We had a wonderful time visiting with the Holmes family. We took Catherine, Tegan and Blair sailing on Monday. It was pretty blustery out about 20 knots with some chop. Blair was a big help helping me hank on the staysail and Tegan took the wheel and kept us going in the right direction. Then unfortunately Blair was stricken with rosario mintosis, a disease which can be brought on by seasickness preceded by the chewing and swallowing of one too many pink mints, it wasn't pretty. He recovered once we anchored for supper and held his spaghetti down as we returned to Campbell River (that was a bit of a worry). Catherine shared the helmsman's duties with Tegan and was suffering sympathy sickness with Blair. She wisely did not consume any pink mints before sailing and her sphincter remained nervous and would not relax.

Today we headed off into the wild blue yonder. We have a week before we have to meet my brother in Port Hardy and we are just going to mosey around. We crossed Desolation Sound under bright sunshine and anchored in Squirrel Cove ( you've got to love these place names). It was very satisfying to be in Desolation Sound, we have heard and read about it for years and now we are here. There is a plethora of islands and the coastal mountain range with the snow still on the peaks adds a beautiful backdrop. Barry said that everyday there is a new anchorage, he will worry about whether or not it is good holding ground and whether the wind will switch around and blow us around. We won't get a chance to know this area as well as we did Great Slave Lake, hopefully the guide books we have will steer us to the good spots.