We woke to
another beautiful day in paradise. Eileen was pretty emotional about having to
leave so she talked Dad into using the satellite phone to change her departure
to New Bella Bella which would allow her to spend the day with us. The tide was
a bit low so we departed slowly in the calm water. We were running up Fisher
Channel towards Gunboat Passage, when dad went down to the engine room to do
his daily chores. Shortly thereafter, Dad poked his head up and asked us to
stop the boat. He later explained that he was doing a bit of engine tidying
when the propeller shaft caught hold of the soaker pad. While it was flying in
circles it was tearing it up in to little pieces causing the engine room to
look like a Macy Day parade with all the confetti flying. 
Our route to
New Bella Bella was through Gunboat Passage, which was a fairly tight passage
but well marked. As we entered the passage, we came upon a sail boat which we
decided to simply follow. When we arrived at New Bella Bella, Eileen made us
delicious sandwiches for lunch. We ate topside and enjoyed each other’s company
and the glorious sunshine on the public dock in New Bella Bella. Shortly
thereafter, we watched Eileen walk up the dock to catch her ride and waved
goodbye. We had such a wonderful, laughter filled time together, so it was sad
to see her leave.
After she
departed we scooted across the bay to Shearwater where we got fuel. I had my
first experience docking in the wind, which turned out to be a bit of a challenge,
so Dad decided that we should have a strategic planning session before moving
to our actual slip. I did much better the second time.
In
Shearwater, we were on the largest dock between Port McNeil and Prince Rupert,
which is on its way to being a nice fishing resort area. There were about 8
boats on the dock, including one 28’ prawn boat with 100+ pots hanging all over
it. It looked like a beehive hairdo from the movie Hairspray. We did several
chores including laundry, defrosting the fridge and general cleaning and then we
went up to the store to get a few fresh vegetables and block ice. They had more
of a wine selection than vegetables and no block ice. However, if we purchased
a jug of water they would freeze it over night and we could get it in the
morning. As we left the store I got really excited because outside the store there
was a sign, Beware of Bears! We had yet
to see a bear so we were hoping that this was a good sign. After we got back to
the boat, I fixed a simple dinner which consisted of spaghetti and Caesar salad
and we split the bottle of wine that we found at the store. 
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