July 25 from in front of Klemtu

July 25, Meyers Cove in Meyers passage

We left Monckton Cove this morning intending to head inland to avoid the pending gale force winds that were predicted for late afternoon. The day was unbelievable. It was clear blue sky and no wind and the water was like glass. The updated weather report seemed to indicate the low that was headed our way may have stalled a bit and that we might be able to finish our outside route before it hit so we went for it. The outside route down Laredo Channel is beautiful. There is a number of possible inlets and protected anchorages along the way and I had all of them plotted just in case the front moved in faster than we anticipated. If the wind had picked up while we were out there it wound not be a nice place. The fetch and size of these waters is nothing to take lightly. Camano Sound is 10 miles across and opens to the ocean, Laredo sound is 5 miles wide and opens to the south west ocean swell. But the scenery is unbelievable, the islands a totally different climate and eco system. The islands are rock with a shallow layer of dirt for trees to take root so anything that grows is small and sparse. It looks more like an eastern Washington topography instead of a pacific coastal one. The outer passage is definitely worth doing if the weather is right and one needs about four days to do it right and spend some time exploring the many coves, inlets and lagoons that proliferate the area. We were very disappointed that we could not spend more time around the Anger Island area or that we could not stop there for a night as there are miles and miles of inlets to explore by dinghy. We needed to keep moving and get further south than those anchorages would allow.

We made it to Meyers Passage, a distance of 72 miles, just as the barometer began to fall and the wind changed from the NW to the SW and picked up a bit. The high cirrus clouds were forming and it looked like we timed it just right. Two large cruise ships entered Laredo Sound from the ocean as we crossed it heading towards protected waters in Meyers Passage. We found Meyers Cove just at the narrows of Meyers Passage and were able to get the anchor down and firmly set as the wind seemed to be picking up. But then the wind died and the clouds dissipated and as evening wore on it got nicer. Were still waiting for the winds to pick up which should happen sometime tonight and the clouds and rain to roll in but as of midnight the stars are out in all their brilliance and the winds are dead calm. The latest weather forecast still calls for Gale force winds but now scheduled for Friday morning into the afternoon.

We have made it further south that we thought we might, equal distance to being at Klemtu on the inside route. We might run north a bit and see Fjordlands National park on our way to Shearwater and Bella Bella tomorrow weather and wind permitting.

We had a fabulous dinner thanks to Liz of pasta, crabmeat, tomato crab bisk and fresh bread. You would pay big bucks for such a meal in a restaurant and it would be hard to beat the setting here in the middle of wilderness on the back of Glen and Liz’s boat, watching eagles soar overhead and enjoying the beautiful sun and blue sky. Tough life but someone has to do it and it may as well be us.


July 23, 2008

Ok, I have finally lost track of time. What was the last thing I posted? Leaving Prince Rupert at 130 on Monday, we actually got kicked out by the harbor master, evicted I think, apparently we overstayed our welcome. But we were ready to leave anyway. There was a 15 mph wind and current pushing me up against the dock but we got away cleanly. The outside of the dock is not a great place to be cause the dozens of fishing boats that come and go all day keep your rocking. I was more queasy sitting at the dock that I was crossing Dixon Entrance.

Leaving Prince Rupert I had to dodge dozens of gill netters and their nets. The wind had kicked up the waves and the three foot rollers made it hard to see the nets. With Sherm and Chris helping me find the identifying orange floats that mark the end of the nets we were able to avoid running over any of them. Running over a net is likely to ruin both the gill netters day and ours.

We stayed at Captains Cove at the west end of Ogden Channel. It is a very good anchorage. The guide book talks about a noisy logging operation that detracts from the site but that operation has been shut down for at least 5 or six years by the large amount of new growth on the log dump platform.

I managed to catch two nice cutthroat trout out of the river that flows in the bay but nothing else was biting. We did well with the crab pots catching 12 in the two pots we put down. Unfortunately we did not do so well with the shrimp pots, catching nothing but snails in either one.

Leaving Captains cove we headed south to Monckton inlet via Ala Passage. Ala Passage is a narrow, rock strewn meandering passage that cuts out about 10 miles of open water in Principal Channel. It is much more scenic and enjoyable albeit a bit more challenging than the open water. Glen led the way since he had electronic charts that covered the route while both my Nobeltec and C map were missing the necessary charts for this particular area. Not sure why but they are not there. Without detailed information there is no way one could safely maneuver through this pass. I had the paper charts and those helped but it would not be easy using paper charts alone. I have to admire those captains who used only paper charts to find their way around these waters, I guess were spoiled by GPS which shows where you are at any given moment within a few yards. I do keep the charts handy and follow along using chart books just in case the electrons fail but so far they have been almost flawless for both Glen and I on this trip.

Principal channel is huge. For as far as you can see to the SE and back NW the channel runs without obstruction. It is several miles wide and if there were a gale blowing either direction this would be one ugly piece of water to be on. Luckily there are numerous inlets to pull into to get out of the weather if the wind were to pick up.

Monckton inlet is another amazing place. We are tucked in a small cove on the north side of the inlet, entry through two narrow openings into a small bay, just big enough for the two boats in about 25 feet of water. We took a dinghy ride to explore the far reaches of the inlet after a dinner of crab, salad and fresh baked biscuits. At the end of the inlet is a small lagoon which we were unable to enter due to the low tide. I am not sure you could enter it even at high tide by dinghy. We also found a small creek entering the lagoon a little further down the inlet. The water coming out of the creek was 65 degrees while the water outside is four or five degrees colder. Not sure what makes the water so much warmer, a hot spring or a large shallow lake that the creek drains from, guess we will never know on this trip. In the same bay we found a man made rock dam. My guess is it is a fish trap of some kind, as the tide goes out it forms a shallow pool from which fish could be caught. No telling how long ago it was built. For sure there is not any sign of active use or any sign of human activity of any kind in the entire inlet.

The entrance to the inner bay is a bit tight. The map shows only 6 feet of water at low tide but we anchored in 25 feet and we only had a 6 foot tide that night. It does show only about 6 feet in the entrance and Glen got down to 2 feet as we left. He went a bit further south than I did, by just a few feet and came close while I saw a minimum depth of 8 feet as I left. Gotta be careful in these places and make sure you are spot on in your navigation to avoid the rocks and shallows in these places.

By the way, the gale winds never appeared.