It's Snowing!!

Woke this morning to a white day! Snow falling on deck and the hills (couldn't see the mountains!) covered in snow. After a breakfast of toasted grain bread, all made onboard, we set off for a row. Had a pleasant 3 to 4 hour row in the the snow. Went from Catherine Island up to the Windward River. A good row of about four miles but with little wind it was no concern. It truly is very magical to be out and about in the falling snow. The scenery was lovely and the mood of the whole row was pleasing.
After returning from seeing truly magical sights we are tucked up in the saloon, under blankets, with the cabin heater on as more snow falls and condensation drips! I guess you have to be here to see the fun side in it.

As you have probably guessed we are now in a different Fiord, currently Charles Sound. We had a pleasant days walk and exploration around Alice Falls in George Sound. This included a tramp for a couple of hours along the George track and back then a bush bash up to the top of Alice Falls. We canoe trip on lake Alice above the Alice Falls revealed some fantastic views. A quite evening on deck enjoying the setting sun. This has been our first anchorage where the mountains haven't obscured the sun by
16:00. The next day saw no clouds at all, and just a gentle zephyr. We motored out to the middle of the Fiord and shut down the engine. No sandflies! A lovely day was spent washing (that time of the year again) and doing the laundry. All in glorious sunshine and warmth. That's got to beat working any day.

We took advantage of a brief north wind to get to Charles Sound prior to some strong North then South winds. A bit of a rolly trip but escorted by Dusky dolphins in the early parts, and constantly checked upon by Albatross and Mollyhawks. We ended the day tucked into a very small gap between two islands (Catherine Island and one unnamed) in the very sheltered upper part of Gold Arm, Charles Sound. This appears to have been a prudent move considering the speed the clouds have been going past whilst
leaving little wind here. We plan to do a dive here in Charles and explore a little further before moving on to our next spot.

The lack of sun is proving a dampener for the solar panels, and with little wind the wind generator also supplies little power. We are therefore having to run the engine for a bit to charge batteries and take the fridge/freezer down (we could just put the frozen stuff on deck at present) but this does also help to warm the cabin. We seem to have got used to wearing several wool layers (icebreaker) with two polar fleece tops also, and thats just inside! I bet the winters are a tad chilly!!

The clouds have cleared to give some mountain views so I will say goodbye and go and enjoy. Was it only two days ago we were swimming and enjoying a sweltering day?

Tori and Jim