It looked like it that the people from Ketchikan had exported all their rain to British Columbia. During the morning while sailing through Hecate Strait and Queen Charlotte Sound there was a steadily increase in wind but also in rain. The first had been expected the latter not. However it was there and it made the outside world look very gloomy. Luckily most guests spend the morning inside the ship anyway while the ship sped down towards the Canadian Inside Passage.

While coming closer and closer the wind reached gale force winds but by 2 pm. the ship came under the lee of Vancouver Island and then it was better. By the time we reached the pilot station it had diminished in strength but also had changed direction. This made making lee for the pilot boat an interesting puzzle. There was a swell running from the SW and one from the NW and the wind was blowing from the SE. Normally you turn the ship in such a way that you have the swell or the wind full on the beam. Now with opposing swell and wind it was not so easy. In the end the pilot boat and I decided on the “glue alongside manuvre”. This is best described as having the pilot boat come almost alongside and then moving the bow in the direction of the pilot boat. The pilot boat can then put its bow against the ships hull under the pilot ladder and the ships momentum in the turn creates a stable platform, as long as the ship travels just a bit faster than the waves. The stern in the meantime moves away from the pilot boat and that has the effect that the ship “irons” the waves flat.

It worked as planned and the pilot transfer went swift and safely. I had decided to go for the late tide. The early one would have been around 8pm at the latest and that would have meant racing down Johnstone Strait. With going now for the late tide we sailed with a normal sailing speed through the BC Inside Passage. That also gave sometime for some sightseeing. However the weather did not help very much here as it remained rainy and overcast. I took the gamble, hoping that the rain clouds would lift sufficiently, to at least have a look at Alert Bay and the totem poles.

By the time we reached Pulteney point the wind had died down, the rain was reduced to a light drizzle but there were still low hanging clouds. Basically it looked like BC in the winter time but with higher temperatures. Not what the cruise guest expects from a cruise but it did give a good impression. Luckily by the time we reached the Indian Village of Alert bay the clouds just lifted high enough to see the town. With the highest totem pole in the world and the concentration of totem poles around the village green my gamble paid off.

Sailing through the Narrows had been set for midnight and from 11.15 to midnight we had the first fog of the season. Luckily it cleared at Campbell River so it did not affect my short mornings sleep. We sailed through the Narrows just after midnight and by 1 am we had passed Cape Mudge and were in the Strait of Georgia. By 01:05 I was in bed because the phone would ring again at 05.30 for arrival Vancouver.