Heading South

The weather has been fantastic - blue skies, highs of 28 degrees C.  However, with this stable, high pressure cell comes high NW winds.  We are heading South so when we are in the channels a NW wind doesn't cause much concern.  We motored from Ocean Falls due South, looking for an anchorage for the night.  Fish Egg inlet was written up as a good place but we couldn't find a sheltered enough spot and had trouble getting the anchor to set because everywhere we tried was rocky.  Onward to Frypan cove on the North side of Rivers Inlet.  This was much better.  The winds hit forty knots outside and we were safe with only a few breezes wafting through.

After two days in Frypan we decided to venture out.  It was tough to hear the weather reports on the VHF so we didn't know what was in store.  We crossed Rivers Inlet without a problem and tied up in Duncanbly fishing resort.  These guys are mainly there to charter fishing tours but they have some dock space for transient boaters.  But they really charge for it!  $40 for power and $1.50 per foot.  They have intermittant internet so we downloaded the weather reports. Not good.

The NW winds are still howling out between the Charlottes and the mainland.  The seas are over three meters and hit a high of over six meters.  So we waited. And waited some more.  Eventually we tried to head South but ten miles out I bailed because the seas were over two meters and building.  We pulled into Smith Inlet and spent the night.  The next morning was worse so we snuck back up to Duncanby, paid and waited some more.

Finally on day five we went across Queen Charlotte Sound in seas of 1.5 meters and winds of 15 knots.  We tied up in Port McNeill very tired, very salty and completely out of groceries.

Coast Guard rescue boat headed North to help someone.

I don't have photos because I was too busy watching the boat and the seas.  I took this shot after we were across.  The Coast Guard boat was heading out to help someone in the really rough stuff.

Ocean Falls

We left Shearwater and trasitted Gunboat pass to get to Ocean Falls.  Gunboat Pass is a narrow, rock choked passage between Denny Island and Cunnigham Island.  It is well marked so if you pay attention it is easy.  Ocean Falls is at the head of Cousins Inlet and is an abandoned town built by Crown Zellerbach. There is a dam above the old town that provided the power for a pulp operation for many years. The generators still turn, providing power for Bella Bella and Shearwater and the few residents left in the ghost town.

View from the dam over the power station and old mill.

Many houses still stand.

A great project boat free to an ambitious type!

They have new docks, power and free internet making it one of the best deals on the coast.  We hiked up to the top of the dam and looked at the lake.  We also poked around the ghost town looking at all the abandoned buildings.  It is an interesting site and definitly worth visiting.

July 8th, Shearwater

We left Port McNiell at 0600 on July 6th and had an uneventful crossing to Rivers Inlet.  That is if you call driving in the fog with radar glitches and other weirdness in the electronics uneventful.  A large cruise ship passed us in the fog whic was fun conversing with the pilot.  Eventually we sorted out the issues and carried on around Cape Caution.  The Pacific swells were 1.2 meters and there was no wave action so it was just a slow, lazy up and down motion.  We anchored at the head of Goose Inlet and set our crab traps.  After four hours I tried to pull the first one but it was really heavy coming up so I thought I must have snagged something. Nope, it was jammed with sixteen male Dungeness and a couple of rock crabs.  We can't eat that much crab so we kept a few of the larger ones and let the rest go.  The rest of the night was spent cleaning crab, boiling crab, eating crab.

Measuring crabs.



16 crabs in one set!

On the 7th we headed up Fitzhugh Sound to Pruth Bay, one of our favourite anchorages.  The head of the inlet is only a short hike across the island to a fantastic, white sand beach.  We beachcombed for an hour and came up with what looks like debris from the Japanese tsunami.  The bag is definitily Japanese and the float looks like a net float which could also be Japanese.  We don't have a geiger counter so we hope it isn't radioactive!



Wild flowers on the beach.

Tsunami debris??

Net float

West beach.

On the 8th we headed up to Shearwater on Denny Island to restock fresh vegetables.  Crab cakes for dinner tonight.  Crab Louie salad for lunch.  We have to catch a halibut or some spot prawns to change the diet a bit.

Departing Pruth Bay 0600. dead calm.

Port McNeil

Up at 0600 and departed Blind Channel at 0615, breakfast underway.  An incredibly calm passage up Johnstone Strait with the current pushing us an extra two to four knots.  Lots of logs along the way so we had to stay alert. However there was very little boat traffic today.  We pulled into the Port McNeil fuel dock at 1300.  We havn't added any fuel since our May trip to Anacortes.  The trip up consumed 214 gallons but we filled to the top of the tanks - 1590 litres, about 400 gallons. We got a discount for a large volume purchase and decided to stay the night and prep the boat for crossing to Rivers Inlet.  The weather looks good for a morning crossing tomorrow but we will check it again at 0400 tomorrow morning.

Fuel filtration - check for water and drain it from the bowls. (none found)

I spent the afternoon doing mechanical checks while Julie made the boat shipshape. From McNeil it is a 55 mile run to Rivers Inlet.  About thirty miles will be "outside" or exposed to the Pacific swells. Once we are up there we will slow down and do some fishing, crabbing and prawning.  No internet for several days so there won't be any reports for a while.

In the center is the water maker. Filters that need to be changed are to the left.

Raw water strainer for engine cooling water - clean out the seaweed so it doesn't clog!

July 4th, Campbell River to Blind Channel

Nautilus on the dock at Blind Channel

View from the outlook trail.

A quick overnight at Discovery Marina in Campbell River.  Dan and Dave Willson stopped by on their way to Port Hardy for a fishing trip. The four of us had dinner at the Harbor Grill.  A few more provisions and last minute supplies were added in the morning and we cast off at 11:00 am to make the slack at Seymour Narrows.  We didn't push too hard today, only 26 miles to Blind Channel.  This resort is a family run affair and has few docks but great service and a very nice restaurant.  We went for a hike out to the overlook point and took some photos on the way.  Finally some sunshine!

Nanaimo to Campbell River

Mid strait off Comox, very calm.

Very calm today.  This photo is in the middle of the strait off Comox.  The wind is less than 10 knots from the NW.  Making good time at 10 knots.  We should arrive in Campbell River by 1600 hrs.

Monday. July 2nd, Nanaimo B.C.

Clam Bay near Thetis Island. Fog at sunset.

After a false start with some concerns regarding the house batteries we have continued on to Nanaimo, B.C.  We had a great dinner at Astera's, a Greek resataurant on Wesley St.  It is raining continously now but the forcast is better for the end of the week. (29 degrees on Friday!)  Tomorrow we will make an 8 hour run to Campbell River and then head through Seymour Narrows and on up Johnstone Strait.  There was a lot of boat traffic today and constant chatter on the VHF.  Most of the chatter is about nothing at all so one wonders why they do it.  People can't seem to shut up and enjoy the view. I am looking forward to getting further North where there is less congestion.