What a day we had! It was Father's Day and we decided to take a tour to grizzly land -- the Conservancy at the end of Khutzeymateen Inlet. We'd been thinking of slogging up there on the boat, but it's a l-o-n-g way up and the anchorages are iffy, so the big fast power boat was definitely the way to go. As well as 6 or 7 grizz, we also saw humpbacks and 2 transient orca pods.
We had one up close and personal sighting of a small female grizzly, doing her business, literally. As you will see from the mini-video posted here. (It was taken from the boat, so it's a big jiggly.)
| 2009: BC Coast |
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We've been looking for the fish on our way up the coast, but as far as we could tell, no one has been catching much of anything. Then we arrive in Rupert! And oh my goodness! They're hauling them in by the wheelbarrow load!
This was a charter that had just landed at Atlin Pier in Rupert and the customers were smiling ear to ear. A good day on the water.
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We really had no intention of coming here, or at least making this any more than a stop along the way, but it appears to be our destination! Funny how that works out.
We came up yesterday from Kumealon Inlet on Grenville Channel--a l-o-n-g leg on a foggy and rainy day. Fortunately the wind was resting, so the water was calm. And it was a teasy kind of fog, lifting for 10 minutes, then swooping back in, then lifting again, adding a little rain, then a lot of rain, then some blue sky, then repeat. Nobeltec only concked out once, but it was during the pea-est of the pea-soup fog, and it was only trying to help by building our confidence. Hah!
We had met Fulford Girl, a lovely converted fishing boat in Shearwater a couple of weeks ago, and when they pulled in beside us at the anchorage in Kumealon (photo) we finally got to chat. Fortunatley for us, they left before us the next morning, and had the docks all scoped out when we chugged into Rupert two hours after them. It's a busy place, this Rupert, and it appeared it was going to be a bit tricky to find a place to tie up. But they managed to find a small opening at the dock at Rushbrooke and once we were within shouting distance, retied some boats making a spot for us magically appear! Voila! It was a demonstration of boaters' camaraderie if I ever saw one. Last night we repaid their kindness with a Prawn Pasta dinner, with prawns from Kumealon, prepared by Ron!
So here we are in Prince Rupert -- and it's not raining. Right now. We will spend a couple of days here, doing laundry, getting some cabbage and carrots, and relearning how to walk on land. We are cleverly gleaning fishing tips from whoever we meet on the street, so we may even bag a few salmon when we leave. So far, the fishing has been pretty dismal, but then if there are no fish, you can't catch them.
| 2009: BC Coast |
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As we were coming into the harbour after slogging through fog and rain for 20 miles or so at the breakneck Erramus speed of 5 knots, we found this little piece of loveliness dogging our tail. Eventually she sped by us, causing a certain amount of wake as befits a woman of her stature.
She is the mv Archimedes, just one year old and worth $100 million! (At that price, why not pass everyone on the lake?) I looked it up on the internet: 222 feet, a crew of 14, takes 12 passengers, has 2 2000 HP engines, cruising speed of 15 knots. Made in Holland. Owned by someone from NY. (Not Johnny Depp as one site says.) Our friend Robert O says she has a swimming pool on the top deck. I couldn't see up that far.
It's good to see these things every once in a while. It's crazy out there!
| 2009: BC Coast |
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The Bay of Plenty didn't turn out to be all that we had hoped--as an anchorage it was pretty exposed and it shallowed up pretty darn fast! But it was lovely, we did get some crab for dinner, and we had a lovely dinghy trip up the river.
| 2009: BC Coast |
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Now this was something to come across!
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Lunch stop.
| 2009: BC Coast |
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We've slowed down our pace a little so we could explore this area. We've been rushing rushing rushing to get someplace and decided to enjoy where we were. What a concept! So the past few days we've been sampling some of the anchorages on the West Coast of Princess Royal Island.
This is almost open ocean, with only a few low-profile islands between here and China. The trees are stunted and stick out at wild angles. The rocks jut straight up in the air and dare you to try to navigate between them. And every once in a while there is a little cove or an inlet where you can tuck in and feel safe. Sort of. The wind has ways.
Yesterday we had a lunch stop in Fifer Inlet, up Laredo Inlet, off Laredo Channel, not far from Laredo Sound -- (do you sense the theme emerging here?) It was a beautiful day and it is a truly charming place with a handful of small islets guarding the entrance, a shoreline with enticing ins and outs and a sparkling creek at the head of the bay. And just as we were setting the anchor, I saw a deer crossing the creek. It stopped and looked and then kept on going, not a care in the world. And then, we noticed a grizzly on shore, schlepping his way toward the creek, pulling at grasses and nosing around in the dirt for delicacies. We stopped for an hour watching the grizz -- a youthful 400-500 pounds, I would say, cinnamon coloured, with dark feet and ears: what a treat! Our first bear sighting this year.
Today we stumbled upon an old longhouse in a beautiful forest, mossy and green. The huge posts and beams were leaning against each other, some had trees growing out of them, and it was evocative as hell.
And to top it all off a small group of Dall's Porpoises came barrelling down the channel at us, did a 180 when they got to the boat, and played in our bow wake for 10 minutes or so, splashing their way back the way they'd just come.
Then, just to make sure we were paying attention, god had us ride right over a rock on our way into this very protected, but rock-strewn little anchorage (photo). Not to worry, we had at least two inches under the keel. (Yikes!) I'm not sure the depth sounder is ever going to recover. It made her very nervous. Once we got settled, we dinghied back to the entrance and marked where the rocks were, just to make sure we get out in one piece in the morning.
Wild, I tell you, wild.
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Oh those ravens!
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We had a long (nine-hour) travel day yesterday, heading north. We left Rescue Bay on Mathieson Channel at about 0930 (after pulling up the prawn traps with some nice juicy prawns inside). At the anchorage in Rescue Bay we met Bill, a kayaker from Iowa, who was paddling to Skagway from Olympia, Washington! He picked a good summer for it -- at least so far the weather has been very kayaker friendly.
After about three hours we stopped at Klemtu, a Kitasoo First Nations village, where we topped up our fuel and searched for fresh vegetables in the band store. I did manage to find a cabbage and some broccoli, but the best time is just after the ferry has come in with the weekly order. Some of the shelves were pretty bare yesterday.
I had a very interesting conversation with a man on the dock about fish farming. The Kitasoo have signed an agreement with one of the fish-farming companies and have six fish farms that they run together, employing altogether around 60 people on the farms, in the processing plant, and on the supply boat, although not all of them are from Klemtu. He works on one of the farms and insisted that the radical environmentalists have it all wrong. Nice man. Opposing points of view.
On the water, we saw very few boats all day. After leaving Klemtu we headed through Meyers Passage, which can be a bit tricky since the low water is about 9 feet in the shallowest part, but we passed through with no problems. Our call on the VHF for opposing traffic was met with silence: no other vessels were seen. The sun was shining, the water was dancing, and it was quite lovely. On the other side, the landscape is low to the water, the trees are weathered, and you can tell it can get wild out there. Since it was getting late in the afternoon, we began looking for anchorages, pushing on another hour or so before we found one that looked quite lovely.
It was at the top of the uncharted waters of Thistle Channel, which we poked through very carefully, me standing at the bow looking for rocks. The anchorage was a series of scenic islets that together offered protection according to the cruising guide. It really was beautiful, and there was NO ONE around, except the eagles, who swooped down over us like we were dinner. So we poked along some more, finding a path through the islets, avoiding whatever dangers were there, but to our great disappointment couldn't find the promised 45 feet of depth to anchor in and so decided to head back out and up Laredo Channel to Alston Cove, which we knew was a good anchorage.
Another hour up the channel with the wind picking up but the sky still a brilliant blue against Cone Mountain with it's smooth rock faces and snowy patches, still no other boats, looking forward to a snuggle into Alston Cove to revel in the solitude that this part of the coast offers. We round the corner into the cove and find two other boats already there. God's little joke.
We were here three or four years ago and at that time it was grey and drizzly and my back went out so we were invalid-bound with me flat on my back in great pain for five days: not too pleasant. Nice to be back when the sun is shining. There are fish weirs at the head of the cove and we're hoping for some bear sightings. Lots to explore.
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We are finally in the Central Coast! We feel like we've rushed a bit to get up here, moving through the weather windows as they presented themsevles, and now can slow down a little and enjoy. We have a vague notion of heading to Haida Gwaii, but we are not holding ourselves to anything.
We travelled around the dreaded Cape Caution two days ago, in the company of Cam and Marianne on Mayknot. There were some big swells, but overall it was a pretty nice day and we arrived in Fury Cove on Penrose Island, just north of Rivers Inlet, around noon. There was only one other boat in the anchorage and the white clamshell beaches were sparkling in the sun--it seemed just about perfect. When we woke up from our naps, we were surrounded by powerboats who had slid in undetected--a bit of a surprise, but they were all well enough behaved, so it was fine.
The next day Ron and I carried on up Fitzhugh Sound where we saw a humpback female and youngster feeding off Kwakshua Channel. For a long time now we've wanted to stop at the Koeye River but whenever we've been driving past the conditions haven't been right. It's right across Fitzhugh from Hakai Pass and if the wind is blowing, temporary anchorage is difficult. But on that day, the wind wasn't too bad and the tide was high, so we dropped the hook in a semi-sheltered cove and dinghied up the river a couple of miles. It was very beautiful, with lots of grassy flatlands where you just know grizzlies and wolves and minks and otters and all kinds of things were lurking in the tall grasses, but all remained invisible to us. That little trip has been on my list for a few years now, so it was gratifying to finally see it. But it's not exactly off the list either -- we'd like to come back in the fall during the salmon run and actually get to see the grizzlies and the wolves and the assorted friends...
We spent that night at our old friend Codville Lagoon, hoping to see baby seals and moms lolling on the rocks. Only saw one baby seal and one mom, but that one baby was awfully tiny, so we think maybe we are a bit early for the nursery scene. We did watch a peregrine falcon in a tree though, as it quite impressively found and ate a meal of fish not far off our stern in the anchorage.
Yesterday we met up with Cam and Marianne again at Shearwater, the cruisers' hub in the Central Coast -- groceries, gas, showers, laundry, pub -- a busy place.
Picture: For years, eagles were a common sight on an old dead tree in front of the resort. Now the tree has gone and the eagles have found a more modern, if temporary, roost.
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We haven't seen a lot of wildlife so far on the trip, but we have been blessed by several schools of porpoises and dolphins who seem to enjoy playing in the bow wake. They seem to be having a really good time. As are we, watching them. Nothing compares with the joy of watching these guys dive and roll and weave over and other each other. I always feel like we've been chosen somehow and they always leave me with a smile on my face.
| 2009: BC Coast |
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