Sailing Vessel Chessie

BC September 2005 / Log Archive

Friday 9/2/05 We are in Prince Rupert on the morning of 8 August to dense (you can't see the bow roller) fog which clears a bit by 11:00 and we're off down the Petrel Channel and because of the late start we pull into Captain' Cove. Secure, secluded anchorage about 1 1/2 miles off the main channel. The crabbing is the best we've had: 17 (Karen thought the trap was fouled on the bottom), 9 that were significantly over legal size and keepers. A little fog in the morning but we're off at a reasonable hour down the Petrel to join the Principe Channel. Beautiful warm postcard day with the wind just aft of the starboard beam - we have a great sail. We enter Buchan Inlet on Pitt Island about 1830 - very nice, secure, picturesque anchorage ...a square about 200 meters on a side surrounded by extremely tall cedars about 2 miles off the main channel.

One tiny problem. We have no anchor windlass. There's no wind back in this cedar parking lot so Karen treads water while I troubleshoot. Powers good, solenoids work...the little squirrels inside the motor have elected ...at this moment..to go on strike. We rig the stern anchor (Fortress-37) and chain, and anchor with the stern rode and cockpit wench. It's not perfect but it's a safe solution. In view of the windlass problem we elect to shorten our tour of the Laredo Channel - Princess Royal Island area by two stops and make a one day - 115 mile run - to Shearwater for repairs. Most of the anchorages up here are deeper than most folks are used to. It is not unusual to anchor in 80-100 feet. A working anchor windlass is absolutely essential. The cockpit-stern anchor solution is safe but not really as much chain as I would like and it does make a disaster area of the cockpit.

With an early start, very little fog to contend with in the morning and favorable winds and tide, we're in Shearwater before 2000 tied up alongside a Knight & Carver (San Diego) motor yacht. It's a long day the next day pulling the windlass motor for shipping to Vancouver for rewind and I get some great help from the Shearwater Marina ... one of the best in this area (great Laundromat as well).

We leave Shearwater the next morning and transit the Gunboat Passage to Ocean Falls which is at the very Northern extreme of the Fitz Hugh Sound-Fisher Channel. Ocean Falls is a ghost town. Actually. There was a large paper mill there (Crowne-Zellerbach) and a small hydro-electric facility which is still in operations. The opening of the mill in the 60's brought a large hotel (about 300 rooms), motels, and a number of businesses. The town's population was over 5,000. With very little warning about 25 years ago the mill was closed. Today there are 43 full time residents. The hydro-electric facility provides power to Shearwater and a few other very small towns and is run by six folks. The second biggest industry is tourism of which the boating trade is the number one participant. The second being those who visit Ocean Falls by BC Ferry which comes in three times a week, stays for four hours and then departs. You can see Ocean Falls (there is a large dam) in four hours no problem. The harbor master here is a volunteer as our all his helpers. The moorage fees which are very reasonable go into their general fund to "fix up the town" and promote tourism. They are very accomodating to cruisers...they have even built a little club house on the public pier and they promote pot-lucks and other get togethers. And, the water, their pride and strong is said to be the purest, best tasting water in all of British Columbia. Direct quote from the Ocean Falls Chamber of Commerce.

We leave Ocean Falls and head down Fitz Hugh Sound. Toward the southern end of Fitz Hugh Sound is Pruth Bay where a short walks takes you to what is supposed to be the longest, white sand beach in Canada. About 40 miles down the Sound we see this line of Orcas..12-14 killer whales headed toward to do a starboard to starboard passage. They are in an almost perfect line with the whale closet us in line to pass with just a few feet. About 100 yards out the left-hand most whale slaps the surface (loudly) with his tail (truly) and the whole line abreast changes course about ten degrees to their left to widen the passing distance.

There's a great breeze in the Sound and we get in some good sailing until we get to the right turn point for Pruth Bay. The heavy fog has returned along the coast and we elect to pass the white sands of Pruth (we are from southern California after all and have to apologize to no one for beach's) and stay with a more direct course to Cape Caution and slightly shorter journey. We overnight at alongside the fuel dock at Duncanby Landing. The guides a Duncanby tell us that the line of Orcas we saw was a training camp for young whales. Periodically the older whales take the adolescents -3-4 year olds up the sound and teach them to hunt. When the mature whales are hunting for themselves they (evidently) go in smaller groups.

Duncanby is one of the oldest fish camps in this area, right at the bottom of Queen Charlotte Sound in Goose Bay. And this is a terrific area for salmon and prawns. Just North of Duncanby Karen caught her first Coho (about an 8 pounder) and we became addicted to prawning. We leave Duncanby where we have shared the fuel dock with a float plane relatively early in a light fog. Just outside the Bay as we turn south to round Cape Caution we go through a fishing fleet of the high season salmon catchers...40 plus skiff's (14-18'). And they are pulling them in. This spot about ten-twelve miles North of Cape Caution has a well deserved reputation as a good spot.

We overnight in Blunden, one of the oldest Indian reservations. There are remnants of long houses and a burial island complete with partially buried skeletons.A single Indian, know as the "watchman" stands guard over the Indian property and ensures that the proper respect is paid to the burial areas and other sacred places. Often the watchman will give informal tours to boaters and folks that drop by in float planes.

The following night is in the (almost) legendary Lagoon Cove. Lagoon Cove has a well deserved reputation for hospitality. Jean and Bill have owned the place for years and never is anyone turned away. It's not a large Marina but Bill stern ties and rafts all-comers. We are almost SANSTOY (SWYC) on our starboard side. Every night they have an hors d'oeuvre pot luck and Bill's contribution is an enormous platter of prawns. The night we were there there were twenty-two of all sizes from 5 countries.

Next we make the long trek down the Johnstone Strait and Discovery Passage, through the Seymour Narrows into Campbell River. The Narrows is one of those absolute must transit at slack water. The current in Seymour Narrows runs at max flood-ebb 11.5 to 12.0 knots and is frequently over 8.0-9.0. All sorts of eddies and rapids. You want to have it and you want it at slack water. We had it boring and it was just fine.

We enter Campbell River and our anchor windlass is repaired and is waiting there for reinstallation.

Dee tells me that there are new pictures on the web site. Please have a look. www.svchessie.com

All the best - Richard & Karen