Greenway and Drury Inlet

We set sail against a 8-10 knot NW just outside of Shawl Bay heading (you guessed it) NW to Greenway Sound. The wind shifts were favourable and the currents cooperative and we sailed to the head of the sound in 2 tacks. The wind was coming straight out of the sound so we decided that with only a few miles to go and the not wanting to start madly tacking up the sound we would just grit our teeth and motor into it. Well, the NW built and we were getting gusts over 20 knots. Not too bad but there are not many places to anchor sheltered from the NW winds. We ended up at the bottom of the sound anchored on an isthmus between two small islands. We had most of the wind but good solid holding. The really bizarre part was that Tarun would not swing her bow into the wind. NW wind blowing out of the sound with an ebb tide and still, she laid stern to the wind for a couple of hours until for whatever reason, she came about at put her bow into the wind. Oh well, an interesting experience and I did get to rig the mizzen for the single reef Rick McBride built into the new sails.
Monday dawned flat calm (of course) and we motored out towards Drury Inlet. We stopped in Sullivan Bay for a 45 litres of fuel and there is a really nice couple who are working there for the summer and possibly beyond. They moved to the coast from Alberta for a change in lifestyle, and they sure have it here in the Broughtons! I have been reading Alexandra Morton's book "Listening to Whales" (Ballentine Books) that describes her life (so far) and how she came to be in the Broughton's as one of the foremost Orca researchers. Her descriptions of how it was in the late 70's and 80's compared to what it is like today tells a sobering story. I highly recommend this as a MUST READ if you are coming to the Broughton's.
Today (Tuesday) we decided to have a good look around the northern part of Drury Inlet so we gassed up the dinghy and toured up into Actaeon Sound through Actress Passage, into Creasy Bay and finally all the way up into Tsibass Lagoon. We were both quite surprised to see first a float home in Actress Passage and then a logging camp just before the entrance to Tsibass Lagoon. There has been a tremendous amount of logging up here. We stopped off to walk around a deserted camp in Creasy Bay and the place quite frankly was a dump. Every old bit of machinery or left over parts are either just dropped where they were or tossed into the woods. The logging companies are supposed to clean up the areas after they log it and we saw so much evidence of sheer neglect that it makes you wonder just how they get away with it. I guess it's the same everywhere, money greases the way and as long as no one can really see it, it's OK. After all, this is the north coast of BC and who really gets up here anyways (I REALLY hope the sarcasm is coming through here). There is a logging operation at the entrance to Tsibass Lagoon, with float homes and booming yards. We didn't see any logs or trucks but there were people around. Just now, Cathy is once again re-stitching the enclosure and customizing it for our wind steering. Tomorrow, Napier bay for a night and then on to Port Hardy before we head out the west coast.

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Sailing to Lady Boot Cove and Shawl Bay

We said our good byes to Carol and Jerry and motored slowly out of Echo Bay.  There was WIND so we decided to try and sail up to Lady Boot Cove (Eden Island East).  Part of what prompted us to sail NW against a NW wind was the fact that we are getting down close to only a quarter tank of fuel left.  Well, 9 tacks later, we sailed into Lady Boot Cove.  We gingerly made our way into the “toe” part of the cove and anchored in about 5m of water (nearly at low tide!!).  We had very peaceful evening.  Today dawned cloudy and wet but there was still some wind so we set sail (again with sails) towards Shawl Bay, about 12 miles away.  We managed to sail about half of it until the wind died.  Shawl Bay Marina is a funky little floating marina that is family run, now by the fourth generation.  Rob, the son, met us on the dock and we swapped lies for awhile after we tied up.  One story that I will share is his description of landing a 28 pound ling cod last year.  Apparently his gaff broke when he was landing the fish so with nothing to bash it’s brains in, he was seen leaning over into the back of the boat punching the fish in the head to try and kill it.  Apparently the comments made back at the dock (he was only 100m away when this all happened) were of the order “wasn’t that un-necessarily violent”.  Necessity is the mother of invention and what else are you going to do when you have 28 pound fish thrashing away in the bottom of the boat?  We filled up with water, had a hot shower on land, did a load of laundry and talked to a couple of young guys off a prawn boat.  We all decided on a new Reality TV show “The Worlds Friendliest Catch”.  They are really roughing it up here.  Days out fishing prawns and then back to the marina for a hot shower and dinner.  Not at all like the crab fishers in Alaska.  We are of to Greenway Sound tomorrow after our pancake breakfast which is included in the moorage here!!!

Echo Bay and Lady Boot Cove (Eden Is. East)

Where do I start? We motored through to Echo Bay with the intention of going for a short walk to Billy Proctor's museum. He is a local fisherman, story-teller, environmental voice that grew up in the Broughton's. We dropped the hook in 10m of water and backed it down to make sure it was set. The depth read around 2 meters under the keel. No problem, we thought we would be about an hour, max, at the museum and then back to boat. We knew it was an ebb tide but…….. Well on the way to the museum, you have to walk through the schoolyard. As we were getting close, one of the students yelled out of the door, "There's a bear, go back". We didn't quite know what to make of it so we continued on into the school yard. The teacher came out and met us and told us that a large black bear had wandered through about 15 minutes earlier, going in the opposite direction. We had our air horn so continued on (slowly we are getting used to this). We made our way along the blazed trail to the cove where Billy Proctor lives. He came out and opened up his museum and toured us through it. Absolutely amazing. He beach combs every day and the history he has collected dates back thousands of years. From sharpening stones, axes, adzes, stone fish weights, bottles, old wooden water pipe, the list is endless. While we were looking around, a friend of his came by and we all starting talking. Billy's latest find was a couple of large mercury lamps that has been discarded by one of the fish farms, just thrown in the water. Well we talked about the history of the fish farms, and how the operators had unashamedly used the local's knowledge to place the farms in the highest yield areas, when they were supposed to be avoiding them!! A tremendous amount of research has been going on for years concerning the impact of the farms on the local environment and it has been independently confirmed, that the marine environment is under serious threat as a result of the farms. From nets that are treated with copper antifouling paint before they are used, to the tremendous concentrations of feces that are killing off the local organisms, it's small wonder that this week, the premiers commission recommended that there be no farms north of the island and that existing farms be moved to a completely contained environment. It boggles the mind that the fisheries minister then announces new farms for the west coast, DESPITE the commission's recommendations.
Well, we ended up sitting around Billy's table at his house having a cup of tea and continuing our discussion. Well, the hour passed, then another and then Cathy reminded me that we better be going before the tide went out completely. We said our goodbyes and made out way back to the dinghy dock to get back to Tarun. Well, when we got back, we both had a sinking feeling that out trusty home was now parked on a 6000 year old midden. We tried pulling off with the windlass, no luck. We tried pushing off under power, no luck. We tried both in combination, no luck. I scrambled around and got the motor on the dinghy while Cathy attached a line to our spare halyard to try and kedge Tarun off the bottom. Despite heeling her over almost to the rail and full revs on the motor plus pulling with the windlass, we didn't move a centimetre. So we packed it all in and prepared to wait the tides out. The only problem was we still had two more hours until low tide. While we were trying all of this, a lady was watching form Windsong Sea Village. Her partner Jerry came out and offered to cut us up some props to hold our good ship upright as the tide fell. A couple of trips back and forth and with help from Jerry, we got the props in place and Tarun settled hard on the bottom. A sand/shell bottom so no damage. Carol (more on her in a moment) invited us to spend the afternoon in her garden while we waited out the tide. We quickly decided to take her up on her offer. We had a quick sandwich on board then went over to Windsong Sea Village. Well, Carol, the BEAD LADY of Echo Bay, resplendent in pink shorts, top and reddish pink checked shirt, toured us around the village. Carol and Jerry are the resident caretaker/managers of the village. There are a couple of rental float homes available, one sleeps six, the other sleeps up to 12. There are showers, and a fabulous gift shop where Carol sells her creations as well as the work of local artists. Behind the larger of the float homes, there are a series of petroglyphs dating back thousands of years. We spent the afternoon talking and sharing histories. It turns out that Carol and Jerry used to live in Maple Bay and we shared many of the same acquaintances. Carol used to be the caretaker there until they left 9 years ago. That's when Pat took over (our friends in Napier Bay). While and Maple Bay, Carol and Jerry rebuilt Jerry's old boat "Chechako Lady" 6 years to restore her to basically original. An unmistakable boat, canary yellow with bright red trim. They live aboard her tied up to Carol's workshop on a large log float. Well, to say thanks for the rescue, we invited them for dinner and ended up talking until late in the evening. The world gets smaller and smaller the more you talk to people. Carol was born in Belleville Ontario, where my darling Cathy was born. She lived on and off in Ontario as well as on the prairies. Jerry has a brother living in a place called Bigger Saskatchewan (if you know where THAT is I'm impressed). Well Bigger s pretty close to a small town called Dundeblane, (pop around 15 in 1978) where I worked for CN rail running a gravel pit after my first year of university in 1978. A small, small world.
So, lessons learned:
1) Don't park your boat on 6000 year old middens (actually don't park your boat on the bottom at all is a better lesson)
2) Don't be afraid to accept help when it's offered. Without Jerry, we would have fallen over and who knows what damage we may have done.
3) Talk to the people you meet. You will be surprised at how quickly you make really good friends
4) The world is a fascinating place, try to live with it not against it. (tides don't stop while you have a cup of tea)

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Waddington Bay, Bonwick Island

The folks left Monday morning a bit tired I think but happy to have had a few days on the boat with us. Unfortunately no sailing but that's the way it is out here sometimes. Monday was spent on a few odd jobs in Port McNeil and Tuesday, after a brisk 2 km uphill walk to get a blood test done, we finished provisioning and left the dock. Despite the fact that Port McNeil is really quite nice and every service a boater needs is quite handy, Cathy and I were both looking forward to being at anchor again. It's funny how habits and desires can change in just a few weeks. We were hoping for a sail but again the winds waited to come up until we were about 2 miles from Waddington Bay. We pulled out the headsail anyways just to say we did and sailed for a whopping great 15 minutes. There were 3 other boats anchored when we got in around 15:30, 2 Canadian and one American. It's getting positively crowded out here. We are taking a day here to reflect and maybe plan a bit for the next week or so. We hope to be in Port Hardy around the first of June but will see how things progress. We still have a few things to work do on the boat before we head around the west coast, least of all is sort out the charge controller for the solar panels. It quit working last week. If it is on, all it does is divert maximum power to the hot water heater, a great way to drain the batteries. I contacted Xantrex but have not heard anything back yet. Oh well, this is what this trip is all about, what works and what needs "adjusting". What tomorrow brings is anyone's guess. One more thing before I send this off, if anyone reading this is still on the fence about going cruising, my opinion, for what it's worth, is go. You never know how you'll adjust until you do.

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Mound Island and Telegraph Cove

After a bit of SE wind, everything calmed down by around midnight.  We pulled up the anchor around 09:30 and in a fit of optimism, I pulled up the mizzen.  The forecast was for 15-20 knot SE, perfect for us to start heading NW again.  We turned west and the wind died.  Oh well, at least it wasn't raining.  We motored through Blackfish Sound and then between Stubbs Is. and the Plumper Islands on route to Telegraph Cove.  At the end of the Plumper Islands, there was a family of sea lions.  There was another boat that went up to get a closer look and they put up quite an impressive aggressive display.  We came into Telegraph Cove around 12:30 and ended up right behind the Dockside 29 Motel complex.  Telegraph is not really set up for larger sailboats (at 36 ft, we were by far the largest boat in here).  Both the resort marina and Telegraph Cove marina are geared towards sport fishing boats.  Still, everyone was very welcoming and we had a great wander around the cove.  There is a whale museum here that has a skeleton of a Fin whale that was hit by a cruise ship in 1999 and dragged all the way to Vancouver.  We they arrived, unfortunately the whale was dead.  It was left on the sea floor for a year in order for the local marine organisms to eat any of the remaining flesh and the plan was to raise the skeleton intact.  After about a year they did raise it and despite some missing bones collected by locals at low tide, it is mostly intact.  It was towed up here at great expense by local whale watching operator as a gift to her husband.  It was pretty impressive.  Today (Sunday) we are heading back to Port McNeil as the folks are going home tomorrow.  The plan is to try for some halibut on the way back (the real plan is to go to the pub for dinner tonight in McNeil).  The halibut plan sort of worked, I caught one.  It was only about 25 cm lng so I threw it back.  ON to McNeil and off to pub…………..

 

 

Joe Cove, Port McNeil and the South Broughton's

Well it's been a few days. We left Booker Lagoon and made our way to Joe Cove on Eden Island. We (ok I) decided to be lazy and not put the motor on the dinghy so we went for a rowing tour of the cove. The log raft is still there and by dinner, there was 3 boats tied up to it. Again, another beautiful anchorage. We tried to find the path that connect to the East Eden but gave up after a bit. It looked like a tree had come down at the end of the cove where you connected to the path and we couldn't get past it (well not without some effort). The next day we left early to catch as much of the tide as we could and made our way to Port McNeil. Laundry etc as well as my parents who were meeting us there the next day (the 16th). For those who have not been, a great little town and the people are all very welcoming of visiting boaters. The transient moorage was about 3/4 full with, mostly with boats working their way north to Alaska. My folks showed up mid afternoon and we left the next morning for the South Broughton's. We anchored at Crease Island. Once again, we put the crab trap in and this morning, once again, I pulled up a monstrous sun star wrapped around the bait bag like it was the last supper. My dad urged me to drop it in for another hour while we got ready to leave and what do you know, we actually got enough crab for a crab pasta tonight. We went a couple of miles to Village Island to explore the abandoned settlement there and to try and find some of the old totem poles that are supposed to be around. The bush was quite thick and the bear signs were numerous (OK, lots of big piles of bear poo!) and fresh so we chickened out. We ended up and Mound Bay and are sitting listening to the light rain and SE winds as it gusts occasionally through the rigging. Tomorrow, Alert Bay and then back to Port McNeil to drop the folks off.

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Tracy Harbour, Napier Bay, Booker Lagoon

We left Turnball Cove on Friday morning in sunshine heading for Tracy Harbour to meet up with friends (Pat and Bob) who are looking after a logging camp. We arrived late morning and worked our way in past Tracy Harbour to Napier Bay where Pat and Bob were tied up. They live on their 40 foot converted fishing boat "Tonga". She was originally built in 1965 and converted in the mid ninties in Nanaimo. Tonga is a lovely boat and Pat and Bob have done loads to make her even better. They have been in Napier bay since last August. We first met them when we lived in Maple Bay. Pat was the caretaker of the Maple bay marina. Always busy running around cleaning or straightening something. We kind of lost track of them a couple of years ago after running into them unexpectedly in the "Boat Yard" in Tsehum Harbour during haulout. They "found us" when we started checking into the Great Northern Boaters Net after we got our Ham licenses. Pat acts regularly as one of the relays for the net and used to run the net. We had a wonderful visit with them, took a couple of nice long walks and shared two great dinners. They are on North Broughton Island and it is cris-crossed with logging roads. The first walk we went on was about 6 km, mostly flat, to where they get their fresh water. That turned out to be the "training" walk for the next day. Saturday, we all did a few chores in the morning and then went for our afternoon stroll. Between 6-7 km round trip, up and down hills to get to "telephone hill" where they can usually get a cell phone call out. We didn't manage that but had it was a wonderful excuse for a walk. The views were magnificent. Bob worked for many years in the logging industry so was able to explain how the logging was done that we saw. It was great to find out how things worked. Bob is also and dedicated wood carver. We spent an hour or so before dinner Saturday looking over his carvings. He has done some amazing birds as well as a lot of native style carving. I got couple of small blocks of yellow cedar from him so I will see what I can make with it. I also cut a couple of small alder trees to make a couple of walking sticks with. Very useful for beating off bears. Sunday morning we got up early and left Napier bay around 07:45. Pat came by before we left and showed me many of the features of the "airmail" program that we use for email via the SSB and Ham. We made our way down Wells Passage in Queen Charlotte Strait and then south towards Booker Lagoon on Broughton Island. We sailed most of the way on a broad reach in about 10 knots of wind. It was a welcome change form having to motor everywhere. Booker Lagoon is off Cullen Harbour. The entrance to Booker is best transited at high water slack and we did just that. It is quite narrow but we had no problem going through with plenty of water under us. The cruising guides either don't mention the lagoon at all or advise only going through with a small fast boat, we're neither! Apparently there used to be a lot of aqua-culture in the lagoon but there is none here now. We toured around all the possible anchorages and ended up in the north-west corner. Once again, we are the only boat around. This place is definitely on the MUST VISIT list if you are heading up this way.
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Laura Cove and Turnbull Cove

For some reason we decided to leave Kwatsi Bay on Tuesday morning (it's starting to get hard remembering days of the week). It was bucketing down rain and blowing from the west between 10-20 knots so we stayed inside the enclosure and motored 12 miles to Laura Cove. Once again, we had the place to ourselves. We got settled and the then magic happened, the sun actually came out. Cathy started a few jobs inside the boat so I went foraging for food. Came back with a good feed of fresh clams. They have got to be the easiest food to harvest. Dig a shallow hole and lick them out. Leave them in a bucket of clean saltwater to rinse and throw them on the BBQ for 10 minutes. Enjoy with wine! Wednesday, left early again and made our way towards Turnball Cove. Went in a checked out Sullivan Bay on the way by. According to he cruising guide, Broadband Express offered wireless there. They don't! We got to Turnball Cove around 11:30. walked up to Huaskin Lake and generally had another relaxing day. What a stressful life we are leading. Hmm, should I go fishing today........

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Port Harvey to Kwatsi Bay

We have decided to start earlier in the day rather than later. The rationale being that we get where we are going earlier with more time to relax. That in mind, we raised anchor at 06:40 on Sunday and headed out of Port Harvey. The weather was less than appealing, grey, raining, you get the picture. The cockpit enclosure was a real joy in those conditions. We made our way through Chatham Channel and went in to look at Minstrel Island. It did not look like much was left there. No evidence of a fuel dock and the restaurant/pub looked abandoned. We crossed Knights Inlet into Tribune Channel and motored our way towards Kwatsi Bay. Of note during the day was our decision to run the water-maker. We ran for a full 3 hours and basically topped off our tanks. A really good investment. The other "toy" we have found most useful is the "Duogen" that we use when sailing. The other day, heading up to Port Harvey, we were generating 10-11 amps at 6.5 knots. More than enough power to meet our needs. We stayed put today in Kwatsi bay. It is stunningly gorgeous here. Had a row around the bay after breakfast and then a bit of a dinghy tour with Cathy after lunch. We stopped in to say hello to Max and Anka at the Kwatsi Bay marina. They were busy getting things ready for the cruising season.. They now have wireless internet for those that can't do without. We have been using sailmail and winlink successfully since we left and although it can be challenging finding a free frequency, it works great for us. Enough rambling, we are here, it is beautiful, and we will continue to explore. After reading the above to Cathy, she reminded me that another unique event took place. We have a pod of Dahl porpoises feeding in Kwatsi Bay. They made a full circuit yesterday evening and we saw them again today. Max told us that there were around 10 in the pod, way cool!!

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Big Bay to Port Harvey

Up early to catch the ebb in Gillard Pasage and Dent Rapids. Pushed a bit of current through Gillard then had current with us for the rest of the day. We hit 11.5 knots (SoG) through Greene Pt. Rapids. Except for the last 5 miles, we motored. The predicted SE winds came in around 13:30. Wing on wing for the last 5-6 miles up Johnstone Strait. Anchored in Port Harvey tucked way back in. The weather has been a bit blah today, overcast and a bit of rain. Oh well, we had 2 sunny days in a row, must be some kind of record for this year!

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Desolation Sound

We sailed from Sturt Bay to Squirrel Cove on Cortez Island on Thursday. We had a a short day, anchored by 15:30. A Halberg Rassey 42 "Vagrant" passed us around Savory Island and continued to Big Bay. We thought about it but were both tired and decided to keep with the original plan. This morning (Friday) we had a leisurely breakfast and upped anchor by 10:00 to head towards Gillard passage. We made excellent time and anchored in Francis Bay for lunch. I spent most of the day on various "boat" jobs while Cathy got us north. Around 16:00 we picked up the anchor and headed towards the Yuculta rapids. We were a bit early but pushed through anyways. Down to about a knot at 3600 RPM at one point but still moving forward. We tied up at the Government Dock for a buck a foot. Nothing left in Big Bay really. There is a small community store that is not yet open but the rest of the "services" have gone. It's all resorts now!

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