The fleet awoke to the sound of fishermen boarding their vessels; ready for another day of fishing out of Elfin Cove. Mother Goose, not to be out done, had our very own fishermen join the foray! The Meyers, chartered a fishing vessel and bundled up in fishing gear, were ready to go out and catch the big one! Unfortunately for the fleet, we had to say goodbye to Max, of Patos, who caught a float plane out of Elfin Cove today. We will miss you Max!  We thoroughly enjoyed your delightful company on the first half of this trip. While on the note of the comings and goings in the fleet, Bonum Vitae’s crew returned from their extended stay in Dundas Bay today. The three brothers, Joe, Mark and David, expertly brought the Bonum Vitae in through the narrow channel at high tide. It’s great to have you back, guys!

After meandering the boardwalk and enjoying a cup of coffee off the boat, the fleet was ready for an adventure. Melinda and Doug, off of Discovery, as well as Mark, Gayle, Hale and Anne, from Thea, and last but not least Mark from Bonum Vitae all took the dinghies out to George Island for a hike. Off we went, strolling over the white grey cobblestones of a purely granite beach and into the luminous greens of an old growth spruce and hemlock forest. Our footsteps fell softly on the pine damped trail, as we wound our way through groves of leafy Skunk cabbage and fruiting Devil’s club. Up and up we climbed, until we reached the site of an old World War II gun. Rusty and worn, a thankfully unused relic from another era, the gun has remained with only the hemlocks and the occasional hiker for company. Satisfied, we descended back down and hopped in our dinghies.

On the ride home, we were surprised by three male Stellar sea lions playing in the wake of our outboards. They gracefully rolled their huge bodies over one another, splashing in the waves and eyeing us with their mouths open. Moments later we were joined by the elusive Minke Whale! Smaller and faster than a humpback, these baleen whales often travel alone and are very difficult to catch a glimpse of. Lucky for us, this particular Minke whale paid our little flotilla no mind, and continued lunge feeding while we observed breathlessly. After a time, the whale and sea lions moved on and we started our motors back up.  Under the shadow of the Fairweather mountains, we made our way back to the fleet for the night.