Just back from a relaxing soak in the hotsprings.  A beautiful two kilometer board walk through the forest leads to a small change area overlooking the ocean and some pools.  The forest presents our group with some great ancient red cedars to marvel at, a diversity of ferns and a feel for the old-growth of this region.   The boardwalk along the way pays tributes to those that have yachted these waters before us- boards with the names of different boats carved into them provide a good distraction as we try to make our way while simultaneously looking down between our toes to read off the names and harbors of boats that have visited and tipping our heads back to appreciate the canopy layers.

We left Mosquito Cove this morning at 0800 and moved up Fortune Channel around Meares Island.  We stayed to the inside as the forecast was calling for winds of 35 knots on the outside. The inside proves more scenic anyways – old growth forest blanketing the mountainsides down to the high tide mark along the granite edged channels and some narrow passages to test the fleet’s navigational skill.  The fleet will learn that, wherever there is a choice between two passages, Captain Brian will opt for the narrower to better enjoy the view of shore.

Alan and Linda aboard Aquila opted to return down towards Tofino to explore some inlets where they’ve had good luck with bear sightings before.  We’ll hope to catch them tomorrow as we head into Tahasis.

Today was our first sighting of sea otters!  Three different individuals along our passage up the channel.  They seemed unconcerned with our wake as they bobbed over it on their backs, heads and feet poking out of the water.  They were each probably confused to encounter our armada in such lightly traveled waters.  Our bald eagle count is soaring as well (ha!) two adults and an immature eagle have been sighted over our anchorage this evening.

Aquila has headed in a different direction for the evening, but we have picked up Irish Mist, which is tagging along for the travels.