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!