My son JIM has short holiday n come from Auckland for a couple of week; if sailing alone is interesting, enjoying alone is not... sharing good moments give double pleasure n this news is great; I pick him up in PORT MAC NEIL; more convenient, especialy to refill the cat with fresh stuff than PORT HARDY;

We left quick through the WAYNTON PASSAGE, believing the fog was away, but in the middle of the passage, it return thicker than before; even with the radar we were not feeling to well with no visibility, 7k of current, partial vision to whale watching boats looking everywhere the animals without any fixed course and a big cruise ship at a pretty fast speed...

PORT HARDY,  ok if yu dock, but not really a good place to ancho

Nice gift for cruisers too ; this "kids fishing zone" in PORT HARDY

Let's sail further south to PORT MAC NEIL

Pick up of Jim in PORT MAC NEIL, with an easy fresh food refill...

...even if ALCYONE stay safely anchored in the fig, the other side of the bay...

...This fog is moving fast n very hard to understand where...

n we are now in the middle of the BLACKFISH SOUND with more than 6k of current n this ghostly visibility !

A few minutes later:this whale, tracked by kayaks  just offshore of SWANSON isld

Finaly, the sun win, but the colder water around 10 degres of the main channel keep the fog longer than other places.

This day active finish with this local dish in GREASE ISLAND anchorage

Weak wind n short sailing time push us to return in the JOHNSTON STRAIT...

...and this time we have to fight in the fog against the strong  current of the BLACKNEY PASSAGE

...not long later, ALCYONE enjoy a full speed run with the Code 0 under a perfect sunshine

Game is to avoid bumping in the numerous debris driven by the spring tide

Pretty chilly this NW wind, but very interesting to sail SEward  the JOHNSTON STRAIT

We anchored on the side of the strait in BEAR BIGHT,

from Bear we saw only the final results of blackberry digestion, but from logging...

This inside the new forest with so many debris everywhere...

and dozens of  rusting vehicules parked without anybody around...