An early 8am departure time, we headed out into the Queen Charlotte Straight for our biggest ‘open water’ crossing yet. The winds were expected to be light, and they sure were. Captain Tim said that is rather unusual for this crossing. We could hardly see Bonum Vitae as they disappeared into a fog bank. They let the flotilla know they were safe as the fog came and went.

Blunden Harbour was our destination; a mini archipelago with rapids, mudflats and streams. We passed Egg Island Lighthouse, a historic lighthouse established in 1898. The current steel frame, skeleton tower lighthouse was built in 1962. It marks the challenging location near Cape Caution. The waters where the Queen Charlotte Straight and the Queen Charlotte Sound meet, contain strong winds and swells which come across the Pacific from a 100 miles away. These can be rather challenging for boaters.

The beautiful humpback water spouts were visible along our route and some furry sea otters were floating, looking like logs a long way from shore. Lying on their backs in pairs, the camera shy creatures dove as we approached.

We pulled into Blunden Harbour. What a treat to be in the location where BC born artist Emily Car (1871-1945), an honorary member of the group of 7 (friends with Lauren Harris) painted many of her now famous million dollar paintings. Blunden Harbour Totems hang at the National Gallery of Canada in Ottawa. She spent many years with the Nak’waxda’xw First Nation Peoples of Blunden Harbour.

After our eight hour adventure, more fun was still to be had. Pamelican, out in their dingy, had spotted a bear! The crew whispered their directions to one another and all went to view a healthy looking black wild animal walking along the shoreline. He or she turned looked at us from a distance and continued to move over rocks looking for dinner.

Driving back to our boats, we spotted some rapids, created by the tide. Laughter and squeals could be heard from miles as we all made our way safely through the frothy white water.