Port McNeill to Pruth Bay

Phoenix Hunter on the dock in Port Harvey




May 22 to May 26.

Four nights in Port McNeill at North Island Marina.

If you ever find yourself in Port McNeill the best place to be is North Island Marina. The owner - Steve and all the staff are just great and friendly and helpful. We are becoming regulars there and they are always happy to see us and it seems we are always there for at least 3 nights - usually 4. Often waiting for a weather warning to end.

The grocery store and marine store are just a quick walk up the dock. There used to be two groceries stores but Super Valu closed last summer. So grocery shopping is so-so there.

There is also a laundry and a wonderful little Thrift store all within easy walking distance. I always seem to find something to buy at the Thrift store. We usually get a few items from Fields and. Rona and the Bargin store. We either forget stuff or we "need" stuff and by the time we get to Port McNeill we have a list.

Our skiff trouble was quickly solved by Graham. I'm sure we are assisting in his retirement fund! Seems every year we have a little skiff issue that Graham has to fix.

And we got pizza! The pizza oven wasn't running yet in Port Harvey ( another favourite dock ) but we found a very good pizza at the Sportsman Bar and Steakhouse at the top of the dock.

We always seem to meet a few new boaters at North Island Marina.

We met a couple on a sailboat that we're heading north and waiting for the wind to pass. There were two really windy days in Port McNeill - blowing 25 kts in the Marina -- very windy!!

There was a break in the wind on Friday May 26th so we left the dock and motored up to Clam Cove. The couple we met in Port McNeill came up on Saturday - we had a Happy hour on their sailboat.

This little hand painted sign was there in 2015.




There is a little collection of float houses in Clam Cove. We've been here before. It's a nice little spot and an easy staging spot for Cape Caution





We went for a little dingy ride around the Cove




And a walk on shore.




The first part of the path was an old logging road. But as soon as the path ended it was mossy and wet. It was a very difficult walk for me.






Sunday morning we pulled anchor and left Calm Cove at 5 AM. The trip crossing Cape Caution we pretty much uneventful. We had the poles down - ready in case there was some wild wave action but we never put the fish in the water. It got a little foggy around Smiths Inlet and then a little windy as we came up to the Pruth Bay. The wind always blows the fog away!




It was a beautiful sunrise as we were leaving Sunday morning at the crack of dawn. Not often are we underway at this time of day!!

We travel all the way from Clam Cove to Pruth Bay - 57 nautical miles. Something we probably would not have done with Jenny on board. Getting such an early start is difficult when you have a dog to take to shore - a skiff to put on the boat deck and then poles to put down. So all the prep work was done the night before and we just had to pull the anchor in the morning.



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