23 Jul 18

We rolled out of bed just before 05:30 and got the anchor up for the 16 mile run to Port Neville. The wind was of course on the nose at 10-15 knots the whole way, so we motored west through Wellbore and Sunderland Channels, finally sticking our nose out in the western Johnstone Straight at about 07:15. We had the anchor down at the very northern head of the bay at 09:30. Along the way, I was able to pump out the aft holding tank; the associated macerator pump decided, inexplicably, to work. Not so, the forward macerator. John insisted on sailing most of the way and did not arrive until 11:30, by which time, the Admiral and I had already completed a nice nap. The wind was up all afternoon, but the clouds burned off before noon and we had a lovely, quiet afternoon all by ourselves. Propane tank #2 expired just as we were coming into the bay, so I switched it out for #3. Tank #2 lasted 16 days.

50-32.748’N, 125-58.076’W; Log 20.6, Sum (2018) = 363.0 N-m

24 Jul 18

Sleep lasted till 09:00 this morning. After a long leisurely morning, we finally decided to go and explore the shallow, upper reaches of the bay, where, yesterday, we had observed an eco-tour group disappear for hours. When we left the boats for the 2-mile, one-way row, there was only a slight breeze blowing. We got to the end just before HW, but could find no route through to the woods connecting to the other creek we could also see flowing into the bay. After searching for 30 minutes and running completely out of sufficient water depth, we decided to return to the boats. By then, the wind was up to 15 knots, naturally, right on the nose. It took more than 1.5 hours to row back into the wind and both John and I were knackered, sore and stiff. Unfortunately, other than some bear(?) tracks in the mud of the stream and a few gulls, we observed virtually no flora or fauna out of the ordinary; nor did we find the fabled northwest passage between the two tidal streams. So, the expedition was a bit of a failure in spite of our valiant exertions. After a restorative nap, we were ready for happy hour. Gale warnings in the Johnstone Straight this afternoon, but we are relatively sheltered here, this far up the bay. Hopefully, we will be able to get away to Port Harvey tomorrow morning.

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