Date : September 1
Log: 56245
Bar: 1012
Sky: Cloudy
Location: Plumper Cove, Keats Island
Comments:

We left Pender Harbour at the crack of noon, and in hindsight, probably should have got moving a little earlier.

The wind had gone southeast and stayed on our nose as we motored all the way through Welcome Pass and down the Sunshine Coast, and by the time we got down to Trial Islands, there was an uncomfortable chop in the water. Abby even stopped patrolling the foredeck and curled up in the cockpit (on the feet of whoever was driving).

We had intended to look at Trial Islands as a possible anchorage (we hadn't looked closely at them in the past) but given the wind and sea conditions decided to continue down to Howe Sound. We came through Shoal Channel between Gibsons and Keats Island shortly before high tide, and snagged a mooring buoy at Plumper Cove, Keats Island. The mooring buoys are a bit of a challenge; the rings heavy and difficult to pull up on the chain. The first one we tried didn't move at all, and the second required both of us to pull up (and we could have used Abby's help as well!).

The upside is that we now have bandwidth!!! We are able to catch up on tons of email and publish the blog finally.

Cheers,
Turicum

Date : August 31
Log: 56207
Bar: 1010
Sky: Clear; sunny
Location: Pender Harbour
Comments:

Leaving Texada this morning, we found a pleasant 8-10 kn northwest, so we became a sailboat again, enjoying the quiet downwind trip. The wind (of course) went very light, and Turicum again became a powerboat.

We docked at the VRC outstation in Duncan Cove, Pender Harbour in the early afternoon. Pender Harbour Resort and Marina has cottages and a campground, good docks and facilities. Guests on the club moorage (Maple Bay YC and West Vancouver YC also have space here) have access to the laundry, washrooms, showers, and outdoor swimming pool. From what we saw, everything here is clean, organized and well-run by friendly staff.
As the rules are very specific that we have to fly our Cub burgee and somewhere on the trip we lost ours, Hale busied himself making a new lightweight one.

The weather forecast indicates a change coming; wind going southeast and rain on the way in a couple of days...must be near the end of the trip!

Cheers,
Turicum

Date : August 30
Log: 56185
Bar: 1011
Sky: Clear; sunny
Location: Sturt Bay, Texada Island
Comments:

Well, we left Refuge at 1100 this morning after refuelling, and found some light wind out by Kinghorn Island, so we were a sailboat, albeit briefly.

We motored down to Cortez Bay and realized that we'd be done for the day by 1300 if we stopped there, so we continued on south. We finished up the day on the Texada Boating Club docks at Sturt Bay. The people from the club are friendly and helpful, and they've made good improvements to the docks since the last time we visited. We were joined on the dock by a flotilla of Catalinas from the Barnett Sailing Co-Op who were heading north to Desolation, and Abby was thrilled to find dog-lovers in the group although all the activity tired her out.

Cheers,
Turicum

Date : August 29
Log: 56156
Bar: 1017
Sky: Clear; sunny
Location: Refuge Cove
Comments:

Leaving Pendrell Sound this morning, we found a little wind in Waddington Channel and were a sailboat for an hour or so. The weather is spectacular -- even June (the fleece-and-sweater-in-August girl) was in a T-shirt.

We arrived at Refuge shortly before 2:00 pm and found space at the dock with no problem. The sunshade went up and the paperback novels came out!

Replenished ship's stores, and we'll top up the fuel before we leave in the morning. Refuge water is untreated and has a boil-water advisory on it, but we're still working on the same tank as when we left Port Hardy; Wheezy the watermaker is keeping up with the usage.

We plan to go a short distance tomorrow; just down to Cortez Bay, and we hope to find some breeze in the morning.

We also have to arrange for a shearing for Abby when we get home -- we haven't seen her eyes for a week now

Turicum

Desolation Sound

Date : 28 August
Log: 56138
Bar: 1017
Sky: overcast
Location: Pendrell Sound
Comments:

We left Frances Bay at the crack of noon for Pendrell Sound. Turicum is still a powerboat, as we motored quietly down Pryce Channel, past Walsh Cove Marine Park and down Waddington Channel. Walsh Cove provides anchorage behind two small islets; it's very deep, and we suspect you have to anchor very close to the islets to get protection from the wash in the channel as well as a reasonable anchoring depth.

Pendrell Sound had several boats already at anchor in spots we would have enjoyed, but we found a place to anchor right at the top of the sound, deep enough and far enough from shore that we didn't need to stern-tie.

We had a pleasant evening, as the sky mostly cleared off, and the night was quite warm. We plan to go to Refuge Cove tomorrow for a night on the dock and (ahh....) hot showers.

Cheers,
Turicum

Abby vs the "Kelp"

Date : Aug.27
Log: 56112
Bar: 1017
Sky: clear
Location: Frances Bay N50*21.6' W125*19.3'
Comments: Day spent in a leisurely motor through Okisolo and Hole in the Wall passes -- caught them just at the end of the flood.
We got here just at noon and have spent a VERY relaxed day with no other boats around. It was amazing how much warmer it became immediately after we came through Hole in the Wall. We are no longer getting the effects of the cold Pacific water.
We are planning to head off to Pendrell Sound tomorrow and see if it warm enough to swim still.
Abby now spends a lot of her time standing at the bow watching for kelp -- we have no idea why she is so fascinated by kelp but she is currently totally focused on it. When we are in the dinghy and we go near a piece of kelp, Abby will try to paw at it and has even licked it. Perhaps she relates the smell of the kelp to the smell of the whales.

Cheers, Turicum

Getting hard on the fuel bill!

Date : 26 August
Log: 56087
Bar: 1017
Sky: Sunny
Location: Thurston Bay Marine Park, Nodales Channel -- N50*22.9' W125*19.3'
Comments:

We left Cordero Islands at a leisurely pace this morning at 1015 and spent some time sorting the anchor rode and chain and cleaning the anchor locker (which was really becoming rather nasty!)

Motoring again today (*sigh* still no wind...) down Nodales Channel to Thurston Bay Marine Park. We saw many small boats fishing along the rock walls (and in fact, some fishermen were also catching!) We anchored behind an island in the bay, which we shared with just two other boats, some distance away. We had a view of the channel and in the distance, Chatham Point, in Johnstone Strait. The outboard chose to stop running (water in fuel perhaps?) so rowing was the exercise of choice today. Our short day ended at 1330 and the rest of the day was well-spent in dedicated sloth -- to hell with the outboard!

Cheers, Turicum

Alas no wind again

Date : 25 August
Log: 56077
Bar: 1015
Sky: showers/clearing
Location: Cordero Islands N50*26.7' W125*19.27'
Comments:

We had planned to go from the Mist Islets (which lived up to their name this morning) in Port Harvey to Forward Harbour today, but we took a hard look at the Tide & Current Tables and realized that our best opportunity for getting through Dent & Yucultas tomorrow was to get ourselves through Greene Point rapids today.

We motored (no, no wind yet...) down Johnstone Strait , noticing more boat traffic of all kinds. The days in the Charlottes and on the north coast when we would rarely see another boat are definitely over! Johnstone Strait was placid and flat today (okay, who stole the wicked Strait and replaced it with a millpond?) and we were joined for a short while by a pilot whale. The showers caught up with us as we entered Sunderland Channel, but fortunately they were brief, and the sky started to clear by mid-afternoon.

We motored through Greene Point and anchored by around 1600 in one of our favourite spots behind the Cordero Islands, and noted that we went 49 nm today! In discussing our plans for next day, we decided to go down Nodales Channel and then through Okisolo and Hole in the Wall instead of through Dent and the Yucultas as it allowed us an hour more sleep and still make slack water at both.

Cheers, Turicum

Rental alert!

Date : Aug. 24
Log: 56028
Bar: 1010
Sky: O/C showers
Location: Port Harvey -- N50-33.68' W126-16.09'
Comments: On our way out of the anchorage yesterday, in the only deep channel, we were confronted by a large powerboat appearing from between some islets on our port side about 200 yards away. We were quite surprised to see it as our charts showed shallow water and rocks in that area. It immediately became obvious that they had no intention of changing course or stopping even though they were give way boat so I slowed down to let them pass -- I was also very interested to see where/what they were going to do.
I was not disappointed -- they continued to motor into an area where I had seen some drying rocks at last night's low tide and as we are almost at another low, things were looking more interesting by the moment.
Ah, yes progress came to a sudden stop.
As we continued out toward Knight Inlet they appeared to have extracted themselves and were heading into the anchorage we had just left.
This was the second time we had witnessed someone either not paying attention to navigation or not having a clue as to what they were doing. A day or 2 earlier we saw a 70+ft powerboat suddenly come to a stop when they missed the marker buoy and went over the Neill Ledge shoal by Port McNeill.
I guess anybody can rent anything now.

The rest of the day was very uneventful with rain showers and a rather tedious motor up to Minstrel Island and then down to Port Harvey. Our original plans to anchor at Warren Islands got blown away with the SE gusts of 25kts and not enough protection.

Off to Forward Hbr tomorrow.

Cheers. Turicum

You may note a format change --- we are going to try to make this look more like our actual log. Log number is like the odometer in a car -- our total miles traveled

Whales and porpoises, seals and sea lions, oh my!

Date : Aug. 23 Log: 55999 Bar: 1017 Sky: sunny Location: Goat Island, Village Channel Comments: Leaving Port Hardy we were greeted by a pod of Orcas just outside Hardy Bay (photos up as soon as we can) Dall's and Harbour porpoises as well as seals and a sea lion all put in appearances today as well. Wind was very light, so we motored in the sunshine past Malcolm Island, across Blackfish Sound and into Whitebeach Passage. We saw a cruise ship, the Coral Princess, in Blackfish and fantasized (for a least a moment or two) about Mai Tais served next to the pool. We had planned to anchor at Farewell Harbour, but there's a fishing resort there, a power boat was anchored in what looked like the best spot, and there didn't seem to be any doggie beach available. We headed into Village Channel and tucked in behind Goat Island to anchor amongst a half dozen little islets. The people on a Washington power boat that was anchored near us warned us of a bear (the only remaining animal on our list to see) on the beach in the early evening (where June was about to take the dog ashore!). We had a pleasant evening at anchor (but no bear sightings!) On the "What's Next" front, a new set of spark plugs has worked wonders for the recalcitrant outboard -- it now runs on 2 cylinders not just one. That was balanced by nothing happening when we tried to start Turicum's engine and were met by stony silence -- turned out to be a wire off the starter but getting to it was a dismantle the boat story again. We are off to Warren Islands for tonight. Cheers, Turicum

Wind and Water

We had expected to be on our way this morning but alas it will be tomorrow.
We had planned to also be going down the outside but that has been literally blown away. We have been blessed with fantastic weather for the last 2 months so it is time to see some of the other side. The 30-40kts forecast and 12-15' seas outside are not what we were looking for so we are going to explore the inside route for the next 2 weeks.
To top it all off, the water main at the marina broke yesterday and that has postponed the laundry and the boat cleanup although we did have some water from Shearwater in one tank (an interesting tan colour) that was put aside for emergency purposes. We have been using good water from Hartley Bay and "Wheezy" the watermaker for the last week or so. We had been a bit tight on water after thinking that we could pick up water in Klemtu when we left in the morning only to find that the treated water supply was available ONLY when filling up with fuel.

Pamela Bendall, who we first met several years ago at the Vic Maui race (and who has done almost every job connected with the race) lives in Hardy and has been a fantastic help to us setting appointments, lending a car, and generally helping us solve problems.

One of the biggest and longest running problem has been the rather indifferent charging we have been getting from the alternator. At times the 150amp alternator and smart regulator system has worked fairly well although there has always been a strange pulsing and the occasional shutdown of the charging when the house batteries were clearly not fully charged -- even to the point of not having enough power to maintain the computer. The system seemed to work only when the engine was run at very low speed.
After a particularly frustrating day where we had to start the engine several times while we were sailing to maintain enough power to have our navigation systems working, I got out the data sheets for the regulator and reviewed the instillation and wiring with Dan and Marek. The book made a big deal about sensing battery voltage after the isolator as there is a voltage drop across it and the batteries would be under charged if we sensed voltage at the alternator output. I totally understood that and had setup the system accordingly. What I missed was that the alternator has to sense "house" battery voltage not starting battery voltage. We found what was happening was that the start battery was doing very well at 13+ volts while the house batteries were almost dead. When I had originally installed the system I followed the directions carefully and wired things as if there were only 1 general purpose battery.
We now have new wiring and the necessary relays so that the charging system "sees" the battery we are currently switched to and provides the necessary power to charge that battery. If the switch is set to all then all the batteries will be brought up to full charge.
I am very interested to see how this works out. The test at the dock looked good.

We don't have many pictures from the trip down --- Dan took off to his B&B and a round of golf and Marek had airplane to catch so I wasn't able to download their photos. I know they have some good ones and hopefully I can add them later.

Today is laundry, repair the fuel gauge sensor, final provisioning and getting ready for an early departure tomorrow morning -- we also have to do something about a haircut for Abby -- she is starting to look like a Hebridian cow -- we haven't seen her eyes for about 2 weeks now.

Cheers from Turicum

Pounding South

Just a quick note while we have a signal -- Leaving Shearwater and heading to Safety Cove for the "crossing" tomorrow. Sounds like NW 20+ so it should be a great ride.
We got in 3+ hours of sailing yesterday but things have been quiet so far -- rolling up the engine hours.

Cheers, Turicum

On to Klemtu

August 15

We left anchor this morning to motor to Klemtu, taking the opportunity of little wind to make today another navigation exercise. For no other reason than we hadn't been that way before, we took the channel down the east side of Sarah Island, easily passing through Hiekish Narrows.

We have a cell signal at Klemtu which is allowing us to get out some messages but we haven't got photos sorted as yet -- they will be added in the next few days.

Cheers, Turicum

Butedale

August 14

Heading down McKay and Fraser Reach today towards Butedale, we were visited by a pod of Dall's porpoise, enjoying playing in our bow wave. Butedale is largely in ruins now; the net loft and sheds that were in poor condition on our trip here in '92 have now collapsed and are returning to the elements. There is a float, and a couple of small power boats were moored to it. It's a bit sad to see a place like this, that was once a going concern with a cannery with fuel, ice, a store, and many employees gone to an untidy end. Butedale Creek still rushes into the ocean here, and the waterfall is still as beautiful as ever. We stopped to take some photos, and then continued down Fraser Reach to Khutze Inlet for the night.

Cheers June

Whale ho!

August 13

Leaving Mink Trap Bay in the fog this morning, a humpback obligingly provided a photo op for us -- hope to add one of Marek's photo's to this blog -- outstanding!
The fog cleared off as we entered Otter Passage at the top of Campania Island to produce a warm, sunny afternoon. We stopped in the village of Hartley Bay for fuel and water, and received the usual cordial welcome we've had at every stop on this trip. Hartley Bay is tidy and picturesque, with residents who take great pride in their village. The docks were busy behind the stone breakwater, and we took only a quick look for moorage as we were concerned about adequate depth.

Cheers, June

Rainy north coast day

August 12

We left Larsen Harbour early this morning, heading down Principe Channel generally heading in the direction of Hartley Bay. Rain showers followed us most of the day, but we managed to dodge most of them until early afternoon. We had some great upwind sailing in about 10-12 knots SE, with flat water. We found a place to anchor on Pitt Island, off Mink Trap Bay (we can't resist the names of some of these places!) Nesbitt Rock and Sewell Islet guard the entrance (named by childrens' literature fans?) Moolock Cove is a well-protected little bay with many small islands and lagoons, which are perfect for dinghy (or kayak) explorations and Abby found a couple of spots that were perfect for her "walkies". We shared the cove with five other vessels, all power. Four of them were rafted companionably out of sight, but we met one of the boaters with his canine, out in the dinghy for their evening constitutional.

Cheers, June

Leaving the Charlottes

August 11

Joy and Keith left us in Charlotte City on Saturday to return home, and we hope they've had a memorable trip! We had time in Charlotte to visit with family, get laundry done and have a last look around the town before we also made our departure.

We spent yesterday on the dock in Sandspit, rigging the staysail and runners, getting a few (more!) groceries and getting our new crew familiar with the boat. Marek and Dan have joined us for the trip south to Port Hardy. The wind and wave forecast for Hecate is something we can live with, so we headed out this morning to make the 50 nm crossing back to Larsen Island. The wind remained fairly light all day and the seas less than one metre. We got in a couple of hours of sailing, but motor-sailed most of the day.

Coves & Beaches

A bit of an update -- we decided to stay on the dock today taking care of various chores. Plans for tomorrow are a "graduation" breakfast followed by a few hours sailing (practical exam) and then off to Charlotte City to sign off the paper work and a final boat clean-up. Everybody has had showers -- including our star Abby so it is time the boat got a bit of a wash.
I have added some of Joy's photos to the last couple of posts.
We have a change of weather coming in so departure for Hardy may have to wait a day or so. I really don't want to beat into some south easterlies in the Strait.

Thursday morning---
We are again in Sandspit on the $10 wifi --- I am really not sure of the details and that is probably just as well.
We are here to deal with fuel, laundry, water, propane and food -- having run out of mostly everything over the last 2 weeks.
One of the things that we couldn't help but notice is the "fog" -- we thought that things were getting misty because of the high temps but I couldn't understand the bluish tint --- I now understand it is smoke from fires in Alaska. We don't get much (any) news but we gather that forest fires are a huge problem again this year.
Then next couple of days will be more exploration around Charlotte City and then a change of crews and back to Hardy. I will try to get some of Joy's photos onto the blog but I might be delayed a bit without a internet connection

I had a bit of a chat with a fellow this morning who has spent several years exploring this area in a 14ft Zodiac with 15hp Evinrude outboard --- including the west coast of both islands and a big chunk of Alaska. He currently has an aluminum 25 footer with twin Evinrude 250s on the back -- I gather it cruises at 30+ and he has a problem with his chartplotter being showing the boat offset about 200 yards from his real position -- hate to think of the noise a big aluminum box would make hitting a rock at 30+.

Our next page will be added at Klemtu on our way home or any were else we can find a cell link.

Cheers, Turicum

Aug 5th - part II

We found one secluded little bay in Poole Inlet that we liked so much we stopped there again on the way back north. The guidebook we have just indicates that there's anchorage in the inlet, but gives no other information. We anchored in a quiet little cove, passing a whale in Hecate on the way in, and finding an eagle to greet us as we anchored. A short dinghy ride and walk through the trees brought Keith & Joy to a beautiful sand beach, which Abby also appreciated. Covered in fine, soft sand she romped until she ran out of steam. The previously unnamed beach is now known as "Dirty Dog Beach".

A memorable stop was at Hotspring Island, another Watchman site, well-maintained and staffed by friendly and helpful individuals who treat visitors as honoured guests. Everyone (except Abby - sorry, no pets!) enjoyed a soak in the springs and the luxury of hot showers, soap and shampoo. Of the three rock pools, the one closest to the sea was our favourite; very hot (so lingering for too long wasn't really an option) with a view of Juan de Perez sound - sea, mountains and eagles.

"Boat issues" continued to plague Hale...the patch on the jib started to come adrift, so that was re-repaired. The watermaker ("Wheezy") seemed to enjoy throwing off the output hose and draining the fresh water it made into the bilge, so, two hose clamps later...

Aug 5th
Back from our trip South to SGang Gwaay.
It's really hard to know where to begin. Probably the easiest way to put it is that it's best to throw away all of your mental pictures of Haida Gwaai ---- those images of cold, rocky shores with huge surf; horizontal rain, fog, seagulls all that stuff -- just forget it.
This place is quiet, secluded bays with beaches of sand or very fine, smooth pebbles, and yes, some gravel ones. It's cloudless skies, temps in the high 20s, (mid 30s inside the boat for a few days) swimming in the ocean and eagles, whales and seals everywhere.
SGang Gwaay was a very special place: the mortuary poles and house foundations remain as the legacy of the Kunghit Haida who lived there. The island itself is beautiful, well-kept by the Haida Watchmen, with trails that wind through dense forests, onto rocky beaches and, seemingly, through rock walls. Our guide, "Girl" (aka Christine) was knowledgeable and friendly with a great sense of humour, and loved to share the history and significance of SGang Gwaay
Rose Harbour in Houston-Stewart channel, close to Anthony Island (SGang Gwaay) was the busiest place we found; a couple of private residences, float planes, mooring buoys and (holy cow!) about a half-dozen boats sighted at once! We anchored in Louscoone Inlet, where we found the float with the water hose attached to fill the tanks.

Sandspit encore...

Without Internet access for the past few days, we are now back in Sandspit, and thanks to Jim (the one-man-band-only-Internet-provider here) we're back on line at least for tonight. Cell phone service seems to only work near the airport in Sandspit (it helps to lean off the bow on one foot and hang on to the forestay) and any other time you can get it is a bonus. Apparently satellite phone service has become questionable over the last while and is sometimes an issue for emergency services here.

We've spent the past few days doing Sailing 101 - for those of you who are following Spot, and are wondering if we know what the heck we're doing or where we're going! We've been day sailing out of Queen Charlotte City around Bearskin Bay and Shingle Bay, getting Joy and Keith tuned in to the nautical vocabulary and teaching some skills.

June got the chance to see the inside of the Queen Charlotte hospital up close and personal on Friday morning (100% better now, thank you very much!) which slowed down our departure a little.

Docks in Charlotte City are basic, but solid,and everyone we've met here has been absolutely friendly, helpful, cheerful...
Facilities (stores, laundromat) in Charlotte are closer to the dock than Sandspit, and we had our orientation at the museum in Skidegate this morning. Our Parks guide, Jody, gave an excellent presentation and was most helpful. The museum itself is incredible; the site is perfect and the building and the collection are fabulous. Reid, Davidson, Edenshaw....

We didn't manage to connect with Kim -- sorry about that! -- for coffee, but maybe we can catch up when we come back from Gwaii Haanas.

Thanks to Kelly (June's sister) for the loan of her truck, to Gracie and Gail for "kidnapping" and babysitting duty -- Kelly, you've got the best of friends! Thanks too, to our housesitter Mel, and Mary for keeping the home fires lit and the cats fed. This is the longest we've lived on the boat at one stretch (and skipper and mate are still speaking :-)

We're setting off early tomorrow morning (and this time we really do mean early!) to start our trip down to Anthony Island (SGang Gwaay) We're expecting to see Hotspring Island as well (Gandll K'in Gwaay.yaay) on the way back. We'll be out and incommunicado for the next 2 weeks, but Spot will keep you up with our progress during this time.

Cheers,
Turicum

Shop 'til you...

In Sandspit for the day, provisioning the boat and getting Keith & Joy familiar with with where everything is found on the boat. The grocery bill looks a bit like the debt load of some small nation somewhere, but...we'll be eating well. As it happens, our new crew really enjoy cooking (oh, heaven...) Greek ribs, salad and potatoes tonight!

Heading out tomorrow for a few days' sailing and then back to Sandspit, the orientation for the park and then off again...

Cheers,
Turicum

Not as advertised

July 19
Well, things are not exactly as advertised -- the cell service is iffy --- you wander around the parking lot trying to maintain a signal so the cell internet link we use doesn't work.
The wifi we are now using is not from the Coast Guard as we were told but a citizen down the road you give $10 to for 3 days use.
Still not sure if we can get propane but the fuel dock is nearby and is open morning an evening for a couple of hours.
We have said goodbye to Kaht and John and are in the process of cleaning, converting, fixing, upgrading things to get ready for our next group of clients.
We are going to have to spend some time sorting out the great photos that Kaht and John provided along with June so please bear with us --- we will be editing/upgrading the blog ASAP.

We also found Joy and Keith who will be with us for the next 3 weeks with thanks from Spot, that showed us in Sandspit rather than Charlotte City as we had originally planned.

Cheers, Turicum

The Crossing

July 18
We're off.
We head off at the crack of 0930 --- actually with the forecast, the wind and waves should moderate over the course of the day so there is no big push to get out particularly early.
We put the #1 reef in the main, hoisted the staysail and settled down for a 50+nm sail over the the Charlottes. Our wind was between a close and beam reach making the 24kt not much of a big thing.
The seas were about 1.7 meters and from time to time a bit bumpy. After a few hours the "interesting" motion of Turicum got to Abby and another crew member --- both visiting the stern to say good by to their breakfast.
True to their word, the rain stopped around noon and a few hours later the wind and then the seas started to ease. As things quietened down we unfurled the Genoa and were able to maintain between 7 -9 kts.
The wind and seas kept dropping as we neared the Charlottes eventually forcing us to motor sail and then continue strictly on power.
I had underestimated the distance from the marker buoy to Sandspit so we our arrival was a bit later than we had hoped. As we arrived we were greeted by first a bit of a squall and then bright sunshine and a fantastic view of the mountains around Skidegate Inlet.
2000hr -- on the dock looking for a Pub.

Cheers, Turicum

Still here!

July 17
Larsen Harbour -- it's raining!
We may be able to get across tomorrow.
It has rained all day!

Cheers, Turicum

Is anyone out there

July 16
Out plan was to head out through Otter Passage and ride the Southerlies across Hecate Strait. One problem -- unable to get weather broadcasts. Never for a moment did we think that we would be out of touch with Coast Guard -- such is the case up here. You have to be very careful lest you have an unhappy surprise from the weather and while things seem ok we just couldn't take the chance and decided to move up to Larsen Harbour at the top end of Banks Island. It was also the shortest distance across and it the "favoured" crossing point.
Our new "guide book" which had been very helpful with all the other little spots we stopped at also indicated there were 6 mooring buoys available.
Wrong again -- anchoring in 25ft of water with very limited swing room and by this time, some very good winds blowing -- the radio did start to work and while if we had left for the Charlottes that morning we would have been ok, things we had definitely bad news for the next couple of days and we could now look forward to an extended stay in Larsen Harbour.

What was really starting to become a problem was that we had just finished our last bottle of wine (*gasp*) at dinner the previous evening.

Cheers, Turicum

"If [they] don't find you handsome, at least they should find you handy..."

July 15
After a disappointing result from our prawning efforts (an empty trap) we've decided this bay is Plenty Not-so-Much... We'll give it another try on another evening. The weather reception on the radio has been sporadic, and we've decided to put some miles on today and move towards the point where we can make the crossing of Hecate Strait when the weather is best.
A few things we learned: Things aren't exactly as people say. Get fuel, propane, water and anything else you need immediately; don't put it off with "they will have it at the next stop" -- often they won't.
Leave a few days for getting across and make some decisions as to your route but always stay flexible.
We finally heard some current weather on the VHF. And-- you can get a long range forecast from CCG on 83A up here --- just call them up and they will give you the outlook for the next 5 days, which we did. Southeast winds are forecast for Hecate Strait, 15-25 kn on Friday, 10-20 on Saturday, and going to southerly on Sunday.

Another day on the engine, as we motored 58 nm up Laredo Channel, across Caamano Sound and up Estevan Sound to our anchorage for the night between Campania and Langthorne Islands. Again, we were alone in the anchorage, imagining Emily Carr canoeing in here with her paints and sketchbook
Repair work continued to be the order of the day, as a number of small items continued to break, need replacement, etc., but mechanical objects are no match for Hale who is both handy and (according to June) also handsome.

Cheers, Turicum

Great anchorages no wind

July 14
From Corney Cove, we motored up Laredo Inlet through Thistle Passage, another narrow passage, but with adequate water under the keel. We've seen few boats, but were passed by a couple of power boats heading the opposite direction. We anchored in Bay of Plenty (who could resist that name?!) and stopped to drop the prawn trap on the way in. We were alone in the anchorage (except for the mosquitoes, who apparently appreciated the delivery of fresh food).

We were given to believe that there was a very good chance of seeing bears in the streams that flow into the bay but no luck. They must be around however as Abby wouldn't go very far from the water's edge even though there were some open spaces to run. She kept looking toward the woods and was walking around on tip-toes most of the time. It is the placewhere you really need to sit for a couple of days and then things might get very interesting.

We were also skunked in our efforts to have a Prawn dinner.

Off to Otter Passage.

Cheers Turicum

Klemtu -- the frendly town

July 13
We left the great little town of Klemtu today after having a great stay with very friendly people. The RCMP here are quite special -- they helped us with mooring the boat yesterday and helped haul the dinghy (very full of water) up on the dock so we could try to find what was wrong. Wow, do they know how to lend a hand up here! When we left we went to see what the cost oft the moorage was --- the reply was "there is no cost -- the new dock is for people use use and enjoy Klemtu". That pretty much was the tone of the entire place.

The Kitasoo band have built a beautiful cedar longhouse here; they have walking tours of the town and boardwalk and of the longhouse (although the tourist information office seems to keep their own hours). Construction is underway on a new health centre for the town, and the fish packing company seems to be a going concern.

We stocked up on supplies (prices in the band store are high, but consider how the stock has to get here!) water, and diesel, and gasoline for the dinghy. Klemtu does not have propane at the dock, and our next opportunity is likely to be Queen Charlotte City.

We motored slowly north from Klemtu, past Boat Bluff, around the end of Swindle Island to Myers Passage. We weren't in much of a hurry as we needed more water in the passage to ensure a safe transit though this very narrow and rocky channel -- the new chart we had bought in Shearwater turned out to be a very valuable investment. Our shallowest point in the pass turned out to be 8' below the keel.

Our stop for the night was at Corney Cove, a very nice little spot where Abby was able to wander around the grass near the shore. We shared the anchorage with a family up from Port Hardy in a small power boat, who were on their way to Klemtu the next day.

Photos coming --

Cheers, Turicum

Comments

Thanks for the feedback.
To reply to some of the comments --

Weather -- I am a bit weary of commenting on this as it has been fantastic. Maybe 2 days of rain and that was very light. It is cloudy and damp today but mostly T shirt and shorts -- very warm. Wind has been great with only Johnstone St. being a problem. I am starting to plan for the crossing to the Charlottes and we may have to head over early to get a good forecast.

The problem with keeping up to date -- The form to do the blog is online. and when we can't get an Internet connection we have a problem keeping current as the blogging program really doesn't like Word but we think that Notebook will work to keep a daily writeup which can be transferred when we get connected. We find the it is quite a busy end to the day getting tied up/anchored, dinner ready, the dog ashore, and do a write up for the Blog but at the same time realise that if we don't get something down it will get swallowed up by the events of the new day.
As for individual photo captions -- not going to happen -- mostly because we haven't found a way to do that yet and Baillie our altitude IS sea level or 0.

Spot is really doing the job. The big problem is to remember to turn it on or off -- just another new thing to add to the list when we depart or arrive anywhere then remember to turn on the arrival message whish is a bit of a process but I gather it is interesting to watch -- I wish it would show the whole trip.

Abby is a total show by herself. Between barking at the whales, seals, dolphins and anything else she thinks is a threat to the boat, she is learning how to deal with tacking and generally life on a boat.
When we were tacking up Oscar Passage yesterday (20+kts over the deck) she got into crossing from side to side during the tack and lying on the highside -- see photo -- with her head on the combing -- very cute. She spends most of her time being totally cute. She doesn't get Gravol any more and seems totally fine. When we have found a large beach -- Hakai and the hot springs -- she goes nuts -- running around at max speed until she literally falls over to catch her breath -- then she is off again.

I hope that helps explain some items -- many thanks for the comments

Cheers, Turicum

Between the police and the preachers

July 12 - Yet another post -- we're a little behind in the paperwork... We stayed at Shearwater Resort near Bella Bella on Friday night. The docks, showers, laundry and pub were all great (the pub even serves breakfast) The store has limited stock, and depending on what day you arrive (freight delivery is on Sundays) the stock is even more limited. There was no potable water available on the docks while we were there, due to a boil water advisory from the health authority. People were friendly and helpful, the chandlery was well stocked and there's a boat yard here if repairs are necessary (thankfully, not needed !) On Saturday, the fog started to lift around 10:00, and after a leisurely breakfast at the pub and a trip to the chandlery for charts, we headed over to Bella Bella for fuel and, we hoped, water. Fuel was available, but water was in short supply due to little rainfall, and we could not fill the tanks. We were happy we had invested in a watermaker (it produces about 4 litres an hour and the noises from under the V-berth bunk sound like the windshield wipers on a '56 Chevy, but the water quality is fine! )

After leaving Bella Bella, we motored west towards Ivory Island, and ducked up Reid Passage for the more scenic route. After a serene trip up Mathieson Channel, we anchored in a quiet bay at Arthur Island. The fog, which had played with us all day crept in, not on little cat feet , but rolled up the channel at about 5 knots. We woke on Sunday morning to a damp, grey, isolated world of our own.

As the day progressed, the fog gave way to brilliant sun, and a great sail through Oscar Passage to Finlayson Channel as we headed up to Klemtu. Great downwind run through Finlayson to Cone Island and Klemtu; managed to sail wing-on-wing, which Turicum normally doesn't do very well. Docking at Klemtu was a challenge, as the boat was being blown off the dock by a very brisk breeze, but all was well as we tied up opposite the RCMP boat. As we were still tying up the boat, a mission boat arrived as well and tied up as well. So, we're on the dock at Klemtu between church and state -- carousing kept to a minimum tonight! The fog has crept back in, and with it, about 15 knots of wind...(I know, fog and wind don't usually go together, but they do here). The people we've met here in Klemtu have all been welcoming, friendly and very helpful.

Cheers,
Turicum

Dances with Dolphins

July 9 – We had a fantastic stay in Ocean Falls – great docks and nice people. Today we headed off to Eucott Bay, supposedly with great lagoon and hot springs. On the way under blue skies, we had a great sail for a few hours and then when the wind died, we were surrounded by a large pod of Pacific Whiteside Dolphins. They were everywhere and followed us for about an hour – all the way to the Alexander Mackenzie monument. They were so numerous that Abby was totally overwhelmed by them and went and hid in the aft cabin.
While we were still grinning about the dolphin encounter, we arrived at Eucott Bay and once again were blown away. This time, by a fantastic but shallow little bay totally surrounded by mountains. Perched on the side of the bay is an unbelievable hot springs feeding into a rustic stone pool that looks as if has been improved over the decades with concrete to build a small piece of heaven on earth. The fairway at the entrance is reasonably narrow, and anchoring was in very shallow water, but hey, we figured we had a foot under the keel at low water. The best part of Eucott Bay was that we had the entire place to ourselves (well, we had to share with the horseflies) An interesting sidebar: the horseflies seemed to dislike the hotsprings and shunned us entirely when we had more of our flesh exposed to the voracious little beasts.
An early dinner was followed by a leisurely soak in the pool and a very sound sleep.
Cheers,
Turicum

We're trying

Ok - whatever I thought I knew about putting together this blog thing has gone out the window.
To keep updates we write them up once we stop and I have been trying to do a cut and paste from Word but that trashes the blog and it won't post.
We are trying to re-do things but the big problem is that we don't know how to create the dates offline and then transfer them to the blog.
We are going to try text files and see how that works.
We also wouldn't mind knowing who is out there so perhaps we can send thing of particular interest to you.
Some fantastic updates coming -- we are now at Shearwater and again no cell but there is Wifi.
We have said goodbye to Dave this evening and will be heading of to Bella Bela for fuel and supplies tomorrow.

Cheers,

Blue skies, sunshine, and Ocean Falls --- who knew?

July 8 – We are leaving Namu for Ocean Falls. Fantastic night on the dock and fortunate to meet some of the great people who live here and are rebuilding parts of the site. The wood they are using to panel and construct things are sawn here from driftwood --- often clear cedar, spruce and fir.

We got a tour through the “mill” and were shown a stack of 2X12s 20+’ long that were absolutely clear --- something you would never find in Vancouver at virtually any price.

Hey Gregg, he also had some red cedar rounds with fantastic red and purples and a chunk of fir of unknown vintage as there are several portions of the log has annual rings that look as thick as a sheet of paper. Our tour guide spoke about wood in the manner of a docent in the finest natural history museum; history of the world in the growth rings of a fir...

We are now in Beautiful Ocean Falls -- quite warm and a bit overcast -- WOAH check that it's sunny in the place that gets 20+ FEET of rain a year.

And, the dock has Wifi --- who'd have thought?! No cell though.

The majority of the crew took a walking tour through the old townsite and up to the dam (I think we're adding some photos here). Ocean Falls is a combination of ghost town, museum, living and working coastal community and time capsule. There's a mix of dilapitated, falling down, going-back-to-nature buildings and neat, tidy, freshly painted and maintained houses, a serviceable ferry dock, gift shop (open 1-3 M/W/F/S/S - maybe to coincide with the ferry schedule...) The water spilling over the dam onto the rocks below is spectacular and worth the fifteen minute uphill walk. The salmonberries along the way were tart-sweet and delicious. The mill has been closed for many years, but there is obviously still much pride of place here for the residents; the docks are well-maintained, and the bulletin board proclaims that Ocean Falls is the "best town by a dam site".

Cheers, Turicum