Tied up at Bella Bella

December 13th (Friday)

Once again we were up before the sun and ready to leave when it was light enough to see. However, since sunrise was not until 08:30, and given that it was a cloudy morning, there wasn’t enough light until just after 08:00. We pulled up anchor and motored up Meay Inlet and out through the narrow channel into Hakai Passage. According to the marine forecast the swells were 3-5 metres, and they were very big. We were lucky that for the most part we were able to maintain a good angle through them, so we did not get rocked around too badly for too long. It was amazing to watch the surge and crash of such large swells hitting the shoreline around us. It was also quite dramatic watching the next swell come up behind us. It looked like a wall of water and we could no longer see the horizon, then it would pass underneath us, and of course we would rise stern first, then bow, and then back down again into the next trough, where we could no longer see the low lying land ahead of us until we lifted up once again.
Once we rounded the corner into Fisher Channel the swells were left behind us, and we were on calm water. We motored up into Lama Passage and all the way to Bella Bella. We tied up to the Government dock for the first time, and walked into town.

Everyone that we passed, or met, was incredibly friendly. Everyone said, "Hi,” and "How are you?" The ladies at the grocery store were talkative and interested in our story. We walked up to the long house and admired the beautiful construction and artwork, including a beautiful totem pole. It was a lovely town.

At the grocery store we enjoyed having a much better selection, and much better prices, than at Shearwater. We walked home with our bags of groceries, and enjoyed the evening in our cockpit watching the boats come and go. One guy exclaimed from the other dock, "Usually sailboats don't arrive until May!"  We explained that we had been here since summer. 
A beautiful, new-looking Canadian Coast Guard Fisheries and Ocean vessel came in to the dock, and we talked to the crew as they got fuel. It was a busy place, with people coming and going all evening, and as the sun went down we enjoyed the Christmas lights on shore. It was the second time in 8.5 months that we had spent the night tied up to a dock.

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