to the various sites were truly memorable. We enjoyed every one of the Watchmen and the animals we encountered, and we were also gifted with nearly perfect weather. Even on the one night when we had to leave our anchored spot near Queen Charlotte Village, we actually got to motor close (but not TOO close) to what we later learned was a large tourist hotel. It had 'slipped its moorings' and was proceeding - seemingly unsupervised - to an unstable resting spot on an island very near QC Village. It must have found its way in much the same fashion that those tiny pelagic jellyfish I see make their way - being driven by the currents.

We only found out what had happened a few days later when a announcement on the ship's radio advised all boat traffic to stay a safe distance away. There were issues - such as explosions (they must have been using propane for cooking) or hazardous materials involved. We HAD noticed on the Monday that we returned to QCV that the Oil Recovery vessel we had seen in Prince Rupert and several fast RIB-loads of workers were in evidence around the village.

Now we will have rather ugly weather for a few days. We are expecting to motor for 8 hours a day so we can get to Port Hardy on Thursday, when Nancy will be leaving to go back to Ottawa.

So farewell for now - we hope you have enjoyed our latest blog entries.