Port Neville

Another somewhat sunny day, but again, lots of wind! All three of us were out of our anchorage between 6 and 6:15am. We left early so we could make use of the ebb current. But not early enough to go through Greene Point Rapids at slack. We left Cordero Islands with about a 5-6mph push out of a narrow passage between two islands. The rapids were less than a mile away, and also running at around 5-6 mph. No problem going through with our boats, as it was also a fairly wide spot. But with a lot of boils, whirlpools and eddies. We were now in Chancellor Channel. We kept a nice tail current of around 4 mph for some time. At least until passing where Loughborough Inlet came in, then we seemed to lose most that tail current. But picked up a 1+foot chop taking away our somewhat smooth ride. The winds starting to howl again weren’t helping. We turned into Wllbore Channel, which was a little smoother and gave us a tail current of about 3-4mph. We passed through Whirlpool Rapids, which just as the name says, causes a lot of whirlpools. Again, not much of a problem for our boats. Into the Sunderland Channel, where we started picking up some chop again. Along this channel, on Hardwicke Island, was another one of the large commercial fish farms. This time I went close by to check it out. The company is Marine Harvest, (google it), and they have a number of facilities we have gone by while cruising. They are a large producer of Atlantic Salmon. (Yes, but this is the Pacific…) Finally, we turned into Johnstone Strait, which true to its nature, was pretty choppy. But we only had a short distance to go before turning into the Port Newville bay. The government dock here is free. All three of us stopped here, checked out the historic store and walked around the area some. Mike was interested in seeing a cut log that showed signs of being cut with a chain saw. Almost perfectly sawed with some lumber from it nearby. The store has a signboard in front of it with family history. While it’s still owned privately, the public is welcome to walk around, peering into the windows to see what the inside probably looked like back in its day. Also found an old bulldozer and Fordson tractor hidden in bushes that have grown around them. FWIW, I looked up Fordson, and learned this: Fordson was a historic brand of mass-produced tractors and trucks manufactured by Henry Ford & Son and the Ford Motor Company. Introduced in 1917, the brand revolutionized agriculture by making tractors widely affordable, and its legacy continues today in both historic tractor preservation and modern, adaptive spaces.
Eventually Mike and Bill departed the dock to go farther up the bay to anchor for the night. I chose to stay at the dock. Later this afternoon, I watched two cruise ships go by on Johnstone Strait. The Disney Wonder and Norwegian Jade. I looked up their schedules, and they are returning from Alaska headed to Vancouver. Also watched a tug with a barge in tow go by in the other direction. There is a small tidal lagoon behind the store. When the tide is out, it is dry.Read more