Log Entry: Monday, August 16th, 1999

Europa Hot Springs to MacDonald Bay: 45.4 nm

We motored down Douglas Channel, across Wright Sound, and down Lewis Pass to MacDonald Bay, advertised as a "bombproof anchorage", amid increasing rain and fog, but calm wind.  We had to use our radar to cross Lewis Pass ...  The entrance to MacDonald Bay was OK: we had been worried about it, as it goes down to 2 feet at low tide (on the chart, it actually dries!!) but it turned out to be a non-event.

It's a pleasant bay: small and heavily wooded, the water tea-coloured.  As we settled in after anchoring, and Jane prepared to set the crab trap, a small motorboat came alongside: they told us where the best spot was for crab.  Later they anchored in the bay, and friends of theirs rafted alongside (we assume they're friends ...)

During the night we were pelted with rain and rocked by fierce gusts, and decided at about 0630, that we would sit out the deteriorating weather: gale warnings and heavy chop.

"Mariners in the area are requested to keep a lookout for a lost person.  Report any sightings to this station.  Prince Rupert Coast Guard Radio: out."

Jane's log:

"We left Europa Bay with some visibility of the mountains in the Reach, and had the current with us all the way.  Spotted 50 porpoises on the way.

"We decided against fueling at Hartley,and continued on to Lewis Passage where the fog rolled in and we headed toward Blackrock Point in the rain.  The sea was amazingly calm and the fog cleared just in time for our entry into Macdonald Bay.

"We set the crab trap in the rain; the couple aboard Irie who are fishing outside said they have had some luck here but sometimes the commercial guys come in and clean it out.

"Ian had his coldest beer on this trip!  Maybe it was the bang to his head!!"