August 9, 2010 – Leg 6, Day 8 – Fury Cove to Blunden Harbor

The Mother Goose fleet was up at “o’dark-thirty” this morning as we prepared to make our crossing of Queen Charlotte Sound around Cape Caution. This is one of the open water crossings we make and can be challenging. After checking the weather and sea condition reports, and with knowledge of the prevailing weather patterns, Captain Bill determined on an early departure to get us across the sound while the seas and winds would be at their calmest. We left Fury Cove just at first light and indeed, our crossing proved to be quite smooth with only two foot swells and no wind waves as we watched the sun come up over the mountains on the British Columbia mainland.

After rounding Cape Caution we stayed closer to the mainland side, cruising along the craggy shoreline that showed the signs of the harsh weather this area can experience. Off in the distance we could now see the north end of Vancouver Island. We detoured through the Millar Group, a chain of rocky islets, to check out a Stellar Sea Lion haulout – one of the islets was just covered with these large mammals – while a humpback whale spouted on the other side of us! Then it was on to our anchorage at Blunden Harbour where there was plenty of room for everyone to anchor individually. Here we executed a water transfer from Deception to Navigator, as Navigator had taken on some bad water at Shearwater which necessitated the disinfecting and pumping out of their tanks, then refilling them from Deception’s tanks. This was accomplished expeditiously, and the crew of Navigator happily went off to make ice for their evening beverages.

A dinghy exploration of Blunden Harbour and its tidal rapids, led by Naturalist Emmelina and First Mate Jordan, filled out the afternoon, and we celebrated a successful crossing of Queen Charlotte Sound, a cruising milestone, with a social hour aboard Deception.