Haida Gwaii

“ Boating has a lot in common with being in jail, actually, with the added risk being that you can drown”  Susan Musgrave

Susan Musgrave’s book, A taste of Haida Gwaii is a welcome addition to the boat library. It is a cookbook unlike any other.

Our trip into the park seemed pretty uneventful. It rained almost every day. We did go into a couple of different anchorages, Kostan Inlet and Section Cove. For the rest it was revisiting anchorages that we have been in before.

As you may know an earthquake caused the Hotsprings Island , springs to dry up. A pleasant surprise was finding that some of the springs have started to reemerge.  We spent a very pleasant morning soaking in the spring and surveying the beauty of Juan Perez Sound.

Once again we visited Burnaby Narrows.  It is an incredible site for snorkeling .

So here we are back in Skidegate Inlet waiting for a weather window to cross Hecate Strait. As of now Friday seems to be a good departure date. We want to hang out at the Sandspit Marina until 1100 when a  160 foot Yacht is supposed to arrive.

The original plan was to head down to Moresby Island then shoot across to the mainland. It is a lot further across but anyways none of that matters and God Willing we will shoot across on Friday.

Across the Strait to Haida Gwaii

It was an uneventful trip to Banks Island. On the last leg to Banks Island a small juvenile bird of some kind hitched a ride on our boat. Since identified as a juvenile Brown-headed Cowbird.

The last bit into Larsen Harbour was windy and choppy. It is an intimidating  place to approach when the waves are crashing on the rocks and it looks like you are proceeding into a rock pile. Once safely inside we watched two French catamarans arrive. They were both in the 40-50 foot range and were obviously world travelers.

The next morning we left at 0430. There was moonlight and the waves had calmed down. By the time we had gotten out in the Strait it was flat calm. We motorsailed the whole way and arrived in Sandspit at 1500 hours.  There was not a lot of birds to be seen out in the strait . That was a bit of a disappointment.  On previous trips I had seen hundreds of pelagic birds.

The harbor in Sandspit is a cozy place and we spent two days there. We hitched to the ferry and went to Skidegate to get our National Park indoctrination. While we were there Explorer IV arrived.  This is Craig Hougen’ s boat. Or should I say ship. It is 60 feet long and built to go through the pack ice. We met Craig his wife Mary Jane and Brian Mcwatters and his wife Kim. We got a tour of the boat which made us feel quite small and insignificant parked on the end of the dock. We took a walk on the spit and took a hike up this stream close to the harbor.

Now we are anchored off Queen Charlotte City. We were all set to dinghy to town when I discovered a hole in our inflatable.  I have just patched it and we will have to wait until tomorrow to go to shore.

Oh Canada

Ok back in Canada. No roaming charges but everything has 12% tax tacked on to it.

Just after Ketchikan we stopped at a temporary anchorage. When hauling in the anchor the windlass sort of fell apart. At the time I thought it could be fixed. Then we had to bash into a 15 knot wind and big waves. Spirits were a little on the low side. Then a large bull orca cruised by about a 100 meters from the boat. Felt a lot better. That night we anchored in Foggy Bay with a catarmaran anchored near by. They took a picture of us.

Next day to Dundas Island where we caught a nice Coho and had two monster salmon dinners.

Green Island Lighthouse just North of Prince Rupert

Once in Prince Rupert it was time to extract the old anchor windlass. It was not easy!

For the next while I will be hauling a 35 pound anchor and a hundred feet of chain by hand. It is a good way to warm up in the early morning hours.

Tomorrow we are off to Banks Island and an early morning crossing to Haida Gwaii on Friday.

Aweigh

There are three or four things of interest over the first week of travels.

The weather has been spectacular. It has been either calm and clear or hot clear and a NW wind. Today in Ketchikan I felt a little queasy and I suspect it is from too much heat and sun. Not complaining though.

Lost our depthsounder on day one. Ours has been taken for granted for 39 years and suddenly as we prepared to enter an anchorage it gave up the ghost. Next day we were in Juneau so I immediately bought a 100 dollar fish finder. At first I tried siliconing it to the hull with mixed results. Now I have it attached to a stick on the end of the boat. Not the best solution but all I could come up with on short notice.

Oh yeah and half my windlass doesn't work.

In Petersberg harbour an enormous sea lion came up beside our boat. He was grappling with an enormous octopus. He spent several minutes wrestling with it and crunching down on it before with a big gulp he swallowed it. Unfortunately I didn't grab my camera quick enough.

Also in Petersberg harbour we ran into Kevin Barr, Paul Baker and Beatrice. Kevin is taking his boat down to Victoria for the winter.

Unlike India where I was able to blog away with my smartphone, I am unable to do the same here. So I fear these posts will be few and far apart. 

Hope everyone is enjoying summer.