We last left you at Port Harvey- We had spent an extra night there waiting out the crap weather in hopes of a more favorable wind direction and maybe some sunshine.... at least a little less rain!
Video Highlights from our journey down Johnstone Strait
Travel stats for travel covered in this blogpost:
Distance: 49.3 Nautical Miles
Time spent traveling: Approx 11 hours
Duration: 3 days
Zoomed in map of our travels- Orange indicates our path covered in this blog post
Google Map Locations (click to view on google maps):
Port Harvey
Port Nevelle
Helmcken Island
Shoal Bay
We spent a soggy evening in Port Harvey watching the original star wars movie (A New Hope) and awoke the next morning with.... a new hope! No rain and favorable wind! The detour to Port Harvey was definitely the right call. We made quick work of the 14 miles to Port Nevelle, pulling into the FREE government dock located there- love those free dock spots!
An abandoned Port Harvey
A sunny morning! We love the sun!
Upon arriving at Port Nevelle, we met another young person sailor- a rare thing, as the only people we had met on the trip so far were 50+. The sailor was a singlehander who was coming back from the summer in AK. Singlehander means they are the only person running the boat. A huge task that requires lots of skills! Naturally we were kindred spirits- happy hour and boat tours ensued!
Sunset show from our dock spot at Port Nevelle
The next day's plan was to make a long sail to Shoal Bay, but after meeting the singlehander, we opted to tag along with her, and anchor in the middle of Johnstone Strait, on Helmckin Island. It seemed like sleeping in the belly of the beast, but she was a sensei and we were the little grasshoppa.
We pulled out of Port Nevelle and did some downwind sailing! We were elated.... for about 10 minutes, until the wind cranked up to 30 knots with short choppy waves. SAILS DOWN IMMEDIATELY. So much for that idea. The angry sea conditions were caused by the wind blowing one way and the tide moving the other way. Wow it was nasty. We motored through the remainder of the unhappy sea until the tide changes and completely flattened out the water.
Rolly sea conditions in Johnstone
We anchored in Deer Cove on Helmcken Island. A short while after dropping the hook, the singlehander rolled in, along with another boat- friends of hers. Three boats of young cruising people?! What?! When it rain it pours (and it really rains up here)! The other two boats rafted up together and hosted happy hour and dinner! So much fun hanging out with fellow cruisers, trading stories, and seeing other boats and how they are set up. Super fun evening and we hope to see our new friends Fernweh and Vesi soon!
Helmcken Island is smack dab in the middle of Johnstone
Deer Cove on Helmcken Island. Vesi and Fernweh to the left and Maya on the right
Dog mission via the SUP- we had Rita Red stowed on deck and didn't feel like taking the time to take her down. The SUP works great a backup dinghy!
The next day we all took off at the same time, riding the flooding tide. The wind was from our stern so we enjoyed our first downwind sail of the trip! Seriously, the first one! It was so awesome sailing among our little convoy down the epic Johnstone Strait. Not to mention the sun was shining too.
Fantastic sailing conditions
That's us! Literally the only pic we have of us sailing- thank you SV Vesi for the photo!
We've had lots of great memories on this trip, but this stretch stands in with the best of them. After an awesome sail down the final stretch of Johnstone, we turned up Mayne Passage, wishing our new friends safe travels over the VHF. We were bound for Shoal Bay. We made it to the dock at Shoal Bay, which provided a good night's rest and a connection to internet. Internet is very scarce up here so you literally have to hunt it down.
That about does it for this blog post- join us next time as we prepare to travel through 3 sets of rapids all in the same day! Surely, you will want to know what happens next!
As always, thank you so much for stopping by and reading! Make sure to put your email address in the box on the upper left of the website.... by doing that you'll get an email notification every time we make another post!
Thanks again and cheers!
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