The Broughtons, Nakwakto Rapids, Seymour and Belize Inlets, Cape Caution

Location:  Prince Rupert, BC

Kayaking at the head of Allison Sound, Belize Inlet

Tuesday, July 3, Port McNeill to Bootleg Cove, Gilford Island (23 nm, 3.3 hours):  We filled our water tank, took up the garbage and recycling and had a last look through the shops in Port McNeill before leaving North Island Marina.  We left the dock at 10:00 and headed out through Cormorant Channel, just south of Malcolm Island.  We saw some humpback whales at a distance as we transited Blackfish Sound and up into Retreat Passage.  We dropped off the prawn trap then turned into Bootleg Cove, a small, one boat anchorage on the west side of Gilford Island.  We dropped off the crab trap and set our anchor in the middle of the cove.  After lunch, we launched the dinghy and tried our luck fishing in Retreat Passage but didn’t catch anything.  We took a dinghy tour of Waddington Bay then spent the rest of the afternoon unlaxing and reading.

Wreck on the shore of Bootleg Cove

Wednesday, July 4, Bootleg Cove to Pierre's Echo Bay (5 nm 1.1 hours):  Very short run today so we did a few chores before heaving anchor at 10:00.  No crabs but we got 25 nice prawns in the prawn trap.  We tied up at the docks at Pierre’s then had shrimp (prawn) burgers for lunch.  We hiked the trail around the head of the bay to Cliffside then back to Billy Proctor's Museum.  We bought some local books at Billy’s gift shop:  Fishing with John, Grizzlies and White Guys, and Bijaboji:  North to Alaska by Oar.  Back at the boat, we sat reading on the stern while we listened to a guy across the bay practicing US patriotic songs on his trumpet.  To celebrate the Fourth of July, Pierre’s had a prime rib barbecue with all the fixings.  The trumpeter kicked off the evening with “Oh Canada” followed by “The Star Spangled Banner” with the crowd singing along.  After supper, a local singer/guitar player entertained us.  The tables in Pierre’s dining hall are set up to seat 12 people and we enjoyed hearing about the adventures of the other folks at our table.  FYI, Pierre’s is for sale.  Anyone interested in buying/operating a charming marina in the Broughton’s should have a look. 

Sunset at Pierre's Echo Bay

Thursday, July 5, Pierre’s Echo Bay to Sullivan Bay (16 nm, 2.7 hours):  Another short run today.  Overnight, a sailboat at anchor had gotten his propeller tangled in a crab pot.  We watched him get towed into the Pierre’s, then we cast off our lines and headed to Sullivan Bay.  We tied up at the dock and settled in.  A rain squall moved through late in the afternoon.  At 17:00, we joined the other boaters for a potluck happy hour and listened to tales about their boating adventures.  Some of the folks who we met at Lagoon Cove were there with plans to head around Cape Caution the next morning.

Happy hour at Sullivan Bay

Friday, July 6, Sullivan Bay:  Boat chores and voyage planning today.  At 17:00 we walked up to the happy hour tent.  It was raining and only four other folks showed up which allowed us some time to get to know each other.  The restaurant at Sullivan Bay is open on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays so we moved inside for supper – prime rib with all the trimmings.  We sat with a couple who owns one of the floating homes on the docks and also owns a share of the marina.  They have done a lot of traveling and had some interesting tales to tell.  After supper, the two guys from the sailboat Thin Ice stopped by for a visit.  Both are ski instructors in Utah during the winter and spend their summers sailing.

Saturday, July 7, Sullivan Bay to England Point Cove, Drury Inlet (18 nm, 2.8 hours):  In order to cross Stuart Narrows into Drury Inlet at slack water we left the dock at 8:00.  We entered with no issues and made our way west up the inlet to Actress Passage which is at the entrance to Actaeon Sound.  We turned north and went through Actress Passage close to slack water.  Tug boats that use the passage frequently have mounted small unofficial navigation aids to mark the rocks on each side of the east channel into the passage.  We wound our way up through Snake Narrows and dropped off the prawn trap just south of Creasy Bay where we planned to anchor.  The bay was full of log booms so we went further north and anchored in England Point Cove behind a small island, which was a much more intimate anchorage than Creasy Bay.  We launched the dinghy and took it up to the rapids at Tsibass Lagoon.  They were running pretty fast and we didn’t attempt to enter.  We cruised along the shoreline and watched a black bear walk along the rocks and then into the woods.

The rapids into Tsiblass Lagoon.  Dave is pointing at a seal,

Bear on the shore near the high tide line.  Old logging equipment near the waterline.

We tried some fishing in the channel near our prawn trap.  I caught a dogfish, which we released.  The wind started to pick up and the clouds were moving in so we headed back to the boat for happy hour and supper.

Sunday, July 8, England Point Cove to Jennis Bay (11 nm, 2.1 hours):  A nice calm morning so I paddled the SUP around our cove and the shallow cove next door to look at the abandoned barge there.  We heaved anchor at 10:30.  The crab trap was empty and the prawn trap was full of small crabs.

Crabs in the prawn trap

We did some drift fishing near a rock in the middle of Drury Inlet.  We caught two small rock fish which we released.  We entered Jennis Bay and docked at the marina.  We spent the afternoon hiking the logging trails and picking berries.

Seabiscuit at the dock, Jennis Bay Marina

Monday, July 9, Jennis Bay to Allison Harbour (40 nm, 5.5 hours):  We left the marina at 10:30 to give ourselves time to pick up the prawn trap (12 small prawns) and to make it to Stuart Narrows for slack water.  We saw some whales spouting as we transited Wells Passage into Queen Charlotte Strait.  We had flat calm seas with very little wind for most of the voyage.  We anchored in Allison Harbour for the night.

Flat, calm seas in Queen Charlotte Strait

Sunset in Allison Harbour

Tuesday, July 10, Allison Harbour to Alison Sound (38 nm, 5.9 hours):  Anchor up at 7:00 in order to transit Nakwakto Rapids at slack water at 8:55.  Nothing in either the crab or prawn traps.  We worked our way north up Schooner Channel towards the rapids and encountered less current than we expected so we were about 30 minutes early.  We idled around Cougar Inlet until 8:30 then headed towards the rapids.  Nakwakto Rapids is known as one of the fastest rapids in the west (some say the world).  With ebb currents up to 14.5+ knots and flood currents up to 11.5+ knots, only Sechelt Rapids, northeast of Pender Harbour, runs stronger.  Turret Rock, also known as Tremble Island because it shakes when the rapids are running at maximum current, lies right in the middle of the passage. This You Tube Video of Nakwakto Rapids gives you an idea of how swiftly the currents can run.  Today the maximum ebb was predicted to be 11.9 knots and the maximum flood 9.6 knots.  Our average boat speed is 7 knots.  We passed Turret Rock on the west side against a slight ebb current, about 10 minutes prior to slack water.

The west side of Turret Rock, aka Tremble Island, as we went by at low slack water.

We cruised northwest up Seymour Inlet, then turned east into Belize Inlet.  The inlet became narrower and the walls became steeper the further east we went.  Along the way, there are several waterfalls on the north side of the channel.  About two-thirds of the way up Belize Inlet, we turned north into Alison Sound and transited the short narrows just inside the entrance.  We anchored at the head of the sound in the northwest corner and settled in. 

The anchorage at the head of Alison Sound

Wednesday, July 11, Alison Sound to Strachan Bay (25 nm, 3.7 hours):  This morning we launched our kayaks and paddled around the head of Alison Sound and up the creeks that drain into it.  It was near low water so we didn’t get very far upstream before it became too shallow to venture further. 

Although out of focus, this photo shows the scale of the mountains surrounding the head of Allison Sound. 
Taken from my kayak, our crab pot buoy is in the foreground and
Seabiscuit is at the base of the mountains in the background.

Kayaking up river in Alison Sound

In the shadows of the trees at the mouth of a creek that drains into Alison Sound

We heaved anchor at 11:00 and headed west down Belize Inlet, north up Mereworth Sound and then west into Strachan Bay.  We anchored in the inner cove at the southwest corner of the bay and settled in for the night.

Thursday, July 12, Strachan Bay:  Happy 7^th birthday to our granddaughter Maggie.  We launched the dinghy and took it to the log dump at the northwest side of the bay.  We spent the morning hiking the logging roads up into the mountains surrounding the bay and the afternoon unlaxing on the boat.

Overlooking Mereworth Sound from a logging road near Strachan Bay.

Doe and fawn, Strachan Bay.

Friday, July 13, Strachan Bay to Frederick Sound (48 nm, 6.5 hours):  Although we weren’t transiting Nakwakto Rapids today, we had to pass within 0.3 nm of it to get from our anchorage in Strachan Bay to the main arm of Seymour Inlet.  We didn’t want to get pushed around by the strong currents so we timed our voyage accordingly.  Ebb slack at the rapids was at 11:27, so we heaved anchor at 9:00, passed by the rapids at 11:00 and headed east up Seymour Inlet. 

Seals sunning themselves on a rock near the intersection of Mereworth Sound and Belize Inlet.

The wind was blowing 20 – 30 knots from the northwest and we had a following sea with 1 – 2 foot chop for the 20+ nm run up the inlet before our turn south into Frederick Sound.  Eclipse Narrows, at the entrance to Frederick Sound, was flooding at 3.5 to 4.0 knots when we entered.  The flow was laminar with no whirlpools or eddies and we crossed with no issues.  Once inside the sound, the wind and waves disappeared. The walls of Frederick Sound are steep granite and we lost our GPS heading as we were rounding the U-bend near the head of the sound.  Although the guide books report a large logging camp barge located at the head of the sound, it is no longer there.  We anchored in the middle and spent the afternoon watching ospreys, king fishers and seals feed on the bait fish in the area. 

Seabiscuit at anchor at the head of Frederick Sound.

Saturday, July 14, Frederick Sound:  This morning we watched as a logging camp crew boat dropped two loggers off at the small dock in the southeast corner of the anchorage. 

The dock at the head of Frederick Sound that leads to the logging road.

After breakfast, we launched the dinghy, tied it to the dock and went for a hike along the logging roads.  The road had a very gentle grade and it was easy walking.  We picked berries along the way and saw lots of bear sign.  We took a break in the shade of an old clear cut and then headed back down the road.  As we neared the bottom, we heard something go crashing into the woods – most likely a bear.

View of snow in the mountains.

We didn't see any bears but we saw a lot of bear scat where the logging road was lined with salmon berry bushes.

Sunday, July 15, Frederick Sound to Wawatle Bay (31 nm, 4 hours);  Breakfast then anchor up at 7:45.  We transited Eclipse Narrows with +/- 3 knots of current pushing us back out into Seymour Inlet. 

"The Logging Gypsy", a logging camp on a barge just west of Eclipse Narraows.

A float plane flying by as we transited west in Seymour Inlet.

The waters were calm and the wind was very light so it was a pleasant ride heading west this morning.  We anchored in Wawatle Bay around lunchtime, settled in and read our books.  Our plan for the afternoon was to go exploring the lagoons south of the anchorage so we launched the dinghy and waited for the tide to rise before heading out.  Although the tide was about half-way to high tide at our anchorage and rising, it was still ebbing out of the lagoons.  We attempted to transit the rapids into Woods Lagoon but quickly found bottom, shut-off and lifted the dinghy motor and paddled and rode the current back out into the main channel.  The water in the lagoon was very clear and we could see numerous bright orange sea stars clinging to the rocks just below the surface.  We continued south towards the narrow entrance that leads to Bamford, McKinnon and Nenahlmai Lagoons.  We carefully worked our way through the rapids and the ebbing tide.  Below the surface of the water we could see hundreds of salmon swimming against the current into the lagoons.  We had a quick look around but didn’t want to get trapped inside the lagoons by low water in the narrows so we turned around and headed back to the boat.

Taking the dinghy through the narrow entrance that leads to the three lagoons south of Wawatle Bay.

Bald eagle, Wawatle Bay.

Monday, July 16, Wawatle Bay to Skull Cove (15 nm, 2.2 hours):  Today was our day to cross back through Nakwakto Rapids so that we could continue our journey north up the coast.  Low slack, when the current changes from ebb to flood, was estimated to occur at 13:33 so we had some time in the morning to do boat chores and voyage planning.  We had a light lunch and heaved anchor at 11:30.  With the ebb current giving us a push, our scheduled arrival at the rapids was 45 minutes earlier than slack water.  We did a circuit around Charlotte Bay, an anchoring location near the rapids, to waste some time.  We motored up to the rapids about 20 minutes prior to slack, checked the status of the current flow and the whirlpools, decided the passage was doable and transited with no issues on the east side of Turret Rock.  As we exited, we spotted a pleasure craft and an LST hovering outside waiting for slack water prior to entering.  We made our way south down Schooner Channel and turned into Skull Cove to anchor for the night.

The east side of Turret Rock as we exited Nakwakto Rapids.

B dressed up for anchoring at Skull Cove

Tuesday, July 17, Skull Cove to Dawson’s Landing (40 nm, 5.1 hours):  Anchor up at 5:45 this morning for our journey north around Cape Caution.  A light fog hovered above the surface of the water with very light winds and some residual swell.  We timed our voyage to go past Slingsby Channel and the Outer Narrows just prior to high slack (turn to ebb).  The currents in Outer Narrows can run up to 7 knots on the flood and up to 9 knots on the ebb, and when the ebb current opposes a westerly wind some nasty chop can develop.  We didn’t know this when we went north around Cape Caution last summer and were surprised by the chop we encountered.   The fog cleared by the time we reached the north side of the cape and we are able to see the fleet of trollers fishing south of Egg Island.  We crossed Rivers Inlet and watched the small fishing boats from the nearby lodges working the area for salmon.  We cruised through Klaquaek Channel and north up Darby Channel to Dawson’s Landing where we tied up at the dock.  They have a different system for mooring; instead of tying to a cleat or bull rail, you secure your lines to loops of rope set into the docks. We did laundry, dropped off garbage, bought some groceries and visited with the other boaters.

Float plane preparing for take-off, Dawson's Landing.

Rick from American Dream (the boat in the photo) lassoing a log that docked itself between our boats. 
He towed it out into the channel with his dinghy.  We passed it on our way south the next morning.
In the foreground, you can see one of the loops set in the dock that you tie up to when you dock.

Wednesday, July 18, Dawson’s Landing to Pruth Bay (26 nm, 3.5 hours):  This morning we filled our water tank, bought some cat food at the store and pulled away from the dock at 9:30.  It was a nice cruise down Darby Channel, into Finn Bay, across Fitz Hugh Sound and down Kwakshua Channel to Pruth Bay.  We saw a humpback whale feeding in Finn Bay, lots of small fishing vessels working the east shore of Calvert Island and several vessels moving both north and south in Fitz Hugh Sound.  We dropped anchor near the middle of Pruth Bay amongst the other boats.  At the head of the bay is the Hakai Institute, a facility used for research and as a conference center.  We took the dinghy in, tied up to the dock and followed the trail through the woods to West Beach.  West Beach was a pleasant surprise after the rocky shores found along most islands in this area.  It is wide and flat with fine white sand extending in both directions.  We walked to the north side of the beach and then took the trail through the woods to North Beach which faces Hakai Pass.

A map of the trails near Hakai Institute.  The white X shows our anchor location and the red lines
show the paths to West Beach, North Beach and the south beaches.

B walking on West Beach.

A pond along the path to North Beach

Drift wood on North Beach.

A raven near the sitting area at the top of the dock, Pruth Bay.  You can see its mate sitting on the box behind it. 
It was interesting to watch their antics, picking flowers from the flower pots and moving clam shells around.

When we got back to the Pruth Bay side of the trail, many of the boats that were anchored when we went ashore had left and several new ones had arrived.  For supper we had smoked salmon from Bella Coola Valley Seafoods that we had purchased at the Dawson’s Landing store.  

Thursday, July 19, Pruth Bay:  We are spent another day in Pruth Bay today.  It rained lightly in the morning, but cleared up enough for a beach walk in the afternoon.  More details in the next blog.

Note:  This blog was almost ready to post when we were in Pruth Bay but we ran out of internet data before getting all of the photos uploaded and we haven't had any internet since then.  We're in Prince Rupert now, with good internet, so will post this and then follow up with another blog about our travels between Pruth Bay and Prince Rupert.

Until next time...