Luke and Bob filled the freezer with salmon from their Campbell River fishing expedition – beautiful pink steaks for us, mangled fish heads for crab trap bait and leftover parts to boil for Duke’s dinner. With the sea’s bounty to feed us, we headed up Discovery Passage to harbors and islands only accessible by passing through rapids. When crossed at slack current, the rapids are benign, but stories of those that ignore slack and lose control of steering in the airy, turbulent waters keep wary mariners on high alert. The rapids are short in distance but safe passage through them becomes a focal point of the day, with everything backward planned to arrive at rapids just ahead of slack, which is a short window. Morning coffee, getting Duke to shore, hoisting the dingy and pulling up anchor all are decided with an eye to slack. The payoff is great!

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Passages, inlets and anchorages north of Campbell River are quiet and more isolated than other Discovery Island areas; not all mariners brave the rapids. The current is different, too, flooding from the north through Johnstone Strait, changing the water temperatures to a chilly 50 degrees.

While on Dent Island, brother-in-law Guy arranged for us to tour elegant Warm Springs on Stuart Island, an invitation-only fishing lodge. Thank you, Guy! And thank you Don and Lyn for your hospitality and friendliness.

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Tomorrow we say good-bye to Luke, then spend some time on routine maintenance.