A
morning high water slack through Peril strait also meant for an early departure
from Sitka so we topped off the water tank and off we headed in the early
morning drizzle, our destination being Appleton cove. Just as we were entering
the cove I heard a rather muffled MAYDAY RELAY (relayed distress call) for
Olympic Mist, Mike’s boat. We only heard that it was in distress and did not
know where but given the transmission quality it was some distance away. We
spent the night wondering how Mike was and if he managed to get a rescue sorted
out.
We
set off in the morning heading for Ell Cove on the east side of Baranof Island.
As we left Peril strait and entered Chatham sound we picked up an unlikely cell
phone signal and took the opportunity to call the coastguard to find out the
status of Mike’s distress call. They informed us that he was towed into Craig
having suffered a damaged propeller, which Mike later told us that it was done
by a crew member running over a log a few minutes after he left his watch. All
was well.
The
fishing boats were out in force as we neared Ell Cove and we wondered if we
could get into the tiny cove but as luck was with us we had the place to
ourselves. We took the dinghy and Kayaks down and the girls went exploring and
Jude and I went fishing. We caught a few good sized rockfish but missed a large
Halibut which snapped the line on the rod, probably just as well as it would
not have been much fun trying to get a large halibut in the dinghy.
A 37
foot Nordic tug came into the cove with 3 young men on board and there was
sudden interest from the girls which was later dowsed by the fact that they
were considered too old for any further flirtatious actions. Jude and I however
invited them over for drinks and supper on our way back from fishing and we
spent a fun evening chatting to them.
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| Beautiful Takatz |
Our
next destination, Takatz, is one I have been anticipating since the beginning
of this trip primarily as it is one of the favorite haunts of one of our
friends in Friday Harbor, Keith. It certainly lived up to all that had been
portrayed. We explored the inlet, its islands and river seeing natural springs
bubbling up from the sea bed and riding the river rapids down in the kayaks.
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| Kayaking up the river in Takatz |
We
dinghied over to two other boats for drinks, Gillian and David on Carousel and
Jim and Peg on Nightfall. It turned out that Jim and Peg had also lost their
dog to a Cougar in Blunden Harbor in 2009. We explored a small island which
seemed to have some sort of abandoned hunter’s camp.
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| Much needed hot spring bath in Warm Springs |
We
had all been looking forward to spending some time at Warm Springs, long soaks
in the natural pools and even more extensive ones in the hot tubs conveniently
provided and the top of the dock. It’s always a pleasure to come back here and
we always meet more interesting people. We met up again with Rob and Tania on
Highland Mary, having first met them in Taku harbor, and the girls got the tour
of their boat which they found far more spacious and luxurious than Sarita.
We
decided to skip Red Bluff bay as our grizzly bear quota had been filled
especially with the girls encounter and instead decided to negotiate the fabled
“Rocky Pass”, an intricate and supposedly challenging narrow and shallow body
of water linking Frederick sound with Sumner strait, which incidentally would
save us quite a few hours of motoring. We made our way through a group of
islands and decided to stop to try and catch a halibut which we did, bringing
it to the surface and into the net but our luck shattered at that point and the
decent sized fish snapped the line with one flick of its tail and shot out of
the net along with quite e few expletives from my mouth. It’s just not meant to
be. It reality we should have used the gaff and not the net.
We
anchored at the top of Rocky pass waiting for slack water the following morning
to make the transit. Whilst waiting a went kayaking to see if I could find some
Geodes which we had been told existed in the area but it turned out to be quite
a big area with quite a few bears so foraging for rocks on the beach on my own
was not probably a good idea.
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| Humpback whales bubble feeding outside Warm Springs |
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| Sailing down Sumner strait |
In
the morning we nervously departed and entered the pass. Guide books say this
should only be done with some local knowledge and stories of groundings were
vividly described. In reality with modern technology such as GPS chartplotters
and better markings the pass is quite easy to transit. We did it at near high
water slack and had about 3 knots of current against us as we went through
Devil’s elbow. Safely outside in Sumner strait the sun came out and enough wind
enabled us to get the sails up and make a steady 4-5 knots towards Exchange
cove for the night.
A
beautiful dawn sky greeted us the next morning as we made our way to Meyer’s
Chuck, a small SE Alaskan community and a free dock to tie up to.
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| Dawn departure from Exchange cove |
Our
prayers for Salmon were answered soon after we arrived when Sterling, a young
Alaskan pulled up at the side of our boat with a load of salmon. He asked me if
I wanted one and I said sure, what do you want in return? Cash was not king
here but half a bottle of vodka secured us a king salmon, some Pink salmon and
a guided tour of the area whilst Sterling carried his automatic 12 gauge bear
gun. Guns and Vodka make great bed fellows?? Sterling was very kind and showed
us some of the local sites, taking us out to a house on a small islet with an
amazing view of the Strait. We watched as a group of yachts sailed into the
harbor in sunshine.
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| Burnt out tree in Myer's Chuck |
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| Chillin on the deck |
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| Meyer's Chuck |
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| Meyer's Chuck |
Having
fuelled up, stocked up and done some laundry in Ketchikan we departed on one of
the longer passages on this journey. The forecast was for 20-25 knots from the
NW, i.e behind us but it did not eventuate until we were only a couple of hours
from Prince Rupert. Having checked into customs we dropped the anchor again in
Pillsbury cove and had a peaceful night before we went to town the next day to
stock up on products that we were not allowed to carry across the border.
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| Sailing across Dixon entrance |
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| Sailing across Dixon entrance |
The
girls explored the delights of Prince Rupert whilst Jude and I did the
shopping. I was also very pleased to find a second hand lens in replacement for
the one I drowned last year. It was a fraction of the price of a new one.
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| Prince Rupert Rowing and Yacht club |
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| Prince Rupert |
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| Check out the size of that floating debris! |
Departing
in the morning with the flood tide taking us up Granville channel the wind God
blew on us and we raised the sails and sailed most of the way to Lowe Inlet.
with 25-30 knots behind along with the current we made good time although it
was a challenge to keep the sails set correctly in a channel. Its great to turn
the engines off and sail downwind. Much better that heading into 25-30 knots of
wind like one boat we saw going the other way.
We
dropped the prawn trap on entering Lowe inlet and then the anchor in the same
spot as we had on the way up. From the anchorage we could see Verney falls and
I could see Salmon leaping so I decided to go and see if the salmon run had
started. We all went and watched salmon leaping all around the boat, one nearly
jumping into the dinghy.
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| The girls doing morning yoga exercise |
The
following day we departed for Bottleneck inlet making more headway south to
drop the girls off in Vancouver on the 4th August. We were joined in
the anchorage shortly after our arrival my “Spirit of Freedom”. I dinghied over
to say hello and have a chat. It turned out that they know Kirk and Kris on
Linger Longer.
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| Bottleneck inlet |
Troup
Narrows was our next destination which lived up to our expectations of
delivering some crab and with water warm enough I went for my first swim of the
season. There were two motor boats in the anchorage but with plenty of space no
generators could be heard.
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| Ocean falls |
Ocean
Falls is a place we intended to go to last year but we never made it. As it
turns out it was a perfect destination for everybody to explore. Being the old
site of a town that once held 5,000 people and now pretty much abandoned it
provided many places to explore including an old hotel, church and high school
all in a pretty bad state of repair. Some of the old houses could be entered
and they had the feeling of a place suddenly abandoned by a plague or other
natural disaster.
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| Abandoned buildings of Ocean falls |
Jude
and I are now turning our minds to Mexico, our “intended” winter destination
which requires travelling south down the Pacific West Coast of the US. There is
quite a bit to do in preparation and we will have to get the boat hauled out to
have its bottom painted. The list of things to do is growing the more we think
about it. The idea of spending winter in warmer climes is appealing but at the
same time we have grown to love the Pacific North West and will no doubt miss
it just as much.
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| Pruth harbor beach |
Pruth
Harbor offers everybody the chance to stretch their legs on beautiful sandy
beaches, which are a rarity in the PNW. The girls even donned their swimsuits
and went swimming in the sea whilst Jude, Katya and I went for a walk along
with another lady we had met in Ocean falls. On the way back to the boat we
were given a large fillet of Ling Cod which came from a 76lb fish that had just
been caught. Ling Cod is or favorite fish we have decided and great for fish
and chips! Jude cooked it up and it was devoured in silence by all onboard.
We
crossed Queen Charlotte sound in calm conditions, again the weather predictions
of favorable sailing winds failing to appear but at least it was calm and not too
rock and rolly. Blunden harbor was our destination and this is where the people
we met in Takatz lost their dog. We saw the commemorative sign they had created
and this made us think of Luda, our dog, who we lost in Forward Harbor two year
ago. We explored the old Native American settlement and its midden but failed
to find any of the trading beads we had heard other finding.
Lagoon
cove is probably our favorite rural marina in the Broughton islands not only
because it offers very friendly service but also that it has the opportunity to
walk on a number of trails. The evening pot luck run by the marina allows you
to chat to other boaters and eat the delicious prawns provided by the marina.
We stayed for two days and on the second day our friend Kirk and Kris joined us
and we caught up on the adventures we had both been having since we had last
seen each other.
We arrived
back in Friday harbor on the 8th August. It is good to be back here
and see our friends again. Katya immediately arranged a sleep over with her
friend Marina. Now the hard work begins in getting the boat ready to depart for
San Francisco and onwards to Mexico. We also have to tidy up our land affairs,
deal with storage, cars, post, bills, buy Katya’s 6th grade school
curriculum and much more. 
