4 Aug 18

The alarm went off at 7:40, so I got up and cast off “Massilia” at 08:00. The Admiral and I then settled down for a few minutes to enjoy our breakfast. We had the anchor up just after 08:30 and were on our way to Port Hardy. About 2 miles out into the Queen Charlotte Strait, we noticed a huge gathering of sea-birds on the water up ahead and were passed by a number of eagles headed that way at about the same time. They were apparently on a school of fish, as about a dozen eagles circled around and snatched snacks out of the water every few seconds for as long as we could see. We saw a couple of small porpoises, but no whales. The water was glassy smooth all the way to Port Hardy. Our normal stop, Quarterdeck Marina, was completely full, so we stopped at Seagate Dock, run by the Port Hardy Harbour Authority; this dock is fine, although more basic and a bit more exposed to conditions out in the bay, but fine for the short period of settled conditions forecast for our stay. Laurie showed up at the dock just after we got tied up, having flown in from Vancouver. All four of us then walked up to town and got burgers at Captain Hardy’s. Then, it was up to the grocery store for round 1 of provisioning before we head to the boonies. 

50-43.362’N, 127-29.298’W; Log = 16.1, Sum (2018) = 501.8 N-m