K-Town to Shearwater
We said goodbye to K-Town and headed to Prince Rupert
Canada. When we rounded Mary Island, we
couldn’t believe it. Smooth seas! Not a ripple.
Yee Haw crossing Dixon Entrance with smooth seas! We crossed the Canada/USA at 1 PM. A couple of porpoises followed us all the way
across. I wondered; do they need to
report into customs?
We cleared customs and we were back in Canada. We stayed one night at Prince Rupert and
pushed on to our next stop. Klunuggett
Inlet. It is 5.5 miles up this bay to get
to the inlet, but it is well worth it.
We were the only one there! I sat
on the bow with a scotch and cigar listening to the waterfalls. We slept sooooo good that night. The only drawback
was the next morning. The mud on the
chain and anchor was black and stinky.
Our next stop is our favorite, Khutz Inlet. As we entered the inlet there were two whales
sleeping on top of the water. Yep we
woke them up and they were not happy. As
we made our way back into the inlet, we notice fish. Lots of fish, jumping everywhere! Kay says to me: I want to go fishing!!! Why am I NOT surprised. As we rounded the corner, the place was
empty!!! We had it to ourselves. We spent 3 days here. Lots of crab and we landed some nice
salmon!! All Chinooks (Kings) which was
a surprise. But even this has to come to
an end. We had to fire up our other
freezer with all the crab we have.
Our return back to civilization is Shearwater. I took this time to work on the water-maker
low pressure pump. I had a rebuild kit
and it was a quick fix. We were making
water again! We stayed a few days then
down to Fury Cove to cross Cape Caution.
The trip down it appeared everyone was heading back. Good thing I made reservations at Port
McNeill. Fury Cove is kind of like a
rest stop on the interstate. It was
crowded. The next morning folks were
leaving before sun rise. We left around
7 AM. The crossing was like Dixon, but
with fog. Smooth, but you were
navigating by instruments. This does not
mean everyone can do this.
Fury Cove to Port McNeill
The crossing was smooth and as we rounded Pine Island,
I noticed a boat that was heading our way.
Still a way out on AIS and Radar but still need to keep an eye on
it. As we got closer, I started to get
concerns. The traffic lanes were getting
crowded. Had a Cruise ship heading
toward us. A 171 foot sail boat had lost power 3 miles ahead of us and this
idiot that is going to cross my bow in 0-0 fog.
I call the boat crossing in front of me.
I informed him of our position and he replied he would adjust course and
cross us at our stern. OK but his course didn’t change and he was going 14
kts. I called him again. He stated he was turning then CRAP!!! He popped out of the fog about ready to
T-Bone me. I push the throttles forward
and lay on my horn. He missed us by less
than a boat length. Big Bayliner idiot and
he never slowed down. I let him know
what I thought of his boating skills.
The Cruise ship passed us on the starboard and we never saw him. We heard his horn and they heard ours. Another 2 miles the fog magically cleared and
the big sail boat restored power and we were all on our way. We arrived at Port McNeill to find out I did
not have a reservation for the next few days, but did have reservation for
September!! Figures.
Lagoon Cove to Gorge Harbor
With no spot at the Inn, this gave us a few extra days
on our schedule. Kay wanted to go Lagoon
Cove and try some more salmon fishing.
The last time we were here John (The Pairadice) and I cleaned up on
salmon. But as has been this trip the
salmon schools were out to lunch. No
fish. After a few days we decided to
move on the next day. We went out
fishing one last time. As I was facing
toward the back of the dinghy working on the downriggers, a boat went by and
when its wake hit us, I slammed my right lower ribs on the back seat which was
glued to a piece of quarter inch plywood.
I was hurting bad. God back to
the boat and I was in a lot of pain.
There are no doctors out here.
Folks on the dock were helpful getting me back into our boat. This caused us stay a few more days. It hurt bad and I was crying for a few
days. This pain would bother me for the next
few weeks. But I finally healed and can
breathe again.
As we crossed the three rapids, Dent, Gillard and
Yuculta we entered civilization. The VHF
radio had all kinds of folks on it, boats everywhere. Mmmm this is not Alaska. We overnighted in Gorge Harbor with a nice
dinner at the resort. We then crossed
over to Vancouver Island and stopped for a few days to visit our good friend
Doug of the “Overdrive.” We had a 60ft
slip waiting on us. He loaned us a car
to resupply ASD and just rested the ribs a little longer. Had a great time. Thank you, Doug,!!
Montague Harbor
We worked our way down the Gulf Islands to Montague
Harbor. Our close buddies and friends
Chris and Bridgette brought over their boat “Endless Times.” The last time we came through here we missed
them by one day. Now we have almost a
week. Montague had a lot of boats and
uneducated sail boaters. Chris and I
were sitting on our bow and watched as a junk, POS 60-70 sail boat broke anchor
and started drifting into nice motor yachts.
No one on board the sailboat. A
couple of folks on dinghies tried to stop the drift. Boats were pulling their anchors to get out
of the way. The owners finally showed
up. Two high hippy guys that had no clue
how to use their ground tackle or how to properly anchor a boat. I went out and warned them that a big blow
was coming and it might be best if they moved on to a different anchorage. They didn’t like my suggestion by getting
mouthy. I told them if they started to
drift again and toward ASD, I would sink their POS!!
Wallace Island and Ganges Harbor.
Endless Times and ASD did a lunch stop at Wallace
Island. The ladies and Buster the dog
went for a hike as Chris and I pondered how we were going to fix the world’s
problems. We then anchored up in Ganges
and talk about a LOT of boats and airplanes.
Saturday was the farmer’s market and it was a busy place. Chris and Bridgette’s son, Patrick and his
wife Jessica joined us. We had lots and
lots of fun that night. Party on ASD!!
The next day we repositioned our boats further up the
bay. Anchorage was tight, but I was able
to find a spot and Chris over and behind ASD.
We all headed into town for the farmer’s market. Chris and I dog sitters. We discussed the weather that afternoon. Environmental Canada (Canada’s NOAA) issued a
high wind warning for that afternoon. As
we had 2 dinghies at the dock Chris and I headed back to the boats to look at
weather and a possible move.
As we arrived back at Endless Times, we noticed a
Sailing Cat awful darn close to Endless Times.
As we got closer the Cat was jammed up against Chris’s boat. It had dragged its anchor across the bow and
caught Endless Times’s anchor chain. As
we were trying to keep the two boats apart the owners of the Cat showed asking
if Chris had dragged his anchor. Chris
couldn’t believe what he was hearing. His response was “no you dragged!!” It was obvious that the couple on the Cat had
no idea how to operate it. We think it
was a charter boat. He didn’t even know
how much anchor line he had out! He
stated he thought he had 60 feet out.
The water depth was 38 feet. I
was able to get under the Cat and release the two boats. We decided to move to a different location,
Winter Cove.
This little cove is awesome. It is bullet proof in all weather, hence the
name. We had a great party that
night. The playlist came out and Chris
tried his best to provide “non-country” music.
It didn’t work. We also found out
most of us could not sing. The only
thing missing was our friends John and Tracey of the “Pairadice.”
The next morning the ladies took a hike to the marine
park. We were all ready to depart around
noon. They had a 2-hour run home and we
were going to Reid Harbor in the San Jauns.
On the way we cleared U.S. Customs and I went below to start the water
maker. I turned the valve on the water
maker and it broke. Well crap! Good thing we are at the end of our cruise
and don’t need the water maker. Add
something else to the winter projects.
As we pulled into Friday harbor, we could not believe all the traffic
and noise. Ferries departing or
arriving, airplanes taking off and landing and among all this are boats
everywhere! What a mess. We will be here for two days then we depart
to Seattle for boat repairs. It will be
a 7-hour run.
