Discovery in the NorthWest

[Discovery]

We are having a great trip in the British Columbia and for anyone that may be interested I've included my travel log that's completed so far. I'll post updates as sites are available.

Day 1- July 16, 2006

In all of our desires for travel, the one that has pressed most in this time of our life has been the “Discovery” of the great northwest. Each time we would travel by land to the area, we would discuss how great it would be to be here by boat—always wondering if it would ever happen. We were always held back by time constraints, financial concerns, family needs—and honestly mostly by my fear the unknown. As Andre Gide said, “Man cannot discover new oceans unless he has the courage to lose sight of the shore.” The time has finally come to put aside all the excuses and go full forward with the experience.
We crossed into Canada at White Rock and were off to a great start—Customs wanted to board our vessel for inspection. No illegal items were found, although we soon wished we had the $10,000 in Canadian money to use for buying fuel. Soon we were on our way and heading for Gibsons on Howe Sound for our first stop. It is a marvelous quaint town with easy access to pick up any needed provisions. For Brent that was a Canadian fishing license--$ 113. We moored for the night in Plumper Cove across the bay from the town. It was protected moorage and had a resident group of Canadian geese and their babies that provided entertainment. They loved any offering we gave and Brent pointed out to them that the life of a moocher was no example for the parents to set. It was a great day and the first day in BC had been a success.

Day 2- July 17, 2006

We are anxiously heading north today. We crossed the Strait of Georgia—1 to 3 foot waves but we were doing great. We passed Sechelt and cruised thru Welcome Passage, between Thormanby Island and Half Moon Bay, and into the Malaspina Strait. The country is spectacular. The mountains are tall and the trees are too. The greenery grows right to the water’s edge. We have seen lots of seals and sea lions, but no Orcas today. We have run 160 NM since we left Twin Bridges with no problems. We turned into Pender Harbor for the nights moorage. Our traveling buddies that are going by truck and camper met us at the public dock with a newly found local friend, Terry Harrison. He offered us moorage at his dock and also offered to let the truck and camper stay at his house during our Discovery excursions of the next few days. These Canadians are great people. We dropped our shrimp traps out side the harbor for a few hours and caught 7 shrimp. I just don’t think we have the hang of this yet!

Day 3- July 18, 2006

Today we are going to Princess Louisa Inlet. We have to leave early because it’s 50 miles and we have to go thru Malibu Rapids when the tide is slack. This changing water level is really something—Lake Powell always stays the same! We bought fuel before leaving the harbor. Canada doesn’t sell by the gallon—it’s by the litre and it takes a lot of litres to fill Discovery. 178 L for $217. Whew! Anyway, we’re on our way and I can’t wait. El told me this was one of her very favorite places and she really knows what she’s talking about. We arrived at the Malibu Rapids about an hour before slack tide and there were lots of boats waiting. We looked the situation over and it didn’t look anything like rapids we had seen before in the Colorado or Green River so we decided to go on thru. However, you have to do everything the Canadian way and so you say on the VHF radio “Secur-i-tay-- Secur-i-tay-- Secur-i-tay—motor vessel Discovery is entering the Malibu Rapids” then you wait and see if anybody says not to come. No one said anything, so we went and it was a piece of cake. This boat is great! The other boats still waited for awhile. The inlet is beautiful. The mountains rise up to 5000 feet from the water level and some still have glacial ice on them. The sky is so blue and the trees are so green. There are waterfalls all around the inlet and the whole scene is just breath-taking.
Half way down the inlet we spotted three C-Dorys moored behind the shoal of MacDonald Island. Being the friendly C-Brats that we are, we went on over to say hello. We talked to Tesaro (from Arizona), E-Ticket (from Arizona), and Fun Patrol (from southern Calif). They had all been cruising the San Juans for the past month and were heading north also. Maybe we’ll see them again. They reported they had seen Naknik and Wanderer over in the Gulf Islands. They had to get out of Malibu Rapids on the tide change so we cut the visit short and we went on to Chatterbox Falls. There is a public dock near the falls and everyone was very helpful getting the boats in—sort of like there’s always room for one more. We hiked around and enjoyed the area and then went back to moor where the other C-Dorys had been. It was time for a sundowner and I have to say it was a spectacular place to have it! I just can’t believe how lucky we are to be here.

[SeaSpray]

Hi Brent and Dixie,

It is great to hear you are having a great time! We are really missing cruising that area this year. We were able to spend 3 weeks in Desolation last Sept. - You have much more to enjoy!

I can't wait until I can retire and spend real time cruising. Keep us posted on your trip - it keeps us going.

Steve

[Discovery]

Day 4- July 19, 2006

Today we cooked breakfast on the boat for four of us—blueberry pancakes! Then it was off to crabbing and fishing in the inlet. Both Brent and Mark caught a nice Rockfish—3 to 4 pounds each. We caught a few crabs but not of legal size, so back they went to grow bigger. At the slack tide we exited the Malibu Rapids with the same “Secur-i-tay” process and turned right up the Queen’s Reach arm of Jervis Inlet. The tour books don’t recommend this route and we were the only boat up there. The trip up was just as spectacular as going into Princess Lousia with waterfalls on both sides of the inlet. At the very end there appeared to be the remains of an old logging camp, or maybe it was still active but just not at the present. There was a nice dock that we tied to and was able to walk around the area a bit. We cooked a delicious fresh fish dinner on the dock and lounged there like we owned the place. There was a lot of fresh water coming in and a river otter lived under the dock shoring. He was not concerned about us in the least and provided entertainment all night—more entertainment than we really needed as Mark and Diann were sleeping in a tent on the dock. There were also other noises in the night that were really not all identifiable. When Diann yelled out in the morning to “Hurry and get up because we have company” and Brent yelled back “Is it human or animal?” you kind of get the picture of how things were going. Actually it was a 100-foot trawler that was only 200 yards off our stern. The workers were doing maintenance on the boat and we quickly cooked breakfast and got out of their way. We pulled the crab traps that we had put down the night before and had two nice crabs that we stuck in the fridge just as Roger had told us to do. We worked our way back down Jervis inlet to Goliath Bay where we caught two more nice Rock Fish. Near there is the beginning of the Skookcumchuck Rapids. After reading “A Curve of Time” I was dying to go down the rapids, but it wasn’t time yet—still two hours to slack tide. We accessed the situation again and though it was longer and appeared a bit more turbulent than Malibu Rapids, we decided to go for it. I got on the bow of Discovery with my camera in hand and away we went! What a ride! It was so fun and again the boat handled it perfectly. We turned around and came back thru with no difficulty. I can see that you definitely could not go thru unless the conditions were at least as good as they were. I have never seen water boil like that. Whirlpools would form right around the boat and it would push and pull. Brent had good control with the two Honda 135’s but it was a challenge. This Grandma on the bow of the boat was really feeling like I was on the edge!
Before long we were back to Pender Harbor and cooking our crabs to go with a drink to toast to the Sea and the Sailors of old. Another great day.

Day 5- July 20, 2006

We left Pender Harbor after fueling—another $200 ouch! We’re on our way to Powell River. The seas were again in the 1-3 foot range and easy to travel although there is so much debris in the water, you must keep a constant watch. There are full length logs and dead head stumps that only show a little, but would surely damage the hull or the props. We traveled along about 6 knots for several hours to conserve fuel and then got Discovery up and ran for the remainder of the time. We’ve now traveled over 250 miles with no difficulties. Powell River Marina had a spot for us—they too will always make room for one more, it seems. The fee was $.60 per foot and $2.50 per day for the hydro (that’s Canadian for electricity). We are going to stay for a couple of days to do laundry and see the sights of Powell River. By the way, it’s like an oven up here, must be at least 30, eh? That is Canadian for “Wow, is it hot up here.”

Day 6 and 7- July 21, 22, 2006

We’ve hit every marine store in town—just because. We have done laundry and went to the open-air farmers market. I bought a few t-shirts for the grandkids and pottery for my daughters. Traveling in a boat really cramps my shopping style I have to say. Powell River is a very neat place to visit. Tomorrow it’s on to Lund and Desolation Sound. The salmon run has started and we’re hoping to catch some fish.

[Dora~Jean]

Great trip reports Brent and Dixie. And Dixie, if you're doing most of the writing, you have a great style with lots of detail. And thanks, you made me miss the cool of the day reading all of this before getting outside to clean up my boat after my Catalina trip, supposed to be over 100 again today (104 yesterday) in Simi Valley which rarely gets into the 90's.

I know we had talked about us tagging along on this trip, the cards didn't lay out properly though this year, too tough with work, kids and family in different directions. Keep the posts coming, I feel I'm traveling with you. Thanks.

[Discovery]

Day 8 thru 11- July 23,24, 25 and 26, 2006

Desolation Sound- Wow! Where to start to tell all the neat things we did and saw there. Desolation Sound is like going to Lake Powell in that there are a million places to go and you could easily get lost without good navigation equipment. It was beautiful, just as the Jervis Inlet had been but somewhat different. The terrain is drier as evidenced by the different types of plants. There were still lots of trees, both deciduous and evergreen, but far less foliage on the ground. There were no ferns and really it seemed everything grew out of the rock. The shores were not accessible as it is mostly rocky and very steep. The importance of sheltered moorage was very evident. While there are lots of islands in every arm or inlet, secure moorage was more difficult to find and at a premium—we had lots of company. There were plenty of 40-50 foot yachts and sailboats. There weren’t a lot of boats our size, but a few. We spent most of the days fishing and catching! We were able to catch rock fish, ling cod, halibut and we even caught a bleny that was the same size as the lure and I think it was trying to mate with it?! Sorry to say, we couldn’t add salmon to the list. It’s supposed to get better fishing for salmon as we get further north. We were also able to catch plenty of shrimp in our pots. The crabbing wasn’t so good but these nice people in a Boston Whaler that lived in Powell River, but were originally from Nisswa, Minnesota, gave us some. The people up here are so friendly. The first night we stayed on the hook in a cove behind Ellsworth Island in Waddington Channel. We had a loon swim right by the boat giving his unforgettable call. There was also a mother merganser duck with at least 12 babies. They took turns riding on her back, needless to say. They were so cute and they did not mooch from anyone in the harbor. From there we traveled north up thru the pass into the Pryce Channel. We looked for anchorage in the Toba Inlet around Double Island and Channel Island but couldn’t find anything shallow or protected enough for the predicted winds. We ended up staying about three miles up the inlet in a shallow cove that was open to the south wind which thumped us all night. This particular spot must have been listed on the Kayacking Guide to Desolation, as we were joined by a group of them. That particular night there was no moon in the sky, but there were moons on the shore—what is it with these people? They just didn’t seem happy to share the spot and we weren’t even loud and rowdy.
The morning of the 25th we picked up our traps after spending a night pounding on the hook and traveled to the mouth of the Toba inlet behind Double Island to cook breakfast and buy ice from Ed and Mary’s place. It was only $4 for a block, but it looked like the water came from the waterfall behind the cabin and had floaters, so no drinking it. We went west on the Pryce Channel and then south on Deer Passage and then south on Calm Channel. We stopped to fish for salmon on Teakerne Arm—no luck for us. One guy did catch a 13 pounder. After dropping our shrimp and crab traps, we went into Squirrel Cove on Cortes Island for moorage on the hook for the night.
A dingy full of nice folks from a beautiful 70 ft. Kristen Yacht named Stealaway come over to take a look at our boat. They were familiar with C-Dory’s and wanted to know about ours. They visited for quite a while and then motored away. The next morning they returned to bring us warm sweet rolls from a little local bakery in the bay. What a nice surprise. We’ll look for them in a few days in Campbell River. We have had lots of people express interest in Discovery. It really has been great boat.
We left Desolation Sound after spending three days and only seeing a small portion of the area. One man told me he had been going there for 15 years and still hadn’t explored all of the places. It was a great place and I’m sure we’ll get back there again. We left and returned to Lund to buy fuel, another $134.50 CD (argh!) and drop off my sister and brother-in-law at their truck and camper. We talked to a boater on the Lund fuel dock, named Buzz French, a friend of the C-Dory factory Guys. He recognized the boat as a C-Dory. He and his family were on their way up to Desolation. We’ll meet up again with our traveling companions, in Campbell River. We traveled across the channel to the other side of Cortes Island and spent the night in Gorge Harbor.

[Discovery]

Day 12-July 27, 2006

Today we left Gorge Harbor and crossed the Sutil Channel in 3-5 foot waves. We came around Cape Mudge and into the Discovery Passage. It was certainly the roughest water we had experienced thus far. There were a few boats fishing for salmon off of Cape Mudge in an area known as the “hump.” We secured a mooring in Discovery Harbor in Campbell River. Campbell River is a large town with a population of 60,000. There are three harbors and the area reports that it is the salmon capital of the world. That may have been true years ago, but is not true now. There are a few salmon being caught but mostly in the northern waters. Guess we’ll continue north. There is a very nice shopping center and lots of restaurants and motels and easily accessible groceries and fuel. We met another C-Dory owner from the Montana area. His name is John Schuler and he owns the boat “Clara”. He has been here for about a week and plans on staying on for some time. He trailered his boat here—says it was about the same price as driving it. He was very nice and said that he had attended some of the other C-Brat Get Togethers. We enjoyed it here but are looking for a little less populated area.

Day 13- July 28, 2006

We left Campbell River today. We traveled north up the Discovery Passage and thru the Seymour Narrows. The Narrows were similar to the Skookumchuck rapids but much wider and longer. Seymour Narrows is in the Discovery Channel, and contrary to the area we have just come from, the waters north of Campbell River flood from north to south and ebb from south back northward. We went thru the narrows an hour and a half before slack water on the ebb. This is a much more forceful flow and than during a flood and was quite a ride. The is the site that Don Douglass talks about in the book Exploring the South Coast of British Columbia when he was at the helm of the U.S.Coast Guard ice breaker Storis passing thru on the last of a strong flood tide. He hit the whirlpools on the lee side and turned the vessel end-for-end. The skipper grabbed the helm and was able to regain control. I just can’t express the force of the water as it is narrowed into the channels with such enormous tidal changes.
We stayed in Browns Bay Marina. It is just above the narrows and has a campground and a marina. We secured moorage and went out to try our hand at salmon fishing but yet have not figured this out—returned skunked. We may be slow learners at this, but we’ll keep trying. It rained in the night, but the moorage was secure and we faired just fine.

Day 14,15 and16- July 29, 30, and 31 2006

We fueled ($80) at Browns Bay Marina and headed north up the Discovery Passage. We watched fisherman from Browns Bay but didn’t see anyone catching any salmon. We continued north and tried trolling at Menzies Point but didn’t have any bites. We continued north for approximately 12 miles and secured mooring in a log booming area with RV camping on the shore. The place was beautiful and we stayed on the hook the first night, and tied to a log boom for the next two nights. The area was vulnerable to North, East, and South winds, but even though there were rain showers, there were no winds. The main shipping channel passed directly outside the bay, and there were barges, cruise ships, and all sorts of other boat traffic all day and night. We also had excellent view of the logging operation and watched the logs being hauled in by truck, slid down the bank and cabled and moved around by the guy in the little steel boat called a sidewinder. He came and visited us and talked about the logging business and the fishing business. He prefers commercial fishing, but supplements his income with the logging business. He was a terrific guy and gave us the low down on the salmon fishing. Basically he said we were screwed! In our attempt to limit the weight in the boat, we opted to leave the downrigger home in Utah. Well, you can’t catch salmon at 100 feet deep without a downrigger. I’m not sure how we’ll handle this new revelation. We are still having good luck with ling cod, rock fish, crabbing and shrimping.
Our new found yacht friends from Stealaway passed by our camping area. We hailed them and they were on their way to the Braughtons. Soon after they passed out of sight they called back and told us about two pods of Orcas around Chatham Point. We hurried up and were able to watch the Orcas for some time. The Green Peace type boat from the Orca Network stopped us to give an “atta boy” for being the only boat that was doing it correctly. We were paralleling the whales and keeping enough distance to not disturb them. We couldn’t get good pictures, but definitely had good viewing.
We spent more time fishing and gave up on the salmon for the present time. Possibly we will have luck when we get further north where there are more salmon. The scenery alone makes it worth being here—even if we never caught any fish.

Day 17- August 1, 2006

Today we left Elk Cove and traveled up the Discovery Passage into the Johnstone Strait. We turned up the Mayne passage for a few miles and stopped at the Blind Channel Marina. We have found that on days of leisurely travel, we can run on one motor at a time at 2000 rpm and achieve about 6 knots. Even better if the tidal flows are with us. The burn rate is about 1.5 gallons/hour resulting in about 4 miles to the gallon. This is better than the usual 2 miles/gallon running at a speed of 20 knots. It is slow and allows you to really look around—but still have the power when you need it. We just putt along with the auto pilot on, the XM radio on, and watch for logs.
Blind Channel Marina is a beautiful place with a restaurant, store, fuel dock, mooring for big boats and small ones like ours, a laundry, and showers. We didn’t have reservations and we got in because we showed up early. It was full by late afternoon. Best of all, it had free wi-fi. All the conveniences of home! We even had a rain shower to rinse the salt off the boat.

[SeaSpray]

Hi Brent and Dixie,

I am really enjoying your posts.

Since I am just an occasional fisherman I also only take gear for bottom fishing when going to the PNW. Last year we lucked out and went to a dock not far from Gorge Harbor. There was a fish boat selling salmon at a very good price - one of the best meals of the trip!

Steve

[Discovery]

Steve,
I'm glad you're enjoying the read. I tend to ramble on. The idea of the salmon boat is a great one. They are going to open commercial fishing for salmon within the next few days--so we should be able to find a boat. I'm afraid it's going to be the only way we can get fresh salmon. Enjoy yourselves at Catalina--It is is super fun trip.

Dixie

[Byrdman]

Hey Brent and Dixie!! Keep the post coming... they are great for sure. All you guys traveling the NW are killing me.... Wish you continued safe travels....and a big ol tug on your lines.

Byrdman

[Dora~Jean]

Brent and Dixie,

Love ALL your posts, ramble on as long as you like, it's great reading your 'real' thoughts on what's happening. I guess the PULL of the PNW is just too great to get you to head South to Catalina, I understand, better not to have a schedule if you don't have to while boating. For sure. We will all miss you of course, especially your 'diving platform', we'll make do somehow though. Continue your adventures, what a great trip. This just means we'll have to double the fun when we see you next! --now, where's that chillable red stuff...

[Jim Gibson]

Brent and Dixie on M/V Discovery-

Great posts. I have really enjoyed them. Wish I was doing your trip instead of sitting behind this desk!

Have fun. I am hoping that you will finally catch that first King or Silver salmon. I know how fustrating it can be sometimes. A few years ago I went out of Saint Petersberg Alaska salmon fishing with a guide and I even caught zero with him that day. Salmon fishing is either real hot or COLD up there.

Have a safe journey,

[drjohn71a]

Brent and Dixie,

Thanks for sharing your adventures with us stuck working here in the MidWest. I have wondered if a TomCat could be cruised slowly with a single engine. That brings it closer to the efficiency of the tugs and lighter boats.
Keep on writing and have fun! John

[Discovery]

Day 18- August 2, 2006

We bid farewell to Blind Channel Marina on the ebb tide so that we could pass thru Greenpoint rapids. Even though it wasn’t the slack, we were able to go thru an hour and half early. There are rapids and whirlpools for a few hundred yards, but no problems. The commercial fisherman at Elk Bay had told that when going thru rapids, you should always stay in the white water, not the calm water. The calm water is the whirlpools and your control of the boat can be quickly compromised, whereas in the rough water you can power thru it, knowing which direction it is going. Good information to have. We worked our way down Chancellor Channel and the water was very rough. There were four foot swells with a lot of chop. We kept the speed up to keep the nose of the boat up and made it to the junction of the Wellbore Channel. We had phone service there and called Mark and Diann in Kelsey Bay to say the water was too rough and we couldn’t get there today—the forces of nature were not going to let us make that trip. We found secure mooring up the Wellbore Channel in Forward Harbor. We fished around the area and dropped our crab traps. We had a very peaceful night along with 11 other boats all on the hook.

Day 19,20,and 21- August 3, 4 and 5, 2006

We got up early and pulled the traps and made way to get to Kelsey Bay. We knew that the winds were typically lighter in the morning and the only chance of reuniting with our land-traveling companions would be if we could beat the wind. The winds were building down the Sunderland Channel and by the time we got to Yorke Island and the Artillery Islets in the Johnstone Strait the seas were at 3-4 feet with 30 knot winds. Luckily, we were coming back up the Strait and quartering the waves and while it was rough and wet, we made it. Diann had secured moorage for us on the public dock operated by the Ocean Futures Society. It was a small dock and was just below the RV park—easily within walking distance. The wind howled down the Johnstone Strait and we couldn’t even think about going anyplace in the boat. We did a little exploring around town and found everyone to be incredibly friendly and helpful. We were to get to know the area quite well, as the wind didn’t stop blowing for the next two days. During the time, we visited the Cable House Diner for a terrific lunch. This diner was built from cable that had been used in the logging industry and was welded together to make the outside walls of the building. There were lots of pieces of logging machinery around the grounds and it was very interesting—plus the food was great.
We got directions from the RV park owner on how to find Adam creek by accessing the logging roads and Brent and Mark went stream fishing for the Pink Salmon that had started running. The other fisherman that were there, were all fly fisherman and were not impressed by hip waders and spinning rods—to say the least. One would have thought we had just dropped in from another planet. Quite an exclusive group these fly fisherman are—oh well, what would you expect from a C-Brat. We always have to be a little different. Anyway, I’m delighted to say that Brent finally caught a salmon and we took that fish back to camp and cooked him right up—delicious!
Diann and Mark had a flat tire on their truck while we were there and the owner of the RV park just happened to be a Western Forest Products mechanic and had his mechanic truck at home. He brought it right over and changed the tire for them using his air tools—all at no charge. These Canadians are very nice people. The day that we departed, we left before the Oceans Society Store opened so we gave the money to pay to Diann. When she went to pay, the lady said there was no charge—just to consider it part of the hospitality of Kelsey Bay. I would definitely recommend that anyone that could stop over there, take the opportunity to do so. It’s a little rustic and there is no fuel available at the marina, but the people of the area are great.
Johnstone Strait was living up to it’s reputation. We were beginning to think that we would have to head south instead of going north to the Broughtons and Port McNeil. The morning of the 5th dawned cloudy and calm and we took off. There were still small craft advisories being issued, but we decided to give it a go, knowing full well we may have to turn back. The added attraction of the trip was coming upon a large pod of whales that were feeding and not in a great hurry to go anyplace. We got pictures and video and spent 20 minutes watching them. Then it was back to it to get up the Strait before the predicted winds started to blow. This was when we were glad to have those two Hondas back there. As we got close to Port McNeil we detoured over to take a peek at Telegraph Cove. We’ll go back there another day. We made it to Port McNeil and secured moorage in the Marina. It was very busy here because it is a holiday for British Columbia. The marina doesn’t take reservations and again we got moorage because we were here early.
We moored across the dock from a green and white 32 foot NordicTug named Restless. I struck up a conversation with the owner(Mr. Daniels) and as we discussed our boats, he noted that he had met three C-Dorys in Ocean Falls earlier this year. He was surprised when Brent gave him the names of the boats—Halcyon, Wanderer, and Naknek. He remembered Bill and El, George and Penny and Casey as spoke nicely of all. He was impressed with the boats and the good time that everyone was having. It’s really a small world.

[starcrafttom]

I really love reading your post. we traveled to desolation sound and the campbell river last year. dont give up on the fishing just yet. You can always jig for them with point wilson darts, or similar jigs. Also try mooching for them with plug cut herring and 4 to 6 once weights. There is more then one way to fillet a salmon.

[Discovery]

Day 22 and 23 - August 6-7, 2006

Port McNeill is a tourist oriented town with the marina more geared to tourists than the commercial fisherman—however, the commercial season for salmon opened on August 7th and there were many boats making preparation. One fisherman told me that they would fish for 48 hours straight and then off-load the catch to a fish buyer in a bay located down near Kelsey Bay. There were also many sports fisherman fishing for salmon and catching Chinook and Pinks. We tried our hand with deep divers, but with no luck so we went back to bottom fishing. We have had good luck with this kind of fishing and were able to catch rock fish and a nice halibut. The weather was rainy one day and sunny and nice the other, although much cooler up here. We stayed in the marina for two nights and then stayed in the harbor on the hook for one night. We shopped a little, did laundry, and restocked the food pantry. It was an enjoying stay in Port McNeill.

Day 24-August 8, 2006
Today we are parting ways with our land traveling companions for about a week. We are going to the Broughton’s and they are going to explore the west side of Vancover Island by truck. We will meet up again on August 13th in Elk Bay. We fueled at Port McNeill Marina ($397—boy! the price of having so much fun). We bought oil for changing oil in the motors and we left about noon. It was foggy and rainy with the visibility about a quarter mile or less. We used the radar and it was good practice because we could see some, but the radar assisted. Just as we left the Marina and were crossing the channel slowly, an Orca surfaced within 5 feet of the boat. No time for a picture, but what a thrill. There were several more in the pod, but were farther away. With the fog I couldn’t get pix of them either.
We went around the east end of Malcom Island into Blackfish Sound and across the tip of the Queen Charlotte Strait into Retreat Passage. Then it was up the east side of Bonwick Island and we began looking for good moorage. We tried several places before we settled on Waddington Bay. There was plenty of room for Discovery and 10 other boats. The water was a calm as glass and provided some wonderful opportunities for reflective photos. The Broughtons are spectacular—steep wooded mountains that appear to be solid rock. I can’t figure out how trees can grow where there doesn’t appear to be any soil. The islands and rock structures are innumerable with some being only several yards across and some being huge islands. The waterways are narrow in some places and up to a mile wide in others. The moorage opportunities are great if you can figure out which way the wind will blow. There are several small marinas that offer moorage and some services, and others that just offer moorage. There are lots of big yachts and very few small power boats like us. Even though the weather wasn’t great today, we still got a good first impression of the Broughton Archipelago Marine Park.

Day 25- August 9, 2006

We continued our exploration today after a hearty breakfast. We went northeast thru the Fox Group Islets and up the Cramer Passage. We took a look in Echo Bay at the Echo Bay Marina and the WindSong Sea Village. Both were very interesting and somewhat eccentric in the design. Then we went into Scott Cove and fished for awhile but had no success. From there we went up the Hornet Passage and into the Tribune Channel. We peeked into Watson Cove with it’s 300 foot “slip and slide” waterfall. It was beautiful. We went into Quatsi Bay and the Quatsi Bay Marina, but the moorage was full—those big yachts again. We crossed the channel into Wahkana Bay. It was deep and hard to find a spot for anchorage, but we did find place that was 38’ deep. It was a full moon with significant tide change, and consequently couldn’t get too near the shore. Our biggest surprise in this bay was that we saw another 255 TomCat—just like us. It had blue trim and was gorgous. We pulled up to the side of it and tried to hail the driver, but he didn’t have the radio on. When he finally looked up, he showed great surprise in seeing us. His name was Gordan Bowden from Seattle and this was his first cruise with his boat. We rafted together and chatted for some time—great guy. He was traveling alone as his wife didn’t care for boating. He didn’t know about the C-Brats website so we clued him in on that—hopefully we’ll see him at a CBGT.
There were only three boats in the bay and it was calm, but projected to blow northwest 15-20 knots. Thankfully, it didn’t materialize and we had a calm night.

Day 26- August 10, 2006

The tide was still very low when we got up. Gordan came and chatted before he left. He was going to look for bears in Bond Inlet. We were slow getting out of our moorage and before we left we noticed a black bear about 80 yards away on the beach. We watched it for awhile and before long there was also a mother bear and cub in close view. Another bear was about 200 yards away. We continued to watch them roll over rocks and eat sea critters. It was an amazing site. They were not the least bit concerned with us and came within 40 yards of us. They must not be worried about things that come from the sea. We watch for two hours and saw a total of five adult bears and one cub. I hope Gordan had as good of luck as us.
We finally left and went back into the Tribune Channel and to the end of the Thompson Sound. Two rivers enter here, but we couldn’t see any sign of salmon. There was no moorage available to protect us from the south wind. We ate lunch in the lee side of Sackville Island. There was a First Nation Settlement here with lots of crab traps but with no moorage available, we headed back into the Tribune Channel. We found calm moorage on a mooring ball between the shore and Kumlah Island. We dropped two shrimp traps and started the Honda generator to heat water for a shower—yeah!

Day 27- August 11, 2006

We pulled the shrimp traps—good success. Except that one trap had gotten caught on a log and pulled way out from where we dropped it, and it took quite a bit of looking before we located it. Shrimp on the barbe tonight! We trolled along the wall of the Tribune Passage toward the Sargeant Passage and caught a pink on the spinning rig. We went around Minstreal Island and looked at the Minstreal Island Marina, but it appeared to be closed. We went on around to Lagoon Cove and they had room for us. Bill the owner of the marina is a terrific guy and really makes you feel welcome. Stealaway was there and we got to take a tour of the boat—WOW—what a boat! I can see why the yachties like their boats. It was like boating in the most beautiful hotel room I had ever seen. There were two bedroom suites and a nice galley with granite countertops and beautiful wood floors and cupboards. The refrigerator was larger than the one we have at home. The boat is owned by Roger Deese from San Diego and he was a very gracious host and tour guide. Even though we aren’t in the same league as Stealaway, they all still appreciated our boat for its qualities.
Lagoon Cove Marina serves fresh shrimp to all the marina guests at happy hour and everyone brings a snack to share. We were limited on snacks to share but we did contribute and really enjoyed the get together. It was a great chance to visit with other travelers and swap BC stories. I would definitely recommend Lagoon Cove Marina to anyone in the area.

Day 28- August 12, 2006

We left the marina early to start making our way back towards Elk Bay. We went out the Blow Hole into the Chatham Channel. We went thru the Chatham narrows into the Havanna Channel and out into the Johnstone Strait. This is the 14 mile run that has no protection and once again the strait lived up to its reputation. There were small craft warnings and gale force winds expected in a few hours. Consequently, we put the pedal to the metal and ran at 20 knots to get to the Sunderland Channel. We stopped and rested for awhile in Blenkinsop Bay, then motored at 6 knots up the Sunderland and turned into the Wellbore. We stopped and fished along Althorp point and caught a Rockfish.
We went into Forward Harbor for the night and dropped our shrimp traps and got moored. Calm night.

Day 29- August 13, 2006

We pulled the traps and got a few more shrimp and then went out. We went thru Whirlpool Rapids, down the Wellbore and into the Chancellor Channel. The rapids were again amazing. Because of the great tidal change—16feet—and the narrowing of the channel, a huge amount of water rushes through. There are boiling whirlpools and rapids that carry the boat. Without power, I suspect you set and spin in circles and eventually be crashed into the rocks. I can surely see why Wylie Blanchett had great respect for this force of nature.
Then we went easterly on the Chacellor and around Green Point and thru some more rapids and finally we were back out into the Johnstone Straits. We still had a six mile run around Chatham Point and then a four more miles down to Elk Bay. The water was still rough, but we were running with the wind and on the flood this time. We met up with Mark and Diann after tying up behind the log boom again. We had about 100 yards of rafted logs breaking the waves before they hit us. It was really not too bad and this time we felt we had permission to stay there, as the logger had told us we were welcome there. We had stayed there on the way north. We inflated dingy and went to shore to celebrate with steak and shrimp dinner, with all the trimmings. We ate and drank too much and suffered for it later. We dingyed back to Discovery and spent a bumpy night as the wind continued to blow. Brent got up to re-tie twice.

Day 30- August 14, 2006

We decided to skip fishing today and just head down to Campell River. The winds were not predicted to improve. We got through the Seymore Narrows on the slack and the rough water was only due to the wind waves and chop. We got moorage at Discovery Harbor Marina again. This was a good time to get caught up with journaling, showering, shopping, and changing the oil in the motors. Only a few weeks left of the trip, so now we have to plan our final stops.