Friday June 29, 2007 The Broken Group

Friday June 29, 2007 The Broken Group
We left early on Tuesday heading for the Broken Group of islands, our last stop before we head in Juan de Fuca Strait and back to Victoria for July. We had no wind and low SW swell and once again motored for the day. We have been somewhat disappointed in the sailing conditions on the west coast this year. It has been an endless series of low pressure systems and SE winds interrupted by brief N sector winds for a day or two at a time. We are planning on hanging about here until we get some decent winds to sail back to Victoria. We anchored Tuesday night in Effingham Bay. It is very protected and there was only one other boat that showed up. As the long weekend gets closer, we are seeing more and more boats out so our days of "private" anchorages are pretty much at an end. Wednesday dawned clear and sunny so we headed off to shore at low tide and burned our garbage. Always a fun time. We dug a shallow pit in the sand about 2 meters from the waters edge, collected a few dry (ish) twigs and set about the great burning. We had a couple of weeks of paper garbage to burn. We took a little longer than we planned and had to build a small dike around the fire pit so the incoming tide wouldn't flood the fire. Eventually, the dike gave way and our fire was safely extinguished. You could look at this as a small example of what could happen if the sea levels do rise substantially as a result of climate change. After cleaning up, we had a bit of lunch and Cathy and I went fishing. Cathy had never jigged for fish before and she turned into a pro straight away. She caught a couple decent rockfish that we kept (I caught nothing of course). I filleted the fish and saved the heads for crab bait and set the trap. (We must remember that the odd shaped ziplock in the freezer is a fish head, not food). The boat Agua Verde that we had drinks on in Columbia Cove showed up early Wednesday afternoon. Colin had a grop of 5 men on board for a CYA sail and learn live aboard cruise. I helped ferry them to shore so they could stretch their legs and follow a path over to the outside of the island. An hour or so after I dropped them off, they showed up on shore again. Apparently the path has disappeared somewhat and they had lost their way about half way there. Backtracking seemed to them to be the correct choice at that particular point in time. Thursday we woke up to rain, rain and more rain. It was bucketing done so out went the rain catcher to fill the water tanks. The trap gave us one nice rock crab that coupled with the fish made a very nice seafood stew for dinner. We left Effingham bay after lunch and made our way 5 miles further in to Turtle Bay. The sun came out, it was gorgeous, for about an hour and a half, then it rained, again! Rain again this morning so we will sit here until after lunch and head up to the Pinkerton's. The crab trap came up with 3 rock crabs this morning, two on he inside and oddly enough, one riding shotgun on top of the trap. All legal size so all went in the pot. The sun did come out this afternoon just after lunch so we upped anchor and had a wee sail (all of 3 ½ miles) up to the Pinkerton's. We found a deserted anchorage and weaved our way in past the rocks. Nice and sheltered with a great view to the west. Had a great spaghetti dinner with enough leftover for our sail back into Victoria. The way the weather is shaping up, Monday looks like a possible day to leave. We will have to wait and see Tomorrow we will likely head into Bamfield and take a walk around, maybe stay the night at dock.

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A Hot Illegal (Anniversary) Bath

We got up early on the 24th, had a small breakfast and headed for the hot springs. There were no other boats around so we figured we would have the place to ourselves. It is a beautiful 2 km walk along a beautifully maintained boardwalk to the hot springs themselves. The walk alone is worth it as it winds it's way through the forest past 200+ year old cedar and fir trees. It seems to be a tradition for people to carve their boat names onto individual boards in the boardwalk. They are beautifully done, some quite intricate. We recognized a few of the boat names but decided not to add Tarun to the ones represented. The hot springs were deserted when we got there about 08:15 so we took full advantage and had a much needed hot shower and bath. The springs clean themselves out every 10-15 minutes so we weren't too worried about it. It was heaven. We soaked for about 45 minutes before we decided to head back and have our planned Sunday brunch. When we got back to the dock to retrieve our dinghy and head back to Tarun, we decided to read the "PARK REGULATIONS". Well, listed near the top of things NOT TO DO was use soap or shampoo in the hot springs, oh well, an illegal anniversary bath. As it was our 22nd anniversary, we splurged and feasted on eggs Benedict when we got back to Tarun, decadent but worth it! Later in the afternoon we paid a visit to the "Innchanter", an 80 year old converted coastal freighter that owner Shaun has turned into a B&B "plus dinner". A work in progress still after 12 years, Innchanter is quite stunning. She has 5 guest staterooms a large galley where Shaun presides over gourmet breakfasts and dinners. There are kayaks for use by the guests, a well stocked library and a soon to be completed dinning room seating 12. Shaun is a gracious and generous host. Rolly (from Tropic Isle) had said to make sure we went and introduced ourselves when we got to Hotsprings and we were both very glad we did. Shaun has made his home in Hotsprings cove for many years and is the unofficial ambassador for the cove. The float plane and tour operators mostly stop there and have a coffee and chat waiting for their groups to return from the hot springs.
We were quite glad we came down from Santa Gertrudis in less than ideal conditions the day before as no-one else was there. By Sunday evening, the dock had 3 sailboats tied up to it and a couple more were anchored out. We had had our "private day" Sunday morning in the springs so this morning, we left. The forecast was for light N, NE, NW winds (well north something anyways) turning to strong SE this afternoon. We decided to head into East Clayquot Sound and see a bit more before we headed south. The weather is supposed to be NW again tomorrow so we will continue on to the "Broken Group".

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Hisnet Inlet, Santa Gertrudis and Hotsprings Cove

We left Tahsis with no wind and ebb current so we could get down the inlet without pushing tide. We decided to head for Hisnet Inlet and maybe collect some oysters on the beach. Well be the time we got there, it was bucketing down rain so we hunkered down and stayed dry. We did end up watching a couple of black bears on the beach just before dinner. We left around 10:00 the next morning en-route to Santa Gertrudis Cove, just east of Friendly Cove in Nootka Inlet. We tucked up in the south part of the cove and went for a dinghy tour over to Friendly Cove. It was again bucketing down rain so we did not land and headed back to the boat to get dry and warm. We were waiting for Rolly Brown (VEOTI) off Tropic Isle. He had spent the past few weeks in Hotsprings Cove and was headed north to pick up his wife in Gold River. Rolly showed up around 18:00 and we had him over for dinner. Interesting to meet someone in person who you only have known through the ham net. We had a great meal of Swedish Meatballs (thanks Cathy) and a wonderful evening swapping lies. Rolly spends about 4 months a year on his boat and is on his 18th circumnavigation of Vancouver Island. We planned for an early departure on Saturday for Hotsprings to try and get the best of the S/SE winds. Well, we had a great 15 miles on a close reach and close hauled and then we had to turn SE and we ended up motor sailing into a gusty SE wind to try and get to Hotsprings. The distance on the chart was 30 odd NM and we ended up sailing 46 NM to get here. Oh well, we have to move south as we are running out time on the west coast. The winds topped out around 30 knots with consistent 25 knots on the nose. We ended up motor sailing with a single reef in the mizzen and about half a headsail. A reasonable combination that let us get where we were going. We rolled in to Hotsprings Cove around 16:00 and anchored east of the float. We were (and ARE both pretty tired so no visit to the Hotsprings tonight, Maybe tomorrow.

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Esperanza Inlet to Tahsis

We left Dixie Cove by 06:30 and headed back out to the Pacific. The forecast was for 10-15 knot NW so we had our fingers crossed. We had the sails up before we cleared Kyuquot Sound and had a rolling 4 knot downwind sail to Esperanza. It was wonderful. I had rigged up a simple preventer for the main and it worked exactly as needed, no banging main and no untoward pressure on the goose-neck. We had originally planned to overnight in Queens Cove but after we got there we saw HOUSES on shore. After an hours rest we decided to head back out to Mary Basin. It looked pretty nice and the brief write-up in the cruising guide looked like it could be worth a visit "… the anchorage is quite scenic, usually deserted, and surrounded by various cruising attractions". A pretty good understatement! The sea caves as you enter into Nuchatlitz Inlet are stunning, especially with the swell breaking on them and the beaches slope perfectly so you can run the dinghy right up. Great walking, great exploring opportunities. There were quite e few sea otters around and there is supposed to be pretty good crabbing as well (we have had sea food 3 nights now so I am off food delivery duty for a few more days. We had a wonderful day Tuesday exploring the shoreline with the dinghy before lunch, walking on the beach and relaxing in the afternoon. Not the warmest of days however and we had the furnace on a lot (again!). Hopefully we will see summer when it starts tomorrow. We left Mary Basin this morning in fog and drizzle. A Beneteau 42 called Kipper Kite left around 6:00 am with the intention of heading out and down to Friendly Cove. We decided that with a forecast of 35 knot SE winds and having to go SE, Tahsis would be a nice place to visit. We hooked up the auto-helm and motored up to Tahsis. The Beneteau appeared a few hours after we left behind us. They passed us in Tahsis Narrows and we caught up with them at Westview Marina where we stopped. They had gone out and run into 30-35 knot winds and a a knot of current against them and decided to turn back and see the inside passage. 4 guys on board, it must have been hard for them to turn around, especially after we stopped by yesterday to say hello in the dinghy and they confidently stated that they were here to sail (a comment made AFTER I told them the weather was forecast for 25-25 knot SE winds). As I said, we stopped at Westview Marina in Tahsis. A great place! The owner has been in Tahsis for 26 years and has been operating the marina for the past 15. They watched the slow slide of Tahsis as the mill progressively shut down and then finally closed for good in 2002. They have made a wonderful transition to a successful seasonal tourist business, open this year from May until likely October. They have very clean facilities, reasonable moorage (0.75 /ft plus GST), fuel, showers, and a Mexican restaurant. We went for dinner tonight and it was quite good. Wireless internet in the restaurant as well as on the licensed patio. It is pounding rain right now and has been off and on since the afternoon so we didn't spend any time sunning on the patio. Oh well, tomorrow is summer!! We are off to Hisinit Inlet tomorrow so hopefully the southerly winds will ease a bit before we leave.

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The Bunsby's and Kyuquot Sound

We left Columbia Cove Friday morning in sunshine and blue skies. The forecast was for 10-15 knot NW winds so we thought we would get a nice sail down to the Bunsby Islands. Alas, no wind so we motored again (ok a whole 5 miles or so). The Coast Guard was just leaving when we got to the Islands so we figured it must be a good anchorage. We decided to tuck into a small cove on Bunsby Island, recommended by the cruising guide. Well we ended up dropping and picking up the hook twice before we found decent holding. A very rocky bottom. We had run into a couple in their dinghy in the way in so we decided to pay them a visit. Art and Mary were on a 36 ft Sabreline power boat. Quite a nice seaworthy boat. They are from Vachon Island in Puget Sound. Art is a retired fisherman so we got some good information about winds in August off the Washington and Oregon Coast. A couple of other US sailboats came into the anchorage in the early evening, guys out sailing. The forecast was for a NW gale Saturday afternoon so we decided to head out early Saturday for Walter Cove (Kyuquot Harbour) and then on to Hankin Cove further in Kyuquot Sound. Walter Cove is a bit tricky to get into but it is well marked. We had expectations of finding a store and possibly having breakfast at the local restaurant but times have changed there. There are now a few fishing lodges that cater to their guest's needs and the woman who runs the restaurant got tired of visiting boaters complaining about how expensive everything was. Strange how people want everything to be cheap but neglect to think how much it costs to get goods to remote places. It isn't as if there was daily delivery by road. Anyhow, we also found out that the store only opened between 3-6 pm and as it was 9 am we did not want to hang around, besides we really didn't need anything. We did end up talking to this old guy who came there with his family in 1929. He was a bit deaf so the conversation was pretty load from our side. Interesting guy to talk to about the changes to the economy. He fished for a living but now leases out his boat and license to his nephew. He can't understand why the government makes them fish is the bad weather of the winter (and when fish is scarce) instead of what they used to be allowed to do which was fish in summer when the weather was good and fish plentiful. We also ran into the local nurse (there is a small medical "outpost" in the cove). She and her husband spend two months at a time living there and then have two months out. She absolutely loves it there and they have bought a small piece of property and are building a small home. We left Walter's and made our way up into the sound and anchored in Hankin Cove at the bottom of Kashutl Inlet. A very protected anchorage with anchoring depths in 10-15 meters on a mud bottom. We set out the crab trap in the middle of the cove and had a wonderful bbq steak dinner. Decadent but….. This morning, I went out to pull up the trap and based on the past week or so, I had no expectations of crab but we had managed to get a couple of nice big Dungeness for dinner (and beyond). We pulled up anchor around 10:00 am and headed for Fair Harbour. Just outside of Hankin we actually pulled up some sails and had a gentle downwind sail to Fair Harbour. The mariners "Blue Pages" listed a small marina there that had internet access. We thought we may be able to download a emails etc but no email to be had. We motored out and headed for Dixie Cove about 2 miles away. The cove is very well protected and is basically split in two parts. The outer cove could probably handle 4-6 boats and the inner cove accessed by a narrow but deep passage could probably accommodate 3-4 boats as well. We are by ourselves!! I took off in the dinghy after lunch and thought I would try and catch couple of rock fish for tomorrow. Within about 30 minutes I had caught 4 fish (something of a change of luck for me!!) I landed a red snapper and kept one large rockfish. I was startled half to death when I threw one small rockfish back. It laid on top of the water stunned about 6 feet form the dinghy and the next thing I saw was a large eagle swooping down to pluck it from the water. Rather unique. Tonight is crab Jamabalya and tomorrow we head back out on the west coast to make for Esperanza Inlet, the next sound south.

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Columbia Cove

We finally managed to leave Winter Harbour on June 13. We thought we would leave really early but the wind was blowing 15-20 knots in Winter Harbour so we did not get away until 07:45. The trip out to Kains Island was against a 15-20 knot S, SE wind so we we're hopeful for a sail. The forecast had the wind shifting to the SW by afternoon. Well we sailed out WSW from Kains Island for about 4 miles and then tried to tack S to try and make our way down to Solander Island. The wind dropped to 5 knots and after mucking about for about half an hour and basically going nowhere, we reefed in the main and rolled up the headsail and motored sailed around Brooks Peninsula. We got into Columbia voce by 18:30 and picked up one of the 2 public moorings. Thursday we woke up to NO RAIN which was nice for a change and after a leisurely breakfast, we put the crab trap down and went to try and find the path out to the outer beach. The path is in the Southern part of the cove and is marked by a few fishing floats that have been hung in the trees. A spirited 15tminute hike brought us out to a sand beach littered with wood, old fishing floats, plastic bottles, flip flops (jandles for the kiwi readers) and various other bits of bric-a-brac that you would find on a beach. The surf was rolling in and it was astonishingly beautiful. I spent the afternoon fishing and ofter cathing a small rockfish for the crab trap I ran out of fish "luck". When we first put the trap down, we used a tin of cat food, it didn't do much! I gave up about 4:00 PM and when I got back to the boat, saw that we had company. A couple from Vancouver, Colin and Niki, on Agua Verde, had come down from Sea Otter Cove. Colin runs a small CYA school from his boat and will work out of Tofino for the next little while. We swapped lies for a couple of hours on their boat and will likely run into then again as we work our way south. The highlight of the day though had to be the black bear we watched wander down the beach in the late afternoon. OUR FIRST BEAR of the trip, yeah!!

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Winter Harbour, Winter Harbour, Winter Harbour

Time and sailing have an interesting relationship when you are waiting for weather. The winds continue to blow from the SE and S at gale force and above. We sit here getting a bit uptight about having to stay at dock but then we realize that better here then getting bashed by 30-35 knot winds struggling to weather trying to get around Brooks's Peninsula. So far June has been unseasonably cold and the winds are definitely NOT typical. The surface analysis chart looks like a winter pattern. Lynn Greentree calls this the Orange Blossom Express (thanks Lynn!). Winter Harbour is a nice little place. An extensive boardwalk runs from The old BC packers dock where we are about a third of the way around the harbour. We had a great walk and it is interesting to see what has been abandoned and what is being restored. According to a few of the locals we have talked to, the property values here are on the rise like everywhere else and the taxes along with them. It is forcing out some of the older fishermen who own property here but can no longer afford the taxes to live here. Progress can be very cruel. The weather looks pretty dismal for the next couple of days but we are snug and secure and in no rush, so we will wait. This has been an great training experience in patience and waiting. Something that was related to me a couple of years ago by a British couple, Beth and Bone off Splinters Apprentice has come to mind while we wait here. They have been sailing around the world for the past 12 years and when I asked them a couple of years ago how they dealt with severe weather, they were quite straight forward in answering. "We wait for the weather to come right before we leave" was the essence of their reply. Good words and something all blue water sailors "know" but all us also need to learn it as well.

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Back to Winter Harbour

fter a good morning carving a plug for the hawse pipe, we listened to the weather and decided to make a run back out to Winter Harbour. There is a storm warning for the north end of the island with winds to 50 knots tonight rising to 60 knots by morning. Winter Harbour is renowned for as a safe anchorage in southerly winter storms so back to the dock at the Outpost for a couple of nights to wait out the weather.
Quite frankly, after seeing the land rape from the logging industry here, we are not sad to leave Quatsino Sound. It's amazing how the forestry companies convince us that they follow forest management practices and quote how many acres of forest they re-plant every year. Well, from our observations, they are NOT telling us how much they are harvesting. The barren hills are incredible. Oh well, as I have already ranted enough on this I will leave it for now. We are tied up snug and secure and waiting out the winds. We plan to leave here on Sunday as that is when the weather looks like it should be OK, but who knows?

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Bull Harbour and BEYOND

Thursday June 7, 2007
Well, after getting tired of the dead fish smell in Port Hardy (only when the tide was out), we left for Bull Harbour on Monday. The wind was coming from the NW and we where basically going west so we ended up motor sailing in about 6 knots. We got into Bull harbour mid afternoon and the rain let up shortly after we got in (of course). The government dock noted on the charts actually belongs to the local First Nations tribe. There is a small settlement at the north end of the harbour with half a dozen houses or so. Tuesday we spent the morning on boat chores and in the afternoon we went for a walk out to "Roller Beach". The beach faces NW and is completely open to the Pacific. The surf roles in and the rocks roll up and down. Quite a beautiful sound when you stop to listen. Parts of the beach have been beaten into sand and if you could ignore the cold wind and the fir tress, you could almost imagine a south pacific setting (ok if you had a really GOOD imagination).
Part of the reason for the stop for the day at Bull Harbour was weather related as the forecast called for winds shifting from North to South and then North. The other part of the reason was to get another hour's sleep before we left to cross Nawhitti bar. The sailing directions are quite clear that it is best to cross at high water slack tide. We planned for this and left Wednesday morning at 04:00 to get slack at 04:30 (yes, in the morning!!). The NW wind had settled in and we motor sailed with double reefed main and about 2/3 of a headsail into 15-20 knots until we crossed the bar then sailed to Cape Scott. 7 hours and 20 miles later we rounded Cape Scott and finally eased sheets to head down towards Quatsino Sound on a deep reach. We are both quite tired of sailing to weather, especially in 2 meter short period seas with gusting winds. It was quite frankly a slog until we turned the corner. From Cape Scott to Winter Harbour (35 miles) we had a great sail in 10-20 knots with headsail and mizzen on a deep reach. We ended up at the dock at Winter Harbour as I had to do some telephone banking. A LONG day but worth the trip. This was the first time we had sailed Tarun on the "ocean", and our first time back on the ocean since we left New Zealand in 2000 (the Gulf Islands just don't count). We stayed at former BC Packers Dock in Winter Harbour, now "The Outback" for 50 cents a foot. We got away from there about 10:00 this morning and headed out for a bit of a sail outside of Quatsino to try and sort out the wind steering system. We are getting closer but still have a few bugs to work out. We came back into Quatsino Sound and motored about 15 miles to Pamphlet Cove. We anchored near the bottom of the cove and are very protected from pretty much everything. One thing that struck us as we were coming in was the sheer volume of logging that has gone on. That and the fish farms. We passed 4 farming operations in the 15 miles to get to Pamphlet. I think that to find unspoiled wilderness in Canada, you will probably have to travel to the high arctic. The logging that we can see from the water looks like they used a lawn mower to take down great swaths of trees. The resulting cuttings are eroding and will take a long time to recover.

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Port Hardy Musings

We left Napier Bay on May 31 expecting a SW wind and getting flat calm.  It was a pleasant motor with the autohelm doing most of the work.  We were having problems with it but it seems to be working so no replacement in the immediate future.  We found a space at fisherman's wharf next to the Quarterdeck marina just a couple of boats away from Juniata.  We had previously met Dave and Marcia in Maple Bay about 4 years ago.  They have a Crealock 37 yawl, a very nice boat.  Dave caught our lines and we had a good talk with them over a glass of wine late in the afternoon.  They headed off the following morning to meet up with Just us II" for a tour of the north coast of BC. They pan to head to Mexico as well this year so we will likely meet up with them again.  Friday, I decided to try and get the charge controller for the solar panels replaced so I called Waypoint in Sidney and Mark worked his magic and lo and behold on Saturday we had the replacement unit in hand in Port Hardy by 09:30.  The new unit works flawlessly so we are back in business with solar and wind charging systems again.  Port Hardy is a bit different from what we expected.  We have explored the town on foot as best we can and there is not a lot to offer other than the very basics.  The town seems to be a bit run down.  We managed to find pretty much everything we need to get ready for the west coast including a lot of FOOD.  After talking to Dave from Juniata, I have set up the wind steering and hope to get a chance to try it our tomorrow.  We spent today cleaning the boat and getting the last of the fresh veggies etc.  We hope to not have to buy much food until we get to Victoria but we'll see.  The forecast is for a good SE wind so hopefully we will get a good sail tomorrow up to Bull Harbour.  After that, we will wait for the winds to go back the NW and then head for Sea Otter Cove then Quatsino Sound.  Like all sailing plans, made in jello (Thanks to David on "Toketie" for that one!!).  By the way, if you want stamps (postage stamps) in Port Hardy, you best be here on Mon to Fri to buy them from the post office.  We tried everywhere else and none to be had.  Oh well, the mail will have to wait.