Penny Cove to Culpepper Lagoon

August 4

Awoke to a marine layer. The barometer is rising – good! Prawn trap held one tiny prawn and two baitfish. The bait may lead to a good crab feed down the way, maybe at Rescue Bay.

On our way across Seaforth Channel a Norwegian cruise liner crossed our path. It looked like it was heading into Fitz Hugh Sound. Surprising to see such a large boat in these waters.

We had a smooth cruise through Mathieson Channel and saw whales working the herring schools along the bank.

We set the prawn trap before entering Rescue Bay (52° 30.819’ N / 128° 17.343’ W) and anchoring along with North Star, a large powerboat from Santa Monica, CA. George set out the crab traps and we spent a lazy warm afternoon enjoying the surrounding beach area – which looked like bear and wolf country – no sightings for us though. Late in the day a couple in a small canoe with out-riggers, a sail, AND a golden retriever paddled to a neighboring islet to camp for the night….. along with possible bears and wolves(?) not my style of camping for sure.

August 5

We rose at 5am to make our 11:30 passage into Kynoch Inlet

and through the narrow tidal rapid into Culpepper Lagoon. We checked our prawn trap on the way and found just 4 really good-sized prawns. Too much commercial fishing for us to get our share of these tasty morsels.

Smooth ride into Kynoch Inlet. The most beautiful cruising waters we have seen in all of BC.

Waterfalls to die for, and the rock-faced sides of towering domes in Fiordland, certainly humble a person. Each turn into the inlet revealed a site more breathtaking than the last. Interestingly we have seen only one boat while there. That’s it! One boat!

As we approached Culpepper Narrows, two floatplanes took turns gliding into the head of the inlet. This is a tour I’d love to take, gliding along these huge towering domes and sweeping across the wide expanse of water. Breathtaking…. Just like Imax theatre.

We slid through the Narrows slightly before slack. It was a smooth entry into Culpepper Lagoon (52° 43.909’ N / 127° 49.804’ W),

a beautiful little bay, reminding us of Sierra mountain lakes from our backpacking days. We set the prawn trap and found a perfect anchorage, also perfect for the black flies and no-see-ums. First mate got hit again, and the captain FINALLY got one little bite that seems to be itching him quite a bit. We found an electric fly swatter in Bella Bella, but it has only lasted about 48 hours. It didn’t seem to work on the tiny little no-see-ums anyway.

Our crab trap provided a very nice crab dinner and was reset for more on our way out.

More to Come,

George & JoAnne

Roscoe Inlet to Penny Cove

After lunch we headed out of Roscoe, had disappointing results from our attempt at prawn fishing, and headed for Emily Bay in Briggs Inlet to anchor for the night. To reach Emily Bay we had to go through First Narrows at max ebb current, that was flowing at something close to 4 ½ knots, it took Teal quite a while to claw her way through the narrowest part while keeping clear of the charted submerged rocks.

Emily Bay (52° 23.550’ N / 128°00.807’ W) has a wonderful anchorage in the out flow of a babbling stream that holds the boat in line with the anchor regardless of the ebb and flow of the tide or light breezes that find their way into the little bay. This spot is a Bob Ross painting. High Mountain in background, small trees forward, a babbling brook, that little cabin and large tree in foreground. His Northwest influence is alive in little vignettes like this one.

August 2, 2007

We had a leisurely breakfast while waiting for the current at the narrows to mellow for our exit of Briggs Inlet and turn around the corner into Bullock Channel to collect just 11 prawns from our set the previous afternoon, and then on up the channel to explore the head of Spiller Inlet.

We found Spiller Inlet, while equal to most other inlets, was nothing to write about after having just visited Roscoe Inlet. After exploring the head of Spiller we went into Neekas Cove (52° 27.777’ N / 128° 09.552’ W) to anchor for the night with Honker a nicely-converted fishing trawler that we have seen somewhere before during our cruises.

August 3, 2007

After a peaceful night in Neekas we headed back to Bella Bella (52° 09.786’ N / 128° 08.433’ W) to top off our tanks before heading further north. It was windy through Sea Forth Channel – chop with white caps.

Got fuel, water, groceries, and took off from Bella Bella dock to gratefully find flat water all the way to Idol Point.

We trolled the point along with other fishing boats. We had a hit or two before the winds started up and as the day was getting on, the cap’n suggested we take an anchorage that he had in mind at Penny Cove (52° 12.294’ N / 128° 15.888’ W). We set the prawn trap and found a great spot to stern tie – our first of the season and it went surprisingly smooth.

The skeeter and black fly bites are really giving Jo a hard time. Some of them have gotten pretty swollen. The drawing salve has come to the rescue, but the itching and pain are beyond aggravating. Still on the hunt for the Benadryl.

More to come,
George& JoAnne

Shearwater to Roscoe Inlet

July 31, 2007

By mid-day we finished our boat chores and squeezed in a short visit with Shar and Rick from S/V Resonance, (a Tartan 41) folks we met in 2005 at Sullivan Bay. They live on the east coast and fly out to cruise BC every summer. They were replacing their anchor – windless.

Shearwater is the place along this part of the coast to get marine services.

We headed for Bella Bella to take on fuel and water. Bella Bella has good clear water and we wanted to check out the Band Store. We arrived at the fuel dock right at noon, the closing time for lunch. We left Teal at the fuel dock and went to the store and the café for lunch.

After filling our tanks we headed for Roscoe Inlet.

We anchored for the night at Boukind Bay (52° 27.816’ N / 127° 56.276’ W)

August 1, 2007

In the morning on our way out of Boukind Bay we came across an eagle swimming across the inlet. At first we thought he must have caught a fish too big to fly with, and, being unwilling to let it go, was dragging it to shore. We circled him to get photos and watched him half fly half swim to shore. He was not dragging a fish, he was injured, and favoring one leg while hopping from rock to rock, and seemed to be unwilling or unable to fly.

After setting the prawn trap in a deep drop off, we headed up through the narrows and were treated to surreal sights reflected in the mirror like surface of the water.

The water was so smooth there was no sensation of movement other than the glacier cut escarpments sliding by each other, especially as seen when approaching a point separated from a ridge by an inlet. The boat simply wasn’t moving, only the world seemed to move around us. It is difficult to find more descriptive words than those penned by Lewis and Clark on their discoveries of the western U.S. when describing such scenes as “visionary enchantment”.

We saw no other cruising boats during our visit to Roscoe Inlet, and after reaching the head of the inlet, an anti-climax to the rest of the inlet, and being driven off by Black Flies while attempting to have lunch, we retreated to a lovely water fall and just let Teal sit in place in the tranquil water while feeding both our stomachs and our spirits.



More to come, George & JoAnne

Neeso Wakwis - Kitasoo language for "Our Lands"

(click images to open larger in new window)

August 7th 2007:

Situated south of Alaska, along the coast of British Columbia, the Great Bear Rainforest is one of the most bio-diverse ecosystems found on the planet. It is home to the rare Spirit Bear - the world's only white-coated variation of the black bear - grizzly bears, black bears, mountain goats, eagles, grey wolves, one thousand-year-old cedar, fir and spruce trees as high as 30 stories.

Located in the heart of the beautiful Great Bear Rainforest is the small, remote village of Klemtu - situated on Swindle Island. Klemtu is home to the Kitasoo/Xaixais people. Neeso Wakwis means "Our Lands" in the Kitasoo language and since the last ice age this area has been largely uninhabited except for the Kitasoo people who have thrived here for thousands of years in one of the richest, most diverse ecosystems on earth

Many, many years ago, the Kitasoo and Xaixais people came to settle here in Klemdulxk (Klemtu) meaning 'blocked passage' in the Tsimshian language. This area was first their camping site along the way for trade, and then later used for trading and providing cordwood to fuel the steamships which traveled the inside passage. Today, Klemtu is a close knit community of about 400 Kitasoo and Xaixais people surrounded by breathtaking scenery and an abundant natural food supply. This is a place where life is peaceful and the people are friendly. Upon arrival to Klemtu you will be greeted by the friendly community and throughout your stay you will be exposed to the rich culture of the Kitasoo/ Xaixais people and gain an insight into this remote village that was once a bustling coastal fishing and trading centre.

Meanwhile in "Our Lands" ...No Spirit Bears to be found and.... NO WIRELESS! (I guess Blocked Passage is a fitting name.) If I understood correctly - the research that G&J did before arriving in Klemtu promised wireless - and town had all the equipment, but nothing was hooked up! Funny! (not!)

The one thing that they did come across that was new for our adventuring duo was "First Nation" people - which I'm to believe is the Canadian equivalent of "Native Americans".

So yesterday, (Wed. 8/8) they took off for Hartley Bay - 4 days from now they *should* have wireless...(cross your fingers and do a little dance please). After Hartley Bay, they will be off to Prince Rupert before they hit Ketchikan... but those details and plans are all to follow.

talk to you soon!

Jenn (a.k.a. LandLegs - sitting in for G&J)

Eucott Bay to Shearwater

Thursday, July 27, 2007

Headed out Dean Channel in fog and clouds, soon to be followed by – you guessed it – RAIN.

Along the way we reached the Alexander Mackenzie Monument (52° 22.799’ N / 127° 28.533’ W), where we took pictures and saluted Mackenzie for his valiant effort to be the first to cross North America by land in 1793, about 10 years prior to Lewis and Clarks’s epic crossing of the western United States by land. The mountains are high and forests are dense… it is hard to imagine what these hardy men endured on this venture to expand the fur trade.

By the time we reached Fisher Channel it was raining and continued raining for the next
few days.

We stopped at Troup Narrows (52° 17.023’ N / 127° 59.629’ W) and anchored for the night in a beautiful, secluded cove.

The next morning we went into Shearwater 52° 08.843’ N / 128° 05.278’ W). When we tried to contact the marina we discovered our VHF radio had died.

After getting tied down we were able to rent a 10-amp battery charger from the yard and start the lengthy process of getting 200 amps back into the batteries.

We were able to get some sun on the solar panel Sunday to help out the situation, until some time during the afternoon when George discovered the solar panel charge regulator we had replaced in Bellingham just two months ago had also died. He rewired to bypass the regulator and rig the solar panel directly to the batteries with a disconnect so we can regulate the charging time ourselves, an effective smart regulator. We were able to buy a new VHF radio, the same model as we had, so that was an easy fix.

Monday, July 30, 2007

After numerous phone calls both north and south we worked a warrantee replacement of our battery charger with West Marine at Nanaimo. It will be mailed express post to us general delivery Prince Rupert after they receive our old charger that we packaged up and mailed today.

Later we had a wonderful visit with Don and Trudy on the Hunter 336 "Emma Marie" docked in front of Teal. They are heading to Roscoe Inlet also, so we may cross tracks yet again.

Oh, and by the way, it rained today… in case you had not figured that one out yet. We have promises of sunshine tomorrow.

More to come

George & JoAnne

Ocean Falls to Eucott Bay

July 26, 2007

Before we headed to Eucott Bay we collected our crab trap and 8 crabs, 4 big keepers, and our nearly empty prawn trap. We had some funny looking spider crabs in there – the likes of which we have not seen before. Definitely not keepers for eatin’.

Nearly 20 miles up Dean Chanel on our way to Eucott Bay and the hot springs, we came across a helicopter logging operation. A helicopter was actively hauling logs out of the forest and dropping them into the sea, and a tug was towing them to a booming area.

They had quite an elaborate floating camp fixed in a quiet bay.

Eucott Bay (52° 27.198’ N / 127° 19.049’W) is a beautiful site.

Once inside the obscure entrance and anchored in the shallow bay, it is like being in a high Sierra lake surrounded by high mountain peaks. The only down side was the horde of biting black flies; these things were so big our fly zapper struggled to kill them. It was like they had skins of armor. But we are off rowing over to the hot springs anyway.

Well the no-see-ems really got the first mate. The night was warm and muggy, so she slept uncovered and was free fodder for those nasty skeeters. Bites in the hair and on the arms and legs. They are itchy and nerve racking and there are many. Where’s the Benadryl when you need it?

More to come,

George & JoAnne

Fury Cove to Ocean Falls

July 23, 2007

The weather cleared and we headed for Namu and Rock Inlet,

where we planned to anchor for the night. (51° 52.340’ N / 127° 51.104’ W) There were a couple of Power Boats and one sailboat in the cove when we set the anchor.

Later the Cal 46 “Dream Catcher” came in and anchored. We had met Chuck and Margie at Lagoon Cove last year. Margie motored over for a visit in their new ridged dingy. We had a nice chat in the cockpit of Teal, comparing our adventures and good crab and prawn spots. Soon a shower came up and sent Margie back to Dream Catcher.

That turned out to be one of the last showers of that series of storms. Can’t wait to get to a port where we can dry the boat out again.

July 24, 2007

Before we could leave Rock Inlet we had to winch the anchor off the bottom. It was fouled with an old discarded, and heavy, fish net.

On our way out we stopped at Namu for about an hour or so and visited with Teresa, resident artist, beach comber, and all around harbor hand. Rene the caretaker was away celebrating her mom’s 100^th birthday. George chatted briefly with Tom her husband, we checked out their gift shop, and bade farewell to Namu.

We headed to Ocean Falls to take on a load of fresh clear spring water, large crabs, charge our needy batteries, do our chores and dry out the boat.

We set the prawn trap on the way into Ocean Falls and the crab trap across from the harbor. The spillway of the dam was gushing. The slogan here is: "Ocean Falls The best damn site on the B.C. coast", and it is magnificent.

We found just enough room at the docks for Teal (52° 21.186’ N / 127° 41.792’ W).

When we plugged into the shore power we discovered the battery charger we replaced at Bellingham May 29, had failed.

July 25, 2007

We walked to Martin Valley, the residential district for the area, in the company of some power boaters docked with us. We arrived at the quaint country store to get ice cream, and soon there was rumblings of a bear siting. The store owner said, "Oh that's one of the twins", and there he was at water's edge, posing for cameras, but not ours cause we didn't take it with us.... The conservation task force has been in the area trying to get some control on the bears in the community. It seems one of those cute little creatures tore the top off a van and tried to get into the store by ripping off the screens and windows.

Later in the afternoon we went out to tend our crab trap, to find 15 crabs; 12 males, not a underzied one in the bunch, and 3 females. We kept the 6 biggest males from 7 1/2" to 8 1/2". This gave us our first opportunity to use our new crab pot, put on board this year. It's a LARGE pot and yet we had to cook those guys in shifts.... what a feed!

We may abort out trip up Dean Channel to Eucott Hot Springs and head for Shearwater to try to get a replacement for our battery charger. We will try to post something from there.

George and JoAnne

Miles Inlet to Fury Cove

July 20,2007

Before departing Miles Inlet in a light fog and calm, we picked up the crab trap and three Dungeness crabs, returned one undersized and kept two good sized ones. We left Miles in time to arrive at Cape Caution at slack tide. It was another exceptionally smooth rounding of a potentially nasty headland.

We saw several Gray Whales on our way to Fury Cove at Rivers Inlet.

This calm cove is rimmed by a white shell beach, which shown bright even through the dreariness of fog and rain. When we went into Fury Cove (51° 29.196’ N / 127° 45.549’ W) there were only three boats at anchor, but during the three days we spent there waiting for yet another Southeaster to calm down, we had up to 10 or more boats at anchor, most heading south.

Don and Reanne Douglas of Baiarka arrived Sunday the 22^nd. They are the folks who write one of the cruising guides we use.

More to Come
George & JoAnne

Port Hardy to Miles Inlet

July18, 2007

After four days re-grouping at Port Hardy we cast off in a thick fog about midday. By the time we got half way out of Hardy Bay the skies cleared and we had brilliant sunshine for our crossing of Goletas channel, and good visibility in fog across Gordon Channel.

As we approached the Walker Group we were escorted by a pod of a dozen Dall Dolphins that played in Teals bow wave for 10 minutes or so. The visibility across Queen Charlotte Strait wasn’t all that good and the wind was building, so the captain chose to go into the anchorage between Kent and Staples islands (50° 53.918’ N / 127° 31.879’ W) in the Walker Group for the night.

There were two other boats anchored there, but we found room to anchor. Just before dark another boat, a sport fishing rig, squeezed in and anchored just as it started to rain. Little did we know those were the first drops of a 5-day rain session.

July 19, 2007

We awoke to rain and fog,. We waited until mid day to follow the other boats out of the cove. We retrieved our crab trap and found two good-sized Dungeness, our first of the season. The eating is superior to Rock Crab, sweeter and meatier. We experienced good visibility and easy seas across Queen Charloote Strait to the Southgate Group.

We worked our way through the Southgate group

and on to Miles Inlet (51° 04.034’ N / 127° 34.877’ W ). One of the boats in the Walker Group Anchorage was anchored at the tee in Miles Inlet. Later that afternoon he departed just before a large sailboat came in and anchored in the south tee. In the mean time we had a wonderful crab lunch.

George & JoAnne