Location: North Island Marina, Port McNeill, BC
At the end of the last blog, we were preparing to leave Vancouver. We left on June 11th and have stopped at many nice marinas and anchorages, have seen some gorgeous sites and have eaten some delicious meals. We are now in Port McNeill reprovisioning and doing chores such as laundry and filling water before heading into the Broughton Islands for more adventures.
Monday, June 11, False Creek to Snug Cove, Bowen Island (11 nm, 2.4 hours): We spent the morning doing a few chores then left the dock at 10:30. We caught some of the ebb coming out of False Creek and Vancouver Harbour and got into some ebb chop in Burrard Inlet. We followed the ferry into Snug Cove, Bowen Island and docked at the
Union Steamship Marina Resort. We settled in and went up to the pub for lunch. The marina was in the process of launching a float house to use as staff housing so we watched them for a while then went for a hike up to Dorman Lookout. Supper was at
Barcelona's Tapas and Wine Bar which was very good.
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| Float house being launched at the Union Steamship Marina in Snug Cove. |
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| The launch was successful and the float house is safely tied to the dock. |
Tuesday, June 12, Snug Cove to Pender Harbour (41 nm, 5.5 hours): Today started out as a sunny day but then the clouds moved in. We were going to anchor in the Plumper Cover Marine Park on the west side of Keats Island but decided to continue on to Pender Harbour. Our cruise was uneventful and we docked at
John Henry's Marina in Hospital Bay. It was Dave's night to cook.
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| Dave in the galley preparing supper - bacon-wrapped asparagus and steaks. |
Wednesday, June 13, Pender Harbour: It rained most of the day. Dave did maintenance on the Gen/Get-Home (GGH) engine and I did some cleaing and got the crab and prawn traps ready to use. It cleared up in the afternoon so we walked over to the Garden Bay Pub for supper.
Thursday, June 14, Pender Harbour: It rained again this morning so more cleaning and maintenance projects and some voyage planning for Desolation Sound. It quit raining early afternoon so I went for a walk along the shore of Garden Bay Lake. We had supper at the marina cafe.
Friday, June 15, Pender Harbour to Lund (37 nm, 5.4 hours): We had an uneventful cruise up the coast to Lund and docked at the
Lund Small Craft Harbour. It was a bright sunny day and I walked the
Lund Loop and checked out the bakery, sweater shop, gift store and general store. By the end of the afternoon, the wind was blowing 15-20 knots and we watched a few boats "bump" into the marina while those of us who were already tied up stood by with fenders ready. For supper we went up to the hotel pub.
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| The Lund waterwheel and tourist information booth. |
Saturday, June 16, Lund to Squirrel Cove, Cortes Island (11 nm, 1.9 hours): This morning we walked up to Nancy's Bakery for breakfast - a pecan cinnamon roll and a mixed berry scone; we got a blackberry cinnamon roll, a scone and two ginger cookies to go. A few boat chores then we left the dock, cruised up the coast to the east side of Cortes Island and anchored in Squirrel Cove.
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| Entering Squirrel Cove. |
It was a nice, warm sunny day. We spent the day outside watching other boats come and go.
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| Dave enjoying his ginger cookie on the stern. |
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| A nap on the port deck to help with the digestion of the ginger cookie. |
Sunday, June 17, Squirrel Cove: This morning we had our blackberry cinnamon roll and scone for breakfast. After that and after all the delicious meals we have been eating, I needed to work off some calories. I aired up my new inflatable stand-up paddle board (SUP) and went for a paddle around the cove. I wore my wet-suit so that I could practice falling off, getting back on and changing from standing to kneeling to sitting and back. We spent the day outside enjoying the sun and the calm anchorage.
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| B paddle boarding. |
Monday, June 18, Squirrel Cove to Okeover (13 nm, 2.1 hours): As we prepared to leave the anchorage this morning, we rigged up the salt water hose to wash the mud off the chain and anchor and found out our bilge pump was locked up. We rigged up the fresh water hose, heaved anchor and headed south down Malaspina Inlet to Okeover. We tied up to the large outer breakwater dock and settled in. Dave disassembled the bilge pump, changed the impeller, cleaned up the electrical connections and got it working again. I went for a hike in the
Okeover Arm Provincial Park and then for a paddle around the inlet. For supper we went to the
Laughing Oyster Restaurant, which was very good.
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| View from the patio of the Laughing Oyster Restaurant. |
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| Sunset view from the Okeover dock. |
Tuesday, June 19, Okeover to Refuge Cove (10 nm, 1.7 hours): This morning our journey took us back up Malaspina Inlet to
Refuge Cove on the southwest side of Redonda Island. They have a small general store along with a coffee house/cafe. We bought a few groceries, got a book about the area
Destination Cortes Island and had lunch and, later, happy hour, at the cafe.
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| View from the pilot house - Refuge Cove. |
Wednesday, June 20, Refuge Cove to Roscoe Bay (7 nm, 1.3 hours): Our destination for the day was Roscoe Bay. There is a section of the entrance into the bay that dries at low tide so we had to time our entrance accordingly. When we crossed, we had at least 9 feet of water (3 feet below the keel) and anchored in the inner cove with no issues.
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| Our chart plotter as we entered Roscoe Bay. The red arrow points to the area in the channel that dries at low tide. |
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| The yellow line shows our track into the inner cove. The red triangle is Seabiscuit's anchor position. |
Thursday, June 21, Roscoe Bay to Toba Wilderness (12 nm, 2 hours): We had to time our exit from Roscoe Bay this morning, so I started off the day with a paddle around the bay.
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| Sunrise Roscoe Bay. |
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| B paddling near the waterfall, Roscoe Bay. |
About 11:00, we watched a few boats enter the bay as we prepared to leave. We exited with no issues and cruised north up Waddington Channel to
Toba Wilderness Marina. Some of the boaters we had met in Refuge Cove were there and we spent the afternoon chatting with them in the Welcome House. Later that afternoon, we hiked up to the waterfall that provides the drinking water to the lodge and marina.
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| The waterfall above the Toba Wilderness Marina. |
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| Dave climbing down the rocks with the help of a rope. |
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| B climbing down the rocks. |
Friday, June 22, Toba Wilderness to Gorge Harbour (23 nm, 3.4 hours): We hiked up to the lookout this morning and collected salmon berries along the way.
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| View up Toba Inlet. |
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| View of Double Island and the northwest coast of East Redonda Island from the lookout above Toba Wilderness Resort. |
We cruised along the north side of West Redonda Island, down Deer Passage and Sutil Channel, through Uganda Passage and into Gorge Harbour. Dave saw a whale spout and an orca in Sutil Channel. We tied up at the docks at
Gorge Harbour Resort. They have a nice swimming pool and hot tub so we walked up the dock for a soak. We had supper at the resort restaurant, then when back to the boat to watch the sunset.
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| Sunset at Gorge Harbour. |
Saturday, June 23, Gorge Harbour to Heriot Bay/Rebecca Spit (9 nm, 1.6 hours):
Rebecca Spit is a marine provincial park on the east side of Quadra Island. We anchored just south of the north end of Rebecca Spit. We launched the dinghy and took it over to Heriot Bay to pick up a few groceries. I paddled my SUP to the Rebecca Spit beach and went for a walk on the trails along the waterfront.
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| The beach on the east side of Rebecca Spit. It was full of driftwood and round stones. |
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| Sunset at Rebecca Spit. |
Sunday, June 24, Rebecca Spit to Octopus Islands (14 nm, 2.1 hours): For today's passage, we needed to arrive at Beazley Passage and Surge Narrows at slack water. The flood sets eastward up to 12 knots and the ebb sets westward up to 10 knots. According to our tides and currents information, low slack at Beazley would occur at 8:35 a.m. We heaved anchor and got underway at 7:00 and made it through with no issues. It was a short run and we were anchored up in the Octopus Islands at 9:15. It rained most of the day so we did inside chores and maintenance.
Monday, June 25, Octopus Islands to Shoal Bay (22 nm, 3.2 hours): Today was a nice sunny day. In order to get from the Octopus Islands to Shoal Bay, we had to time our voyage to transit Upper and Lower Rapids at slack water which meant a departure time of 15:00. Dave had studied the fisheries information for the Octopus Islands and found out that digging for clams and mussels was open. We took the dinghy over to a mud beach at low tide and dug about a dozen little neck clams. I took my SUP out for a paddle around the islands and we did a few chores.
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| Dave digging for clams. |
We left the anchorage as scheduled and reached the Upper Rapids about 45 minutes before high slack. We got swirled around some, but nothing serious. Instead of transiting the Lower Rapids, we went around the north side of Okis Island through Barnes Bay, as recommended in our guide book. We arrived in
Shoal Bay about 18:00. The dock was full so we anchored just off the north end. We took the dinghy to the dock and went to the "pub" for a cold beer. For supper, we steamed our clams and melted some butter to dip them in. They were delicious.
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| Rainbow in Nodales Channel on the way to Shoal Bay. |
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| View from the pub - Shoal Bay with the docks on the left and Phillips Arm in the distance. |
Tuesday, June 26, Shoal Bay to Forward Harbour (19 nm, 2.9 hours): Today was another day for timing our departure in order to catch slack water at the rapids. We studied our tide and current books and calculated a departure time of 14:30. We hung around the boat and did some inside and outside chores along with some voyage planning. We left the bay as planned and got to Green Point Rapids just prior to high slack, when the current turns from flood to ebb. Whirlpool Rapids was another 10 nm ahead; we arrived there about 45 minutes after slack water and transited with no issues. We turned into Forward Harbour and anchored for the night in Douglas Bay.
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| Entering Forward Harbour. |
Wednesday, June 27, Forward Harbour to Lagoon Cove (33 nm, 4.6 hours): The trick today was to time the current and the wind in Johnstone Strait with slack water in Chatham Channel. It was difficult to work out the correct timing for all three, so we opted for the best time for the wind and current in Johnstone Strait. We heaved anchor at 8:30 and caught a ride on the last of the ebb tide down Sunderland Channel and into Johnstone Strait. We rounded the corner in Havannah Channel before the wind picked up. The current was about 2.5 knots against us in Chatham Channel but it is a laminar flow and we didn't have any issues other than a slow speed. We came through the Blow Hole, named because of the strong westerly winds that sometimes blow through, and docked at
Lagoon Cove Marina. Lagoon Cove is a fun place and the people are very friendly. They have exercise stations, a ping-pong table and corn-hole boards in the back yard. There are a few hiking trails and they have happy hour with fresh prawns every night on the patio near the old workshop.
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| Looking over the Lagoon Cove docks from the Backyard. |
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| Lagoon Cove Exercise Station #4, Wood Chopping. |
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| Lagoon Cove Exercise Station #3, Lawn Mowing |
Thursday, June 28, Lagoon Cove to Glendale Cove (25 nm, 3.9 hours): We saw a few grizzly bear tour boats come into Lagoon Cove for fuel yesterday afternoon. They take people up Knight Inlet to Glendale Cove to view the grizzlies that live there. We didn't have a particular destination in mind today so we researched Glendale Cove and found out that we could anchor there. Before we left, we went for a hike to the Blow Hole and on some of the loop trails through the woods near the marina.
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| B swinging on the trail to the Blow Hole. |
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| Salmon berries we picked while we were on our hike. |
We left the dock about 10:45 and as we were transiting the Blow Hole, we saw a grizzly feeding along the north shore. On the way up Knight Inlet, we saw lots of birds and dolphins feeding. Four of the dolphins rode along with us for a while.
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| Four pacific white sided dolphins traveling with us on our way up Knight Inlet. |
We turned into Glendale Cove and set our prawn trap in ~280 feet of water and our crab trap in ~40 feet of water. We anchored and settled in. The Knight Guardians greeted us and gave us information and the rules for watching the bears. At 16:00, we spotted our first two bears feeding on the sedge grass on the west shore of the cove. As the afternoon went on, they were joined by 4 others and we saw another bear feeding on the opposite shore. It was very entertaining to watch how the bears interacted with each other and by the end of the night, we had named a few. Blotchy was the bully that chased the others into the woods; Goldie was a small bear (a yearling?) and Darkie was his mother. We watched from the boat with our binoculars so we were too far away to take any pictures of the bears.
Knight Inlet Lodge Resort, located in Glendale Cove, specializes in grizzly bear tours. Their website has good information about the bears and good pictures.
Friday, June 29, Glendale Cove to Beware Cove (36 nm, 4.9 hours): Low tide was at 9:00 this morning so we launched our kayaks and paddled along the shoreline looking for the bears. Of course, we didn't see any. We saw a few bald eagles and had a nice paddle around the cove.
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| View of the head of Glendale Cove. Dave is ahead of me paddling up the river. |
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| Bald eagle sitting on the old dock pilings on the west side of Glendale Cove. |
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| Float plan landing in the fog, bringing guests to/from the Knight Inlet Resort. |
We heaved anchor at 10:45. We had three crabs in the crab trap but all females so no keepers. There were 14 nice size prawns in the prawn trap. As we turned out of the cove into Knight Inlet, we saw two grizzly bears working their way along the shore line. From Knight Inlet, we turned into Clio Channel and then into Beware Passage. We dropped off our prawn and crab traps and anchored between Cook Island and Beware Cove. We had fresh prawns for our happy hour appetizer.
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| Beware Cove |
Saturday, June 30, Beware Cove to Alert Bay (16 nm, 2.7 hours): Anchor up at 8:30 this morning. We only had one small crab in the crab trap and we let it go. There were 20 prawns in the prawn trap. We crossed Blackfish Sound and saw a humpback whale breach and saw several others feeding. We docked in the
Alert Bay boat harbour and walked uptown to have lunch at Duchess Bannock and Desserts. We had bannock with hot turkey, veggies and gravy and Duchess sat with us and told us about her travels and about some of the natural food we could find amongst the islands. We spent the afternoon at the
U'Mista Cultural Centre which tells the stories of the First Nations people who live in the islands and includes a display of the masks that were used in their potlatch ceremonies.
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| The Alert Bay welcome sign. |
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| A totem pole in the Alert Bay cemetery / burial grounds. |
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| Two ravens on the Alert Bay shore. |
Sunday, July 1, Alert Bay to Port McNeill (6 nm, 1.1 hours): We did our first of the month chores this morning before leaving Alert Bay. We left the dock at 10:30 and cruised to
North Island Marina in Port McNeill. We walked up to the pub for lunch. It rained most of the afternoon so we hung around and did inside chores.
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| Dave peeling prawns for supper. |
Monday, July 2, Port McNeill: More chores around town today. It didn't rain but the wind blew 20+ knots most of the day. Our plan is to leave the marina tomorrow morning and to spend the next few weeks cruising the Broughton Islands.
An update on Bob's Voyage to Alaska: At the end of the last blog, Bob had finished the repairs on his boat and was waiting for his son, Bill, to join him for the 2nd leg of his voyage, from Prince Rupert to Juneau. They crossed Dixon Entrance from Prince Rupert to Ketchikan on Sunday, June 10th. They had good weather for the passage and Dixon Entrance was fairly flat with a 1 - 2 foot following sea. They explored Ketchikan, transited the Wrangell Narrows, explored Petersburg and moored up in Juneau on Friday, June 15th. The boat ran well. They tried fishing and crabbing but didn't have any luck.
Bob's son Bill caught his flight home and Bob's son Bryan joined him in Juneau for the 3rd (last) leg of the trip, from Juneau to Seward. Their first stop was Elfin Cove where it was pouring rain when they arrived. The next run was from Elfin Cove to Yakatat, 148 nm up the Gulf of Alaska Coast. The ride was really rough with high wind and seas. They hunkered down in Yakatat for 2 days waiting on high winds and seas in the Gulf of Alaska
to pass. While there, they went clamming and musseling at low tide and made a very
nice Alfredo seafood fettuccine.
From Yakatat, they did a 24 hour passage of 225 nm to Cordova. They had good weather and sea conditions but had some electrical problems along the way. They got everything working again prior to the final segment of the trip, a 20 hour voyage from Cordova to Seward. The weather cooperated and they were able to do some halibut fishing along the way. They arrived safely in Seward at 03:30 on Saturday, June 23rd. Bob and his wife Peggy will spend most of the summer up in Alaska fishing, boating and camping.
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| Bob and Bryan in Seward, AK. |
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| The end of the adventure - Bob and the Annie M safely tied up in Seward, AK. |
Until next time...
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