We made a very early start at 5:30 and caught a nice picture of Sunshine ahead of us at sunrise. We made it across the Strait of Georgia with no problems. We knew the winds would be fairly strong so I set everything that was on the counters on the floor and we battened down everything we could. I even brought our lines inside so that the splashing wouldn't get on them. Salt water can make them very stiff and hard to manage. We did have a lot of rolling but everything stayed dry. Two of these pictures show just how much we were rolling.
When we got across the strait, we entered Gabriola Pass and the Gulf Islands. It was smooth and beautiful so I put everything back on the shelves, put the lines back on the cleats outside and planned on a smooth ride from there on into Roche Harbor. We headed down Trincomali Channel where it was smooth until we got to Reid Island. The wind coming up the channel, combined against the currents, created big oncoming waves. It was very rough and you can see in the next picture the waves crashing against Sunshine as well as on our windshield. Needless to say everything outside the boat from bow to stern was soaked.
Things smoothed down once we ducked behind some islands. We noticed the whale boat just outside Roche Harbor and headed in that direction to see if we could find the whales. Al and Sue were about 1/4 mile away from us on the other side of the tour boat when we saw a whale spouting alongside their boat. I was able to catch a couple of pictures of the Orca and what a show he gave.
Al and Sue tried to move away since boaters are supposed to try to stay back from where the whales are. Soon after, a small boat pulled up alongside them and we, as well as they, were concerned that someone was there to complain about how close they were. As it turned out, they were photographers who had also captured them and the orca and wanted to know if they would like to purchase the video.
We arrived at Roche Harbor, probably our favorite place, and spent the afternoon eating our traditional ice cream cones, visiting with EYC members who arrived yesterday from the Commodore's Cruise, and catching up on our emails and voice mails. In the evening, we joined EYC on their dock for a potluck/grill your own meat dinner. They had a great time on their trip, as did we, so there were lots of stories to share.
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