July 26, we left Port McNeill on the tide and headed up Broughton Strait for Port Hardy with a sight seeing detour through the islands of Beaver Harbor. It turned into a beautiful sunny day as we entered Port Hardy. By the time we took on fuel, got checked in and went into town to shop for provisions at the Overwaitea super market, compliments of the Quarter Deck Marina’s courtesy car, the sport boats were coming in with good catches of salmon both Chinook and Coho. A large Halibut had also been caught. One fisherman was proudly weighing a 50-pound Chinook. This was the first reasonable showing of sport fish we had seen this season.
By the end of the day, we were set and ready to depart on the morning tide for our rounding of Cape Caution. As we approached Goletas Channel to cross over to the Gordon Islands, the fishing fleet, out in force, was working their way out of Goletas Channel into the shelter of Hardy Bay. Goletas Channel was kicking up with the a 20 to 30 knot north westerly funneling right down the channel.
Teal leaned forward into the sloppy quartering seas and was making good way, too good to retreat. Before we crossed into the shelter of the Gordon Islands, the 6 to 8 foot quartering seas were tossing us around a bit and spraying the cockpit, but Teal as always took it very well and kept us dry enough that we didn’t bother with foul weather gear.
Crossing Gordon Channel was somewhat easier but by the time we got to the Walker Group, we appreciated the chance to stop. This is an anchorage we learned about from our friends John and Cheryl of the MV/ Sovereign, that we met at Port Neville last year.
As we worked our way through the pass into the anchorage, the S/V Hamelyn anchored there came into view. We found space next to her and set the anchor. We visited with Redek and Elaine and learned that they had been hearing Neil and Nancy on Harmony, the folks we met in Oak Harbor, on the net asking if anyone had seen Teal. Elaine said she would let them know where we were. We have since sent them an email at our next port, but we don’t have the radio gear needed to monitor the “net”.
Early the next morning we set out across Ripple Passage, and reached the shelter of the Southgate Group, and set anchored at Skull Cove before the forecast winds had a chance to build. The crossing was a little lumpy, yet easy, and made with dry decks.
Once in Skull Cove, we found good anchorage with shelter from the forecast southerly winds.
We kicked back and watched three raccoons foraging along a beach in the east cove for a long time. Then suddenly they hurried off, as if having been chased away, never to return for the rest of our anchorage. We never saw what chased them away. We fished and did trip planning for the next phase of our cruise.
The next morning we picked up and headed for Smith Sound. The seas were glassy smooth with no wind and only a three-foot swell. We were being rewarded for our patience to round Cape Caution.
After our rounding and in Smith Sound we were feeling a little hungry and opted to go into Jones Cove for an early lunch. While JoAnne was fixing lunch, I made a few casts and promptly put a couple of bottom fish in the bag.
After our lunch, we headed for Takush Harbor and went into Fly Basin to anchor for the night. We set the prawn and crab traps on our way. The weather was closing in and turned to light rain. 
The next afternoon on our way out, the crab trap produced two little rock crabs, not large enough to keep, and only a LARGE sea star in the prawn trap. We went across Smith Sound in a light rain to Millbrook Cove. On our way across, we spotted a pod of Killer whales working there way back into Smith Inlet. They were at binocular distance. No photos of those guys this time for us!
Once into the cove we found tranquil, secure anchorage behind the island blocking the entrance. During a dry spell, I jumped into the skiff and tossed out the crab trap just a painter length behind Teal. Then more needed relaxation.
The next morning Teal had swung to the other extreme of the anchor rode, and I had to row some to reach the trap. It came up with five small but legal-sized crabs, four Dungeness and one rock crab. We kept and cleaned the three largest Dungeness before heading for Duncanby Landing in Rivers Inlet.
We topped off the night with a crab feed on our boat.August 1, Tuesday morning we awoke to rain. Where did that come from? We had clear skies when we retired last night. We topped off the water tanks with “brown” water. It’s colored with tannin that comes from Cedar run off. Everyone says it’s not harmful to drink, and we confirmed that last year. And after all many people opt for red wine over white because of the health benefits of tannin. So we get tannin free from the hose on the dock. It plays havoc with the filter, but we have a spare.
We tried to do Internet at $2.50 per 15 minutes. And just as we got to our last email, the Satellite hid itself, so that was the end of our session, no chance to post the blog. Anyway it was time to head out to Draney Narrows, in the rain. As we approached the narrows, many fishing boats were milling about with lines in the water, and fishermen and women were fighting the current, wind, and driving rain.
Join us next time when we take you through the Narrows and into Draney Inlet.
George and JoAnne
© 2006 George Benson. Reproduction of any of the material on this log without written permission from George Benson is prohibited.
