Log Entry: Saturday, May 22nd, 1999

Prince Rupert to Brundige Inlet: 36 nm

5:30 am: Rain.

Up, and listened again to the weather report. It seemed to be the best we were going to see, so we left at about 6:30.

The western entrance to Prince Rupert (Venn Passage) is tricky in spots, requiring careful observation of range marks to avoid very shallow areas.

Back out into Chatham Sound, which was calm at first, but as we crossed toward Dundas Island, the swell and chop grew. As we approached Green Island, at the western edge of Dundas, we started experiencing 3-meter (10-foot) steep chop. The visibility was worsening, and the wind was picking up. About 3 miles off the south end of Green Island, a large Coast Guard ship was anchored. Earlier, as we made our way through the waves, a Coast Guard chopper had flown by not far off.  They served to remind us that we were close to the US/Canada border ...

The Holliday Passage, between Dundas and Green Island, was nasty. Because of the chop (caused by the winds funneling down and out of Portland Inlet), we were forced straight up the channel, unable to get closer to Dundas, to avoid taking the seas on the beam.

This was the kind of weather which makes you realize why the jack lines, safety harnesses, and survival suits are on board: if anything goes wrong, everything will start to go wrong in a hurry ...

We went a bit north of Dundas, then turned and approached the Brundige Inlet entrance with following seas, which were ever so much gentler in motion.

As the visibility had worsened, I had relied increasingly on the radar to navigate, the first time I had ever had to 'fly-by-wire'.

We made our way down the inlet, in the rain, and anchored in the eastern inlet, which was windy, but the water was completely calm. On our way in, I banged my head hard on the saloon table, probably the worst hit I’ve ever taken to my skull. Extremely painful: it left a bump on my head that stayed for several days; Jane thought it large enough to capture on film ...

We had been working on the windlass inside, so I put it back together again on deck so we could anchor, in the rain.

There was a fishing boat tied to the coast guard mooring in the middle of the inlet, and a sailboat (Jambo III) anchored at the far end. We anchored between them, in the rain, and settled in.

It was heaven, compared to the storm outside.

We listened to the weather, and decided that the following day would not be a good time to leave the safety of the inlet.

It poured rain and blew all night.  I kept waking up,   worried about the wind. It was gusting to over 30 knots at times. We had snubbed the chain to a cleat. Would the snub line hold? Was the chain stopper in place? Would it hold if the line parted? Was the windlass locked if both of those failed?