08/09/2011

He was feeding on herring.

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Don/Nice and sunny
08/09/2011, Skaang Gwaii

We departed Marshall Inlet at 6:30 am. As we were pulling anchor, we noticed that Alaskan Dream got its anchor line caught in the line of the mysterious crab pot with the floating log marker. They nearly got the line wrapped in their props which would have required someone to dive into 55 degree water, a very cold start to the day.

The early departure was because we decided to head all the way down to Skaang Gwaii today. It was an easy trip. We arrived there about 1 pm and rafted up because there was limited anchor room. We went ashore, found the trail and hiked through a cathedral like forest to the watchkeeper's residence. James greeted us and we waited briefly for a previous group to complete their tour of Skaang Gwaii, the International Heritage Site. Skaang Gwaii is the best preserved village of the coastal indigenous people. It was abandoned in the late 1800's as small pox ravaged all of the villages. The survivors moved to where missionaries had medical supplies, in the Queen Charlottes, this was at Queen Charlotte City. James was an incredible watchkeeper and guide. His tour of the village site was one of the real highlights of this trip. We learned about mortuary poles, the construction of long houses, totem symbols, and so much more. We were sad for the tour to end. We walked back via a path that took us by the route that my dad, brother Dwight, and I took when we visited the site in the mid 1980's. After getting back aboard Change of Latitude, Brian asked us to go over to Rose Harbour to scout out an anchorage.

Rose Harbour was a tight fit and while checking things out I failed to keep full situational awareness when we entered shallow water. Fortunately, Debbie noticed our depth indicator and called out that we were in 5 feet of water. Since this depth indicator measured from the waterline and since we had 4.2 feet down to our keel, we nearly were aground. I threw us into reverse, spun us around and we exited Rose Harbour. Thank goodness for Debbie's alertness! She saved the day!

We went over to Ross Island and found much better anchorage, protected from 15-20 knot winds. There was room for everyone there so Mystic Eagle, who had joined us in the search, reported back to Brian and the others that we had found a good spot for the night. We anchored and in a bit the wind died and we settled in for the night after another Jiffy Pop snack, just before bedtime. Tomorrow is a lay day, a day to rest up and not travel. Dave and I hope to do a bit of fishing.

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08/08/2011

They met a group canoeing in Gwaii Haanis.

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08/08/2011, Hotsprings Island

Debbie and Barb hiked through the woods to a beach on the far side of the island.

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Don - Cloudy and Cool
08/08/2011, 52 34.42'N:131 26.60'W

In the morning, Dave and I got up early, with tremendous expectations, to pull the shrimp pot. The puller worked perfectly but, alas, the shrimpers did not. Zilch!! I look forward to the next round with Mr. Shrimp. He has secrets I have yet to discover. We pulled the crab pots and they, too, were empty. So much for manly men knowing what they were doing in the wilderness!!

We lifted the dingy aboard and tied everything down and then departed at 8 for Hotsprings Island and a soak in the best natural hot springs on the west coast. It was a short cruise and we radioed the watchman when we were anchored. He asked that we come ashore in two separate groups of 12, one group at a time. We went with the first group that included us and our new friends aboard Mystic Eagle. Jordan took us ashore in Deception's dinghy and we were greeted by James, one of the watchmen on the island. He was exceptionally welcoming and took us on the trail to the changing building and showers. A long the way, he showed us the three pools. It was a bit like Goldilocks and the Three Bears - one was hottest, one was cooler and one was just right. The pools were incredibly nice with gravel on the bottom and even a floating board to set your water bottles. Debbie and Barb chose to go with XXXXXX, the other watchkeeper for a hike to the beach on the far side of the island. There, they met a group canoeing Gwaii Hanis who had come ashore on the beach. The trail through the forest was like a cathedral - so quiet and peaceful.

Dave and I soaked in the just right pool, while the others went to the coolest. Out pool was about 110-120. It was warm enough that you really needed to get out after about 15 minutes. I got light headed from the soak. Dave then went down to the cooler pool for a second soak. After we were done, James took us back to the beach, we said our thanks and good byes and headed back to the boats.

One we got back, we peeled off and headed out to Check out anchoring possibilities in Marshall Inlet with Mystic Eagle. We entered, being careful of the rock on the left of the channel and we both found a nice place to anchor. It was windy but the wind settled down in the evening. We set out the crab pots and fixed a nice steak dinner with a few margaritas beforehand and a wonderful wine with the steaks. That evening, Dave took Debbie and Barb out to explore the river mouth in Rubber Ducky. They found several floating logs that were being used as crab pot floats. I wonder if someone was crabbing in the cove and not wanting it known.

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08/07/2011

Debbie and Barb are our official photographers on this trip. They took this image of one type of jellyfish common in Northwest waters.

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08/07/2011

Those manly men can do it all! ;-)

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08/07/2011

Through Louise Narrows.

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08/07/2011

It was a tight fit around a few of the corners.

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08/07/2011

We were up at 5:30 today for a 6:30 departure. We were headed south, into Gwaii Haanis, through Louise Narrows, a shallow cut between two islands and had to hit it on a rising tide, about half way to full. That would give us enough water (about 4 feet) under our keel. If we went aground, the raising tide hopefully would raise us off the bottom.

Holy moly was Louise Narrows narrow! There was only room for a single boat at a time so we all went single file through, announcing our entry on Channel 16 in case someone was headed north at the same time. The photos above show how we went through carefully at idle speed. We could see the bottom throughout the narrows. It took about 30 minutes to clear. We then went through Dana Passage and out Dana Inlet then Logan Inlet and into Crescent Inlet to anchor.


From our anchorage in Crescent Inlet, we could see several bears on the beach at the river mouth, feeding on grasses and getting ready for the salmon to run upstream. The black bears on Haida Gwaii are the largest black bears in the world, a separate subspecies from those on the mainland.

We had a couple of boat projects to do on arrival. The first thing Dave and I did was to check the bilge pump on Rubber Ducky. It had not been pumping out the bilge as fast as it should. In fact, it was hardly pumping at all. I know nothing about bilge pumps so I figured it would be a good learning experience. The bilge pump is located under the steering station seat. We opened things up and poked about. First we checked the exhaust lines by disconnecting them and blowing. They were clear. They I removed the housing on the Rule 500 bilge pump to see what was inside. Voila! It was very simple engineering, the best kind. The filter screen rested on the bottom with an impeller in the bottom of the main housing that rested on top. The screen was easily removed. It was filled with crud. Salmon and herring guts, no doubt, that that had been there for a while. Ugh! We cleaned it up and replaced it and then tested the system by pouring several buckets of water in the boat. It worked like a charm and Debbie captured a photo of a successful project.

Next, we looked at the Furuno chart plotter at the lower helm station. It had gone on the fritz and being a windows based machine gave an error message I did not fully understand. Something about a connection not being connected. Dave and I took the main computer out of the front upper dash and found that the VGA out connection was faulty and could not be repaired. The cable could not seat properly. Something for Radar Marine to fix when we get back to Bellingham. Brian had called them earlier and they suspected a faulty hard drive. It may have several problems that need to be fixed. Fortunately, it is still under warrantee. We are not worried, though. We have our Simrad chart plotter in both upper and lower helm and a MACENC chart plotter on my laptop.

After those projects I tested the Sat TV and it worked fine, even out in Haida Gwaii. It had no problems pulling in a signal. Dave and I also set out the shrimp pot in Rubber Ducky with our shrimp pot puller. It worked like a charm, setting the shrimp pot down in 260 feet of water. During the day, the pacific spotted shrimp stay deep, below 400 feet. At night they come to 250-300 feet to feed. Hopefully, they will find our pot. We set out the crab pots, too, on our trip.

We returned to the boat and I fixed margaritas and then Dave and I grilled a salmon from the freezer using the grill on the back deck. Manly man time! We fixed it with lemon, butter, salt and pepper. It was a huge hit.

Techno Tip of the Day
As I learned the hard way, one should have the cleaning of bilge pump filters as a regularly scheduled maintenance item. I will be checking all of the boat's 4 bilge pump filters on this trip. It will be good to see how each works. A nice project for me.

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