Log Entry: Tuesday, August 10th, 1999

Queen Charlotte to Larsen Harbour: 63.5 nm

We sailed across the Hecate!  Well, motor-sailed, but it was a very pleasant crossing, even though the swell was on the beam: much gentler with the sails up.

About half-way across, a large police cruiser went foaming by us towards the Queen Charlottes.  Strange, I thought at the time.  Later, on the news, we heard that a "mystery" ship was being tracked off the west coast of the Charlottes, and would soon be intercepted: the police boat must have been part of that operation.

Larsen Harbour was much easier to find this time, as we knew what to look for in the kelp-blanketed swell.  As we entered the small cove, we discovered another boat: a strange-looking home-made-looking schooner. 

We picked up one of those awful tire-covered moorings which seem to populate northern BC, and settled in for a relaxed evening, after our 10-hour journey from Queen Charlotte.

We've had a few 10-hour plus days, a couple of 12-hour days: these are the longest we'll do prior to our departure for the Marquesas.  We've already decided that prior to leaving, we want to spend three or four days out of sight of land as a "dry run", just to try to get a sense of offshore sailing.  We'll do that in the spring ...

Jane's log:

"We said goodbye to Nathalie as we passed the museum.  There were lots of eagles feeding at low tide.  After a slow exit from Skidegate Inlet due to fighting the current and the low tide (we had to go almost to the buoy marking the northernmost limit of the spit) we set the sails.  The wind was from the NW about 10 knots (the wind speed indicator appears to be bust, having left it on when the battery went dead).   Our speed was under 5 knots, so we motor-sailed, getting 9+ knots at times when the wind picked up.  We lowered the jib after 35 nm as the wind was close to our nose, but the main gave us a nice push across the rest of the strait.  The sails made the beam seas quite comfortable, and the engine ensured that we crossed the strait before dark.

"I took a mooring in Larsen Harbour again, as I had a nasty headache and didn't fancy the extra miles to Spicer Anchorage on down Principe Channel."