Slack tide at Booker Passage is at 0630 hrs this morning, so we’re up and at ‘em at 0530 hrs.  Slack tide at Booker Passage is just a “guesstimate,” since it’s based on Alert Bay, so we’re delighted to discover that the “guesstimate” is right on and we have a lovely uneventful ride out to Cullen Harbour.  The weather gods are with us this morning.  The water is flat calm and visibility is so good we can see all the way to Port McNeill.  Perfect.

When we called on the VHF to arrange for space at the dock at North Island Marina, we were told that Steve Jackman is no longer running North Island Marina.   Steve’s younger brother, Alan,  is running the place now…bummer.  Alan said they didn’t have any space available at the moment.  Oh, no.  However, by the time we had fueled up, several boats had left and they were able to fit us in. 

As soon as we were tied up at the spot they’d found for us, I got the laundry together and headed for the laundromat.  I was in luck, I had the whole place to myself and was able to get everything washed and back to the boat in less than an hour-and-a-half.  By the time I got everything put away, Al had lunch ready.   As soon as I had the dishes washed, we headed to the IGA to do our provisioning.  I was appalled at the poor selection of produce, but was surprised to find that they had Almond Coconut Milk…Yay!

Then it was back to the boat to put everything away, wash all the veggies a water/chorine solution, and then post as much of my blog as I could.  I posted until about midnight and then decided I’d better try to get some sleep, because tomorrow was going to be another early morning call.  We’d planned on staying in Port McNeill for 2 or 3 days, but after listening to the weather forecast this evening, we’ll have to leave in the morning if we don’t want to get stuck here for a week waiting for decent weather.