Tuesday, July 16, 2013

DESOLATION SOUND TO THE BROUGHTON ISLANDS AND PORT MCNEILL.


DESOLATION SOUND TO THE BROUGHTON ISLANDS AND PORT MCNEILL.

Ginny and I have been happily married for 50 years , have 2 sons and 6 grandchildren. We have been avid boaters since the mid 1970's. We have sailed in various parts of the world making 'bareboat' charter trips in the Washington and Canadian San Juans and Gulf Islands, Maine,the British Virgins, South Pacific's Moorea and Tuamoto's and New Zealand. We owned and raced a J-24, Laser, and cruised a Newport 30 before buying a long range trawler in 2003 and cruising the waters of the Pacific Northwest and the 'Inside Passage' of British Columbia to SE Alaska for the last 10 years. After first owning a 2000 Selene 47, and 2002 Selene 50 (both named 'Ina Marie', we now, in the 'bell lap' of our boating days, own, operate and thoroughly enjoy 'Ginny C' , our 2007 Selene 42.


To see our locations click on this text

Friday, July 5, 2013
On our last night at Gorge Harbor we spent the evening with Dennis and Karen Green from Yakima aboard their beautiful Nordlund, 'Estiva'  It was fun catching up on all my great years growing up there.




We left Gorge Harbor docks in beautiful weather for our 22 nm cruise down Okeover Inlet where we tied up to the local government floats about 4pm.  We have come here to have dinner [5 minute walk up the hill] at the Laughing Oyster, our favorite restaurant in this cruising world.  Tomorrow is our 50th anniversary and we celebrate it with another wonderful meal at this lovely overlooking Okeover Inlet.

  




Saturday, July 6, 2013
We have a short day today so we sleep in a just a bit before heading to Prideaux Haven in the heart of Desolation Sound just 14.1 nm. north.  We want to arrive before low tide in order to take the tender to our favorite oyster gathering and clam digging spot 3 miles away across Homfray Channel.  Our timing was perfect.  We had the boat on the hook and had gathered a 5 gallon bucket of oysters and a 1.5 gallon bucket of manilla and little neck steamer clams by noon, as well as setting our prawn traps in 285 feet of water before returning to this spectacular spot to enjoy the rest of the afternoon and evening.  We sipped on Monbalziac and nourished ourselves on foie gras, a gift from my sister Mimi for the big 50th.  We pulled and reset our traps early evening and were rewarded with 86 prawns before retiring.






Sunday, July 7, 2013
We awoke early to clear weather anxiously awaiting the arrival of Tucson friends, Rich and Judy Speers on Kenmore Airlines float plane service out of Seattle. While waiting I took 53 more prawns out of the trap and reset. Their plane buzzed the cove right on time about 11:30 am and I jumped in the tender to run outside the cove where they were in the process of their water landing and taxiing up to where they could climb aboard from the plane’s pontoons


     




      



Ginny had lunch waiting when we putsied back to the boat.  After the safety, man overboard
orientation and our ‘systems intro’, most of the rest of the afternoon was spent unpacking and organizing their stateroom, getting to know the boat, doing some chart orientation with them about the scope of the trip. 


 After Rich helped pull another 120 plus prawns we went for a swim (the water is 73.8 degree Fht).  Ginny and Rich kayaked, before we all enjoyed a happy hour champagne ‘cocktail cruise’ around all the pretty inlets of Prideaux Haven.  We ate a few oysters, followed by a great dinner.  Tomorrow is off to the Octopus Islands and we have to leave early to make the 30nm run and time slack current at 11:30 am to get through ‘Hole in the Wall’ rapids. 





  






















 


       



Monday, July 8, 2013,

We are off the hook at 6:30am, and head up through beautiful Waddington Channel and out into Raza Passage with a good 2 knot tidal push in our favor arriving at Hole in the Wall almost 60 minutes before slack current. Rich takes the helm and steers most of the way. 

   


We approach slowly and it seems to look fine in terms of tide rips, whirlpools, and overfall rapids so we go for it about 45 minutes before slack without incident figuring we have about 3.5 knots of current to help us. Once through we are right at the entrance slot to Waiatt Bay where we anchor, eat lunch, show the Speers “the cabin” and enjoy the rest of the day in this beautiful spot.







 Late afternoon Judy notices a tree branch lodged in the port stabilizer. Rich and I try dislodging it with the tender only breaking it off so I spend 30 minutes in the water in a wet suit getting the rest of the job done. UGH!! Cold- not close to 73.8
I am again not liking what I see with the House Bank batteries after three days on the hook.  They are not holding voltage after way more time than necessary on generator charging and with very little capacity discharge. 

Tuesday, July 9, 2013
Up in the morning early again. We exit the slot and take Upper Rapids right at slack, and head down Okisollo Channel for Blind Channel Resort where we will stay before taking on the famous Johnstone Straights which have been blowing Gale Force for 4 days. They are supposed to start calming down today and should be OK tomorrow. If they do not we will have to wait a day.

Our house batteries are worse overnight even after 2 hours of charging just before bed. Conditions logged.  Another day of warm weather and, gorgeous scenery as we pass Chatham Point and cruise on up Nodales Channel and Cordero Channel and on into the docks at Blind Channel.  We stock up on the important things at the store- wine and beer-- eat lunch and take a beautiful hike into the wilderness up to one of the largest Cedar trees in the world.

      


                                                                        

Wednesday, July 10, 2013.
Our last ‘up early’ day, off the docks at 5:45 to time Green Point Rapids and Whirlpool Rapids to enter the Johnstone Straights via Sunderland Channel, the ‘back way’ and shorter way.  Also, leaving early because normally winds die down overnight and then build back to ‘gale force’ late in the day. 
Rich takes the helm all the way to Havanah Channel. 






We we pick up a couple of 30 plus gusts after Green Point in Chancellor Channel, hit Whirlpool 2 hours after it’s slack with 4.5 knots going with us and have no trouble. As we enter the J-Straights at the end of Sunderland winds are reported 22 at Fanny Island, definitely dying down.  Seas are a 2-3 foot breaking wave on our nose with 2 knots current going against it.  Lots of spray but no green water. Really not great but not bad either so  We decide to head on.  Only15 nm till we are out of it and if it gets worse we will duck out at Port Neville Bay just 6 nm away. By the time we get there wind is below 15 and seas are calming by the minute so we proceed smoothly bast the Broken Islands and on into Havannah Channel, through the channel markers at Chatham Channel , through the ‘Blow Hole’, and on into Lagoon Cove Docks before lunch.  We hook up to needed shore power, I communicate my issues to Olympia and Port McNeil Fuel dock who will replace them when we get there on Monday. 
Rich and I set crab traps and prawn traps and we return to enjoy pot luck prawn Happy Hour, a tradition of Lagoon Cove and it is early to bed.  It is sad not to have its owner, Bill Barber with us. He is and will be missed.







 
              
















Thursday, July 11, 2013

Our 47 mile day from Blind Channel to Lagoon Cove behind us and no more rapids to time, we sleep in, have a leisurely breakfast and are off the docks at 11 am to pull the crab prawn traps and head for Kwatsi Bay, 24.7nm north. We go bust on crab but 50 plus nice prawns await us.  I buy two big 2 plus pound crabs from a commercial crabber who stops to refuel at Lagoon’s fuel dock.  The run to Kwatsi as always is stunning and Anka and Max are there there to greet us in this heavenly fjord. It is crab night on MV Ginny C. I cook them up and what a feast we have.

       



      


Friday, July 12, 2013
After Anka gives me my annual hair cut on the seas, while Judy and Ginny take off in the kayaks for a great time.  We are off the next 23.4nm to Stoppard Bay for a day of tranquility and another stab at catching crabs.  The Speers are great boat crew and Rich especially is enjoying running the boat through our navigation courses almost all the time we need someone at the helm.  After a short stop for a picture at Lacey Falls it is on into Stoppard for the night. Ginny and Judy are off in the kayaks to explore again. 


       


Rich and I are the losers..... bust on crab again.  All my ‘sure ‘ places for several years have been bust for the last 2 years.  The locals are telling us the Vietnamese commercial crabbers have cleaned out the entire area.




Saturday, July 13, 2013

Metropolis Day  in the Broughtons.  We are for Pierre’s at Echo Bay’s famous weekly Pig Roast, just a nice 2 hour run. This is totally the ‘other end of the barbell‘ after our night of solitude having beautiful Stoppard to our selves.  What a fun time. Had dinner with Joe and Connie Farina cruising on Shaman from Yakima.  Docks were chuck a block full as they usually are.  110 people feasted on the kpig... not an ounce was left for pickings.


    









Sunday, July 14, and Monday, July 15, 2013

Clouds burn off about 11 am and we are off on our 22nm run to spend our last night with Rich and Judy in Turnbull Cove.  We spend another  beautiful day cruising and enjoying this favorite cove.  Judy, Rich and Ginny hike up to Huaskin Lake.  I stay back to catch up on this blog.  We end the day with Rack of Lamb feast and a game of Pitch.



       




We are off the anchor at 7:45 and on into Sullivan Bay for the Kenmore flight at Noon and then Ginny and I are off to Port McNeill to deal with and hopefully solve our battery issues and head north. Ginny prepares a great brunch and packs a couple of sandwiches while we wait for Kenmore to come in and take our crew away. It has been a fun week which has flown by almost in a blink of the eye.