07/07/2012, Joe Cove
Joe Cove was only 5 miles away as the crow flies, but took about 15, routing around all the islands. The cove has a small float out in the middle of the bay. No one was on it so we tied up, we had our own private island complete with picnic table. We explored some native "middens". Middens are large areas of broken shells that the aboriginal peoples had deposited thru harvesting over time. These areas were used for hundreds, if not thousands of years until the white man came. We hiked some trails, looking over our shoulders for bears, all the while rattling our pop cans filled with rock and our boat air horn in our hands. We had no other takers at our private float on our first night, though a couple of small boats tied up the next day. We watched them have success with a crab trap dropped off the end of the float. Very nice pair of couples from Victoria. Since we were at this anchorage for two days I did some minor maintenance work. We had been suffering a minor oil leak, I had stopped it up with 4200 a couple days prior and it sealed the leak, one worry off my mind. I had drained out a small bit of moisture from a fuel filter and had unknowingly broke the prime in my fuel line. We started the engine to charge the batteries, ran for about 5 minutes then died. Mind you this is out in the middle of nowhere, all I could think about was Ed and no engine. I figured all I needed to do was "bleed " the fuel system, quick bleed, restart and 5 more minutes and dies. Once more rebleed and dies and it is 9 o'clock and time to wait till morning, A sleepless night, a thorough read of the manual, a rebleed from the tank to the injectors and success. I used to make fun of people that couldn't change a spare by saying, "now if you had a sailboat broke down in Vanuatu, who would come and rescue you". That thought had ran thru my mind.
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07/06/2012, Waddington Bay
On our way out of Port Mcneill we ran into our old friend "Ed". Ed is the 77 year old that had lost his engine. He had made it to Port Mcneill, powered by his dinghy tied to the side of his boat, until the dinghy motor gave up and he ghosted along backwards at one knot and made it in. The guy is truly amazing and still has a great attitude and is laughing and having a great time. We bought a gift certificate from him for the fuel dock so he could have some cash, while at the dock a single handed sailor was checking in to the country from Japan, he was in a smaller boat than ours and had just arrived from across the Pacific. We crossed Queen Charlotte Sound with only slightly rough water and got in a little sailing. Wound our way thru the small islets of the Broughtons to our anchorage. There were two other boats on the outer part of the bay so we snuck into the shallows and dropped anchor. Very rugged and majestic here. One drawback as we get farther and farther in the shore is so steep and rugged there is no hiking and hardly anywhere to water the dog. I brought my crab trap but it was $31 for a five day license, so I bagged it. Suzie took some great pictures of the area.
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07/05/2012
We had an awesome run down Johnstone Strait, calm seas and fast currents. We are going to hang out here a couple days, the town has laundry, shopping, restaurants and coffee shops. We are going to head out into the Broughton's and may be out of touch for a while. We have determined that at the leisurely pace we are going that there is no way we can reach Alaska. Our plan is to wander north until Aug 1 and head back south. We are going to try to go around Cape Caution, that will be going out into the real ocean. We have run into 3 or 4 people that we have seen earlier, in Port Mcneill. The marina is pretty full, we are next to the shore and had 2.5 feet under us at low tide this morning.
I have been retired for a whole year. Time seems to really march on. I was telling Suzie that I didn't even feel guilty, only accomplishing a long list of minor jobs today. I am slowly getting over the need to be accomplishing something major every day. The pace feels just about right.
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07/03/2012, Port Neville
No facilities here except a dock. We pulled in and recognized a boat from Alaska that we had seen in Bedwell Harbour. At the head of the dock is what used to be the Port Neville store built in 1925 and closed since 1960. We met a gentlemen that was leasing the property from the fourth generation owners. He unlocked the store a gave us a tour inside. It was like going back in time. The two story building was hand built and still contained most of the original artifacts. At one time it was the local post office, store and living quarters for the owners. There were some newspapers from 1952 to celebrate Queen Elizabeth's inauguration. There is talk of turning the place into a real museum. The weather has turned rainy, started last night and has rained all day. We were going to wait until noon and decide on whether to move on, but it looks like hanging out until early tomorrow morning. A 30 mile run against the tide will take us 7 or 8 hours, but back to the land of coffee shops, stores, showers and internet. We at least have a large grassy area to run the dog in, even if it is pouring down rain. We tried to take off the first day, butthe weather was too rough out in Johnstone Strait , so back to the dock. Quite a cast of characters have pulled in. The Newport, that we saw in Douglas Bay, limped in by powering with his dinghy tied to the side. "Ed" from Tacoma, 77 years old had lost his motor and was making his way to Port Mcneill for repairs. Here he was miles from nowhere, with no motor but I guess that is the advantage of a sailboat. He had to wait for the right wind direction, though. We also had three young Canadian fellows trying to get to Victoria in a 1925 boat. They attempted to leave the dock and made in about 30 feet, the boat died, they thru out an anchor, since the current was ripping and they were stuck. They proceeded to throw us a line on the dock and we pulled them the rest of the way in. This morning Ed took off at 5:30, pushed along by his dinghy, we left ay 6:00 am and the boys were still asleep and probably still there.
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07/02/2012, Douglas Bay
We were wavering about staying for the pig roast for "Canada Day", but we decided to make some miles. The tides and currents are positioned time wise late in the afternoon for best travel, We waited until 1:00 pm to take off, and decided on the way to run both Greene Point and Whirlpool rapids. The tidal exchange in the afternoon was minimal. We arrived at Douglas Bay in Forward Harbour about 5:30. There were about 6 boats already anchored and we tried 5 times before we could get the anchor to set. We finally had success, fixed dinner and went to shore for a hike. Oliver loves the anticipation of a hike thru the woods. We made sure to make lots of noise since we had seen the bear a few days before. We hiked over to another bay thru a thick forest. Most of the area have never been logged or it has been many years ago. The forests are filled with dead trees, blowdowns, snags and thick underbrush. We are starting to recognize boats in anchorages that are headed our same way and same speed. A fellow from Tacoma in a Newport showed up that we had seen in Refuge Cove. We have an awesome view up the bay from us.
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07/01/2012, Shoal Bay
It was up early to get ready for the rapids!! We planned and charted yesterday afternoon to go thru the Yaculta and Dent Rapids. When the tides change huge volumes of water have to flow thru narrow gaps. This flow causes whirlpools , currents and eddies that can be nasty. With a slow speed sailboat they have to be timed for "slack", or when the water changes direction. Our time to hit was 1:33 pm, this allowed us to start below the first rapid and make it to the second before the water comes rushing thru. It was somewhat anti-climactic, we were a little early, so we had to float around and have lunch until the proper time. Thru the rapids we went, with no worries. We had planned to end up at Shoal Bay. At first we thought there wasn't much here, but there is more than we thought. You just have to wait until the generator gets started, that fires up the hot water for the showers and laundry, the power for the wireless and the lights for the pub. Oliver made a run from 7:30 until 3:30, did pretty well. Met some people on the dock, couple Americans and a Canadian. Lots of U.S. boats up here, not as many Canadian. We are going to head up to the "pub" in a little bit. I'll finish with my impressions. About as laid back as you can get. The pub consists of the front deck of the caretakers house with an expansive view of the water and mountains. The showers and laundry are in a separate building across the field, unlimited propane fired hot water for $5. The internet was down , oh well. We met a fellow from Anacortes that has been here for four days, a German born Canadian in a little 26 foot Countessa, been here two days, another couple from Snohomish on a powerboat that arrived right before us. The big decision everyone was looking at was the weather and Sundays pig roast. The promise of roasted pig is keeping some of the boats locked down tight. Sunday is "Canada Day", like our Fourth of July. We may stay, we may go-who knows.
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