06/23/2024 Hole in the Wall was a big learning experience for us. It doesn’t look like much, but the swirls in every direction were so strong that our boat got caught in a not-so-fun whirlpool and was tossed side to side without forward progress, and we couldn’t power through. We had to turn around, and it took several hours to backtrack. We ended up pulling into Campbell River at 9 pm, which was pretty far south of our intended destination. We were seven minutes past the recommended slack tide; timing is everything!
06/24/2024 We left at 12pm to get to Seymour Narrows 7 miles away for slack tide at 1:30. If you don’t get through during slack tide, the currents can reach 15knots. Seeing as how we travel at 8 knots, we would be pushed backward if we didn’t time things right. We didn’t go far to get to a recommended, lovely anchorage, Kanish Bay. We unloaded the Fournado and took it to a hiking spot. Unfortunately, we forgot to look at the tide and couldn’t take the dinghy in too far, in fear that it would be beached if tide was low, so Paul stayed in the dinghy while the kids and I hiked up to Granite Bay. We got back to the boat, finally being early enough to celebrate the start of our adventure with the steaks Paul bought. Yum!
06/25/2024 Paul and I woke at 4:20a.m. to pull anchor to get through the Johnstone Straight at slack tide. We made it through and had our first humpback sighting! So exciting! No pictures; too far away and Paul’s drone was uncooperative. We anchored at Port McNeil. Maybe we will go into town? Next contender tomorrow: Cape Caution, where ocean waves plus wind waves can collide to create a nasty challenge.