Shawl Bay, BC

Sunday,

We left Port Hardy at 0500 (yawn) in order to fish along Duvall Point (according to our beautifully-French-accented dock neighbor, that’s the ONLY place to catch King Salmon)…arrived, along with a bunch of fishing boats, and proceeded to troll. I did my part - I kept the boat at under 2.0 knots and in over 320 feet of water……..Bob got everything ready, trolled for , oh, I don’t know, maybe 30 minutes - and OOPS….the cable on the downrigger got caught. Soooo, we finally had to cut the cable, leaving the weights and cable on the sea floor. Our story is that we actually hooked a 200-pound halibut and the two of us couldn’t haul it up so we had to cut the line. We’re sticking to it.

So, we went back to Port Hardy (not a super great town, by the way - makes Neah Bay look good) in search of another downrigger cable. Ummmm, it’s SUNDAY. Nothing is open, so Bob said, that’s enough, let it go. We left Port Hardy’s government docks (not much to recommend there, either) and headed across the Queen Charlotte Straits for the third time. (Lucky for us the weather has been very calm). While we were running, we were accompanied by a really huge sea lion. He/she was simply enormous - very pale, almost white….but simply enormous. Entertained us for a few miles while he/she dove and surfaced. We anchored in a little bay in the Walker Group for the night. It was calm, it was peaceful, it was BORING. But, we caught five crab, so all is not lost.

Total so far: crab is now $20 each (based on the $110 paid for the fishing license.) No prawns so far. I’m disappointed.

Monday

After pulling up more crab and cooking them, we left our anchorage and headed back to the Broughton Archipelago, where we feel a lot more comfortable. This is our fourth crossing of Queen Charlotte Straits…..all the stories are hooey. They say the Straits are dangerous, scary, etc., etc. So far, we’ve been lucky. They’ve been fine. Today, it was calm as a mill pond. (Next year it’ll be insane and I will eat these words.)

We’ve anchored for the night in a tiny cove on Dickson Island. Absolutely nothing to recommend it except total isolation, which isn’t a bad thing. We’ll take off tomorrow for a little more fishing…..still hunting for anything with fins!

Tuesday

We went to Sullivan Bay Marina here in the Broughtons, which had the necessary cable for the downrigger, AND a to-die-for cherry turnover, hot from the over. Yum. After fishing for a few hours, (no luck) we anchored for the night in Carriden Bay, which could easily win my “best anchorage in the Broughtons” award. We were alone in a lovely big bay, as still as a mill pond…..and pulled out three spot prawns. Okay, so 3 prawns is not a lot, but at least we know the bait works.

We are spending tonight (Wednesday) in the Shawl Bay Marina. We’ve been here before - a nice little marina, with pancake breakfasts for travelers. We won’t be leaving until AFTER breakfast. Tomorrow we will go to Pierre’s at Echo Bay - a favorite marina. Tove and Pierre are just the best hosts ever. Tove greets boaters wearing a tiara and carrying roses - how much more welcome can you get, eh?

Okay, we're listening!

Okay, we finally listened…….this is as far north as we’re going. We are in Port Hardy, BC, the northernmost town on Vancouver Island.

Thursday, we left Port McNeill and crossed Queen Charlotte Straits on our way to Cape Caution. We anchored in a little harbor on the east side of the straits - Allison Harbour. No one there but our two boats. It was serene and beautiful. We were visited by a bear (I didn’t seem him/her, Mary did.) who was hunting for crab along the shore. Just a really lovely spot. Yesterday morning we tried to leave at 0500 to go around Cape Caution - "tried" being the operative word. When we raised the anchor, our windlass jammed - completely dead. We cannot continue without a windlass - that's a major setback. (Thank goodness the windlass died when the anchor was already up!)So we came back across the straits to Port Hardy, the northenmost town on Vancouver Island. It's a commercial fishing center, so we were able to get the windlass fixed by 7:00pm last night. Today Bob will reinstall the windlass and we'll take off tomorrow. But this is as far north as we're comfortable going this year. We're both disappointed. We planned for this trip for months, spent a lot of money on getting everything ready, not counting the 3 month's worth of provisions that we have on board....but we both agree that this year we're just not "meant" to get to Alaska. Shoot, I'm not sure we're even supposed to be on board the boat! Bob's really disappointed in Nellie....he's worked so hard on this boat, and she's been reliable and completely safe, even when we've been in some really bad waters. But now he simply hasn't confidence in her. We'd rather be around for another twenty years boring our kids and grandkids with sea stories.

So, the plan is to go up to the Walker Group for a day or two - just a bit northeast of Port Hardy in Queen Charlotte Sound - and hope to catch a Tyee (that's Canadian for King Salmon)or two. Then, Bob would like to come back to Port Hardy on Tuesday, since there is a representative from Simrad coming to town, and he has questions about our non-working autopilot. (Yet another thing that isn't working on this trip.) After that we're heading over to the Broughtons for a few weeks. I love the Broughtons, so I'm completely satisfied with that choice. You can sit for days in an incredible little anchorage with nothing but eagles, bears and sea lions for company.

Speaking of aquatic critters, on our way to Port Hardy yesterday morning, we passed a colony (herd? group? pod? school?) of sea otters. It's extremely unusual to see them, but there they were, just off our port bow. We slowed down to watch them play. They're amazing.

I expect to be posting a bit more frequently than I expected, since there are a number of Wifi hotspots in the Broughtons - most marinas have wifi, and we plan to visit all 5 marinas. (Yup, in an area thousands of square miles large, there are FIVE marinas - and we're not talking Roche Harbor-size, either. They hold, maybe 15-20 boats. That's it.)

So, we're off tomorrow fishing. Well, okay, Bob's fishing. I'm reading or quilting. Next post will come with pictures, hopefully, of Bob holding a salmon, halibut, or ling cod - or all three!

Cheers!

Welcome to Alert Bay, BC


Alert Bay is the traditional home of the 'Namgis First Nation. It's a great little town with the terrific U'mista Cultural Centre. The carvings alone are worth seeing, but the video that runs is really interesting - and very poignant. After watching the video, which depicts the creation of the U'mista Centre, it's almost difficult to wander through the great log building, seeing all of the masks and robes that were worn at potlatches. The history here is that in the early 1900's (around 1919) the government (the US government did the same thing)made the tribal potlatch illegal and demanded that the tribes give all their masks and coppers and other potlatch accoutrements to the government in Ottawa. Then their children were forcibly removed from their homes and put into foster care in other towns, where they "learned to be white." It was really sad (again, we did the same thing in the US - must have been considered the thing to do with aboriginal peoples). In 1980, those artifacts were returned to the 'Namgis tribe, and they have created the cultural centre - U'mista is Kwakiutl for "return." Anyway, a very interesting place to visit.

The front doors of the U'mista Cultural Centre - carved by local, tribal artists

This trip reminds us of the old joke: a man was in a great flood, and sat upon his roof in the floodwaters, praying: "Dear God, please save me." Well, a young girl on a jetski came by and asked him if he wanted a ride. He said, "No thanks, kiddo, God's gonna save me." Then, a boy in a rowboat came along and asked if he wanted a ride, he again replied,"No thanks, son, God's gonna save me." Later, a US helicopter came by and the soldier shouted down, "Hey, Pops, you need help?" He said, "No thanks, God's gonna save me." When he ultimately drowned, he railed at God in Heaven, asking Him why He hadn't saved him. God said, "First, I sent a jetski, then I sent a rowboat, finally I sent a helicopter. Is it my fault you won't listen to me?" The moral is: something has gone wrong with Nellie every single day of this trip. Nothing huge, but every day it's been something. Now, we are running on our backup computer.....that makes us nervous, since after tomorrow we will be several days away from any kind of help. So, we have decided that we will go north, but probably not all the way to Alaska. It will still be there next year....We want to be sure that we're listening. This just doesn't seem like the year to go that far.

That said, tomorrow looks like a good day to go around Cape Caution (aka Primrose Point). It's another long day - about 50 miles. Tonight we'll look closely at the charts and find a few safe places, in case the weather deteriorates and we can't make it the whole way. Once around, we'll be in Queen Charlotte Sound, and we'll travel slowly up through the area, into the Fiordland Recreation Area, which is about 7 days north of Cape Caution. The next time we have any kind of internet access will be in Bella Bella or Shearwater (First Nation villages), so it will be several days before I can update this blog.

In happy news, The USA BEAT ALGERIA in the World Cup! We are first in our group!!!

Made it to Port McNeill!

Bad news, good news, bad news……

Saturday
Well, the bad news isn’t all that bad, really. We tried to leave Lund at 0530. Had the lines off, ready to take off, when Nellie chose not to start. Not a click, nothing. By 0615 Bob had figured out it was the solenoid (for which we have a spare) and was able to start the engine. We got out of Lund just after the commercial fishermen, about 0630. Unfortunately, that meant we couldn’t catch the slack tide at the first of the Yuculta Rapids. Sooooo, we won’t be catching up to Steppe and Mary tonight. (They are in Forward Harbour, just past the fifth rapid.) Sailing directions all say to begin going through the rapids one hour before the slack tide before the ebb (confusing, I know, but ask any AP graduate, they’ll explain). Our timing put us there only 15 minutes late, but that 15 minutes means we’d be entering the worst of the rapids after the slack - just too dangerous. So, and here’s the good news, we are anchored in Von Donop Inlet, a long, narrow inlet about 4 miles deep, in Desolation Sound. We’ll go through the rapids tomorrow at noon, and expect to make it through all 5 in one swell foop….we’ll radio Steppe while we’re going through, and we hope to meet up with them in Forward Harbour.

Now, if the story ended there, it’d be good, but you will have noticed the lead phrase…..the good news of spending a quiet day (after the 3 looooooonnnng days) was somewhat marred by Karen’s grounding Nellie on the way into Von Donop. Yup. I did it. (This gives Bob all kinds of disgusting leverage that I have no doubt he will use frequently - or at least until he does something stupid, then I get the leverage.) There is an enormous rock in the center of the channel in Von Donop, and I remembered from last time we were here that we had to hug the south shore in order to miss it. I was at the helm and I didn’t have the chart blown up enough, so I didn’t notice that there was a section of shore that shoaled out…..so, next time Marty or his boys dives down to check Nellie’s keel, there will be a few extra dings. Bob checked the bilge and the prop and it doesn’t appear to be damaged. The bottom here is mud, but it looked like a bunch of small rocks along shore - and sounded more like rocks when I dragged over them. Sheesh.

So far we have had fantastic weather - the sun makes an occasional appearance, and it’s actually better up here than it was at home. No wind today, but of course that can change at any moment. Steppe emailed us that it’s supposed to be okay to go up Johnstone Straits on Monday, so we should be in good shape, and in the Broughtons by Tuesday. We won’t have Internet connectivity for a few days, so by the time you’re reading this we’ll be on our way to Port McNeill.

Sunday

We made it through all 5 rapids, and entered Forward Harbour around 5:30pm. This morning, at 9:00, we got a VHF call from Saratoga Sue - you’d have thought it was a holiday, we were hopping up and down, excited to hear from our friends! They had stopped, waiting for us…..amazing, how a friendly voice on the radio can make you feel comfortable.

This view is looking down Chancellor Channel, - what a gorgeous day it is. Bright sun, relatively calm seas….we entered Greene Point Rapids on a strong ebb tide. The water was running about 6 knots, but we were already committed, so on went…..the whirlpools were exciting - pulled Nellie left, then right..but spit us out right where we needed to be. Definitely going to be a destination on our trip planner for next year! Absolutely beautiful.

We got into Forward Harbour and there was Saratoga Sue, waiting for us. What a happy homecoming we had! (Much vodka and scotch was consumed. Ahem.)

Dropped a crab pot, so we collected dinner for tonight. Not as much luck with prawns….Mary had 9, so we had appetizers.

Tomorrow will be a long day. We’ll be taking off around 0500 and heading down Johnstone Strait for Port McNeill, where we’ll stay a couple of days. Lots of stores, a liquor agency (!), a Laundromat, and a ferry over to the First Nation village at Alert Bay. Looking forward to it. Hmmmm, who is on my Christmas list?? There could well be First Nation gifts……...

Lund

If you got on to Highway 101 at the tip of South America and drove that highway until you came to mile 0, you'd be in Lund. Specifically, you would be in the parking lot of Nancy's Bakery in Lund, BC. That's actually not a bad reason to visit Lund, by the way.

We left Nanaimo this morning at 5:45AM, expecting a calm crossing of the Straits of Georgia. Calm is a relative term. It means "not death-defying." So, it was calm. It was not the most comfortable 2 1/2 hours I've ever spent, but then, it was not as scary as the last time we crossed the Straits, so what the heck. It was a really long day on the water - we arrived in Lund about 3:30pm. We'll take off tomorrow morning around 6:00am and attempt to make it through the first two rapids - the Yucultas and the Dent Rapids - probably staying in Shoal Bay the rest of the day. In 2007 we were able to navigate all 5 rapids in one go, but I think we were lucky and had just timed it perfectly. "Perfect" doesn't usually fit in our way of boating, though, so we aren't expecting to repeat that feat. (But it would certainly be nice.)

Trivia for the day: Captain Cook, of South Pacific fame, is the one who named it "Desolation Sound." Apparently, his crew was homeesick for jolly olde England when they arrived here. (I had not ever heard of him being in these waters until I'd read BLUE LATITUDES, by Tony Horwitz. A decent read.)

I am using stolen Internet access here, so we can't stay on line long. The next place we may have Internet access will be in the Broughtons, or at Port McNeill (on the northern end of Vancouver Island, several days away). We plan on slowing down some as soon as we get north of Desolation Sound - we're both tired from the long, tiresome days. Today was the third 9-hour day in a row.

Bob got his fishing license yesterday in Nanaimo, and I'm eager to catch some prawns. The Canadian limit on prawns is 200 per pot, so I'm pretty sure we'll be okay, shrimp-wise. Of course, Bob's hoping for halibut, lingcod and/or salmon....I'm pretty much hoping for anything with fins. I have the cookbook Janet lent me - The Galley Guru - so I'm ready to make sweet music with those ingredients!

We hope to add pictures next time......so far, it's been kind of boring scenery. We really like the lush green Broughtons, so I'll add some pictures then....maybe a bear or two.

Nanaimo

We've never gotten this far in only 2 days before....we're really booking, trying to catch up to Saratoga Sue. The weather has been favorable for us. We got some wind this afternoon, here in Nanaimo, but it's supposed to die down by early morning. We will cross the Straits of Georgia tomorrow early, around 6:00AM, before the winds start. Keeping fingers crossed that Whiskey Golf is inactive in the morning.....otherwise, we'll take the long way around. (If you haven't read Clyde Ford's Whiskey Gulf you should - a little scary for us Georgia Strait travelers.

Okay, the print size on this pc is about 10% so I'm going blind tryibng to type....will post more when we get to another place with Internet access.

Alaska Bound

“Mother, Mother Ocean, I have heard your call……”

The 2010 adventure finally begins!

With one brand spanking new fuel tank (and one old, dented one) Nellie’s back in the briny (or will be, as soon as the tide changes). We’re leaving Oak Harbor about 20 days after our original departure date. Not too bad (cough, cough)….We’re spending tonight (Tuesday) in Coronet Bay, on the north end of Whidbey Island, and will catch the 0630am slack tide through Deception Pass in the morning, hoping to get through Canadian customs at Bedwell Harbour before noon. (With our Nexus passes, it only takes a phone call.) We’ll have a long day, maybe a 10-hour cruise, on Wednesday, getting to Clam Bay on Thetis Island for our anchorage. Then, on Thursday, we’ll head to Nanaimo, where Bob will get his Canadian fishing/crabbing license and Karen will eat ice cream on the dock.

We won’t need to reprovision for a few weeks, so we’ll be fine until we reach Port McNeill on the north end of Vancouver Island. We’ll hope to catch up to Steppe and Mary Williford there. (They are currently stuck in Desolation Sound with engine trouble - perhaps this is NOT the summer for anyone to cruise north.) We’d like a little company as we go around Cape Caution. (And why the HECK did someone name that point Cape CAUTION? It isn’t scary enough, entering Queen Charlotte Sound, without THAT name??? What’s wrong with Primrose Point or something?)

Hopefully, the winds will abate and the sun will shine and Neptune and Poseidon will decide to lie quietly for a few weeks….or at least until we get to Ketchikan. Bob’s hoping for lots of salmon, halibut, crab and shrimp in the Broughtons - last time we filled the freezer with crab, and friends were bringing in over 150 shrimp per pot. (I hope I remember EXACTLY where they put their shrimp pots!) I have plenty of jerk seasoning, skewers, coconut and pasta, so I’m prepared for lots of the little critters. I’m egged on by Ellen Harmon’s pictures of the crab enchiladas and huge spot prawns…..yo, Ellen! Leave a few for us, eh? (I’m practicing my BC accent.)

I already miss all the kids and grandkids - and my head is full of ideas for Becky’s wedding in October……Hmmmm, maybe a red and black wedding with white buttons, a la the Inuits? Or not - oooh, how about a NW orca theme? Okay, back to reality……….

And on to other news - THE US TIED ENGLAND 1-1 IN THE WORLD CUP! How cool is that? (All you Sounders fans, let’s hear some cheering! Oh, okay, that’d be you and me, Trina.)

June 13, 2010

We're ready to head out for the summer (assuming, of course, that the Northwest will actually GET summer this year). The boat's provisioned, the clothes are on board, the new fuel tank has been installed.....we're ready to go. We hope to get Nellie back in the water on Tuesday (maybe even Monday). We will head out as soon as she's in the water. We will try to catch the 7:10PM slack at Deception Pass on Tuesday, then anchor in Bowman Bay and get an early start on Wednesday, hoping to pass through Canadian Border Patrol before noon at Bedwell Harbor and head up to Clam Bay that afternoon. It'll be a long day, since that's a fairly long run, but we'd like to get into Nanaimo on Thursday afternoon.

We'll try to update the blog at every opportunity - Nanaimo being the first place we are likely to have Internet connectivity. I will post pictures of the beautiful Broughton archipelago as soon as we get there.