June 30, 2013 - Rounding the Northern tip

June 30, 2013 – Rounding the Northern Tip

Malahide is having radar issues but as our weather window to getting around the top end of the island is closing , Colibri and Sea Level II opt to leave Pt Hardy and head to Bull Harbor and, weather dependant,  possibly all the way around to Sea Otter Cove.  Hopefully the necessary radar parts will arrive today and Malahide will follow us around tomorrow.

 

As we worked our way up to the northern end of the island through Goletas Channel, the weather was spectacular and the seas were absolutely calm.

We hit some very dense fog just before Bull Harbor and the little fishing boats (without radar and seemingly without radios!!) darted around us, making for a bit of a tense part of the trip.  We were picking up images on our radar, so we knew something was out there and coming towards us … Cam was sounding our horn to make sure boats knew we were there and little fishing boats would fly out of the fog, wave and disappear back into the fog ….

Gotta love those little fishing boats …. NOT !!

 Colibri coming through the fog behind us ….

 

 

As we work our way out of the fog Colibri is much more visible behind us now …..

 

Over the last year of preparation for this trip, there had been much discussion and reading about  how to handle THE NAWHITTI BAR and TATNALL REEFS ( the mention of these “strike fear in the hearts of men” …. AND women !!)  These can be very treacherous and in certain weather conditions, very challenging.  We opted to not cross directly over the bar, but instead hug the north tip of the island and skirt the bar and the reefs.

We could  not have had better weather conditions!!  Christopher (in Colibri) said in ALL the times he has been in situations like these (and he has come across bars before …), he has never experienced such calm conditions ….

Prayers answered !!   J

Reaching the most northerly point on our journey around the island …. Winds are 3.2 knots … it’s 14’ outside and we are flying along at 8 knots for another 14 min 46 seconds until we make the turn to start heading south …

 

We saw sea otters, seals AND a whale feeding (YEAH !!  I finally saw a whale … )

 

 With the fog cleared, we enjoyed blue skies and warm sun the rest of the way ‘round.  We could now actually SEE the beautiful rugged shores ….

 

 

 

 

The wind picked up a little as we rounded the point and headed to Sea Otter Cove.  The cove has a very rugged entrance with rocks and enormous kelp patches.  The kelp beds looked a little like something out of an alien movie !!

 

We worked our way through the rocks,  into the VERY shallow Sea Otter Cove and dropped anchor. 

 

 

 

With only 14’ of water below us and an expected tidal drop of 7’ overnight, we pulled our anchor and opted to raft overnight with Colibri, who had found a 22’ deep hole.

 Here’s what came up with our anchor …  A bouquet of seaweed and mud !!!  NICE !!

  

Safe and sound for another nite …..