We've got friends in faraway places...

Wow... I can't believe it's been a month! A month filled with sea, sun (very little), rain (a LOT), and most importantly, many new amazing, incredibly generous friends. We're currently holed up in our friend Declan's house in Alert Bay, taking showers, doing laundry, and hanging out.

Here we are in the Gordon's, our last night in Haida Gwaii before we crossed, Cape to Cape, back to Vancouver Island. It was Nakusiak's first overnight passage that I know of, and our first as a two-man crew. Thankfully we had amazing winds and were able to sail the whole way! 

Since leaving Charlotte City and the welcoming home of Kathryn and Greg, we've met some great folks.

We went prawning with the folks of the Mary Lou in Cumshewa Inlet.. Very cool to see that process. So skilled and efficient!

Yum! 

After a few days on our own again in the northern section of Gwaii Haanas we started visiting village sites, and met our favorite Watchmen, Sean and Helen. 

What knowledge! They showed us Tanu and we had a great chat about the anthropology and modern day politics of Gwaii Haanas. Highly recommend. They also passed on some (more) prawns and some excellent huckleberry jam...Too kind! 

Of course sometimes we were alone. With some epic scenery!

Nakusiak with a view out to Darwin Sound....

So we made our own fun. Here's Lisa with our '3 Seas' feast in Anna Inlet - crab, salmon, and prawns. Add in sea asparagus and you've got a complete meal! 

Sometimes we made friends with sea stars. The bounty of Burnaby Narrows never ceases to amaze! 

Some of the bounty are a bit more ferocious though. Lisa made 'friends' with this crab. Lesson #1- don't make friends with crabs. They'll getcha when you least expect it. Ouch! 

Luckily we had some encounters of the human kind eventually. The crew (and guests!) of the Island Roamer took us under their wing and invited us for dinner, with much appreciate leftovers which served us for days. Thank you Xander and co., and Randy! We did our best to (gently, right?) imply that we'd be great deckhands next year if he's looking for new crew. 

The best catch of the day, muffins and chocolate cake out the scuttle of the Roamer. Wow.

We finally made it to Susan's place in Rose Harbour, and settled in for a few days of gardening and helping out around the property. What a place, and people. 

Susan has an incredible garden which she nourishes with fish and seaweed from nearby shores. We helped her do the kep harvest in nearby Rose Inlet...

And, made friends with Declan, the crazy and very neat dude who came into Rose Harbour offering an old generator to Susan. It works, too, with the help of Gutz and his borrowed sy-ringe from the old Tasu hospital. 

More to come. Off to clean the boat (and ourselves) while the weather is nice.