Seabiscuit and Beyond: West Coast Vancouver Island

Location: Tahsis, BC

Since leaving Shearwater (the end of the last blog), we have been steadily making our way south and are now cruising down the west coast of Vancouver Island.

Thursday, August 24^th, Shearwater to Pruth Bay, Calvert Island: Rain. We left the Shearwater dock at 8:45 and headed south via Lama Passage and Fisher Channel. The weather report said the seas on the outside passage were 7 – 10 feet so, although longer, we decided to take the calm, inside route and take advantage of the protection from the islands. We saw a few whales and a lot of small fishing boats along the way. We arrived in Pruth Bay at 14:00 and dropped anchor in the small lobe on the south side of the bay.

Friday, August 25^th, Pruth Bay to Millbrooke Cove, Smith Inlet: Rain. We were hoping the rain would quit so that we could go ashore at Pruth Bay and walk the beach but the weather report called for rain the rest of the day. We heaved anchor at 9:00 and headed east in Kwakshua Channel and then south in Fitz Hugh Sound. As we reached the south end of Calvert Island, we saw several sea otters floating on their backs in the deep water. It was too deep for them to be feeding, so they must have been moving between feeding areas.

Sea otter floating in the deep water south of Calvert Island

Sea otter floating south of Calvert Island

We turned east into Smith Inlet, made our way through the narrow passage to Millbrooke Cove and anchored behind the island. The rain finally stopped late afternoon and we barbequed hamburgers for supper. Another boat joined us in the anchorage.

Saturday, August 26^th, Millbrooke Cove: Rain. We spent the day in Millbrooke Cove waiting for a front to move through offshore. It rained most of the morning and we did inside chores and projects. By mid-afternoon the front had passed through. Dave had made up two heaving lines earlier in the day and we spent time on deck practicing our throwing techniques. We made pizza for supper.

Dave tying a monkey fist at the end of a heaving line

Practicing throwing the heaving line

Sunday, August 27^th, Millbrooke Cove to Winter Harbour, Vancouver Island: As predicted, the weather, wind and seas were good for us to make the voyage around Cape Scott to the west coast of Vancouver Island. We heaved anchor at 6:45 and left Millbrooke Cove in a light fog. Seas were calm with a long, low northwest swell and winds were ~10 knots. We made good speed and rounded Cape Scott at 12:00 in the fog. As we came around the corner and turned south, the fog cleared and we had a bright sunny day ahead of us. Cape Scott is the most westerly point of Vancouver Island and rounding it is one of the challenges to cruising the west coast of the island. We timed it well and had a smooth ride.

The Cape Scott lighthouse

An ocean sunfish south of Cape Scott lighthouse

Our original plan was to anchor in Sea Otter Cove but the weather prediction was for the winds to pick up overnight so we decided to continue south to Quatsino Sound. We turned into the sound at 16:30 and cruised by the Quatsino Lighthouse on Kains Island.

Quatsino Lighthouse on Kains Island

We headed up Forward Inlet on the north side of the sound and pulled up to the Outpost Dock in Winter Harbour. We walked up to the store to check in and then walked the wooden boardwalk along the bay. On our way back, we stopped at the small hamburger/seafood shack “Be More Pacific” to eat supper outside at their picnic tables. Back at the boat, we watched a sea otter feeding on clams between the dock and the shoreline.

Monday, August 28^th, Winter Harbour to Julian Cove: I could actually see stars when I got up in the middle of the night which was a nice change from the overcast skies. We pulled away from the dock at 9:15 for our voyage to Julian Cove. There were two sea otters feeding near the dock and about two dozen of them floating together in the middle of the harbor. In Kultus Cove, just south of Drake Island and about 1 mile south of Julian Cove, there was a huge ship loading logs. We dropped anchor in Julian Cove, ate lunch and launched the kayaks. We paddled around Julian Cove and to nearby Smith Cove. The water was very clear and we could see lots of starfish, clams and jellyfish. We glided over kelp forests where you could hear the water crackling as the minnows fed near the surface of the water. Back at the boat we barbecued chicken for supper and ate up on monkey island.

Log boom near Julian Cove

Dave kayaking Julian Cove

Tuesday, August 29^th, Julian Cove to Port Alice: This morning we launched the dinghy to try our luck at trolling for salmon. We cruised along the south side of Drake Island and caught a small rockfish but nothing else.

Julian cove shoreline

After lunch we heaved anchor and cruised to the Rumble Beach Marina in Port Alice. We tied up at the end of the tee head; the wind was blowing us off the dock and the harbourmaster, Page, helped us secure our lines. I walked up the dock to pay for our moorage while Dave helped three fishermen, John, Gary and Ed, tie up in the slip next to us. Ed went to get gas for their boat and John and Gary filleted the salmon they had caught. As Dave and I were settling in, we heard “I’m going in” and a big splash. John had fallen into the water as he was re-tying their dock lines. Dave went down to help Gary pull him in and I grabbed a towel. With John safely on the dock, Dave and Gary secured their boat. John came aboard for a cup of hot tea and to warm up and dry off. We chatted while Gary and Ed fueled their boat. As they were leaving, they invited us to join them for supper at The Killer Whale Café in Telegraph Cove on the east side of Vancouver Island near Port McNeill. Telegraph Cove is a picturesque tourist destination. It has a boardwalk lined with cottages that can be rented, whale watching tours, grizzly bear tours, fishing charters, a motel and an RV park.

Ed, Gary, John and Dave, Killer Whale Cafe, Telegraph Cove

We sat outside on the patio for supper; the guys all had seafood chowder and fish-n-chips and I had barbecued salmon. We enjoyed hearing their fishing stories and told a few of our cruising stories. As we were finishing supper, two river otters came up to play on the docks. We rode back to Port Alice, along the winding, bumpy road, in the dark.

Wednesday, August 30^th, Port Alice to Pamphlet “Quiet” Cove: I walked up to the grocery store to get a few things before we left the Port Alice dock this morning. Page gave me a few salmon fishing tips and made up a jig for us to try. We cast off the lines at 10:45 and cruised to Pamphlet Cove on the north side of Drake Island. It was rainy but we had internet and phone service so we did a few things on line.

Rainbow near Port Alice

Sunset, Pamphlet Cove

Thursday, August 31^st, Pamphlet Cove to Klaskish Basin: The weather looked good for leaving Quatsino Sound and traveling south towards Brooks Peninsula. We heaved anchor at 7:15. The ride was uneventful with overcast skies and very little wind. We saw a few sea otters. There is a lot of active logging in the Brooks Bay area but Klaskish Basin, on the northeast side of the Brooks Peninsula, is still pristine. After entering through the narrows, we anchored in the middle of the basin at 11:45. That afternoon we launched the dinghy and went fishing near McDougal Island. We started off jigging and caught a small halibut and several small rockfish but nothing worth keeping. We trolled for a while but didn’t catch anything. The wind started to pick up so we went back to the boat and spent the rest of the afternoon scanning the grass flats for wildlife.

Looking out the Klaskish Basin narrows

Friday, September 1^st, Klaskish Basin to Scow Bay, Bunsby Islands: We left the anchorage this morning at 7:00 to make our way around the Brooks Peninsula. The peninsula is another challenge for traveling the west coast of Vancouver Island and it makes sense to wait for the right weather. The winds were 5 – 15 knots, predicted to increase to 20+ in the afternoon and the seas had a long, low swell. Our original plan was to anchor in Columbia Cove but the winds were going to change to the southeast and we decided Scow Bay, in the Bunsby Island Group, would be more protected. We tucked into the bay and dropped anchor just before lunch. It was a rainy afternoon; we did inside chores, baked cookies and read our books.

Saturday, September 2^nd, Scow Bay: Another rainy day. We did inside projects and read our books. The rain finally quit late afternoon and we did a few outside projects. We watched a bear turning over rocks on the beach and a sea otter making his regular round inside the cove for a snack of clams.

We never realized the difference between sea otters and river otters until we had a chance to watch them within a day of each other. Sea otters are much larger, rarely leave the water and spend most of their time floating on their backs while they eat and groom. The river otters usually swim or float on their bellies and spend much more time on land. Because of their fur, sea otters were nearly hunted to extinction; the last known sea otter in BC was shot in 1929. Sea otters were re-introduced into British Columbia in 1969 – 1972 when wild otters from Alaska were released in the Bunsby Islands. The re-introduction has been a success and sea otters are now a common site along the west coast of Vancouver Island.¹

1. References: Guide to Marine Mammals of the World, National Audubon Society; and Exploring Vancouver Island’s West Coast, Douglass and Hemingway-Douglass

Seabiscuit at anchor, Scow Bay, Bunsby Islands

Sunday, September 3^rd, Scow Bay to Columbia Cove: The marine layer lifted about 9:00 this morning to reveal a bright, clear day. We launched the kayaks and paddled the islands inside Scow Bay. After lunch, we heaved anchor and cruised to Columbia Cove on the southeast side of the Brooks Peninsula. We dropped anchor and settled in for the afternoon.

Exploring a small creek near Scow Bay

A view up a small creek, Scow Bay

Monday, September 4^th, Columbia Cove to Walters Cove (Kyuquot): Another beautiful sunny day. This morning, we launched the dinghy and took it up into the tidal flats of Columbia Cove. There is a primitive trail in the southwest corner of the cove that leads to the beach at Shed 4, the northern most of 4 “Shelter Sheds” along the southeast side of the Brooks Peninsula. We hiked the trail through the woods to the beach where we walked along the shoreline, between the rocks, up the creek and amongst the driftwood.

The beach end of the primitive trail through the woods from Columbia Cove to Shed #4

Dave exploring the beach at Shed #4

Dave and B taking a snack break in the shade of a rock, Shed #4

Looking south down the beach, Shed #4

A track in the sand, wolf maybe.

We heaved anchor after lunch and cruised to Walters Cove (Kyuquot), just north of Walters Island. The entrance into Walters Cove is tricky but well-marked. As we were working our way inside, a young local girl in her runabout passed us and then slowly led us around the buoys, into the cove and alongside the public wharf where she met two of her friends for a swim off the pier.

Local girls swimming off the public wharf, Walters Cove

Float plane landing, Walters Cove. There are no roads in or out of here.

Walters Cove is in a beautiful location, tucked in amongst a smattering of small islands. After tying up at the dock, we walked through the woods to the local coffee shop. The trail leads through the old growth forest and we saw several huge spruce trees that must have been over 500+ years old. The coffee shop was closed; we walked back to the boat and watched the folks at the fishing lodge nearby weigh their fish.

B in front of an old growth spruce tree, Walters Cove

Hydrangea, Walters Cove

Tuesday, September 5^th, Walters Cove to Dixie Cove: We left Walters Cove at 8:30 and cruised north up Crowther Channel to Dixie Cove on the east side of Hohoae Island. We anchored in the inner cove. The water was very clear and it was a sunny, hot day so we decided the project of the day was to clean the bottom of the hull. Dave suited up, wiped off the slime, checked the zincs and chipped off a few barnacles. The transducer that measures water depth has been acting funny lately. Dave scraped some barnacles off of it so, hopefully now that they are gone, it will behave normally again.

Dave cleaning the bottom of the hull, Dixie Cove

After lunch, we worked on cleaning the exterior of the hull. I removed dock streaks and rust stains from the port side and Dave primed and painted rust spots on the topsides. We sat on the stern and enjoyed the evening breeze for happy hour.

Dusk, Dixie Cove

Wednesday, September 6^th, Dixie Cove to Queen Cove: After coffee and breakfast, we heaved anchor and headed south down Kyuquot Channel, into Kyuquot Sound and to Esperanza Inlet via Clear Passage, inside the barrier islands. It was foggy with the marine layer hanging low and the wind was blowing 15 – 20 knots. There was a swell from the northwest and wind waves from the south and it was a little bumpy. Being inside the barrier islands, protected us from most of the seas. We entered Esperanza Inlet via Rolling Roadstead, north of Catala Island, then turned north into Port Eliza fjord and into Queen Cove. We dropped anchor behind the island just inside the entrance. It was overcast and windy and we spent the afternoon doing inside chores. After supper, Dave spotted a mother bear and two cubs overturning rocks along the shore.

Mother bear and two cubs, Queen Cove

Thursday, September 7^th, Queen Cove to Zeballos: We started the morning by watching a bear walk along the shore. As we were heaving anchor, an ocean sunfish surfaced near the boat.

Ocean sunfish, Queen Cove

The salmon are running in this area and there are lots of fishermen out. We cruised north up Zeballos Inlet to the town of Zeballos and tied up at the town dock. Zeballos is (was) a small gold mining town which saw its heyday in the late 1930s. There are signs around town marking the sites of old buildings and telling the history of the gold rush days. We walked the boardwalk trail through the estuary and ate some ripe blackberries along the way. We stopped at the library where, Al, the librarian, asked us if we were environmental activists because we both had on green t-shirts. We went into both of the small grocery stores and bought milk and soda at one and eggs, chips and bait at the other.

Picking blackberries, Zeballos

Boardwalk through the estuary, Zeballos

Friday, September 8^th, Zeballos to Westview Marina, Tahsis: We left the Zeballos dock at 9:00 and cruised via Hecate Channel through the Tahsis Narrows and then turned north into Tahsis Inlet. Westview Marina, at the head of the inlet near the town of Tahsis, is like an oasis. The docks are nice and the people are friendly. They have a small tackle/marine store, a café with great patio seating, laundry and internet. We tied up on the inside dock then had lunch on the patio. We spent the afternoon doing laundry, using the internet and loading fresh water. Friday night at the marina is “Rock the Dock” with live entertainment and a buffet supper.