Johnstone Strait

I woke up on a sunny, calm Sunday morning in serene Handfield Bay. To the sound of the computer-voice of the marine weather forecast. She was saying -gale warnings in Johnstone Strait. Northwest wind building to 30 - 40 knots by Tuesday, bad Wednesday and Thursday too.

Most recreational cruisers avoid Johnstone Strait as much as they can. The alternative is a long, circuitous, but beautiful route through the islands that lay between Johnstone Strait and the mainland. This alternate route involves multiple passages through tidal rapids, but as described in my previous post, if you are careful with timing, you can safely make your way. We have always gone the long way in the past, because Johnstone Strait is fearsome, and because the long route has its own rewards.

But this trip, we have a schedule to keep. We need to be in Port Hardy to pick up our son Collin who is flying up from Portland to meet us. And there is no way to avoid Johnstone Strait completely. So what the heck do we do?

Pull anchor and head for Johnstone Strait, full speed ahead, that's what!

We pulled out into the Strait to find it dead calm and only one other boat in sight. 'Cause we are the only dumbasses stupid enough to go out there in a forecasted gale? NERVOUS. An hour later, still dead calm, still NERVOUS. Four hours later, a chop builds, oh crap, here it comes. Five hours later,  the chop lays down, back to calm again. Starting to relax, maybe just a teeny bit. Still hardly any  other recreational boaters, and only a few commercial guys.

Eight hours later, we pull into Port McNeill, Johnstone Strait behind us. It never did get rough.