Port McNeil to Nanaimo

8/12/13

Port McNeil

Buck and Lisa joined us this afternoon after a very long drive from Lake Roosevelt.  They arrived about 3 pm so we stayed at the dock and let them relax and get settled and catching up on news from home.

The rain is back, of course just in time for Buck and Lisa.  First rain in 6 weeks.  Go figure. It is badly needed up here and the locals are happy. 

Buck and I went out fishing for a couple hours to a spot the locals said was hot hot hot.  They said you could not keep the Coho off the hooks.  They could not find ours apparently. 

8/13/13

Sullivan Bay

We left for Sullivan Bay with Jim and Pete.  Today was very nice with broken clouds and quite warm.  We crossed Queen Charlotte Sound in calm weather, not a ripple to be seen.  Sullivan Bay is cool.  A floating city with street names like Hootchi Lane and Halibut Avenue.  It was not very crowded so we did not really need the reservations that Jim made for us.  New owners have done well with the place and are very friendly.  At 5 we had happy hour and appetizers on the docks with the other boaters and live music from a local musician.  You get to hit five golf balls at a floating tee each evening and if you get a hole in one you get your moorage paid for that night.  No one came close. 

They are catching halibut right off the docks there, on guy caught about a 20 lb. one while we were there.  We tried but no luck.

8/14/13

Claydon Bay

We ran a few miles to Claydon Bay and dropped anchor.  Pete tried and tried to get his anchor set but he just furrowed the bottom for a couple hundred feet and never got it to grab. He tried multiple times so I gave it a try and got a solid set on the first try.  He came over and side tied to us. 

We had dropped shrimp and crab pots out of Sullivan bay so we headed out to check them.  No crab but we got several dozen shrimp.  Pete’s shrimp pot had no shrimp but several small scallops.  We reset the crab pot in Claydon Bay and setback the shrimp pot since is seemed to be in a good spot. 

Rain is back as well as some wind.  It blew pretty well for a couple hours in the afternoon as forecast  

Buck and I tried fishing for a couple hours without luck.  He did catch a dang dogfish, the first of the trip.   We thought for sure it was a halibut but not to be.  We explored up to Turnbull Cove and looked into Roaring Rapids but decided not to give it a go, which was a good thing because on the way back we spun the hub on the prop.  No Debt had been getting slower and slower as time goes on and I just thought it was growth on the bottom slowing us down.  When we started we could do 29 mph and plane with four people on board.  Now we can’t get on plane with 4 people and were down to 16 mph with 2 people on board.  I tried cleaning the bottom at Fury Cove by beaching it but I could not get to the bottom. 

I replaced the prop and we are back up to 20 mph top speed so it’s better than it was.

8/15/13

We checked the shrimp pots and “holy cow batman”, the pot is full.  We counted almost 200 in this one pull.  Only one crab this morning but he was a bigun. 

We explored Drury Inlet by dinghy.  Very cool place.  Stopped at Jennis Bay and walked around the docks.  The owners were great to talk to.  Not much there, no power and no restaurant but nice docks and they have a nightly potluck get together on the party dock.  Definitely need to return and spend some time exploring the area.

We moved on today to Cullen Harbor which is just outside of Booker Lagoon.  We put the shrimp pots inside and tried fishing outside and Buck got one nice sized Rock Fish.  It’s been raining off and on fairly hard this afternoon, no wind however.

8/16/13

I got up early and headed for Port McNeil to drop off Buck and Lisa for their long drive home.  Calm crossing, we spotted a large pod of dolphin just off Alert Bay and watched them for a while.  Picked up fuel and water for the rest of the trip home. 
Pete called; he pulled the pots this morning, 350 plus shrimp in this one pull.  Ye ha!  Magic Pot is still doing its thing.

It’s blowing about 30 right now on our nose as we leave Port McNeil to meet up with Pete and Linda in Goat Cove near Mamalilaculla, an old abandoned First Nations village. 

The wind was blowing right into the cove we planned on using so I moved 2 miles to the same cove we used on the way up.  It is next to New Vancouver, a first nations reservation village. 

8/17/13

Woke up to a very nice day.  We decided to go exploring and started with a stop at New Vancouver.  Nice docks and the village is very new looking.  They are building a new long house with some spectacular totems out front.  We were met by a wolf, yes a real wolf named, Get this Wolf.  One of the villagers met us and told us that we could not visit the long house, as it was not finished yet.  Tours were available for a price but we were not offered one.  He said moorage was available at 1.00/ft. and there is power on the docks.  The walking tour was $15.00 and the tour of the long house was $20.00, but again he did not offer us that deal. 

We then motored over to see if we could find the Monks wall on the other side of the peninsula but we had the directions wrong and were unable to find them.  I should have followed my instinct and we would have found it.  When I went back and read the directions I now know where it is. 

We then went over to the abandoned village of Mamalamacula, which is not it’s correct name but that is what the charts show.  Again there is a sign on the beach offering tours for 10.00 from the watchman at New Vancouver but there is nothing to see.  The trails through the thick berry bushes go nowhere and what is visible is in very poor condition. 

We saw a black bear swimming from the village to a small island and got a picture of him crawling out on the shore.  Later we saw him again as he swam from a small unnamed island to Pearl Island.  We got some good photos and video of him as he swam and crawled out on shore.  Very rare sight.

We pulled anchor and headed for Lagoon Cove where we anchored for the night and put down a shrimp pot as well as crab pots.  Picked up gas for No Debt and the dinghy that should last till we get home.  Tried fishing without any catching.  Probably a good thing because the Canadian rules on processing fish are nearly impossible to understand much less comply with.  

Woke up to a miserable morning, wet and foggy.  I went out and pulled the shrimp pot while Pete got the Crab Pots.  One measly crab and about 100 shrimp. 

We were underway by 730 to catch the flood tide up Johnston strait.  As it turned out there was not much flood.  The ebb overpowered it and we never did see much in the way of a push until right at Whirlpool rapids.  We got up to 13.5 knots going through at peak flood, which was supposed to be about 7 knots.  There was no real issue, a bit of turbulence on the down side of the rapids, a lot of boils and small whirlpools but no big deal for us.  Watched a sailboat enter right after us however and he got tossed around a whole lot.  Turned him sideways and watched his mast sway back and forth about 40 degrees.  Had to be a wild ride for him.

Once through however we went back to about 8 knots all the way to Green Point Rapids and again it was no big deal to run it at peak flood of 7 knots. 

We anchored in Cordero Islands at the far west end and stern tied to a small island.  All was calm when we left to go visit Blind Channel Resort for ice cream and to catch up on email.  When we returned however the current was racing around the island and it appeared that this was a poor choice for an anchorage and decided to up anchor and move.  I went to the east end of the cove and stern tied to another island and it was a far more pleasant spot with no effect from the currents and well protected from most winds. 

Johnstone Strait was once again no big deal with no wind and virtually no waves. We were escorted for about 10 minutes by a huge pod of porpoise, which diverted from their course to intercept us and play in our waves. It is just spectacular to watch. 

The rains stopped about mid-day and it turned out to be a beautiful day.  We sat on the back deck at 7pm with Pete and Linda for drinks and appetizers.  Up early for a 12-mile run to Dent Rapids by 0900 hours. 

8/19/13

Woke up to another wet foggy rainy morning just like yesterday.  We pulled anchor at 0800 and headed for Dent Rapids 12 miles away.  We hit the rapids right on time for an uneventful run through Dent and Yuklata rapids.   The entire run to the rapids was through layers of fog and heavy rain.  As we exited the last rapids we could see blue sky and sun to the SE and by the time we reached Gorge Harbor it was sunny and warm again.

We have now put the biggest crossings and the tidal rapids behind us on our way home and have only to get across the Straits of Georgia and Juan De Fuca and all the difficult parts of this trip will be behind us.  We have travelled almost 3000 miles in four months, seen 24 bears, 9 of them grizzlies, some with cubs, (that does not count the dozen we saw at Anan or the half dozen at Kake), to many eagles and whales to count and huge pods of porpoise.  We have caught our limit of salmon, 12 coho and pinks and 1 King and 4 halibut, done well shrimping and have seen and experienced places that few get to see in a lifetime.  Glaciers, icebergs, waterfalls and amazing sunsets were an every day event. We shared it with family and good friends and have stories to tell and places to return to.   This has been a great trip and one for the record books.  Can’t wait to get back and explore places that we only cruised by and spend more time exploring the Broughtons and areas north to Prince Rupert. A whole new area to spend time in closer to home.  

8/20/13

Gorge Harbor was great.  The afternoon was spectacular, warm and sunny..  We anchored in 60 feet of water and Pete Side tied to us. We explored the harbor, Shark Spit and Whaletown by dinghy.  Whaletown is not worth a stop.  Nothing there whatsoever.  A dock and the closed up store.  Nothing else of interest.  

Pete and Linda took us to dinner at the Gorge Resort Resstaurant and we had a fabulous meal on the deck.  

The wind came up that evening and blew fairly hard out of the SW and was a good test of the anchor.  Once again it held quite nicely and was a bear to pull up in the morning.   We got an early start and headed down to Sandy Island Marine Park and anchored.  Once again just a beautiful sunny day.  Spent the afternoon on the beach and relaxing on the back deck.

8/21/13

Left Sandy Island for Nanaimo about 8 am and had a smooth run most of the way.  Wind picked up a few miles out of Nanaimo but it was a following sea and was not an issue.  We got a spot on the outer dock at the Nanaimo YC but there was no room for Pete so he has a spot down in town.

Laundry again and a bit of shopping.  Tomorrow were going to take a train excursion to the other side of the Island, Port Alberni.  Should be interesting.