Leg 1, Day 13 - Winter Harbour to Fury Cove

The weather gods must be smiling on us! We left Winter Harbour at 5 am sharp this morning; light was just beginning to creep on the darkness which shrouded our cozy nook of the world. Aside from the fact that it was a fairly long cruise to Fury Cove, our hope in leaving early was to avoid the high winds and swells that typically exist when crossing the Queen Charlotte Sound. Wind gusts in this area have reached some of the highest recorded, up to about 200+ knots/hour, but as we rounded Cape Scott on the tip of Vancouver Island, we were joyously surprised to find the best seas we’ve had yet. The sound was as calm as a lake. The majority of our crossing was through seas of glass with barely a ripple disturbing our vessels. We were invigorated by the wonderful weather, and our excitement only increased when we began spotting pods of humpback whales feeding in Queen Charlotte Sound as we made our crossing. Like us, these whales were recent arrivals to the area, having migrated all the way from their breeding areas in Hawaii to their summer feeding grounds on the north coast of British Columbia. Also like us, they were here to feast on the abundant sources of delicious seafood, fattening themselves up before leaving the great north and making the long return trip south. Some of the humpbacks came within a few hundred yards of our boats. We idled in the sound and looked on in amazement as these magnificent creatures breached and fluked right along side our boats. Along with the astounding sights of the whales came the huge flocks of sooty shearwaters, which blanketed the top of the water, following the whales in hopes of catching any leftover food brought to the surface by the humpbacks. It was a phenomenal way to end our trip along the west coast of Vancouver Island and our start along the B.C. coastline. Fury Cove was breathtaking, with a beautiful curving white beach on one end which looked almost tropical. It was the perfect place for a bonfire. All of the boats took their dinghies over to the beach and spent the evening talking and laughing by the fire. One of the anchoring sailboats even joined in the festivities and a good time was had by all.