With the season behind us we finally set a course south on November 22nd. Not exactly the prime time for cruising the inside passage but it does have some awesome aspects. First and foremost you are alone, I mean really alone. No other pleasure boats are cruising these beautiful waters at this time of year. Your company is the commercial vessels, some fishing, tug boats and the odd ferry who work the channels year round. When the weather is clear the mountains are crowned with a white cover of snow that is not to be found in the spring. The big key to traveling this time of year is not to be in a hurry. Daylight hours are short  and with the amount of wood adrift in our waters from storms and big tides the Thunder 1 crew chooses not to travel at night. This leaves about 9 hours of useful daylight to make you way south or about 60 nautical miles per day. Even when there are no boats you are not completely alone as we are accompanied my the many Humpback whales that stay and winter on our coast as well as seals, and playful pods of porpoises and dolphins. We worked out way south in a mix of both wet and choppy to sunny and calm weather. Reaching Shearwater mid coast on day 4 we stopped to assess the weather for our crossing of Cape Caution.