Alyeska 2007

Guard Bear

April 16, 2005

Our friends Dick and Sue were kind enough to grant us dock privileges for Saturday night at their Eagle Nook Resort. Eagle Nook is at the head of Barkley Sound and a convenient stopping point on our way to Port Alberni.

Naturally we traveled in another gale today, but only for a little less than two hours. Shortly after tying up, we had a thunder storm with hail. I guess it really is spring.

Lenni hasn't had any shore time for a few days, so the first order of business was a walk, that is until we spotted the guard bear on duty! A very big black bear was making a lunch out of the resort's green grass. More importantly the bear was blocking access to the walking trails. So we retreated to the boat for another time.

Best Buddies

April 15, 2005

After spending three days mostly cooped up on the boat because of wind and rain, Dave and Lenni said "enough is enough." Together they ventured out into the foul weather to explore and do a bit of fishing. After about 30 minutes of adventuring they returned to Alyeska, completely soaked from the wind driven rain. Lenni didn't look like she was having fun anymore and neither did David. As long as they were wet, Lenni got a hot bath on deck before being allowed back inside for the evening.

Barkley Sound

April 15, 2005

We've spent the last four days resting and enjoying the beauty of Barkley Sound. This is one of our favorite cruising grounds in British Columbia. The challenge of getting here is rewarded with the beauty and sereneness of this area. We have not seen another boat here all week. Despite our best efforts, we have also failed to catch any salmon! While out fishing yesterday, we were visited by a humpback whale who surfaced close to our dinghy. We watched him feed and breech the water within several hundred yards of us. This morning we shared our anchorage with a colony of sea lions who were busy fishing for their breakfast.

A Rough Ride

April 12, 2005

After a pleasant overnight in Victoria, we departed this morning on the next
leg of our trip, bound for Barkley Sound on the west coast of Vancouver
Island. This is always a challenging trip because it is a ten hour, open
ocean (Pacific) passage that has lots of swells, wind, current, and seas.
Our journey today marks a special accomplishment as it is the first time
we've done this trip without any other crew aboard. Immediately upon
departure from Victoria Harbor, we hit the high seas and ocean swells (12-14
ft. confused seas), along with the wind (30 knots). We had a very
challenging voyage - Lenni got sea sick and our belongings, despite having
been secured prior to departure, were tossed about the boat. This was
probably the roughest, most challenging trip we've had thus far, yet we
never felt as though we were in any danger. We were very glad to reach the
calmer waters of Barkley Sound this evening all in one piece!

Heading North - 2005

April 11, 2005

Today is the beginning of our 2005 journey North. We departed Roche Harbor this morning on our way to our first stop of Port Alberni, BC. We will take one week to reach Alberni, with intermittent stops in Victoria and Barkley Sound. Our annual haul out is scheduled at the shipyard in Alberni, and we will spend two weeks there before heading on to Alaska for the summer. Our San Juan Island friends, John, Sharon, Fred, Carolyn, Bill, and Rebbie gave us a rousing send off this morning.