Author: zoebird2005

We’ve been here now for 5 nights. But we’ve accomplished quite a lot. We did a few other boat maintenance tasks while we waited for the new switch.

The switch was installed this morning. It seems to be working. Jim started the generator this afternoon and ran it for quite a while.

We’ve done 2 loads of laundry. I washed the watch berth cover because when Lilly peed in her crate some of it missed the pad. So both the crate and the cover are very clean and smell free.

We went out for a lovely walk one day and found a little garden called Doggone Rock Garden. A dog and cat memorial garden.

Jim also changed a seal on the boat steering wheel today.

We are planning to cast off tomorrow morning! Wish us luck!

We left Steveston on Saturday. First a stop at the fuel dock for a fill of diesel.

We motored down the Fraser River. It was pretty calm in the river and we were going with the tide so we were moving at a pretty good clip.

It got a bit rolly in Georgia Strait and Lilly did her usual – what I call the 3 Ps.

I keep her in her crate when the seas are rough. Easier for me to manage her.

We got in to Bargain Bay – just south of Pender Harbour – about 3:15 pm. There was a brief concern about the Depth Sounder on arrival. It lost the bottom. Just when it is needed. There was a fair amount of angst about that happening. The same issue occurred in 2020 and both the transducer and receiver were replaced at that time. That issue seems to be resolved now.

When we got up on Sunday morning and decided to run the generator we had an issue with the selector switch. A brand new switch that was just installed in the fall. That had been tested and was functioning. So – More angst. And we hauled the anchor and have returned to Steveston. We need a functioning generator.

It was a good trip back for Lilly. Pretty calm. She spent most of the trip sleeping on the pilot house watch berth.

So here we are. Who knows when we will be leaving. But it won’t be tomorrow!

At the end of last year we were seriously considering selling the boat.

The issues with the skiff were very disappointing and the pain Jim was having with his hip was making any boat maintenance almost impossible.

In December Jim got a new hip and is very pleased with the results and is once again able to crawl around the engine room pain free. Although it seems he might need a new knee soon! But that is for another day.

The next thing is we decided was to get a new engine for the skiff. No more trying to fix – repair – tune up – fiddle around with that old miserable pain in the neck of a skiff engine. We were able to get the new engine ordered and delivered before all the tariff silliness.

Jim has been very busy with cleaning and maintenance of the boat this year now that he is pain free. The boat looks great !

Key was very disappointed when we told him we were thinking of selling the boat. He said we should not sell it but keep it for him. He will take it when he’s older. We have been bringing him to the boat since he was a toddler.

We spent a couple of nights on the boat with Key. We didn’t leave the dock but we had a great time. And we took the skiff out for a test run up the river.

We have decided to leave when we are ready. No fixed date to panic about. And we will go north at the pace we want. We have decided to go around Vancouver Island this year. We enjoyed the trip around two years ago but the skiff problems prevented us from enjoying some of the areas like The Broken Group.

We came to the boat last night. Usually we come early in the day but we were not able to get to the boat until after 7 pm. And the tide was high ! That was such a bonus ! Usually we are unloading the car and the tide is out as far as possible! Last night the ramp was almost level with the high tide !

We are not leaving today. The wind is still up a bit. But we will organize and settle in and the plan is to leave tomorrow morning

We have been home for almost a week. For some reason I have been slow to find my land legs! And so has Lilly I think. So we’ve have been taking it easy.

We had a good motor from Squirrel Cove to Bargain Bay.

We say some Humpback whales right in front of the boat.

Just like when we’re were heading north in June we stayed in Bargain Bay instead of Pender Harbour. It’s was nice and quiet with only one other boat at anchor although all the personal docks were busy. It’s not full like Pender Harbour.

The trip to Steveston was ok. It’s a long straight line that is often windy and choppy. It was blowing only 10 knots but it was a bit choppy. Lilly seems to be completely resigned to traveling in the choppy seas by this point and slept the whole way.

There were a lot of boats traveling. It was a busy weekend. August 10th.

There was a bit of a concern there would be a fair amount of debris in the Fraser River with the land slide that had occurred on the Chilcotin River a few weeks ago.

Just after entering the river. The Sandheads light ship in the background. The river was definitely muddy but no debris at all.

I took the photo of the Garry Point Fish and Chip shop for Key who had proclaimed last year that they made the best burger he had ever had in his life!

We got to home dock about 3 pm. And of course dinner from Steveston Pizza

We were gone for almost 10 weeks. It’s nice to be home. It’s a lot of work to pack up and move everything – cat included- back home. When we take things to the boat when we are getting ready to leave it usually spread out over a period of weeks as Jim goes back and forth. But we spend the night on the boat and then the next day packing and loading the car and get home about midday.

We have been busy unpacking and doing laundry and restocking the shelves at home. A trip to Costco was needed !

And we had tickets to a Robert Plant and Alison Kraus concert on August 14th at the Queen Elizabeth theatre.

It was amazing !

So I will close with that. A little snippet of the concert.

It’s hard to head home. It’s sad to know the trip is coming to an end. As we head south we are going back to old familiar places so there isn’t such the sense of adventure. We usually travel everyday rather than staying at a place for a few days.

But we are usually ready to get home. See the kids and the grandchildren. Be home. See friends. And we have other plans for the summer.

We left Lady Boot Cove with plans to motor in to Kwatsi Bay. One of our favourite little marinas in the Broughton’s. It was sold. And the owner we knew Max had died shortly after he sold it. We were not sure what had become of the docks and the property. So we were going to go in and check it out.

As we were starting to head in a boat was coming out. We contacted them on the radio. They said there were boats anchored up in the bay. But the docks were dilapidated and not useable and the marina was not operational. We decided we didn’t want to go in and see the marina in that state. We would rather remember how it was. And remember Max and Anca and their hospitality. And the only time we’ve seen a Cougar !

Jim wanted to try to fish for more prawns after the bust in Booker Lagoon. There was a bay close to Minstrel Island that we have had very good luck at when it came to prawns.

So we motored down to Tsakanu Bay. It is a very large bay. We’ve stayed at the head of the bay before. We dropped the prawn pots and motored in around the corner to the head of the bay.

It was a busy and windy spot !

And the next morning as we were leaving we pulled the pots. Four pots and 57 prawns ! So again a bit of a bust. Poor Jim! Prawning has been a disappointment.

The next night we stayed at the dock at Minstrel Island.

The wind was coming up in Johnstone Stait over the next couple of days. And the tides were not in our favour. The dreaded – wind against tide !

We were debating whether to leave at 1 AM and have favourable tides or wait until the morning and tough it out. Common sense prevailed and we decided driving all night in the dark was too much for us old folk !

We left early the next morning in daylight. And as it turned out there was very little wind. So although we were beating against an Ebb tide part of the way we didn’t have the wild waves.

We were hoping to go to our other favourite dock – Shoal Bay – for the night. But the dock was full. A bit of a disappointment. We ended up anchored in Bickley Bay. It is just before Shoal Bay. We’ve never been there before and it was a lovely little spot. Very quiet although the wind came up in the evening and it was blowing a gale in there. We left at 6:10 AM to catch the slack water at the Dent Rapids.

Even at almost slack water it can be a bit of a washing machine.

And next stop was Squirrel Cove

It was sunny and hot. Something we haven’t had for 2 months.

Jim changed the some of the sacrificial anodes on the boat – the propeller and bow thrusters. which required swimming under the boat.

Lilly lounged in the sun

I went for a paddle.

And it’s a busy spot ! Something we are not used to either !

First night after Port McNeill we stopped at Mound Island for one night. It was a foggy motor in the morning.

The sailboat we saw was one of the Pacific Star’s we saw last summer leaving from Bull Harbour the same time we left.

The next stop was supposed to be Monday Anchorage in the Broughton Archipelago Marine park but it was occupied by sailboat. So went to Joe’s Cove which was close by. We’ve never been there before.

It was a bit breezy where we anchored. We should have gone in a bit further but we were only there for one night.

We couldn’t decide what we wanted to do next. Jim wanted to try to get some more prawns. He remembered that someone had mentioned that Booker Lagoon was really good for prawns. The problem with Booker Lagoon is it had a very narrow entry and needed to be entered on slack water. It was just 8 miles and we were ready to go for the morning Low Water slack. The tide was very low and it was very foggy. No photos as I was on bow watch !

We saw a Kadey Krogen Whaleback in the Anchorage. We chatted with them a bit on the radio. They left on the afternoon high water slack. I didn’t get a photo of them but when they were leaving they took a photo of Jim and I waving to them. They sent us the photo just after they left. The joys of Starlink!

Another Kadey Krogen came in as the first one left. They are a couple we have met before. We chatted with them quite a bit by email and text message. They were just returning from a trip to Alaska. They enjoyed Alaska but said it was cold and wet. That’s the summer weather up here ! Anything north of Port Hardy is mostly cold and wet ! And now it’s foggy.

They pointed out some bears on the beach.

We put down the prawn pots. It was a bit of a bust. Mostly humpback shrimp and maybe 3 prawns. So we only stayed one night in Booker Lagoon.

We left late in the day on the afternoon High Water slack. Again – not sure where we wanted to go. At least it wasn’t as foggy on the way out as it was on the way in. The fog usually lifts in the afternoon.

We ended up going into Lady Boot Cove about an hour away.

A very lovely little spot !

Lilly spends most of her time in Jim’s chair. As soon as he gets just she jumps into the chair. He usually kicks her out. But he’s sort of given up now !

We are getting closer to home. Next stop is Tsakanu Bay and another try at getting some prawns. And then Minstrel Island.

After Codville Lagoon we headed back to Pruth Bay for a final walk on the beach before leaving the north coast.

We had a nice long wander up and down the beach. The day was warm and sunny. I did some writing in the sand. Leaving our love on the beach for the waves to carry away.

We motored down to Fury Cove where it was rainy hard and foggy. But not too windy. There we put out the stabilizers and prepared for an early trip the next morning.

The next morning the crossing of Cape Caution was fairly uneventful. There was a tiny bit of wind in the first hour or so and the. It died down to just a light breeze. And Fog!

We saw a number of Humpback whales in Browning Passage as we were getting close to Nigei Island. One was very close to the bow of the boat and required sudden stopping! And they are hard to spot in the fog !

We decide to try a new anchorage – Port Alexander – on the south side of Nigei Island.

It is a spot that fellow Krogenite’s – Lynn and Neal have mentioned they have enjoyed anchoring in. And it was lovely. We felt we could easily motor in with the poles out rather than the tight squeeze into Clam Cove on the north side.

There is a trail that goes from Clam Cove to Port Alexander and a number of years ago we walked it with Jenny. Coming out at the beach at Port Alexander.

The next day we motored down to Port McNeill and spent two nights at the Port McNeill Harbour Authority docks. North Island Marina was full.

It was the usual – laundry, groceries, garbage drop off and water. The weather was mostly cool, grey and foggy. And it seems I didn’t even take photos !

We are working our way south and positioning to cross Cape Caution on Monday.

We stayed at a lovely little anchorage in Meyers Passage between Chappell Inlet and Klemtu. Just off to the side of the narrow part of Myers Passage.

Next we went back to Klemtu. We bought some fuel and food and filled up the water tanks.

Back to spend a night in Clothes Bay where there we had a beautiful full moon.

We spent one night in Wigham Cove where we saw a fellow Krogenite.

Next stop was back to Ocean Falls.

Where in typical Ocean Falls weather it rained – hard ! We did manage to get out for a couple of decent walks about town between downpours.

One of the semi local residents – Bayhr Davis – was in town and Jim asked for a bit of advice about the skiff. He did give Jim some ideas to investigate.

Next back to Codville Lagoon for some prawns.

And I went out for a lovely paddle on the kayak ! So nice to get out ! No photos though.

We stayed two nights in Codville and pulled the pots twice. We got about 200 prawns. Jim was happy.

That was the first day.

We enjoyed a bagel with avocado and prawns for dinner

And the next morning we pulled the pots again and along with a couple of starfish we also caught a couple of Red Irish Lord Rockfish ( so says Jim )

No Red Irish Lords were harmed ! They were tossed back and happily swam away.

Hawk Bay was our first anchorage after we left the Gardner Canal. In the morning we motored out into Squally Chanel and we were greeted by whales- everywhere !

They were in groups of 3-4 and using their pectoral flippers to feed on herring. The flipper flap. I’m not great at getting good video. According to Jim they are really called flippers on whales – not fins. Fish have fins – whales do not.

Pretty cool to see. We probably saw 10 or more small groups of humpbacks as we were traveling through the channel.

We are heading to spend a couple of nights in McMicking Inlet. One of Jim’s favourite anchorage in the central coast. It has a mountain – and some small beaches. We used to take Jenny to the beach there.

Jenny loved run on the beaches here. One time she jumped off some of the rocks and twisted her knee ! That was an event ! And a trip to the vet at Port Hardy.

Previous years we anchored further in as there were always boats anchored up in this spot. I liked the spot further in but Jim always wanted to anchor in this little bay in the inlet. It was lovely.

We spent two night there and then went to Chappell Inlet next. Another favourite spot where we would go and take Jenny.

When we went into Chappell Inlet – before the actual inner basin to anchor there is an area that is quite deep and we dropped the prawn pots.

We had a much better catch this time ! On of the trap had opened up because a strap broke so we could have had more. Jim was very pleased.

We had fought off the horseflies – or maybe they are deer flies – to drop the prawn pots on our way into the bay and then early in the morning after pulling anchor we pulled them up. With much disappointment! One Measly prawn and 33 humpback shrimp! I didn’t even take a photo. But it was as dinner. And the horseflies were not yet moving around so much when we pulled the pots.

So a few photos as we motored up to the end of the Gardner Canal and then back to Chief Matthew’s bay.

You can’t get very close to the top of the Gardner Canal because it is very silted up and shallows up very quickly.

It is a beautiful area. Just stunning mountains that are 1500 – 1700 metres high. With snow and glaciers all year long.

The head of the canal is about 14 Nm from Chief Mathew’s Bay and not suitable for anchoring.

It is hard to describe how bad the horseflies were. Even this video gives you only a small glimpse of how many hundred were out there trying to get us the moment we went outside. Thank goodness for our screens. We just dropped the anchor as fast as well could and ran back inside.

There was a small boat that came in and anchored up for the night on the opposite side of the bay. There was a little skiff of some kind that went up the river. There is a small caving on the shore right around the mouth of the river. We motored by it the next morning. There was a sign on the cabin but we couldn’t get close enough to red the sign.

It would have been really interesting to take a little trip up the river – except for the horseflies and the skiff not working.

When we left the next morning we took a motor up Kemano to see the docks at the big power site there.

Docks at Kemano