Crossing to Vancouver Island

Friday, August 20th was day 100 of our adventure! We had the anchor up and were underway at 0830, motoring out Kwakshua Channel eastbound, then turning south into Fitzhugh Sound, bound for Rivers Inlet, just south of Fury Cove where we'd spent some time on our way north. We had scattered clouds, light and variable winds, and rippled seas, so motoring was the order of the day. We did some brunch underway and by 1200 it was starting to cloud over with a Southerly breeze starting to throw up a chop. We spotted several humpback whales along our port side. By 1300 we were off Fury Cove, where we started seeing lots of whales, some of them breaching, and waving their fins, flapping their tails.







A whale on his side, waving his fin










This whale action continued right across Rivers Inlet, with one whale waving his fin at us as we approached Duncanby. We were tied to the dock by 1500, and filled up our fuel. Duncanby Landing is a nice spot, with a marina/fishing lodge operation, a restaurant and lounge - but it is very expensive....they wanted $10.00 each for a shower, $20.00 for a day of internet, and moorage was $1.50/ft......so we did without showers, and had dinner aboard, but we did manage to drink a beer on the patio overlooking
the bay. Several whales actually came into the bay and cruised by our boats less than 20 feet away - one of them even breaching nearby. Quite a nice show for our dinner in the cockpit.





A Nearby Breach











We went to bed early (2030) in anticipation of an early day crossing the Strait for Pt. Hardy the next day.
Saturday, August 21 we were up at 0500 and full away by 0530 under overcast skies, rain, fog, and a light Southeast wind. By 1200 we were past Cape Caution....I called Comox CG Radio to tell them we were there, and have a chat. Shortly afterward, the southeasterly started to kick up to 15-20 knots with a confused sea as it met the ever-present westerly swell from the Pacific. We were already sailing close-hauled, and decided to stay that way and make straight into Bate Passage, which would give us a bit of shelter from both the westerly swell and the southeast seas. We entered Bate Pass and motored down and into Goletas Channel, now motoring against both wind and current (but smooth again!). At 1432 we copied a Mayday
call from a sportfishing boat further down Goletas Channel, on fire....but we were still an hour away. Three other boats were nearby, and with them and Coast Guard assistance, they and their boat were not lost, but towed into Pt. Hardy. By 1700 we were tied up in Pt Hardy ourselves. It had been a long and tiring day, so we treated ourselves to showers and a
pub dinner. Internet, though free, was slow to non-existant...so we had another early night, going to bed by 2100.
Sunday we were intending to stay in Pt Hardy, and catch up on some grocery shopping and stocking up. We got up fashionably late, at 0900. The weather forecast was for light northwesterlies, followed by several days of southeast winds, rain, and otherwise trip-disabling weather. So we decided to push on for Port McNeill while we had the weather, and stay there a few days instead. Linda is thinking of joining us in Port McNeill on Tuesday, and this way at least we'd be there! We got underway at 1045, motoring in very light airs and calm seas, under a broken layer of cloud. We managed to do a brunch underway. I'd been trying the last week to contact another Ontario 32, "Windbourn", who is supposed to be on the Central Coast
or the Broughtons. Today I got a weak reply from them when I called, but it was too weak and scratchy to make out any details of where they are or what their plans may be....perhaps we will still meet up with them somewhere along the way. I wrote that last part on our way to McNeill....when we arrived, we ended up right alongside "Windbourn", and had a nice visit with
Frank and Marchien. They had heard my radio call, even though I couldn't read them. We managed to find a bbq'd chicken and some salad at the grocery store, and even found an ice-cream cone (something I'd been dreaming of for awhile now). We have internet here, and Linda will be joining us on Tuesday for the rest of our trip south.

From Canada By Land

"From Canada by Land".....that's the inscription written by Alexander McKenzie in July 1793 when he arrived at the Pacific Ocean after crossing North America from Montreal. That was also 10 years before the more famous crossing by the Lewis and Clark expedition. So it was a place I had to see. We left Ocean Falls on Tuesday, August 17, motorsailing back down Cousins Inlet and then sailed a broad reach northbound into Dean Channel.
By 1215 we were off the Government-installed cairn, with McKenzie's rock just below it. Kelcy was not that keen in going ashore to see it, and the anchoring there was poor. So we launched the dinghy, and Shane and I rowed in to have a look, while Kelcy motored around a bit on the boat.






McKenzie Rock












By 1315 we were underway again, still northbound in Dean Channel, and at 1430 entered Eucott Bay, anchoring off the hot springs there. As we were finishing up on our lunch, a fishing vessel, "Miss Molly", called out on the radio for anyone in the area of Eucott. We answered,
and he explained he had a dead battery, and needed a boost....so we upped anchor and motored out and got him going, for which he donated 3 very large crabs. Kelcy also managed to catch a cod, jigging while we boosted the battery. Dinner was assured! Back to the anchorage, I cleaned the crabs and took a short swim, while Kelcy and Shane took the dinghy out to see if they could catch some more fish or crabs. They did manage to bring back another cod, which went into the fridge. Following a huge crab feast, we rowed over to the hot springs for a soak. Very, very hot!
These are by far the warmest hot springs we've yet encountered. It has an inlet control to slow down the incoming water and thus cool it a bit, but that takes many hours to cool down a lot. We did manage to get in for a short soak, however. Then back to the boat for a relatively early night.














Shane at the Hot Springs




We departed at 0700 next morning, under cool overcast skies. The plan was to get an early start before the inflow got going, to get out of Dean Channel. We were motoring soutbound in 15 knot inflows, which quickly became 25 knots, with fog and rain. No sign of any of the forecast northwesterly winds. Ah well......more motoring! With the chop and the current against us (in theory it was ebbing with us, but the inflow winds create a stronger current the other
way) it was slow going - in fact, by 1300, we contemplated turning back into Ocean Falls as we approached the end of Dean Channel....but the weather started to ease, so we continued southbound, turning into Fisher Channel, and eventually arriving in a beautiful anchorage across from Lama Pass, called Codville Lagoon. As we entered, the clouds broke up, and the sun started shining, the winds eased. There were already several boats in the east and north (favoured) anchorage spots, but we found a nice spot in the north end, and were surprised to see our old buddy Steven, on "Kharma" there. We hadn't seen him since Ketchikan, so rowed over and shared some stories, as well as a bit of rum and scotch. The other boat in our end of the anchorage, "Dream Catcher", is run by Marge and Chuck Simpson, and were friends of Steven. They rowed over to "Kharma" and joined our little party. By 2000, we decided we'd best get back to Jade for some supper (leftover crab - yummy!). By the time that was all done and cleaned up, it was time for bed.
Wednesday, August 19 dawned bright and sunny, with light airs. We motored out of Codville Lagoon at 0815, southbound Fisher Channel, into Fitzhugh Sound, and past Namu, turning into Hakai Passage and then down into Pruth Bay. Herewe anchored off a lodge which offers wireless internet (weak, but useable - if you're reading this, it stayed that way!). They also have a couple of trails through the woods to the other side of the island. We hiked across to the beautiful sand beach on Hecate Strait, then walked up and over to Hakai Pass, to another equally lovely sand beach.











Kelcy contemplating at the Hakai Beach













There are even a few buoys and fishing paraphernalia hanging around the end of the trail, which have Japanese writing on them - obviously stuff which had floated across the Pacific and had been found here on the beach.







A note in the sand









We got back to our boat at 2000 for another late dinner (fish and chips, this time, with a go at my beer batter). Then it was time to catch up on blogging and logging before hitting the sack again.
We hope to head out tomorrow for Rivers Inlet, where we can get some more fuel (Dean Channel headwinds and the light airs today have used up a bit of that) at Duncanby Landing, and stage ourselves for a crossing of Queen Charlotte Straitinto Pt. Hardy. We can spend day 100 of our trip in beautiful downtown Duncanby Landing!

Ocean Falls

We departed from Shearwater the following morning, eastbound through Gunboat Pass, and then across Dean Channel and up Cousins Inlet, with a brisk outflow wind against us, visibility increasingly deteriorating to less than 2 miles in haze and smoke. Otherwise, it was a beautiful sunny day.....apparently much of the interior of BC is burning in forest fires, and the smoke was filling the Central Coast with the outflow. We arrived at Ocean Falls in the early afternoon, to be greeted by Neil, the wharfinger, who welcomed us warmly.







Approaching Ocean Falls










Ocean Falls is a town in transition. It was built at the site of the Link River pouring into Cousins Inlet, with a hydro-electric dam being built in the early 1900's. This provided power and water for a pulp/paper mill and Ocean Falls became a bustling and thriving one-industry town, owned by paper company. In its heyday the community was very busy, with some 4,000 people, a busy deepwater port, hotel, swimming pool, bowling alley, etc......until the company pulled out. The provincial government bought the town out and kept it running until the early 1980's, but it became an uneconomic proposition, and the mill and the town shut down. It became a ghost town, with only a few dozen people remaining. There are now about 30 full-time residents, and in the summer about 80 more. BC Ferries operates into here twice weekly, and the dam still provides electric power for here, as well as Bella Bella and Shearwater. Although Bella Bella is running low on water, Ocean Falls has plenty of very good water....in fact, we were encouraged to use it to wash our boats and fill our tanks (there is a dam renovation happening, and they want to lower the water levels).
The docks are well maintained, internet wifi is available for free, and the remaining people are very friendly. We walked around the remaining townsite where many of the buildings are beyond restoration, and then up to Link Lake (created by the dam) where we enjoyed a warm, freshwater swim.







A refreshing dip in the lake










Back to the boat for dinner and some internet, and meeting a few of the other boaters who'd arrived.....4 other sailboats and several powerboats.
Sunday morning was another bright sunny day, albeit still quite smoky. We utilized the plentiful fresh water to scrub the decks and clean the boat. Then a few of our fellow boaters and ourselves joined a local fellow, Norman, in a tour of Norman's hobby.....creation of a museum, where he's collected things from all over town and organized them into a historical collection of the town's history.












Norman is presenting Kelcy with a "California Raisin" figure.










Back to the boats, we all decided it was time for a dock party. Dave, from the sailboat ahead of us, had collected/caught quite a few crabs, and a few of the others also had some...so it became a crab-fest. Of course, we hadn't caught any, so we and a few others supplied appies and dessert. I was also able to introduce many of our new friends to Pyrat Rum!
The party rocked on until the ferry arrived at midnight, and we all called it a night.
Monday morning, due to the night before, was a lot slower and quieter. I managed to wash off the hull of the boat before Shane and Kelcy were stirring. Then a slow walk into the other part of town, about a mile down the road from the marina end of things. There, I watched a Grumman Goose taxi down a ramp and depart, and picked some blueberries and huckleberries from along the roadway and beside the Martin River.











These blueberries are fresh!












We'll likely head out of here tomorrow morning, and if weather permits, we'll head up Dean Channel to view Alexander Mackenzie's cairn, and visit the Eucott Hot Springs. The smoke has mostly dissipated with a strong inflow breeze, but if this breeze continues, it may make it hard to get to the Hot Springs or the cairn....we shall see.

Sun, Snappers and Soaks

Lots of catching up to do, with no internet for a full week!
We left Prince Rupert Wednesday, 04 August, motoring out at 0730 in dense fog and light winds. We continued southbound Chatham Strait, and by 1100 the visibility was improved to a full half mile. We stopped for a short try at fishing, off Smith Island - but no luck - I think I would make a very poor fish, as anywhere I guess as a good spot for a fish, does not appear to be the consensus of opinion for the fish! By 1230 we were off the south end of Arthur Pass, with nice clear and sunny weather (the fog just lifted suddenly, the wind picked up to Northwesterly).
With 15 knots of breeze on our starboard quarter we sailed a nice broad reach through Ogden Channel, and sailed into Captain Cove, on the north end of Pitt Island. On the way in we dropped off a couple of prawn traps, then anchored inside. Being a nice and sunny afternoon, we just relaxed and read, and even tried a bit of fishing off the boat, with no luck. Following a lovely dinner of stuffed roast pork and veggies which Shane prepared, we played a bit of cards,
had a short row around the anchorage in the dinghy, and called it a night by 2200.

We got underway again the following morning, at 0730. The anchorage was overcast with a low layer of cloud trying to join the fogbank outside in the channel. We found our traps in the fog, and hauled up a catch of 4 lowly prawns, which ended up being lost over the side when we used the bucket they were in for a quick deck rinse. We continued southbound in Petrel Channel, with the fog lifting by 0900. The wind picked up again, and again was northwesterly to allow us a motor-assisted broad reach down the channel on a broad reach. By 1200 we were crossing into Principe Channel, with a pod of porpoises playing alongside the boat. As the wind increased, so did the seas....and we pulled into Monckton Inlet for an anchorage for the night, anchoring in a small bay on the northwest side, after resetting our prawn traps in the inlet. The bay is very small for swinging to an anchor, so we put out a stern line to shore for the first time in months. We caught a couple of nice rock cod for dinner, and used the carcasses for bait for our crab traps. The Coleman shower was set up in the cockpit for nice warm showers, and I took a short row around the anchorage before we settled down for a short bit of reading, and bed.

Friday morning (06 Aug) we were up at 0700, but by the time we got our stern line, anchor, crab traps, and prawn traps all settled away, it was 0815 before we were full away. Another overcast, rainy, and foggy morning, but this time the wind was against us, Southeast at 15 knots, forecast to increase. With a building sea, it was good we'd made it into Monckton Inlet, as we only had 8 miles to go southeast before rounding eastward into Otter Channel, and finding calm seas. We crossed Squally Channel (well -named, as we were getting strong gusts of SE winds) with the genoa out for steadying and additional speed. Then across Wright Sound and past Gil Island, ending up at Hartley Bay for 1400. We had to wait awhile for fuel, and then found our old spot in the docks, so tied up there. I was able to get some cell phone coverage, to tell Linda where we were, but although it is rumoured to be possible to get internet access here through the Band Office, we were unable to arrange it. Hartley Bay was just as we remembered it from our northbound trip, with boardwalks and lots of rain. We did a curried mango pork dish with veggies for dinner, and watched a movie ("Cop Out") on board, getting to bed by 2200.

Saturday morning we departed Hartley Bay at 0800, motorsailing northbound into Verney Passage, and then into the Gardner Canal eastbound. Except for the large clear-cuts, Gardner is very scenic. We arrived at Europa Hot Springs aka Shearwater Hot Springs, by early afternoon, and tied up to one of the two nice new mooring buoys there, provided by BC Parks. We were the only ones there, and enjoyed a hot soak in the springs, and even did our laundry, hanging the
wet clothes out to dry in the sunny weather we were getting.

Three of us enjoying Europa Hot Springs

Shane and Kelcy even jumped into the cold water off the boat (too cold for me!). We celebrated our nice weather, beautiful surroundings, and great soaking, with a dinner of stir-fry and drinks (rum for me).

Leaping into the Briny Cold

Shane and Kelcy returned for an evening soak in the springs while I remained onboard the boat and read, and retired.

Sunday, 08 August saw us underway from Europa/Shearwater at 0800 in clear and sunny weather, and light winds. We motored back down Gardner, and into Ursula Channel, now southbound again. Just prior to reaching Bishop Bay, about a dozen white-sided
dolphins joined us and played alongside for a half hour, leaving us as we entered the bay.

Watching Playful Porpoises

By 1400 we were tied to the dock in Bishop Bay, and went off to the springs for another soak. These hot springs are noticeably cooler than the other ones we'd been in, but that just allows a longer, and comfortably relaxing soak. Also alongside our dock was a sailing vessel, "C'est Si Bon", out of Melbourne Australia. The couple had been sailing out of Oz for 8 years, and last year had arrive fromJapan into Alaska, and sailed the north and west parts of it. Without enough time to explore Southeast Alaska (the part we had just done), they'd sailed to Victoria BC for the winter and returned to Alaska to do the southeast part. Now they are southbound for Mexico. We also met a couple from Stony Plains Alberta, who shared a garbage fire and a bit of rum with us.

Monday morning saw us underway from Bishop Bay at 0800, motoring southbound Ursula Channel and Finlayson Channel. It was hard to believe, but again we were experiencing a clear sunny day, with light winds. By the time we passed Butedale at 1200, we were motor-sailing on a broad reach, and decided to go past our original destination of Khutze Inlet, anchoring instead about 8 miles south of there, in Swanson Bay, off a stream and the ruins of an old pulp mill. In theory, the current from the stream should have kept us from swinging toward the shallow water and shelf to shoreward, but we dropped a stern anchor to ensure that. We managed to catch a couple of rockfish for dinner, and for crab-bait. Following our fish dinner, we watched another movie, this time a documentary - Michael Moore's "Capitalism - a Love Story".
Tuesday morning saw us up quite a bit earlier, up at 0530 and underway by 0600, turning into Heikish Narrows and Sheep Passage, for a look at Fiordland area. This is a recently protected conservation area with deep fiord-like scenery. Sheep Passage has lots of Fish farms alongside, but we did start into the wild fiords as we entered Mathieson Channel. We caught a couple of
beautiful yelloweye rockfish (I thought they were red snapper, but confirmed otherwise in a book we carry aboard). We had a lunch of clam chowder with a bit of grilled snapper/rockfish....then we continued into Kynoch Inlet, sailing on
a broad reach.

Nice Catch, Kelcy!

Kynoch has steep granite cliffs with snow-capped mountains on either side, and numerous waterfalls...very picturesque, and fiord-like.

Looking up Kynoch Inlet

We anchored at the end of the inlet, where the water shallows out very quickly....we anchored in 100 feet of water, with the boat sitting in 20 feet of water and a drying shelf immediately astern of the boat (I could have jumped off the stern of the boat and waded ashore in ankle-deep water!). With the wind strength increasing, and no place to drop back with more anchor scope, I got a bit nervous and set our anchor kellet, a weight which improves the holding power of the existing anchor and rode. My knot obviously was not as good as I'd planned - the kellet dropped off...so we resorted to using our second anchor as a makeshift kellet. By midnight, the winds had dropped, and we ended up having a peaceful night after all.

Wednesday morning was another early day, with us underway again by 0600, retracing our way out of Kynoch Inlet, and turning south into Mathieson Channel. Again....a beautiful day, once the fog and low cloud had a chance to burn off in the early morning. Although the winds were forecast to be strong northwest, we were getting very light southerlies, so just motored down the channel. By noon we were in the southern reaches of the passage, dodging numerous logs and bits of wood in the water. I find it interesting, and curious, that we saw almost no logs or wood debris in the water in Alaskan waters, but almost as soon as we entered BC, found ourselves dodging the debris. We entered Reid Passage and anchored in Oliver Cove which we'd found very nice on our way northbound. This time, however, there was a westerly wind building, and putting us on a lee shore. We chowed down on a curried fish dish, and then pulled the anchor in search of a less treacherous anchorage. With Shearwater/Bella Bella being only 15 miles away, we decided to head that way. It was after 1800 by the time we got underway again, and had a 25 knot westerly wind behind us as we sailed a broad reach, and wing-on- wing, down Seaforth Channel. We arrived Shearwater at 2200, just after sunset, and all of the docks were full. The anchorage off the marina, however, had space, so we settled down at anchor for the night. It was a long day, but we were safe in a quiet anchorage instead of facing a full gale (which it apparently had become outside) in a marginal anchorage with a lee shore.

Today is Thursday, 12 August. Finally we are tied to the dock in Shearwater, and have been busy all day taking care of long-neglected chores (laundry, internet/blog/facebook/emails, repair outboard motor, showers). I sit at my computer on the boat with a rum drink before me....it has been another fine sunny day, and our chores are about done. It must be time to post this update, and go to the pub for a celebration!

Into the Great White North

Saturday morning, July 31 saw us up at 0700 and off the dock in Ketchican..... a quick fuel-up, and we headed south into Revallagigedo Channel, in clear skies and light winds(forecast to become moderate NW by afternoon). As we continued, we sailed through a few fog patches which tended to dissipate as we proceeded.....but no sign of our NW winds - instead it was building SE, on our nose. By 1230 it was SE 15-20 with a nasty chop, so we motored into Foggy Bay for the night to wait for our westerlies. After a dinner of spaghetti and a bit reading and cards, we reset our watches an hour ahead, to be on B.C. time, and hit the sack.
Sunday morning we departed Foggy Bay at 0900(BC time) and continued southbound in Revallagigedo Channel, into Dixon Entrance. The forecast winds of moderate to strong northwest were still missing, and we found ourselves motorsailing into a moderate southeast and a confused, choppy sea. Because of forecast Gales for the next couple of days, we continued to motor southbound for Prince Rupert, rather than head into Khutzemateen for a quick return visit with Greg and Lisa. Both Kelcy and Shane were feeling the effects of the motion, with Kelcy taking gravol and wrapping herself in a blanket midships below. It was slow going, and we eventually realized we'd likely be late at the Yacht Club in Prince Rupert, so without cell coverage, asked Rupert Coast Guard Radio to call the club to reserve/confirm a late spot for us....which they kindly did. We entered Venn Passage by1900, and docked at the yacht club by 2015. We were able to clear customs by telephone, check our internet, and call home to Linda. It had been a long day, so we made our way up the ramp for a pub dinner at the Breakers Pub. On our way back we spotted Greg(Khutzemateen) Palmer's boat at the dock, so were able to leave him his lens cap and a bottle of rum, with a note, before retiring at 2330.
Monday morning we were able to check in at the Yacht Club and tidy up the boat. We saw Greg and Lisa about to depart, so were able to have a quick visit with them. Our friend Art contacted us via Facebook, and visited the boat later in the afternoon, inviting us back to his home for dinner. It was a great visit, in which we had a great dinner, caught up on laundry, and got Shane a video-game fix. Art, his wife Angela, son Luc, and daughter Mariah were all very welcoming, and we had a great time....getting back to the boat at 2130, just in time to see the fog rolling back in for the night. Canada may be known as the Great White North for other reasons, but I suspect that on the north coast of BC, in the month of Fogust, it could be called the same for other, more "mist-ic-al" reasons!
Tuesday morning we had a sleep-in, then organized our payment to the Yacht Club, refuelling, and lunch. Art met us with a loan of his vehicle in early afternoon, allowing us to stock up our groceries. This is our last day in Prince Rupert, with plans to continue back south via the "Outside Inside Passage", still in protected inside waters, but further out near Hecate and Queen Charlotte Straits (Principe Channel to begin). It may be awhile before we again get internet access, but we will continue to post when we can.

Here is a map showing our return trip from Auke Bay(Juneau) to Prince Rupert. If you click on the image, it should show up more clearly.