13 Sep 23

We all awoke refreshed just after 07:00. After breakfast, John and Laurie finished packing, then we walked them up to get on the 09:35 ferry to Port McNeill. After paying off the port of Alert Bay, we got going at 10:00, and pulled out into the channel into a pea-soup fog. Fortunately, there was very little traffic in the Johnstone Strait and nearly all of it was headed to the SE like us. The fog finally burned off about noon and we had a lovely, sunny afternoon with NW 10-12 wind behind us. We thought about sailing, but would only have been able to average about 3.5 kn SOG, so carried on motoring all the way. “Max”, an Amel 54 that was parked near us in Port McNeill and had anchored in Alert Bay last night, left about half an hour before us and we followed them all the way to the entry to Port Neville, although we actually passed them about a mile outside the entry. They anchored nearby and Herve, the skipper, came over for a chat, They are a French couple who have been all round the world - 68 countries - and are headed to San Francisco to find a berth for the winter. We anchored about a mile north of the old Post Office/Store, long since closed (although the dock appears to still be serviceable), in 9 m of water at 15:15. 

50-30.506’N, 126-03.754’W; Log = 38.2, Sum = 2808.8; Eng hrs = 5.3, Sum = 3555.1