We are back from the nether lands!

Thursday September 2, 2010
Leave Waddington Bay 0940
Arrive Port Mcneill
Trip log but 
We are only a few miles from Port Mcneill. Our original plan for today was to anchor in the Pearse Islands Marine Park, about 11 miles southeast from PM, but things don`t always go as planned. We went to put the anchor down and it would not go down. Jerry determined, after a little inspection, that one wire on the solenoid was corroded and had come off. So, we will fix it in Port Mcneill and get fuel and a few other errands then go to Pearse Islands tomorrow. 
Below is my log from the last two weeks, we had a great trip into the Seymour Inlet area! I will post a few more pictures as I get the time I have kept most of them small, but click on any picture and it will be full size.

Wednesday September 1, 2010
Leave Rusty Cove Simoom Sound 1245
Arrive Waddington Bay 50 43.80, 126 36.93, 1545
Trip log 491.8
An easy motor day today, it was very calm and mostly sunny. We passed a school of dolphins near Cramer Passage (same place as the last time we were here), but they were too busy to play with us today. It was easy to see they were feeding by their behavior. There must be lots of fish around because there are lots of sea birds feeding as well. We are anchored in Waddington Bay with only one other boat, a cat from the US. This is prime kayaking territory, lots of little islets and inlets to explore around.

Tuesday August 31, 2010
The rain has not really let up today, and it is a bit foggy.... a good day to just relax, read, snooze and eat popcorn. We will head out tomorrow whatever the weather as the batteries will need a good recharging.

Monday August 30,2010
Leave Laura cove 0945
Arrive Rusty Cove, Simoom Sound 50 51.36, 126 32.85, 1140
Trip log 477.9
Fog this morning but hopefully it will life early this afternoon. Went out in the kayaks again looking for a trail to Sullivan Bay Marina. The guide book says that there is a trail to the west, but in all four little nooks we looked in, none had anything that looked remotely like a trail. But the book was written over 10 years ago and another boater said her book, which is a bit newer said the trail was overgrown. So we headed back to the boat, then it started to rain as forecast and didn't quit. We hunkered down to a nice salmon dinner and lively conversation about stereotyping and cultures!


Sunday August 29, 2010
Leave Berry Cove 1100
Arrive Laura Cove 50 49.47, 126 34.11, 1245
Trip log 469.6
We are getting a little better at stern tying and even managed to get the job done with two other boats already in the anchorage and without yelling at each other! Laura Cove is a little on the tight side, but has great opportunities for stern tying.
Took a pre-bath dip in the 13 degree water! I would recommend trying this.... it really makes your skin feel alive!
After dinner we toured around the end of Laura Bay (low tide) and saw lots of salmon (coho?) jumping in the shallows. As we quietly drifted across where they were jumping we could see huge schools of the fish swimming under our kayaks. Very cool!!


Saturday August 28, 2010
Leave Steamboat Bay 1445
Arrive Berry Cove in Cypress Harbour 50 50.13, 126 40.32, 1800
Trip log 462.9
This morning we went out at low tide to tour around Mckenzie Sound in out kayaks. We spent three hours, mostly slowly meandering along the shoreline. The intertidal life in this area is incredible. We saw some more species of starfish (including my first Slime Star) and lots of sea cucumbers and sea pens. In Steamboat Bay, yesterday in the late afternoon, we watched swimming Giant Nudibranchs float by our boat, and on the kelp, there were lots of Hooded Nudibranchs, looking like something from another world as they moved about on the kelp.
Back at the boat for lunch, then relaxing (and reading), to wait for the tide to change at Jessie Point.
In Cypress Harbour we took another kayak tour and found a Forest Service Recreational Site in past Burnt Point in the shallow part of the harbour. In our guide book, they say it is not advisable to anchor in this part of the bay, but we talked to some fishermen on a 40 foot power boat and they said they were anchored in 30 feet and there is room for 4 or 5 boats, you just have to know where the channel is for getting in and out. We beached the kayaks and walked about 25 minutes along an old forestry road, saw some bear skat, and as it was starting to get dark, we decided to turn around. But it was a nice hike and good to get some leg exercise. Altogether today, we kayaked for 5 hours, a record for us.

Friday August 27, 2010
Leave Claydon Bay 1000
Arrive Steamboat Bay,Watson Island 50 56.18, 126 48.25, 1150
Trip log 448.4

Thursday August 26, 2010
Leave Napier Bay, 1015
Arrive Claydon Bay 50 56.28, 126 53.44, 1215
Trip log 440.5
This is an area of the Broughtons that we have not been to before. Only a short distance from our anchorage last night, Claydon Bay is a popular anchorage especially with sport fishermen (there are 5 boats here now) because it is very protected and easy to get in to. There is also a small group of float homes in the southern corner of the bay. We didn't do much today except read as it rained most of the day.


Wednesday August 25, 2010
Leave Knight Island anchorage 1045
Arrive Napier Bay, Tracy Harbour, North Broughton Island 5050.98, 126 51.12, 1715
Trip log 433.2
We took the kayaks out early this morning while the tide was out. The area where we anchored last night is a group of islets with lots of little channels to explore. Got back to the boat just as it started to rain.
Foggy most of the morning and into the afternoon, but it finally lifted around 1:00 and we sailed down wind for the rest of the day almost right into the harbour where we are anchored. Saw another bear working his way along the shoreline this evening as we were eating dinner.


Tuesday August 24, 2010
Leave Charlotte Bay 1030
Arrive close to Nenahlmai Rapids 1215
Trip log 398.8

We are taking a tour of Nenahlmai Lagoon by dingy because the entrance to the lagoon is guarded by a shallow narrows with up to a 5 knot current. When we arrived at the rapids, Tail didn't quite have the power (6hp) to get us through so we waited almost 30 minutes, exploring around the shoreline close to the rapids. I have never seen such a high concentration of starfish in my life!! Truly, they were thick, covering every nook and rock, turning the bottom and sides of the narrows beautiful shades of orange and pink. We saw leather stars, mottled stars, sand stars, sunflower stars, giant sea cucumbers, red sea cucumbers and  green sea urchins as we slowly paddled around. It was well worth the effort to make this side trip.
Had lunch and then pulled anchor to head to Nakwakto Rapids for slack at 1645.
Arrive Knight Island 51 00.06, 127 31.17, 1815
Perfect timing for slack at Nakwakto and then through Schooner Channel on the flood. We are anchored close to the mainland with a nice view through the islets to Vancouver Island.

Monday August 23, 2010
Leave Head of Nugent Sound 1030
Arrive Charlotte Bay 1345
Trip log 375.5
Picked up the crab trap on our way out of Nugent Sound and as usual, it was empty except for a little kelp crab. I let him go. Jerry`s sharp eye spied another bear, this one much bigger and probably a male, feeding along the shore at low tide.
So, now we have the trap down again in Charlotte Bay, a place known for good crabbing. We will see! We got the kayaks out again to check out Ellis Bay, about a 4 mile round trip from our anchorage. A fun trip and we got back just as the rain started pelting down. This trip we have seen very few other boats in this area and all our anchorages up until tonight have been by ourselves. Tonight we are sharing with a small charter fishing boat and they put their crab traps out too, so that is a good omen!


Sunday August 22, 2010
Leave Nugent Sound Cove 0930
Arrive Head of Nugent Sound 1050
Trip log 357.7

At the head of Nugent Sound is a very small opening into Schwartzenberg Lagoon that is too narrow and shallow to get a boat through. The current can run at over 5 knots so even with a dingy, we had to wait for close to slack water. While we waited we had a swim (the water temp is a refreshing 18 degrees) and Jerry surprised me by being the first one in again! After touring Schwartzenberg Lagoon, we had dinner then took the kayaks out to explore the bay we were in. The thing about using our kayaks instead of Tail, is that we can be very quiet and hopefully sneak up on a bear.  It was our lucky night, Jerry spotted a mother black bear with her cub feeding along the rocky shore. He got to within about 20 feet before she realized something was not quite right, then high tailed it with her little one into the trees, then proceeded to humpff humpff us for a few minutes until we were around the corner.

Saw lots of moon jellys, green sea urchins, about 6 different species of star fish, and a few small crabs.

Saturday August 21, 2010

Leave Peet Cove 1015

Arrive Nugent Sound Cove 1540

Trip log 352.0

On our way through the entrance to Nugent Sound, we put the crab trap down in about 38 feet, keeping our fingers crossed that maybe we will catch something. Nugent Sound Cove is a snug little anchorage, about big enough for three boats. But we are the only ones here, except for a pair of Harbour Seals, who are a little perturb we have invaded their home. Just after we got the anchor set up, it started to rain. And I mean RAIN!! For a good 10 minutes it just pelted down, then all of a sudden it stopped and the sun came out. We climbed outside the boat and stood listening to the forest... it still sounded like it was raining for another 30 minutes or so from all the water dripping off the trees. Really amazing! We get Tail out for a look around and the pair of seals followed us from a safe distance everywhere we went. At one point, we shut off the engine and sat very quietly to see what they would do. After about 5 minutes, they both popped up almost simultaneously about 15 feet from the dingy, scarred themselves silly and disappeared again. We had a good laugh!

Friday August 20, 2010

Leave unnamed bay 1015

Arrive Head of Alison Sound, Belize Inlet 1300

Trip Log 315.6

It took us over 30 minutes to decide where to put the anchor down, and even then we decided we would put out a stern anchor. There are two creeks that empty into this bay making it shallow out quickly. So the depths go from 90+ feet to 10 feet fast, with not much swing room and no place to stern tie. After getting set up, Jerry took Tail out for a look around the creeks and checking depths. Then we both headed out in the kayaks for a very enjoyable tour up the creeks until we got to the rapids. We were hoping to see a bear or something, but it seems we are here at just the wrong time. There were not really even many birds to see.

Back at the boat, the wind started to pick up after dinner and push our boat towards shore, so we decided to pull anchor and find a more secure spot.

Arrive Peet Cove, Alison Sound 2015

This is a small cove we checked out on our way by earlier this morning. We wanted an option in case the head of the inlet proved not that great. We are having ``fun`` practicing our stern tying, good thing there is no one else around to hear us practicing!

Thursday August 19, 2010

Leave Strachan Bay 0800

Arrive unnamed bay, Alison Sound, Belize Inlet 51 09.17, 127 06.19, 1430

Trip Log 304.0

No crabs, not a single one, in the trap from the day before. Humff! Oh well, we can try again.

This area is really beautiful, reminds me somewhat of our trip to Alaska with the steep sided mountains with waterfalls and thick with giant cedars and firs. We got pictures of the pictographs along the way, these are over 150 years old and still look good. Rained a bit after we got anchored, but then cleared off so we went on a short tour with Tail.

This photo was taken at the bow (which you can just see in the bottom left corner), me hanging over the lifelines and the dolphin turning to have a look!

Wednesday August 18, 2010

Leave Walker Group Cove 0800

Arrive Strachan Bay, inner basin, Belize Inlet 1400

Trip log 284.3

We had internet right across the sound from Port McNeill until we reached the mainland side and then it faded out. It is not far to go through Queen Charlotte Sound to reach the mainland side and the wind was fairly calm so we didn't get the sails up. But there is no getting away from the swells once you enter the sound. Our challenge today was to get through Nakwakto Rapids, the only entry into Seymour and Belize Inlets, on or near the high water slack. We arrived about an hour early, and watched the rapids for 30 minutes then decided it wasn`t anything worse than we had already been through. Nakwakto Rapids can reach over 14 knots and slack lasts somewhere between 6 and 10 minutes. With careful planning, any boat can navigate through these narrows. We made it through easily with about a two knot current with us.

Turrett Rock, in the middle of Nakwakto rapids, at slack high tide. The water looks almost like glass, but that is very deceiving.

I can never get over the excitement and amazement of having a group of dolphins swim along side our boat. Just after going through Nakwakto, we were greeted by a group of Pacific White Sided Dolphins. They are very curious and ofter will "bow ride" for 10 or 15 minutes. I like standing at the bow, leaning out and watching them watching me! They will turn on their sides to get a better look and actually make eye contact. I watched as they scooted ahead of the boat about 50 feet or so and then slowed down to let us catch up to them. This went on for over 20 minutes, until they either lost interest or decided they were getting out of their territory. What fun it is!!

We found a nice anchorage in Strachan Bay, put the crab trap down with high hopes and then jumped in Tail to do some exploring. We met Buck and his friend Bob, full time residents (log salvagers) of Belize Inlet. Coho were jumping but we couldn't catch one!

Tuesday August 17, 2010

Leave Port McNeill 0800

Arrive Walker Group Cove 1645  50 53.93 127 31.91

Trip Log 256.8

This is an anchorage we haven`t tried yet, so we were cautious entering the "landlocked" cove through a shallow narrow opening. But once inside, it proved to be quite secure and relatively quiet. We toured around the Walker Group of islands in Tail (the name we have given our dingy), enjoying the ride on the swells on the outside of the islands.