With Lottie with us for the week and needing to be back in Victoria for work by Saturday, we decided to explore the local settlements around Port MacNeil rather than going on a big adventure.

After a leisurely Monday morning sorting out water and provisioning we headed across to investigate Alert Bay. As we anchored we were the only boat in the bay (with all others tucked into the marina's) which did give us pause for thought. After talking with the harbour master however we were assured it would be fine and so we headed of to explore the Island. Although it was a dreary day it was a very interesting island with much history. We dropped into a shop for lunch to sample their local delicacy - Bannock Dogs. As we ate them we could feel our arteries hardening! In the afternoon we went to the U'mista Cultural Centre; a fantastic location providing incredible and detailed information on the local first nations.

In the evening we settled in for a pleasant evening on board catching up

The next morning we had a late start, wisitng for the current to set right through Blackfish sound and left around 11:00. We had a quiet crossing of the sound and then escorted by more humpbacks, we descended into a fog bank as we approached Hansen Island. Crawling along the coast we found the entrance to a lovely anchorage at Sprout Island Cove and settled in for a bit of exploring and relaxing

The following day was sent dodging around the islands on the west of Queen Charlotte Straight. With spectacular weather we wondered around wherever the current took us in the company of whales. For lunch we pulled into a lovely little bay by Bare Hill where we caught a glimpse of a bear heading home after lunch on the beach. After lunch we decided to head back to Mitchell Bay for the evening. Going back through blackfish sound was, for once straight forward as we were again surrounded by whales at all points of the compass.

As we pulled into Mitchell Bay we managed to tie up to the public float. and went for a pleasant explore around the small community and then headed back for dinner onboard. That evening we were glad we were tied up alongside as the wind got up around 7pm blowing hard. We helped a local get back into the dock who was really struggling in the chop. Luckily it calmed down around 10pm so we got a pleasant night sleep in the end

The next day we were heading back towards Port MacNeil as we couldn't risk Lottie not being back on Friday. We woke up to glass calm and fog and humg around until 10am before leaving. As the fog started to thin we motored off and headed around to Sointula, the largest community on Malcolm Island and by all accounts a bit of a 'hippy commune'. Sointula was settled by Finnish immigrants at the turn of the 20th century and has a great history to it. We spent the rest of the day exploring the village and museum as well as having a great lunch at the Coho Joe Cafe.

Once our adventuring was over we headed back across to port MacNeil. With a perfect fresh westerly wind blowing we romped across Haddington Passage with the rail nearly in the water. Heidi and I had a great time but Lottie was a bit concerned at the angle!

After a smooth docking (we were getting alot more proficient now!) we went into town and cleaned up then headed for Gus's bar again which had volleyball on the TV! Great dinner and then back to the boat for a restful night's sleep