Monday, May 19 Port Harvey Marina to Port McNeill 3 hours 33 miles

It is a very grey day and many logs to pass through on our way up Johnstone strait to Port McNeill.  Again we had the current with us.  2 kts most of the way but up to 4kts past Alert Bay.  We are staying at the Port McNeill Fuel Dock and Marina instead of the city dock.  There are two main reasons for this.

 # 1 They try harder (want to borrow a car?)

# We can be fueled right in our slip.  They have very long hoses and we only have to dock once.  Speaking of fuel, we took439 gallons at $4.09/gallon.  

Steve Jackman met us at the dock and we received a warm welcome.  We planned on a bow ion, starboard tie but there is a 130 footer coming in and we have to make room.   It is quite impressive.  http://www.charterworld.com/?sub=yacht-charter&charter=my-mary-alice-ii-6864 

While Fred was out having a cigar on the deck, the captain of Serengeti came by and they had a nice talk.  Later in the evening we heard a funny buzzing sound.  We looked up and saw a remote-controlled quad-copter with a camera and LED lights.  It was being operated by one of the young crew on Serengeti.  Apparently this copter is very stable and takes excellent pictures.  Now Fred knows what he wants for Christmas.  It sure would be nice to have on the boat.

Sunday, May 18 Blind Channel Resort to Port Harvey Marine Resort 3 ½ hours 35 miles

We had wind up to 25 kts and 1’chop on Johnstone Strait today.   We had the current with us though we actually achieved 15 kts over the ground (9 kts through the water) through Race Passage.  

Actual photo of chart plotter

As we neared Havannah Channel we had to pass through an enormous field of logs.  We definitely had to be on our toes here. Port Harvey is a long bay with the marina at the head.  There are logging operations along the shore which are very unsightly.  If we didn’t like George and Gail who run the marina we might not stop here.   http://portharvey.blogspot.ca/  Of course when I passed the line through the bull rail to tie up when we landed I managed to put it through a rotten piece of wood that pulled up and caught our line in the screws under it.   George came down to help release the line.  We are the only ones on the dock but George & Gail came to say hello. The Red Shoe Restaurant isn’t open yet but we had a nice visit.   

The Port Harvey Yacht Club is now open for membership and we are charter members at #20 & #21.  We purchased the burgee and may display it at some point.  

 George is a great baker and we ordered six cinnamon rolls for morning to take with us when we leave