Canada Day, Laundry Cart Races, and Finally, Finally WiFi!

"I'm telling you that India is that way, now set my course."

-Christopher Columbus                                                                                                                     

Lat/Long Coordinates: 50°20.005 N, 125°29.27 W, 50°42.857 N, 127°29.294 W

Hallelujah! Internet everyone! Wifi is a beautiful, beautiful thing. We made it to Cow Bay Marina and in case anyone was wondering if we sunk in the Pacific, just know there are some places on the coast of British Columbia where even a message by homing pigeon wouldn’t get out.

Hence no entry on the blog, which is unfortunate, because it’s been a packed past few days—hard-core sailing for the first time, passing Cape Caution (British Columbia’s version of the dreaded Cape Horn), Canada Day and racing laundry carts down the laundromat hall (yes, we got footage :D). Plus, 18 hours/160 straight miles of motoring—some in the middle of the night, with the occasional moonlight our only illumination and GPS our guide.

So after at least fifteen minutes of inner debate, I’ve decided instead of going from today and working back, let’s go from where we left off.

After all, 4^th of July (America! Whoot, whoot!) is a great time to talk about July 1^st: Canada Day! And let me tell you, Canadians took their 150^th Canada Day very, very seriously.   

Of course, it didn’t even cross our minds as we left Otter Cove that Canadians everywhere were preparing for Canada Day, because we were preparing for Johnstone Strait. For good reason, too, because as we motored into the open of Johnstone Strait, we experienced our first rough seas of the trip, and realized just how capable the Northern Star really is.

Rough seas = swells. For those who may not know, swells are big, rolling waves that don’t have crests/whitecaps. They look like expanding ripples in a pond, but on the ocean, swells sink ships. Plus, they make your stomach wonder whether it wants to live in your toes or your throat.

But 3-4 foot rolling swells in the Star? Pssh! No big. Captain Mark compared it to a cork bobbing on water, and a half-full gallon jug (or the Star)—which one bounces more? So as the nose of the Star rose and fell in the Strait, and we braced are knees and gripped the walls, catching items falling off shelves and stumbling around below decks—it was actually fun.

Plus, we had learned enough that Captain Mark was turning over driving, not only to the First Mate and Captain…

But to Alyssa and I. Feel the power.

So we take on the watch, Sissy and I, looking for logs (big ones), dealing with boats trying to cut us off at the pass (literally), and “glassing” wildlife with binoculars. When you steer the boat, you adjust by degrees—usually 15° to avoid a log, and 45° to avoid another boat. (Watch here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UEyxRxmIK1Y)

Halfway through our watch, I noticed an odd splash by the bow, there and gone. I mentioned it to Alyssa, but after nothing happened, shrugged and kept my eyes on the horizon. Two minutes later, another white splash darted out from the side of our boat, but this time, I recognized the fin and so did Alyssa, who jumped to her feet. “What, it’s a porpoise!”

Whale Sighting

Two porpoises, gray and white, were playing in our wake! If we had been on deck, we could have reached out and touched their slick fins as they darted in and out of the water. Lyssa was lightning fast with her camera, but the porpoises were faster. Ducking back under the waves, they disappeared. Lucky for us, they weren’t to be our first finned friend of the day:

Yeah. That was pretty epic too. :)

We raced another sailboat towards a tidal rip passage—or rather, I anxiously watched as they converged on our heading, and upon consulting with Alyssa, hastily slowed down--a bit too much, probably, like a student driver with their learner’s permit not too confident at a four-way stop.

Our stint at the wheel lasted only an hour and a half, but it was quite the experience. As was our home for that night: Port Hardy.

Ah, Port Hardy. Even though it was late as we pulled into Port Hardy, it was Canada Day people! Canada Day balloons were everywhere with 150 on them. And the liquor stores—well, let’s just say, they definitely hadn’t closed, and we were at the marina by one of the only liquor stores in town, so the more moderate Canadian patriotic celebrators weren’t hanging out by us.We got wished happy Canada Day by at least three people on the wharf--one of them (probably) sober. 

Still, in honor of Canada Day I would like to take a moment to express how much I like Canada. Actually, the whole Northern Star crew was expressing how nice people are, and with all the time spent, Canadians have been very accommodating and are very good folks.

But after Otter Cove, we were stanky, our clothes were janky, and we were eager for a shower and to do some laundry. After getting some Canadian coins equaling a dollar which Canadians call “loonies” (with arctic loons on one side) we went to do our laundry. (Watch it here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rQplS7fDuv0)

Except Mom had to leave us to go get more once we realized just how many loonies it takes to do a load of laundry. Which left Alyssa and I to our own devices, with only a laundry cart and empty dryers to entertain us.

Somehow, I ended up in the laundry cart, holding the camera, while Lyssa pushed me at full speed down the empty shower hall. Alyssa has mad cart-pushing skills people. She puts in a tidy swerve at the end to turn around at maximum speed, then tear back down towards the showers. (Watch it here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EJqhzffVryQ)

Two rounds of this, and we moved on to photo opportunities with the dryers. Yeah, this happened:

Then Mom got back with the loonies, and I learned another thing about life on the boat.

Boat Tip #1 After you’ve been on a boat for two days straight, watching your wash go round and round behind the glass can actually be very entertaining.

As in, we sat and watched the suds go round, realizing we put way to much soap in, debating whether or not it would wash out. Then we carted our laundry warily back to the boat and planning tomorrow's trip.

The next day we passed the infamous Cape Caution, and yesterday we passed some shipwrecks and an un-exploded bomb, and...

And this is probably enough for one post. But hold tight! Were staying another night in Prince Rupert, and I'm just glad it won't take a homing pigeon to catch up this ship's log.

Skipper Krystal

You Tube Channel: Sailing the Northern Star.