Nordic Tugs – Riveted

Lund | BC

Laura Domela — Sun, 25 Sep 2016 03:54:43 +0000

Melanie Cove was foggy and rainy in the morning yesterday when we woke up. We didn’t leave until after noon…and since it was later in the day, we decided to stop in Lund and cross the strait on Saturday when the wind was supposed to be light. Plus, we like Lund!

There was room at the end of B dock at the Lund Small Craft Harbour. We settled in, did some work, and then two guys from a nearby sailboat (called “Pony”…its dinghy is called “Dog”) started chatting with Kevin about boats and Lund and stuff. Our default plan had been to walk over to The Boardwalk Restaurant for dinner, but these guys highly recommended a restaurant called Laughing Oyster, about a 15 minute cab ride away. They said we just go up and get the number for Martin’s Taxi off the bulletin board and he’d take us over there. Martin’s Taxi is a 1947 Hudson that was apparently painted up like a taxi for some Hollywood movie, and then he somehow got it, and now he just “gives people rides” in exchange for a donation to the charity his wife volunteers for (the SPCA, I believe).

We made a reservation for 7pm at Laughing Oyster, and then at about 6pm we called Martin, but it turns out Martin was unavailable (apparently very rare). Awwwwww. I called to tell the restaurant and they said “Oh no problem. Martin’s actually having dinner here tonight. Louisa can come pick you up.” (So awesome.)

Here’s the view from our table. That’s the patio seating there, and down from that is the public dock:

Upon arrival, we learned that it was “Beggar’s Banquet” night (or something like that). There was a buffet, and music…the musicians played for their dinner and tips (I think). It was fantastic. The place was totally full (we got the last table), the food was delicious, and the music was great. What a treat! Oh and guess who was sitting at the table just over from us? Martin and his wife…celebrating their 55th anniversary. I’d say that’s a good reason not to be driving the taxi!

It was a lovely night.

This is David Bowes on the left (also the executive chef at Laughing Oyster) and Sam Murrie (I think that’s how his last name was spelled) on the right. They were both very good and we thoroughly enjoyed the evening.

In the morning we headed up to the harbour office to pay our moorage (about 23 bucks Canadian) and then walked over to Nancy’s Bakery to pick up one of their famous blackberry cinnamon rolls. (This sugar thing is going to have to stop soon.)

Actually, as soon as we went inside I decided I might rather have something savory, and save my cinnamon roll for a later snack, so we both had breakfast and then took a cinnamon roll to go for later. I ordered an omelet with avocado, spinach, and lox:

Kevin had a huevos rancheros with black beans and chorizo:

Both were delicious (and pretty!)

Back down at the harbour…Giderdun II loading a truck carrying lumber:

We decided to go all the way to Nanaimo today…60 nautical miles or so. We figured we had the time and the strait was supposed to be fairly calm (which it was, until it wasn’t):

The wind picked up a bit this afternoon. We had probably 20 knot gusts for a bit and maybe 3ft moderate chop. A wet ride, but not too bad really (especially compared to last year on the same stretch).

We pulled into Nanaimo Harbour and anchored just off of Newcastle Island, then dinghied into the Dinghy Dock Pub for dinner and a pint. Tomorrow I think we’ll aim for Cabbage Island, and then after that…perhaps back to Anacortes!

Melanie Cove | Desolation Sound | BC

Laura Domela — Thu, 22 Sep 2016 20:13:20 +0000

After our stop at Mitlenatch Island yesterday, we continued on to Melanie Cove, inside of Desolation Sound Marine Provincial Park.

There are three areas to anchor in Desolation Sound Marine Park: Prideaux Haven, Melanie Cove, and Laura Cove. There were 4 or 5 boats in Prideaux Haven, and 5 boats in Melanie Cove when we arrived last night (which seems a like a lot for end of September). We anchored in about 35 feet with plenty of room and no need to stern tie. (A stern tie is a line attached to something on shore like a tree or boulder or a nice chain like the one pictured below, that acts as a second anchor and limits the swing of your boat. It’s common practice in tighter, more popular anchorages.) Over on the opposite side of the cove there are some really nice stern tie chains attached to the rock:

After we got settled, I made us a quick dinner (gnocchi with sauteed mushrooms and the last of the truffled pesto sauce, with a spinach salad). We met Norm and Jane from a super cute blue-hulled Nordic Tug called Toot Sweet (they were stern tied on the opposite side of the cove and came by to say hi).

This morning we woke up to this view:

I suggested we have a quick coffee and then go kayaking before breakfast and while it was so calm and beautiful out, which turned out to be a very good good call!

That’s a little Ranger Tug anchored over in the shallow area of Laura Cove, in the middle of this next shot:

This is one of the most spectacular places to kayak, especially in this weather. Every time we stopped paddling it was absolutely silent, save for a few bird sounds or the burble of a nearby waterfall. We paddled over to Laura Cove and around a bunch of little islands and inlets. The tide was high, so all the green areas on the chart were easily passable by kayak. Here’s our track, starting and finishing at Airship in Melanie Cove (just over 3 miles total):

There’s a trailhead at the head of Melanie Cove that I think we’ll explore after we get some more work done. I made us a sort of huevos rancheros for brunch this morning (crunchy chipotle tostada on the bottom, black beans, grated cheese, over easy egg, homemade salsa, with a couple slices of avocado on top) and it was yum! Now we’re just working here on Airship. There’s only one other boat in the cove with us now and it’s VERY quiet. The wind is supposed to pick up this afternoon but calm again by tomorrow afternoon, and the weekend looks like a great time to make our way down the Strait of Georgia (WITHOUT the conditions we had last year for this part of our trip).

Mitlenatch Island | BC

Laura Domela — Thu, 22 Sep 2016 02:28:53 +0000

We left our anchorage at Rebecca Spit around noon and headed for Melanie Cove in Prideaux Haven (Desolation Sound). It’s a little out of our way (and NORTH!) but hard to pass by when the weather is this great.

A little bit into our cruise, we opted to make a detour and stop at Mitlenatch Island. Mitlenatch Island Nature Provincial Park is home to the largest seabird colony in the Strait of Georgia. The island is a nature reserve and an important nesting colony for Glaucous-winged Gulls, Pelagic Cormorants, Pigeon Guillemots, Black Oystercatchers and many other species of birds. Marine life around the island includes river otters and harbour seals throughout the year, and Steller’s and California sea lions from late fall through to summer. [source]

Mitlenatch is here, in the middle of the map image (the small green island). Campbell River on Vancouver Island is over on the left side. Here’s a link to the actual Google map, if you want to zoom and stuff.

Steller sea lions, harbour seals, and a cormorant on our way into the cove:

The conditions were calm so we easily snuck in and anchored in the shallow cove (in about 15 feet) and then went ashore to explore.

The “Volunteer’s Cabin” (there was no one there right now, but I believe there’s someone here most of the summer):

There are all sorts of little collections of shells and bones around the cabin, as well as a little stack of pamphlets about the BC parks and wildlife. We looked around and then headed down the trail.

On the other side of the island there was a group of harbour seals hanging out in the sun at the water’s edge. We were pretty far away (and really quiet) but I think they still figured out we were there and after a couple minutes, some of them decided to get in the water.

On our way back across we went to check out the Gull Blind:

All we saw was one lone gull and a couple cormorants, but I’m guessing during the spring and early summer there are a lot of cool nesting gulls and baby birds to watch.

We did manage to spot and snap a photo of a neat Black Oystercatcher though:

After hiking all of the trails (except the one that went to the outhouse) we headed back to Airship.

The water here is so clear!

We had some lunch and then continued on toward Melanie Cove. This was a great stop, and highly recommended on a calm day.

Octopus Islands to Rebecca Spit | BC

Laura Domela — Wed, 21 Sep 2016 02:26:24 +0000

Last night just as we were eating dinner, guess who pulled into the cove where we were anchored? Thomas, Lars, and Urban…on Dawnbreaker! After dinner we had them over for some brownies and wine (and stories, and laughing, and planning the next anchorages….)

This morning after breakfast, Kevin took the drone up for some aerial photos, because look at this location!!

We took the dinghy out for a little exploration before we left. We beached it on Octopus Island and walked around a little.

Oops…someone lost an anchor:

I found a couple of large beds of sea asparagus on the beach on Octopus Island, so I harvested a couple of handfuls and will probably cook it up or put it in a salad. There are tons of recipes online for things to do with sea asparagus.

Both Airship and Dawnbreaker left around the same time…to hit Surge Narrows around slack this afternoon at 2pm. Slack was…slack. Uneventful in Surge Narrows…

Looking out into Sutil Channel:

Gorgeous anchorage at Rebecca Spit:

We dinghied over to the Heriot Bay Inn & Marina and then walked up to the market to restock on veggies and wine. If we didn’t feel so much like grilling back on the boat in this gorgeous weather, we’d have tried out the pub or restaurant at the Inn…

Back on Airship we sat on the top deck with a beer and some snacks and watch the light from the sunset over the spit. Not sure where we’ll go tomorrow yet, but here’s the view from right now:

There’s good internet here (and there has been since we left the Octopus Islands) so we’ve been working all along the way as well…it’s not just as interesting to write about work!

Port Harvey to Shoal Bay via Whirlpool and Greene Point Rapids | BC

Laura Domela — Mon, 19 Sep 2016 02:00:59 +0000

Last night after catching up with George and Gail about how their season was and the progress they’ve made on rebuilding the restaurant and store, we headed back to Airship to cook up some dinner. Tonight turned out to be tostada night! We grabbed some of the pulled pork (the stuff we made and brought from home) from the freezer, cooked up some black beans with jalapeno, garlic, and shallots, and then got all the toppings together: lettuce, shredded cheese, homemade salsa, sour cream, and some fresh lime to squeeze over the top. I’d picked up a bag of chipotle tostadas in Port McNeill last week thinking it had been ages since I’d had or made tostadas. We heated the crunchy tostadas in the oven and then built on with the toppings. They turned out great!

Port Harvey this morning:

Sabby on the dock:

George came down just after 8am with fresh cinnamon rolls. We took two to go, chatted a bit more and then headed out for Shoal Bay.

The rain started (again) just as we were leaving. We pulled the crab traps we’d set out on our way into the bay, but we only had one male keeper…the rest were females so back in they went.

We saw several sets of Pacific White-Sided Dolphins on our way through Johnstone Strait and into Sunderland Channel:

Our route today took us through Whirlpool Rapids and Greene Point Rapids. Both Whirlpool Rapids and Greene Point Rapids run to 7 knots at max ebb and flood, but can be safely traversed at any time as long as your boat has enough speed, stability, and rudder authority.

We had about 4.5 knots of current with us at Whirlpool Rapids…nothing too dramatic.

Even with what look like pretty good boils, our autopilot kept us on track with not much work.

We arrived at the Greene Point Rapids right AT max flood, and had about 6 knots of current going with u, but not much drama:

A little squirrely back toward the Cordero Islands and lodge:

We arrived in Shoal Bay and docked at the government dock (no other boats when we arrived besides the owners’ boat, but there are two more now). We walked up to the “pub” (the pub that’s never in pub mode when we’re here because it’s either too early or too late in the season) but we met Will inside…he’s from England and has been working here for most of the summer…and he said “Well guess what? It’s a pub right now!” so we had a beer and chatted with him for a half an hour or so. It’s rainy here too right now, but still so beautiful.

Tomorrow we’ll head on to the Octopus Islands. We’ve heard great things about them but never been. We’ll also go through more rapids tomorrow (the Okisollo Rapids). Unlike Whirlpool and Greene Point Rapids, you do not mess with the Okisollo Rapids at any time besides slack (which is exactly what time we’ll be there). During non-slack, there are large whirlpools, and an overfall/standing wave than can be between 5 and 8 feet tall! Eeeek.

Sounds like there’s some great kayaking and/or dinghy exploring around the Octopus Islands, but it’s not supposed to clear up until Tuesday, so maybe we’ll need to spend two days there.

Booker Lagoon | BC

Laura Domela — Fri, 16 Sep 2016 06:51:40 +0000

After provisioning and filling up with water in Port McNeill, we left after breakfast and headed out into Queen Charlotte Strait with Booker Lagoon as our destination…20 or so nautical miles across. The fog was back, but it came and went until we were out in the middle of the strait:

Sea lion checking us out:

We kept hearing chatter on the radio about orcas near “the Fosters” so I looked on the chart and realized they were talking about the Foster Islands. It just so happened we were going to be going right past the Foster Islands. We kept an eye out toward the spot on the horizon where several boats were hanging out, and saw (between us and them, but closer to us) two humpbacks hanging out near the surface.

We watched the humpbacks pass and continued toward the other boats. Pretty soon, we too saw the orcas. These are the first orcas we’ve seen all summer! There were maybe five of them, a group of three and a group of two.

The orcas moved east and we continued toward Booker Lagoon. Booker Lagoon is accessed through Booker Passage, a narrow channel with a 90 degree left turn with currents that can run to 8 knots. You really only want to go through at slack, and so that’s what we did.

Nice and calm, just after high slack…about a half a knot of current noticeable.

Cairns on shore at the entrance:

After entering the lagoon, there are many places to anchor. We checked out three of the arms…the easternmost, and two of the westernmost. The one marked in Active Captain and the Waggoner Guide as the preferred anchorage also comes with warnings about some uncharted rocks near the entrance that really messed up someone’s boat…but we went in and out of that entrance on both sides with the sonar on (including 200 feet of SideVu on either side of the boat), we only saw what was already charted. We found no stray rocks hanging out other than the ones on the chart.

We anchored in about 50 feet in the arm just south of the noted/preferred arm and it’s lovely. Seals on the shore, lots of birds around, and quiet.

We took the dinghy out to explore and set crab traps (no clue if there are crab here…will let you know later). (Update No. 1: no crab.)

About half way between high tide and low tide, we went into a little spot just before the narrows. The water wasn’t flowing through this part anymore and we were able to go ashore (walking on barnacles and seaweed and rocks) and to the other side to see what the rapids looked like. It looked like one big whirlpool of turbulent water! Cool! Hard to show in these photos, but yeah…I wouldn’t want to do that at any other time besides slack.

Here’s a section of the chart, so you can see what I’m talking about. The narrow part is Booker Passage. The red X is where we’re standing to view it (beached/rocked the dinghy just north of the X…the green part is now “land”). When we came in with Airship, we entered from the south through Cullen Harbour, made the left turn through Booker Passage, and into Booker Lagoon:

Looking toward the narrows. When we came through a few hours earlier, this was filled with water, the land on the right was an island, and on the other side of that island, more water (you can see this on the chart above…the green part is water at high tide):

Getting a view of the rapids out in Booker Passage from here:

Looking back at where we landed the dinghy:

Walking on barnacles:

The water in Booker Channel is flowing rapidly and from here it appears to be one big whirlpool…water flowing fast right to left on one side, and fast left to right on the other:

It’s super interesting to see these caution areas at their worst. If you plan correctly and always go through narrows and rapids at the recommended or slack times (as you should) you’ll never know what the conditions look like that you’re trying to avoid. (very helpful).

Back at Airship we decided to make some homemade pizzas for dinner.

I got the dough mixed and resting and came up with some ingredients for two different pizzas. We did them on the grill just like Deke and Tiffani taught us and they came out great! Pizza leftovers for lunch tomorrow!

We’re getting a little bit of intermittent data/internet in here, but it’s slow and unreliable. Our plan is to leave on the early low slack tide (minimum depth at zero tide shows 21 feet on the chart, so we’re fine at low tide) in the morning at 7:35am. We’ll head over to Pierre’s at Echo Bay, where we’ll meet up with our new friends on the S/Y Dawnbreaker.

Update No. 2: We got to Booker Passage this morning right at the published low slack time for nearby Sunday Harbor (7:35am) but there was still some current in the narrows. Two knots of current, in fact. We (I) did some quick maneuvers (a tiny bit stressful) but made it through fine. Though it’s also nice to know how the boat (and the skipper) handles conditions like these, it’s nicer to just theorize about that part.

On to Pierre’s!

Crossing Cape Caution | BC

Laura Domela — Thu, 15 Sep 2016 01:46:39 +0000

This was our fourth crossing of Cape Caution. The first one was the only one that was a little bit uncomfortable (6 foot swells at 4-5 seconds apart). The rest have been relatively calm and uneventful. (When you have the time to wait for a good weather window, you can be picky about when you do your crossing.) This one was boring. I napped for the actual crossing of the Cape. Yawn. Sleepy. There was no land in view, barely any water in view, and only an occasional other boat on AIS (also not in view). We had radar going but mostly the screen was blank. See? Boring. (Wind was 5kts or less, swells were around 3 feet…around 8 seconds or more, and as you can see…visibility sucked. We’ll take it!)

While Kevin was napping I passed an otter chillin’…he was only about 25ft from the boat as I went by and he just floated there watching me pass. I said hello (actually I said “Hey buddy!”) and took his photo.

As we got a ways into Queen Charlotte Strait, the fog started to clear and we could see land.

Behind us, out toward the Pacific (that dot is a fishing boat):

Ahead of us, toward Port McNeill (today’s destination):

It was sunny and warm as we arrived. We got settled at the North Island Marina and then walked (T-shirts only, no jackets!) up to the IGA market to stock up on veggies and a few other things. Our plan is to head back across the strait tomorrow and hang out in the Broughtons a bit…maybe go to some places we haven’t been yet (along with a few repeat favorites).

They had giant bunches of fragrant (local) fresh basil at the market, so tonight we’re going to make some tortellini and toss it with fresh basil, grape tomatoes, fresh mozzarella, and a little olive oil and salt.

Codville Lagoon to Fury Cove (and Humpbacks!) | BC

Laura Domela — Tue, 13 Sep 2016 19:24:45 +0000

Today’s plan was to meet up with our friends on Dawnbreaker down at the Koeye River inlet. The Koeye River is a very good place to watch grizzlies, and the anchorage there is decent for a temporary stop in relatively calm conditions. It was beautiful in Codville Lagoon this morning, but the further south we went, the more fog we encountered.

Entering the bay at the Koeye River Inlet:

Dawnbreaker was already anchored and their dinghy was gone, so we assumed they were already up river. We launched our dinghy and headed out to meet them (and hopefully spot some brown bears!)

Long house on shore:

Airship, anchored:

Our Torqeedo had other plans for us, however. It quit abruptly as we were headed into the river and gave us an error message. E23. Kevin messed with it for a few minutes as we were pushed around by the waves coming in from Fitz Hugh Sound. I turned us around and started rowing back toward Airship while he worked to see if he could recalibrate and clear the error, but to no avail. We got back to Airship and brought the electronic tiller part in and did some troubleshooting and determined that somehow, water had gotten in where it shouldn’t be. We messed with it for about an hour, and decided to bag it on the river trip. Being stuck up river with grizzlies and only oars didn’t sound awesome and it was 2pm already. Our plan was to get to Fury Cove so we could do our Cape Caution crossing tomorrow…and we still had about 3 hours to go. We tried radioing our friends to let them know the deal, but didn’t get ahold of them. (We figured we’d just get them on the radio once they were back.)

Back out in Fitz Hugh Sound the fog cleared a bit and once we were past Hakai Pass the seas calmed to rippled for the rest of our cruise down to Fury Cove. We’d seen the occasional humpback in Fitz Hugh, but mostly too far for much detail. Just outside of Fury Cove as we were about to turn in…humpbacks! Several of them were directly in our path.

We watched them for about 10 minutes and then just as we decided we could get past them easily and go into Fury Cove….they started bubble net feeding. This is the very first bubble feeding we’ve seen all summer, and happens right here in front of our anchorage! I took way too many photos. Hopefully that’s what you want to see right now:

The bubble circle just before the whales come up through it:

This close to Airship:

You never know where they’re going to come up. (Actually, you do if you watch the birds.)

We watched them for over an hour. The light was so great…bubble feeding at golden hour! We watched across the channel as another boat (Bonaventure, heading to Seattle) made its way toward us (with spouts and breaching and tail-slapping humpbacks between us and them…busy whale day today!) They stopped when they got close and we both watched the bubble feeding for a while before heading into the cove to anchor.

We’re the only two boats in here, and it’s just gorgeous.

Oh and…guess what? We can hear whales from our boat!

Tomorrow is supposed to be pretty chill, so we’re planning to leave just before sunrise (6:30am or so) for what will likely be a foggy crossing of Cape Caution.

Khutze Bay and Klemtu | BC

Laura Domela — Sun, 11 Sep 2016 08:37:20 +0000

Our cruise from Farrant Island Lagoon (just north of Hartley Bay) through the last bit of Grenville Channel, then McKay Reach, then Fraser Reach, then Graham Reach…was a slog. It rained all night in Farrant Island Lagoon, and continued all day today. Oh also, the winds were 20-30 knots. For as much as the wind was gusting, the only really gnarly part was out in the part between Grenville Channel and McKay Reach (where Douglas Channel, Grenville Channel, Whale Channel and McKay Reach all meet up). It was here that we saw several humpbacks breaching. Those breaching whales happened to be about 50 yards from the boat! It was so rainy and windy and bumpy, however, that I took no photos. It was cool though, trust me.

Here’s me trying to get a photo of a whale breaching (no whale…it was off to the right):

I did manage to get this shot though (before I fell over and my shoe came off)…some fin-slapping between breaches:

Later on though, we saw MORE whales breaching (on both sides of the boat!) and it wasn’t quite as bumpy, but it was still pouring rain, so no photos of that either. At one point as we were cruising along, we had to do an emergency shut off stop because a humpback surfaced RIGHT in front of the boat. Whew…glad we were alert for that one!

It was not a nice weather day, at all. This whole route is just lined with waterfalls on both sides. We probably passed a hundred waterfalls. Here are two (through the pouring rain, taken through the window):

Considering how strong the wind was blowing, the sea conditions weren’t all that bad. A little bumpy, but nothing too terrible.

We arrived in Khutze Bay and there were maybe 5 or 6 boats there! We’ve only ever seen one other boat there, so this felt packed! As you can tell, the weather did not improve:

Another waterfall in the rain:

At least three of the boats here were big Canadian charter cruise boats full of people (complaining on the radio about how many boats were here). Their passengers needed to see some bears, so crewmembers were taking loads of people out by the dinghy-load over to the shore and up river a bit so they could see some bears (and they did).

We, however, have both (a) been here before and seen bears, and (b) have seen a lot of bears this summer, so we stayed warm inside and cooked dinner (fresh halibut, lemon risotto, and zucchini).

This morning we could see blue sky from the stateroom hatch! We opted to head out (and not go see bears again) and left our anchorage around 9am.

The conditions out in Graham Reach…beautiful:

Boat Bluff Lighthouse, on the south end of Sarah Island, almost to Klemtu:

Klemtu is the home of the Kitasoo tribe of Tsimshians (originally from Kitasu Bay), and the Xai’xais of Kynoch Inlet, a subgroup of the Heiltsuk people. The name Klemtu comes from the Coast Tsimshian language, and means “impassable”.

Here’s some fun folklore, from Wikipedia:

Around 1968 Sasquatch were reportedly seen by people from the village of Klemtu. Bigfoot researcher John Green and Bob Titmus visited Klemtu to investigate the sightings. Their findings indicated that the villagers rarely traveled inland. In older times there was only one trail on the island, across one end of it. The people went everywhere by boat, even hunting and trapping on the beaches, and told stories of apes in the islands. A Klemtu villager named Joe Hopkins reported seeing a Sasquatch on a clam beach. Others encountered Bigfoot when they hunted or fished. A crew of men from Klemtu who were building a dam on a lake above the village had seen tracks on a beach. The varying size of tracks indicated to John Green that a family of Sasquatch were present. This is the first report of a family of Sasquatch. The natives reported stories of the apes swimming from island to island. Sasquatch prints were also reported found in snow on the boardwalks of the unused bunkhouses behind Klemtu Cannery.

In late 2014 Survivorman Les Stroud did a special on Klemtu where he searched for Bigfoot. The special aired in April, 2015.

The Big House, from the water:

The Big House is one of the highlights of Klemtu, we hear. We walked a lot of the village, and then up to the Big House. We passed a woman in a car on the way up and she stopped to ask if we’d been able to get in touch with anyone about a tour. We told her no, and she said she’d see if she could get it arranged for us. How nice! We walked around and looked at the outside…

The “Dreamcatcher Trail” is just around the other side of the Big House, so we walked that (short, but very cool) trail:

Textured so the step doesn’t get too slippery:

The trail ends at a small cemetery (I only noticed two above-ground tombs).

We walked the trail back to the Big House, and waited around a while just enjoying the view (in case someone was coming by to show us the inside…the timing wasn’t clear). There’s a guy mentioned in a guidebook who apparently gives tours of the Big House for ten bucks, so maybe this was who the woman was getting ahold of…in any case, they know where to find us…we’re the only tourist boat here.

Looking across the bay at the other side of town, and the public dock where Airship got the last available space:

No one showed up at the Big House, so we wandered back through town. A man in a car pulled over near us and asked if we were in the white boat that had come in earlier, and we told him yes. He introduced himself (I’ll call him “Jim”) and showed us some of his artwork..beautiful work, and if I hadn’t already bought too much art this summer I might have considered buying something. He chatted with us for maybe 10 minutes or so about all sorts of things. We asked if there was a way to see the inside of the Big House, and he said that sadly, there was no one taking care of it anymore…and that the guy taking care of it had been taking tourists’ money and not reporting it to the Band Office, so they let him go. (Oops!) We chatted a little more, then said goodbye to “Jim” and wandered up the hill to look at the school and the Spirit Bear Lodge (though we didn’t go in the lodge…I don’t know why because it’s probably cool, but we really wanted to see the Big House so didn’t want to stray too far from a potential tour).

On our way back along the waterfront, we ran into another local guy and he stopped us to chat for a few minutes. He introduced himself (I’ll call him “Bob”). It turns out that “Bob” was the very guy mentioned in the guidebook as the one who gives tours of the Big House. He told us all about meeting the publisher, and seemed quite proud to be “in the book!” However, with recent local knowledge learned from “Jim” of a scandal involving Big House tours, I did not mention that I knew who he was, in case he was the one ousted from the tour-giving care-taking job. We asked “Bob” if there was a way to see the inside of the Big House, and he said he worked over at the Spirit Bear Lodge and that he’d go talk to some people and see if he could arrange it. “Bob” also told us that sometimes they open the Big House up for dance and drum practice (“for the youngsters” he said) and that if such a thing were to be happening later this evening, we’d hear about it on VHF Channel 06 (the whole town monitors VHF Ch. 06, apparently), and that he’d reach us on Ch. 06 if he could arrange a tour.

We returned to Airship and figured we’d hang out and do some work and monitor Ch. 06.

We never heard from “Bob,” nor were there any announcements about the Big House being open, so we haven’t been able to see it. We did learn, however, that a woman had been waiting (for a while it seemed) for a man, and the man said he was coming, and the woman then told him that she forgot to tell him “not to talk to anybody.” Intrigue in Klemtu.

Tomorrow I think we’ll head over to Shearwater for some groceries (though we did pick up a few things here at the Band Store like milk, lemons, and tortillas…we still need more), some laundry, and perhaps some fuel.

Klewnuggit Bay (East Inlet), and Farrant Island Lagoon | BC

Laura Domela — Fri, 09 Sep 2016 23:40:00 +0000

We left Prince Rupert a little on the late side (after 10am). We gathered our crab traps (six females, and one keeper male), had breakfast and then got underway. We were originally aiming for Lowe Inlet in Grenville Channel, but decided we should try a new place, and the east inlet of Klewnuggit Bay looked intriguing.

It was beautiful. When we arrived (6pm-ish) it was gray and a little rainy (as it had been all day). We set the crab traps out and made dinner (crab with spinach tortellini and a brussels sprouts salad). In the morning, it had cleared up a bit and the water was mirror still. Like this:

I took a bunch of cool reflection photos, but I want to play with ‘em a bit before posting, so they’ll come in another post.

We took the dinghy to explore a little and retrieve the crab traps. (We had three keeper males.)

Stream at the head of the bay:

Airship at anchor:

Blue sky, even!

Kevin said he saw a bunch of fish on sonar just outside the East Arm, so we decided to anchor and see about doing some fishing. We found a spot on the chart that looked like a slight rise between two deeper parts, and thought it looked like a place halibut might go…so we dropped two halibut lines. We pulled up three spiny dogfish (put ‘em back) and then…we got what we were hoping for. A 48.5 inch, 57 pound halibut! This one was quite a fighter too. Kevin reeled it to the surface, and I harpooned it right where I needed to. Woohoo, our second halibut (and the biggest fish we’ve ever caught).

We left Klewnuggit Bay around 2pm (after all the halibut hubbub) and headed for Hartley Bay. But then as we were reading about different spots on Grenville Channel, we found Farrant Island Lagoon. You get to this anchorage through a narrow entrance between Pitt Island and Farrant Island, on the west side of Grenville Channel, through a tight spot called Hawkins Narrows. On a Spring tide, the current can run to 8 knots in Hawkins Narrows (and it’s about 10 feet deep on a zero tide I think), so it’s preferred to go through at high slack. We were about an hour and a half before high slack so the current would be going with us, but the moon is half full (or empty, depending on how you look at things) and the tide swing is only about 8 feet, so we gave it a shot. We had just over a knot of current going with us, but it was no big deal and we went through easily. Once the bay opens up, it’s beautiful in there. Farrant Island Lagoon is a ways in, through another small narrows and once inside it feels like you’re in your own little secret anchorage. We put the crab traps out and went for some dinghy exploring while it wasn’t raining.

Approaching Hawkins Narrows:

Anchored:

Exploring:

Definitely a “come back to” spot.

We pulled anchor this morning just before 7am and went through Hawkins Narrows about a half hour after slack and there was no noticeable current at all. Back in Grenville Channel now and it’s foggy and rainy and a little choppy. Our next destination is Khutze Bay. We decided that as we make our way south, we’d try to stop at more places we haven’t been before, but there’s nothing we found on the chart that looked as good as Khutze Bay, so we’re going back.