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

On to Namu or Sailing with whales

July 7 – Drat! It’s raining – well, frankly it’s the first we have seen for more than a month so it is an interesting distraction but it is off to the beach!

(June is going to add a post about the beach -- I am working on the watermaker which seems to need cleaning.)

June here: The beach on the outside of Calvert Island is truly spectacular. Hakai Beach Resort allows access to the beach through their property on Pruth Bay during the day (8-5) and there is also a beach to pull up a dinghy at the start of the trail to the beach. The trail winds through the forest, soft moss underfoot until you can hear the surf and the path becomes mostly sand. The beach is white sand (and, as I remember from 20 years ago, absolutely gorgeous when the sun is shining) The sun was not co-operating today, but the beach was no less beautiful. I think Abby enjoyed the beach the most of all of us, running until she could run no more and lay on the sand, gasping and panting!

Back from the beach – rain and low clouds. We are off to Namu – with a functional watermaker.

On our way our out of Kwakshua Sound we were inundated with humpbacks again, our introduction being a Humpback surfacing right in front of our bow as we quickly dropped our speed and turned hard to port to avoid a collision. Our trip to Namu was a constant “wow look at that!” with whales blowing, breaching, slapping all around us keeping us on our toes making sure we were staying far away from any activity. Abby became our “watch dog” keeping a weather eye out for the “smelly guys” (whale breath is really quite special) and barking loudly when one surfaced.

We are currently tied up at a small moorage in Namu and everyone is off for showers.

The Crossing

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July 6 – Today we had a fantastic crossing of Queen Charlotte Sound. Contrary to what you may think, this means that there was virtually no wind and most importantly, no seas. In these waters dull is good – exciting is very often BAD!
As we motored up Fitzhugh Sound we were greeted by a dozen or more Humpback whales feeding in Fitzhugh and Kwakshua Sounds. After many photos, we headed up Kwakshua and anchored in Pruth Bay on Calvert Island. At the head of the bay is the Hakai Beach Resort who will allow you to tie your dinghy at a small wooden dock under the ramp and walk through the property to the fantastic beach on the west side of the island. The dock and path area available from 8am to 5pm – there is also a BC Parks marker and path to the North of the floats for the off hours.
As we were up very early to make the crossing, the decision is for an early dinner and tomorrow we will take the trail across the Island to the white sand beach on the West side and the open Pacific.

Cheers, Turicum

Photo update

OK, I am slowly getting the hang of this (perhaps) -- I see that I can only add a few photos with each post so I went back and added photos to a bunch of earlier posts. The result is that there is no context or order -- sorry. I am also finding that if I build a photo library it is then easier to add things into the appropriate place.
When we leave Hardy, the cell connections are much more scarce and we will have fewer updates -- we will try to do a daily log and then dump it onto the blog when we get a connection.

Cheers,

Change of location and change of Crew

Turicum arrived in Port Hardy yesterday around 1730h. We had a nice sail up from Alert Bay our previous stop but did have to motor for the last hour or so to get here at a reasonable time.
After coming out of Forward Harbour, we "found" the expected wind in Johnstone Strait and took a fair pounding for a couple of hours. Things did settle down though and we got in a good sail in much flatter water and 18 kts of wind. We probably had a tide/current change and the water really flattened out. For a while we were in 4' chop and 35+kts of wind --- not much fun.

We have been kept busy with a few repairs -- some enthusiastic grinding managed to put a spreader through the genoa but we got some spectra tape on that, the shower pump in the aft head had dirty electrical connections that needed some attention, the primer bulb on the outboard split and disintegrated -- back to oars, and our biggest problem is a stinky watermaker.
When we turned it on everything was great and the water very good as usual but a while into the process, we noticed that the product water started to smell. We shut the system off and have drained and flushed the tanks. We also ran bleach through the saltwater supply line which seems to have developed growth during the shutdown period. Obviously I need to "pickle" the supply line as well as the watermaker and filter at the next shutdown.
Oh yes, the drive belt on the alternator was replace and it was discovered that the tensioning arm has broken. We will look to getting it welded in Charlotte. I am really not sure what I am going to do with all the time I will have once the repairs are complete and the books marked.

We have had to say goodbye to Dmitri, Sergey, and Olga after a great week with them. Many good laughs and I think we have added some more to the list of people who are now hooked on sailing.
We will be greeting Kaht, Dave, and John this morning and get things ready for our crossing of Queen Charlotte Sound tomorrow. The weather indication look favorable.
I have a batch of photos from Demitri and June for this post.

Cheers from Turicum

"Way up the Yucultas..."

Left Refuge Cove this morning after enjoying the hot running water in the showers...heaven! Dmitri & Sergiy jumped off the boat yesterday afternoon for a swim, but Olga & I decided to wait for warmer water! Heading up Lewis Channel this morning, after having calculated the appropriate times for the Yucultas, Gillard, Dent, Greene Point and Whirlpool rapids (did I leave any out?!) Abby is an extremely relaxed boat bear today -- out cold on the floor of the cockpit, enjoying a nap in the sunshine. Expect to be at Forward Harbour tonight. With a tip of the hat to Phil Thomas, musician and music historian extrordinare... J.

Happy Canada Day

Happy Canada Day!

Today is the day we take our first big step into the North going through Gillard Passage, Dent rapids, Green Point rapids, and Whirlpool Rapids ending up in Forward Harbour for the night. On the way we will get an idea of what the winds will be like in Johnstone Strait as we will get a chance to “peek out” a couple of times. The morning's weather is clear with NW winds at 12kts -- we are under power as we have to run the tidal passes all day

We are now moving to an area where there is limited cell coverage so there will be some gaps in the updates or we may be limited to text only.

One of this morning’s tasks was to patch the genoa where a spreader punched through yesterday – we had some spectra tape still onboard from Maui so we have put patches on both sides and crossed our fingers. We also replaced the mainsail slider on one of the battens that had been jamming. The students are getting a bit more than basic sailing.

On the storage front, we do not have to sleep with the prawn trap as June managed to find places for things that I didn't know the boat had. We actually have an aft cabin now not a floating garage. We do however have to push Abby off the bed as there just isn't room for her as well.

Cheers, Turicum