Finally, Whales!!

As we left Shawl Bay on Father's Day morning, we passed the Burwood Group of Islands and Islets in the middle of the passage. As we turned south, and looked back, we saw whales spouting in the distance as they headed up to Kingcome Inlet. Probably Humpbacks by their size, no dorsal fin and just a hump gliding into the deep- there were two; and just as we were trying to wish them out of the water for a really good look, distant though it was, here came dolphins - grey-sided this time, about 20, just swimming alongside the boat, and then jumping into the air and flipping their tails before diving back into the water, and then doing it again and again. Great lovely splashes! Ral says they were about 30 feet from the boat, and we agree that they were about 6-7 feet long. It was a great start to Father's Day.

We think the center spoke of the Broughtons is right at the Burwoods: east is Tribune Channel and Kwatsi Bay; southeast is Viner Sound; south is Echo Bay and then southwest to Cramer Passage leading to the Indian Islands and Waddington Bay; west is Fife Sound and Eden Island and the south side of the Broughton Islands; northwest is Sutlej Channel and Sullivan Bay, or northwest then north to Kingcome Inlet or Shawl Bay; and north to Simoom Sound. There are stories of a great whale kill here, and it is said that humpback whales are just now returning after nearly 50 years of absence.
Our destination is Laura Cove tonight, on the east side of Broughton Island. There is another boat in the bay, and that makes the bay just about full, by my reckoning. We watch eagles, and talk about the whales and dolphins we saw that morning.

Next morning, into Waddington Bay, via Cramer Passage - wow! It's a lot like Grappler Sound in that the islets are small, so you feel like the people of Lilliput will be around, but it is just beautiful. Our dock neighbors from last night said the crabbing was good in Waddington - you couldn't prove it by us - skunked every which way. An 80 foot old wooden boat M/V Dearleap, 1924 was in the bay before us - from Long Beach, CA. When we spoke to the owner, he said it was the last boat built by the Seattle yard before Boeing bought the yard and started building the boat. Later, a beautiful wooden converted fishing trawler from Vancouver, BC joined us for the night. We stayed 2 days, and Raleigh actually got the hammock out for the first time on the journey - did I say it has been cold, blowing and wet?? Later that evening the folks on Deerleap came over and offered us some gorgeous spot prawns for our dinner. We bottled up our pride, said thank you profusely, and cooked them in beer and had them with au gratin potatoes. What a treat!

The weather is supposed to stink up for a couple of days, so we continue to gunkhole heading for Joe Cove, on the south side of Eden Island. As we leave Waddington Bay at 8:15 am, we lift the engine cover to check the shaft and the sound of the engine, which is customary for us at the start of any day. (Raleigh looks for anything visibly amiss, and I listen for any changes in the engine sounds.) This morning there is water coming in all over the place and there is water rising to the base of the engine! We quickly turn around and return to Waddington, throw the anchor out, and keep running the bilge pump. The packing gland has come loose and we are taking on water every minute. I man the bilge pump and pass tools, and Raleigh gets into the engine compartment to shut off the new water source. Minutes later, the water leak has been stopped, we take a few more minutes to empty the rest of the bilge, and restart the motor to see if we can continue. At 9:15 am we retrace our exit with the engine cover off and the laser heat tester checking the nut for overheating every 5 minutes. It is a weird way to travel but we are cautiously optimistic that this has solved the problem. And we can't believe our luck that we discovered it right where we could go back. If we had gone much further, or the problem had been worse, the engine would have died right in the middle of an incredible rock pile with the current pushing us onto rocks and reefs. The sails would not have saved us.

As we travel on through Blunden and Misty Passages, we pass 4 separate middens within a mile of the Joe Cove anchorage, but the minute we get the hook down, the wind kicks up to 18 inside the bay and gusts to 25 with regularity. We will be here at least 2 days; here's hoping we will be able to get the dingy out for a look around. To be perfectly honest, when we got the anchor down, we each had a medicinal snort, and collapsed for about 20 minutes - some days are more event-filled than others!

We have read travel books about the float in the tiny pocket cove to the east of the head of the bay; and we have had locals reference the float and recommend it to us. I have taken a picture of the current state of the float for your enjoyment as a separate entry, but note for now that the BC Parks has condemned the float and posted a big yellow sign on it to that effect. Raleigh thought that the neighbors would be over soon to mow the float - the grass is nearly knee high.

The winds died down after blowing us around the anchor for two days and raining like stink. But we managed to see eagles hunting; several species of water bird that we will have to look up when we get home; and a lovely heron hunting right at the edge of the creek where we have been anchored. No bear on Eden Island.

Today (Friday the 21st) we retraced our path through Misty and Blunden Passages and started down Retreat Passage for Health Bay. There is a band of Kwa kwak kwa wak who have their village on Guilford Island. We intended to anchor in Health Bay and take the dingy to the village, but the weather is still sorting itself out from the last storm, and the winds off the Strait come straight in to the bay from the west. So we will leave Health Bay for another time and check into Bootleg Bay - it is due east of Waddington Bay and not named on any chart. Locals call it Bootleg Bay and so does the Douglas guide. We hear osprey and eagles on the way in, and see eagles hunting on the outer island. We found the exact center of the head of the bay with anchoring depth and put down the hook and got the dingy ready for a row. Amazingly, the sun is out and it is glorious for about 2 hours. At 4:30, just as we are done burning our garbage on the beach (below the tideline, please, and dig the hole for the fire and fill it in when the fire is out), into the cove comes the crab boat that has its floats in the water. And we have anchored over the end of his line of traps!! So we join several friends that have had their anchors pulled by a crabber! We had forgotten that the crabbers here put down a buoy at the start and end of their line and can have 10 traps on the line. We almost escaped the damage, but his next last and last pot were on either side of our anchor chain. ( He hit our bow pretty hard with his broadside when he came up to the last pot.) He had to cut the line on his pot, and his puller pulled up about 40 feet of our chain. Our luck was that we had 90+ feet out, and had intended to take in about 30 feet because of the tide drop, and the crabber pulled chain nearest the bow, not nearest the anchor. So we did take in the chain, reset the hook, set a new waypoint, watched it anxiously for about 45 minutes, and decided we were good for the evening.

Tomorrow we take on fuel, propane and gas for the outboard, and provisions that we can find, at Echo Bay, and ask for word about the cougar that is troubling some folks on the Island. Then we head to a final night at Shawl Bay. Next week's journey will take us closer and closer to the rapids and home.