Pierless Blog - 2026-05-29 - Forward Harbour to Port Neville

May 31, 2026

May 29th - Friday - Departure Time 4:45 a.m.

We raised anchor and departed early from Douglas Bay (in Forward Harbour) to catch the ebb current down Sunderland Channel and into Johnstone Strait. Douglas Bay was a great and well protected anchorage from the NW winds, so we were a little reluctant to leave the shelter it provided. Winds were "on the nose" during most of this section, but the tail current kept us moving forward at a reasonable pace.

Dave at the helm

After exiting Forward Harbor and rounding Althorp Point, we had 12 - 28 Kts winds in the face. The favorable current kept our average boat speed around 3 Kts. As before, we hugged the north side of Sunderland to get some protection from the wind and waves. This is a trick I used when canoeing and kayaking and it has worked fairly well thus far on our trip.

Wave action in Sunderland Channel

We continued down Sunderland into wind and waves with a tail current. We passed a large fish farm, then entered Johnstone Strait. Johnstone is notorious for rough conditions, especially when the NW winds blow down against the outflowing current. We stayed close to shore making reasonable progress, so kept going.

Brian at the helm

We passed Blenkinsop Bay upon entering Johnstone. The wind was still up, but the waves were larger now, in the 2-3 foot range and breaking. Blenkinsop was our first exit option if the strait was too rough. We saw two sailboats getting hammererd in the middle of the strait. One turned into this bay to get out of the pounding they were subjected to. The other looked to be heading for Port Neville - our destination as well.

Conditions in the strait were not improving so we decided to make for Port Neville. We reached Port Neville at 9:00 a.m. It is a well protected location with a government pier as well as historical buildings and grounds to explore. As we motored in, we saw a mother black bear and her cub looking for tasty morsels on the far shore.

Pierless at the Government Dock

The bay at Port Neville goes inland eight nautical miles, so there is lots to explore. The dock is closer to the mouth of the bay and we were a bit tired, so decided to eat and rest up rather than venture farther inside. Once our fenders and lines were ready, we pulled into the dock. There were no other boats at the dock, but two did arrive later in the day. Initially we hoped to head out again with the afternoon ebb to get more miles in, but the wind did not diminish, so we ended up here for the night.

We saw no "officials" at Neville, but there were two kayakers, Alex and Dan, who had paddled from San Juan Island to here and were planning to continue on to Juneau! We visited some then explored the grounds around the old general store.

Alex and Dan preparing to head out

The Hanson family homesteaded here around 1891. Over time, they built a store, home, barn and founded the local post office. Olaf (Oly) Hanson and his wife Lilly lived here for many years. Mariners were able to reach him by radio to get information on conditions in Johnstone Strait. Oly died in 1997 at the age of 87. His wife Lilly stayed on for some time. Their daughter Erica lived here for many years after. The post office closed in 2010 and the family moved away.