We departed on-time and it was a beautiful day. Tonia took this picture of Coda pulling out of Bella Bella and set to arrive at the north end of Vancouver Island.
The first 6 hours were great, just a typical day of cruising, but I did take time to stow all loose items and strap everything down in the expectation that the next 4 hours would be tough. They were!
We got just one hour out into the open ocean crossing and both Matt and I just saw it getting worse and worse. Prior to calling it, we were slogging through 30 Knot winds and 6-8 foot waves between the swell and the chop. I could hear everything sliding around in the cupboards, crashing and falling down and loud bangs that I would identify the source of days later. We gave up and returned to Fury Cove. (a protected cove where one goes to calm down and lick your wounds)
We missed the window and now we were stuck for awhile.
We were in good company. There were half a dozen boats there and more arriving as we looked across the cove. Mother Nature: she can be mean.
Technical Data:
Time: 8 h 36 m ( 05:50 to 14:26 ) Distance: 60.19 nm
Fuel: 19.08 Gallons Fuel Rate: 2.22 GPH Fuel Economy: 3.15 NM/G
Avg Speed: 7.82 kn Max Speed: 10.85 kn
Engine Runtime Start: 2867.20 Hours Runtime End: 2875.80 Hours Fuel: 19.08 Gallons Fuel Rate: 2.22 GPH Fuel Rate Max: 6.97 GPH Avg RPM: 1264.25 Max RPM: 1624.75 Avg Oil Pressure: 51.27 Low Oil Pressure: 31.33 Avg Temperature: 188.08 Max Temperature: 194.00
i am glad you are okay after all the big waves and wind. the picture cannot really tell how rough it was but i know it was with 6-8 footers. stay safe and i enjoy your blog.