Hello from Port McNeill, Vancouver Island, BC

A weather front has come in, with gale force winds off the Northern part of Vancouver Island. But, we feel very lucky so far to have had good weather so far and we are prepared to sit tight if we need to.

We arrived mid-morning in Port McNeill, which is our last point before we cross Queen Charlotte Strait and pass Cape Caution. This Port is a great place to get fuel, which we need, as well as replenish our boat with a few items.

Here is some insight on what we've been up to since our last blog update. After Shoal Bay we cruised to:

Port Neville, The Broughton Islands, BC: We were excited to see a black bear while cruising thru Wellborne Channel. We also had fun watching the whirlpools at Ringpoint Rapids, as there must have been 100+ whirpools, each with a one foot, or more, indentation.

Port Neville is a beautiful inlet off the Johnstone Strait. There are no public utilities -- no electric lines, no public water, sewer, or garbage collection. Mail is delivered and picked up by airplane on Wednesdays, weather permitting. Lorna (Hansen) Chesluk, is the postmaster at this little outpost, but she was "off island" when we visited. But we were able to peak in the windows to the original Post Office & Store that is now turned into a museum. We also toured the lovely grounds, while we were tied up at the public docks. After our exploring, we cruised further into the inlet and anchored in Baresides Bay (50 31.482N 126 00.413W), which provided very good anchorage.

Lagoon Cove, The Broughton Islands, BC: We very much enjoyed time on the docks at the Lagoon Cove Resort. Anchoring is an option, which we typically prefer to do, but we were really happy to have decided to take a space on the docks. The majority of the boaters on the docks were headed North To Alaska, and the others were planning on spending the summer cruising the lovely Broughton Islands. We enjoyed chatting with all of them, learning about their favorite places to go, and local insights. And at 5pm the Resort hosted a delightful Happy Hour, where they provided fresh prawns and all the boaters brought an appetizer to share, and their own drink. The Happy Hour was definitely a happy one, with more time to chat with other boters as well as hear some great stores from Bob, the owner of Lagoon Cove. Again, we had a wonderful time at the Lagoon Cove Resort and highly recommend it for anyone cruising in the Broughton's.

Before we left we had a special treat by meeting another owner of a Wilbur (same manufacturer as our boat). There boat is 30 years old and in great condition. We both agreed Wilbur makes a great quality boat, perfect for cruising in the PNW.

Here are a few pictures of Port McNeill:








Photos from Lagoon Cove