Port McNeill to Duncanby Landing

(click on images to open larger in new window)

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.

Duncanby Lodge and Marina is a restored 1950s fish camp. It now serves sport fishermen and yachtsmen. It is nicely appointed and run by a very young (average age 23) and enthusiastic staff. We had lunch at the restaurant. We met Lee and Waunell from M/V Emerald Sea, who are from Walnut Creek, CA. They have been to Alaska and shared tips and stories of anchorages and ports they like. They are buddy boating with Brian and Patti of the M/V Mist Approach. After visiting with them, we took showers, and did laundry.









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

The material on this log is protected by copyright
© 2006 George Benson. Reproduction of any of the material on this log without written permission from George Benson is prohibited.

Port McNeill to Joe Cove

(click on images to open larger in new window)
Other than going through a couple of tide rips, our passage to Joe Cove was smooth and calm. We entered the Broughtons via Arrow Passage at Fog Islands and set our prawn trap in about 200 feet in Sedgley Cove along with three or four others near a fish farm. We then went through Spiller Passage to the entrance of Joe Cove. On our way we stopped at a little island and the second cast produced a nice little rockfish for crab bait. We set the crab trap in about 60 feet near the entrance to the cove

Once in the cove we found eight other boats but we still had a prime spot to anchor for the night. The next morning we went out to Phillips Passage at Crib Island and fished back through Spiller Passage. Our efforts produced only a rockfish for crab bait and a small dogfish (small sand shark). We motored through Arrow Passage to Retreat Passage and fished around the islands in between, without success.

We motored back into Arrow Passage to check our prawn trap. It was empty. We moved it up to the next cove in about 240 feet, then fished a little on our way back through Spiller Passage to the crab trap, also empty with the bait nearly gone. It was, other than a beautiful sunny day on spectacular water, a disappointment.

When we went back into Joe Cove, there were only three boats left and the boats that were moored at the abandon float were gone. We took advantage of the opportunity and moored to the float.

The next morning we drug the skiff up onto the float, washed her up and painted the inside.

That afternoon we motored out, hauled the prawn trap, and found a dozen small prawns, enough for an appetizer.

We fished our way back to the crab trap, and, success! We had six large Dungeness crabs.








Once back on the float we sorted and cleaned our catch and kept the three largest for the pot. The largest was over 8 inches. We gorged ourselves on the very sweet feast and still had enough left over for two lunches.

The next day, Sunday, after the fog cleared, we were headed to Sointula on Malcolm Island. However, by the time we got into Cormorant Channel, the wind had built to about 25 knots or more and we opted to fall off to a better angle to the wind and waves for the harbor at Port McNeill. The closer we got to the harbor the worse it got. More wind and up to three knots of foul current. Even though Teal handles this sort of seas very well, it was nice getting into the harbor and tied down in a slip. It was particularly nice to dry out and have a crab sandwich lunch right out of our own fridge.

We are at Port McNeill for the next day or two. Ferry trip to Sointula Monday morning, laundry in the afternoon, last minute provisioning, internet – wireless at the laundramat, and then on to Port Hardy for a day, then on to the north coast.

George And JoAnne

The material on this log is protected by copyright
© 2006 George Benson. Reproduction of any of the material on this log without written permission from George Benson is prohibited.

Blind Channel Resort to Port McNeill via Glendale Cove

While at Blind Channel Resort, we were pleasantly surprised to see the well-prepared Catalina 42 "Journey" out of Nanaimo. "Journey" and "Teal" have randomly crossed tracks nearly a dozen times during the last three years. What are the odds?

Blind Channel Resort was a great visit. Highlights:
Showers with no coin operated timer. You pay at the marine office (general store). $4.00 plus GST (General Sales Tax a federal tax on EVERYTHING purchased). But once you’re in the shower, you stay as long as you like. Boaters appreciate this luxury.

We found European Style hotdogs – in sheep skins at the store. They cost $8.59 for 9 dogs, but they were worth it. That pop when you bite in, nothing like it.

The next morning, Friday, it was raining, but the weather showed some promise for the cold front breaking through with better weather for our 26 nautical mile trip to Port Neville via Johnstone Strait. We were on the ebb and were making good knots and by the time we went through Race Passage we were making 12.1 knots over the bottom, 6 knots of current. The fastest run under power we’ve made since going through the Tacoma Narrows at 14 knots. The Strait was smooth and the sun came out by mid morning. Conditions were so good we opted to continue past Port Neville and on to Havannah Channel. We went into Port Harvey and dropped the hook for lunch. It was just 13:45; we had covered the 37.6 nautical miles in just 5 hours, averaging 7.5 knots.

After lunch, we moved up to the head end of Havannah Channel and anchored for the night at the beautiful and mirror calm Boughey Bay.




We immediately caught a flounder for crab bait. We heard coyotes or foxes yipping across the bay...





George emptying crab trap. That is a sea star (aka star fish) that is trying not to let go of the trap and the bait. Only little crabs in that catch… throw backs. Hanging the bait helps reduce the large sea stars. Sun Flower Stars have 15 points and grow to be huge. We have seen some 42" across.

We headed through Chatham Channel, and up Knight inlet to Glendale cove to see the grizzly bears that reportedly put on an entertaining show chasing salmon around the tide pools remaining in Glendale creek at low tide.


Shortly after turning into Knight inlet, the forecast westerly breeze started up and we raised the mainsail for the first time this year and had a very pleasant 24-mile downwind sail to the Glendale Cove.

After checking out the cove and setting our crab and prawn traps we anchored in a little bight near the entrance. We had a spectacular park like view of the still snow covered, glassier cut mountains. The next morning we found four nice Dungeness crab in our trap. We kept the biggest two, then went out to our prawn trap set in 220 feet and found dozens of shrimp and 8 nice sized prawns, one was 7 inches.

After cleaning our catch we motored up to the head end of the cove and anchored in about 50 feet, just a couple of boat lengths from the shoal created by the confluence Glendale creek and the cove. We spotted a very large Grizzly Bear splashing around chasing fish and standing on his hind legs for long periods trying to find more fish. We never saw him catch anything. The water gets really shallow there, so we couldn’t get close enough for a photo. Binoculars were necessary.

This morning we saw only the one bear, but the tourist who came to see him were many. Grizzlies are becoming extinct so sightings causes quite a bit of excitement. As a shallow draft tour boat approached his domain he ambled off the tide flat and out of sight.

We took the bear’s signal that the show was over and headed Teal back down the inlet, through Beware Passage in Indian Channel to Mound Island, and anchored for the night.









The next morning, July 17, we went through Farewell Harbor and out into Blackfish sound to arrive at Port McNeill about noon. We were having head pump problems. Quite a mystery since, you might remember, we bought a brand new toilet at Powell River last year. George did everything he could imagine to fix the pump, taking it apart several times, and replacing parts – o-ring, valve, plunger – it just wouldn’t pump in water to the bowl. We eventually had to cough up $190 Canadian for a new head. But we’re back in business again.

We have been making our calls to family using pay phones, as the cell charges are 79 cents per minute. The calling card is 3 cents, and usually by the time, any bars show up on the cell phone, we are very near a port with a landline pay phone anyway.

This year we opened a Canadian Bank account to escape international transfer fees charged by our US bank. This experience has been an adventure. We were mis-informed by the administrator who opened our account for us in Nanaimo. We were told it would be a 5-day hold on my deposits from our US bank. When we went to the bank here we were told there was a 45-day hold on my deposit imposed by the Canadian bank. I guess he got his Canadian process and American process confused. Deposit accounts in Canada for US cruisers don’t seem to be workable. This has been a learning experience.

We plan on returning to Port McNeill after a few days in the Broughtons kicking back and doing some fishing, before heading to Port Hardy and further north.

We will add a new post then.

George and JoAnne

The material on this log is protected by copyright
© 2006 George Benson. Reproduction of any of the material on this log without written permission from George Benson is prohibited.

Nanaimo to Blind Channel Resort

(all charts will enlarge in new window when clicked)
After two nights at the port docks at Nanaimo taking care of business, we moved out to the anchorage at Newcastle Island for our last night at Nanaimo. The next morning we left about 07:00 and headed up the Strait of Georgia for Comox. Fortunately we had smooth seas most of the way. The strait can get nasty when the wind and tide oppose each other.

The sun broke through the morning marine layer by mid morning and we were stripping down by mid afternoon. Teal’s new solar panel was putting out good amps. We arrived at Comox and got dock space for the night. While doing our trip planning for our next leg to Campbell River, we discovered that our plan to go up through Discovery Passage and Seymour narrows was ill timed. We were in the full moon phase and were looking at large spring tides with mid day flood currents flowing south at Seymour Narrows at close to 16 knots. The currents at Campbell River were flooding south at 8 knots, making getting into the marina there difficult at best, and providing our arrival was timely.

We opted to take advantage of a more favorable north flood current in route to Heriot Bay on the other side of Quadra Island. In this part of the world where south flood tides from the Strait of Georgia and north flood tides from Queen Charlotte Strait can, and do, run right next to each other like two separate rivers. We made good time in smooth seas and warm sunny skies to Heriot Bay and anchored behind Rebecca Spit in Drew Harbor.

Along the way in the north part of the Strait of Georgia, we had a visit by a large pod of dolphins that played in our bow wave for a long time. I (Jo) was trying to get a picture of one of them surfacing. They would dance and flip over and shoot under the boat, and as George shouted, “Here comes one!” I would say “Where?”. I’d spot it and click the shutter…. and it had already broken the surface and was heading down again. Feeling exasperated at my failure to get a GOOD photo and sensing that the “dolphin dance” was over, we sat down in the cockpit. At that point one curious dolphin jump right next to us high enough to look into the cockpit. Just to let us know the show wasn’t over yet, I guess and maybe giving me one more chance to get the good photo.

The show was great and we felt totally entertained, and this is what I got.
( click photo to see our little friend enlarged in a new window!)



The next morning, we motored over to the gas dock at the Heriot Bay Inn Marina and filled our tank – first gas in Canada ($105 for 85 liters or equivalent of $4.77 Canadian per gal). Couldn’t buy propane as their scale was broken. As we headed up the hill behind the Inn to provision at our favorite store in Canada we were surprised to see how few boats were in the harbor compared to last year.

We stopped at the Inn’s office on the way back to buy a Canadian fishing license. We had already tried at Nanaimo and Comox and were wondering how we could get through all this great crabbing and prawning without a license. The gal at the desk told us, that they are the only place on Quadra Island where one can buy a license. There was only one store in Comox that sold sport fishing licenses, and that lady doesn’t always show up for work on Mondays… Seems that Fish and Game penalizes the vendor $100 for every mistake on the app. That’s a pretty steep penalty. Do we wonder why there are so few vendors are willing to sell fishing licenses.

We took off for our appointment with low slack current at Surge Narrows and on to Octopus Islands to anchor for the night.








As we approached the entrance to the Octopus Island Marine Park, it started to rain, the first we have had since getting Teal in the water this year.


(click to enlarge)
We set the crab trap late in the afternoon. George weathered the storm the next day to check our catch; there was nothing in there, not even a bloody starfish.


It rained all day both days so we held our anchor, kicked back and waited for better weather before moving on.

After two days at Octopus Islands we picked up the anchor and empty crab trap and went through Upper Rapids on Okisollo Channel and headed for Blind Channel Resort via Johnstone strait. The ebb current (north) pushed Teal to 9.7 knots until we turned into Mayne Passage and the short run at 5 knots to the resort.

As soon as we tied to the dock we fired up the wireless card on our on-board laptop and we were on line doing our email and Internet business. “Aren’t computers great? (Sometimes).”



Stay tuned for the next passage,

George and JoAnne

The material on this log is protected by copyright
© 2006 George Benson. Reproduction of any of the material on this log without written permission from George Benson is prohibited.

Bellingham to Nanaimo BC

July 4 was spent in Bellingham Squalicum Harbor anticipating the Fire Works and wondering if we could stay awake until 10:30. The days are long as we head north toward the land of the midnight sun… light at 5am and dark around 10:30. One of the locals told us that there is actually eight and half hours difference in daylight between the Winter and Summer Solstices.

Around 5:15 a fire started on a boat across the harbor. The flames were 30 ft high and the smoke very black. Three boats were destroyed in this fire. Two burned and went to the bottom; the third is still afloat, but badly damaged. What a catastrophe for those boat owners.

We managed to stay awake for the short firework exhibition – 20 minutes. We watched from the cockpit in our fowl weather gear in order to stay warm.















We took our usual route through the San Juans via Wasp Passage, under partly sunny skies, and checked into Canada at Bedwell Harbor. This year they asked us how much, and what type of booze we had aboard… then we were off to anchor for the night.















The next morning we headed for our 13:30 slack tide appointment with Dodd Narrows. The trip was smooth and uneventful, and we saw few boats until arriving at the narrows when dozens of boats appear out of nowhere.















Within an hour after going through Dodd Narrows, we checked the anchorage at Newcastle Island for folks we knew, then went into Nanaimo Harbor for two nights. We anchored at Newcastle Island the next night.















Our next leg north will be 52 miles through the strait of Georgia along the east side of Vancouver Island to Comox.

The material on this log is protected by copyright
© 2006 George Benson. Reproduction of any of the material on this log without written permission from George Benson is prohibited.

Oak Harbor to Bellingham

We arrived in Oak Harbor, WA on Whidbey Island June 10 to finish readying Teal for her 2006 cruise. We spent the week in a motel and eating out, while prepping, sanding, painting the topsides and bottom of the boat.

(for better viewing click photos)

June 16 she went into the water.

We spent the weekend cleaning inside the boat and Monday June 18 was our first night of sleeping onboard. Nice feeling to be on the water and living aboard again for the summer.

June 19,20,21, George worked on the tender (AKA TT/Teal) and we hauled her in a dock cart to the water and launched her.

June 23 – installed Solar Panel… working great! June 24 finished putting on graphics, ie, the name and the registration number in vinyl lettering, and the stripes down each side. She really looks great!

June 25 – George aboard Teal departed Oak Harbor at 9am for the 40-mile trip to Bellingham. JoAnne boarded her Honda and headed for the Dollar Store in Oak Harbor for small item boat provisions, and onto Bellingham, checked Post Office for mail, finished shopping at Bellis Fair and greeted the skipper at 5:15 pm at Squalicum Harbor Guest Dock.

(click to open large chart in new window)
Teal went from Skagit Bay into Padilla Bay via the Swinomish Channel through the little tourist town of La Conner, then on to Bellingham. I ran into a foul current, running on average 1-1/2 knots and as much as 3 knots, all the way through Skagit Bay, Swinomish Channel and into Padilla Bay before Teal found favorable currents. Fortunately, Teal made good enough time the rest of the way to log just eight hours for the forty-mile trip.

Cruising through the Swinomish Channel is reminiscent of cruising through some of the sloughs of the Sacramento/San Joaquin Delta.

After finishing our provisioning of Teals stores here in Bellingham we head north through the San Juan Islands into Canada.