So there is a 'thing' with US boat insurance (or at least our boat insurance) that without a special rider and more money, we can't go north of 51 degrees north prior to May 1st. As such we've been on the 'hook' (this is boat talk for 'at Anchor') for the last week in the beautiful Blunden Harbour waiting for 'the day'.
Annoyingly, we've had some GREAT weather that would have made the crossing past Cape Caution, the next milestone in our journey, EASY and with wind in the right direction. However, despite how confident we are in our sailing capabilities, we weren't willing to forgo the security blanket of insurance and so have decided to wait it out and now may have to wait it out even longer for a good weather window.
Its a pretty cool harbor, with lots of interesting nooks and crannies to explore with the dingy. We've been alone for most of the week, with a few boats that came in and left promptly the next morning. A few things we've discovered during our stay:
1.) The crabbing isn't that great. We only caught one after multiple efforts and decided to abandon our efforts.
2.) There appears to be an algae bloom in progress and the BC Fisheries website, all shellfish is closed for harvesting due to biotoxins. You can see the murky color of the water (in photo to the right). There isn't much visibility in the water to see rocks and it doesn't look like much fun to go swimming (even though it feels surprisingly warm!)
3.) There is a really cool lagoon that is accessible at high tide, when the level of Bradley lagoon is at the same level as the tide. We were able to go in and explore for about an hour. It was a mystical place. When the chart on our phones ended we turned back, later to discover we still could have gone much further. The air was warm, lush and if the color green had a smell -- well it smelled green. I would recommend this adventure to future visitors, just be mindful that if you get stuck in there, you really would need to wait until the next tide to leave, as it doesn't seem to be an easy place to portage your boat if you needed. We could have explored further but alas the rain returned.
While in Blunden Harbour we had our first 'summer' teaser day. It was nearly 70 degrees F and fabulous. We hope there is more of that coming at some point. We took a walk along the shell midden beach and stretched our legs. Leia got brave and did at least 5 laps around the deck.
Next up on the agenda is the rounding of Cape Caution and Northern British Columbia and the crossing of the 51st Parallel. Onward.
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