07/29/2010

Photo: Rock domes in Kynoch Inlet, Fiordland Recreation Area

Yesterday's rain is gone and the fog is just lifting as we leave Rescue Cove. It's a beautiful calm morning so we motor up Matthiesen Channel to Kynoch Inlet. As we turn into the inlet, the wind comes up blowing into the inlet so we raise the jib and drift up inlet, admiring the scenery. Like Roscoe Inlet, Kynoch Inlet is a fjord but it's even more magnificent with rock domes, even taller black cliffs, waterfalls and gouges on rock walls where glaciers ground them out. We also find a couple of pictographs.

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07/29/2010

Photo: Rescue Cove, Matthiesen Channel, as the fog clears

We decide to head north without waiting for our mail. We sail west all the way out Seaforth Channel then turn north up Matthiesen Channel with the wind behind us all the way through Percival Narrows. The current in Percival Narrows is supposed to be against us but it's with us instead. Once we're through the narrows, the current does turn against us and since the wind has also died, we turn on the engine.

This is a wild-looking coast with driftwood logs from winter storms piled on the beaches and windswept trees. The aroma of pine needles and wet earth drifts out from the shores as we motor by in a light rain. Our visibility drops as the rain increases. By the time we turn the corner into Rescue Cove it's coming down in buckets. We anchor quickly and retreat below where we turn on the heater to dry ourselves out.

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07/29/2010

Photo: Roscoe Inlet fjord on a cloudy morning.

Our sunny weather has deserted us just when we want it for sightseeing up the winding fjord of Roscoe Inlet. We go anyway, raising the jib to let the wind push us up inlet as we sightsee. We see sheer black cliffs, rounded domes, sculpted rock walls and other evidence of glaciation. Bob Hale of the Waggoner Cruising Guide claims it's one of the most beautiful inlets in the Northwest. If you don't include Alaska in the northwest, I would agree.

Before leaving Shearwater, we had marked up our chart with the locations of some pictographs (Native rock paintings -- see my photo of the one at Karlukswee in an earlier blog) along the inlet. (Chuck and Margie had found the locations on the Campbell River Yacht Club website).As we sail up the inlet we keep our eyes out for the telltale ochre color. Once you know what to look for, it's easy to spot them. They always occur about 10 ft off the water on light colored cliffs. We find quite a few of them.

When we reach the top of the inlet, we drop the jib and motor back down, this time anchoring at Boukind Bay. It's raining lightly by the time we anchor.

The next morning the rain has turned to plain old clouds so we go ashore. There's a short isthmus at the top of Boukind Bay that leads to Briggs Inlet. We find a trail that's well marked but strewn with downed trees. We also find lots of large bear prints and some bear scat. In the middle of the isthmus we find a field of huckleberries, which may explain the bear prints. We pick a few berries but find they're sour, bitter and small so leave them for the bears.

We motor back to Shearwater and learn that our mail has still not arrived.

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