Whale Breath

This is the second of two new posts - please read "Seabird Sans Sam" first

Oh Deer - Echo Bay, BC

Houseboats - Echo Bay, BC

Echo Bay BC

Another salmon - Phillips Inlet, BC

Dinner?

Pacific white-sided dolphins - Queen Charlotte Straits, BC

Ahhhhhh - Eucott Hot Springs, BC

Seabird @ anchor - Eucott Hot Springs, BC

Sue driving the boat - Queen Charlotte Straits

Beautiful Eucott Hot Springs, BC

Eucott Hot Springs BC

August 30

Greetings from Queen Charlotte Straits. I’m writing this as we’re on our way to Echo Bay. We are hoping there will be internet access there. We had internet at Ocean Falls but unfortunately it was so slow we couldn’t post the blog.

 We left rainy Ocean Falls (they average three times as much rain as Seattle) on the 26^th of August, and headed to Eucott Hot Springs. We arrived there in the early evening. It was chilly and (still) rainy and we eagerly headed over to the hot springs. It was a really neat place. Some people from Ocean Falls had built it up with a very nice soaking pool at the waters edge. The setting was very wild & the temp was just right…HOT! We ended up spending two days and had long soaks morning, afternoon and night each day. One night in the tub, while chatting with Dwight from Edmonton, we spotted a black bear across the harbor in the meadow. There were three other boats in the harbor & we ended up meeting everyone at the springs sooner or later. It’s the first time we were at an anchorage and met everyone. They were all super nice, friendly and Canadian. Not a lot of Americans head up to this hot springs as its way off the typical route if you’re just headed north to Alaska.  It’s been nice to discover these out-of-the way, quiet places. We’re also grateful to Dwight who helped get us out of a jam one afternoon. We had taken our 13ft whaler over to the springs. When it was time to leave we realized the tide had gone way down & the whaler was becoming grounded. We pushed and rocked and dug out the sand behind the boat but we weren’t making much progress as it’s a pretty heavy little boat. The more time we took, the lower the tide got. Just when it looked like we were going to have spend the next five hours in the tub (not an altogether unpleasant thought) Dwight kayaked over & with his extra muscle, we were able to push the whaler into deeper water. We also caught some prawns at the entrance to the anchorage and made some tasty coconut shrimp for dinner – yummy!

The next morning we left the hot springs & headed toward Queen Charlotte Sound. On the way we stopped & trolled for salmon & Pete caught a 13-pounder! This was very exciting as it’s the first salmon we caught without Sam’s expertise and help. Pete reeled it in and I netted it. We grilled it for dinner that night and it was some of the best tasting salmon we’ve had so far. Not sure what makes one better than another but there does seem to be a difference. Pete also caught a monster rock cod which makes for tasty fish and chips and fish sandwiches. Our bounty from the sea has been good!  As for me, I’m getting better about looking into the eyes of my dinner a few hours before I eat it though I still can’t help with the cleaning & gutting part. That is all Pete.

We spent one night in Fury Cove – our only repeat visit so far. It has a nice beach with lots of diverse clam shells, muscles, driftwood etc on it. Unfortunately you are unable to eat anything due to Paralytic Shellfish Poisoning (PSP) warnings for the area. We’ve seen that in a few places so, though we have come across abundant shellfish, we are unable to eat any of it. That night as we ate dinner, we listened to Obama’s acceptance speech. It’s been great to have satellite radio on this trip. As we haven’t seen a national newspaper in some time, or watched any TV, it’s been nice to forget about the outside world. Though it is nice to tune-in when you want. And to rock out while your underway is fun.

Last night we stayed at Blunden Harbor. We expected a lot of boats to be there, as it was the first day of the long holiday weekend & it’s a large anchorage with many coves. We were pleased to see only one other boat & it was very quiet. During dinner I thought I heard a strange noise. I opened the window but didn’t hear anything further. A few moments later I noticed a flock of birds on the nearby rock all flew away. I decided to look around. Suddenly a large blow came from near the rock & a good sized minke whale surfaced. We were really surprised as this was quite a shallow anchorage – less than 30 feet deep in most places. The whale was feeding & continued cruising around the harbor. At one point, it came up about 75ft from the boat. It was amazing. He also made a strange bellowing roar when he fed that echoed off the rocks. A few moments later there was a horrible, fishy smell in the air. Pete informed me that it was whale breath. Phew, it stinks! He explained that it depends on what they’ve been eating as it will smell bad when they’re feeding on fish. Later that night, you could hear the fish jumping all around the boat. When I shined a flashlight into the water you could see thousands of them. This morning elephant seals came in & were feeding. Must be a tough life for a bait fish.

As I write this, something else exciting happened. A school of Pacific white-sided dolphins swam by. They were going in the opposite direction and there were just a bunch of them – must have been over a 100. Looks like they were feeding & a few minutes after they passed us by two more whales went by. It’s a very cool feeling to be on the boat, perhaps writing a blog, or doing the morning dishes when suddenly wildlife pops up around you. I love it!

So now we head to Echo Bay. Yesterday was the first day in eight that we had good a break in the rain. We were actually able to air out the boat & dry some very damp things. We’re hoping to hit a laundry & grocery while in town. LC is lying next to me all happy & warm in the few rays of sunshine she can find. Haven’t written much about her lately because she’s doing fine. She hates mornings (have to physically remove her from the bedroom) when we start up the engine. But once we are under way, she comes out and spends the rest of the day lying on our laps or on the couch. Her favorite time is dinner time when we are having either salmon, cod or prawns. She just can’t get enough of any of those. Now if only we could teach her to clean dishes…

Until next time…

Seabird Sans Sam

Free Hats? - Ocean Falls, BC

Tennis anyone? - Ocean Falls, BC

Damn! - Ocean Falls, BC

Abandoned Apartments - Ocean Falls, BC

Northern Adventure, BC Ferry 

Ocean Falls Sign

Ocean Falls Main Street 

Ocean Falls Fire Department

Kayaks in morning light - Lowe Inlet, BC

A nice prawn catch - Lowe Inlet, BC

Reachin' for the fish - Lowe Inlet, BC

Grizzly going for salmon - Lowe Inlet, BC

Dinner! Lowe Inlet, BC

Just a little closer - Lowe Inlet, BC

Griz goes for it! - Lowe Inlet, BC

Black bear checks out Pete - Lowe Inlet, BC

Got one! - Lowe Inlet, BC

Leaving Prince Rupert

August 25

Greetings from Ocean Falls BC -  beautiful but strange place. It was a pulp mill/ company town back in 1912  - even had the largest hotel on the west coast north of San Francisco in 1952. But then the mill closed and the company bulldozed about 90% the town and now you can freely explore what is left. There are still some large industrial buildings (fish cannery, power plant, etc.), and some large abandoned stores and apartment buildings. Also still lots of misc. stuff sitting around. Kind of looks like the entire population just dropped what they were doing and left town. Feels like walking around in some kind of apocalyptical future world with no people left. The surrounding wilderness is slowly retaking the town. There are a couple of fixed up houses sprinkled amongst the abandoned ones and the current population is about 40. For some reason there are also random items lying about, like a table full of baseball hats (see photo) & another one w/old shoes & boots. They appear to have been collected from the abandoned buildings and organized by the remaining residents. We haven’t figured out why yet. There is a huge dam/hydroelectric plant up the road which is old, but still operational and sends electricity to Bella Bella & Shearwater. Suprisingly, the town is set up nicely for visiting boaters (although there aren’t too many here) and there is internet service at the boathouse so we get to update you on what’s been going on since we left Prince Rupert. If you want to see more about the town check it out at www.oceanfalls.org.

Sam had to fly home from Prince Rupert so he could be ready for the start of school.

We saw him off at the Prince Rupert Airport, which is on an island across the harbor from the town. You have to take a bus, which drives onto a small car ferry for the ride out to the airport. There is just one commercial flight out in the morning and the airport staff rides out with you on the bus, so it was all pretty relaxed. This was Sams first time flying alone and he had to change planes in Vancouver and go through US Customs in SF. He did very well. Only hang up was a two hour delay in Vancouver so he was in the airport there for about five hours. We haven’t gotten any calls from Canadian Airport Security since then, so I guess he didn’t cause too much trouble there.

The boat feels very empty without our 3^rd crew member. Sam really did a lot to help in the operation of the boat and onboard equipment (esp. the fishing gear) while he was here and he is definitely missed.

Our first stop after Rupert was Lowe Inlet. Another boater that we have been bumping into many times on our way north (Seas N Ticket) told us this was worth the stop. So we anchored the Seabird and kayaked over to the waterfall. It was high tide and there were hundreds of salmon all around us. They were jumping & swimming all around us, trying to make there way upstream to spawn. Unfortunately, no fishing was allowed at the falls – we could have literally scooped them out of the water by the dozens with a net. The best part was when they jumped up the waterfall. Amazing to see these little creatures power their way up the falls. They were jumping 6 and 8 feet in the air, sometimes thrashing their way up the rocks on either side of the falls in their frenzied efforts to get upstream. Unfortunately for them (but fortunately for us) there was another creature that knew where the salmon run and, sure enough, we finally saw our first bear. It was very entertaining to watch him try & catch a salmon. He would hang over the side of the rock, with a paw in the water trying to grab one. Occasionally one would jump out of the water, miss the waterfall & land on the rock right in front of him. Usually he would catch those but sometimes they would bounce back into the water. Anyway, when he finally got his fish, he would disappear into the woods. About 10 minutes later another bear would come out & start the fun again. The next morning we saw three bears standing around the falls waiting for the tide to come up – 2 black bears and a grizzly. We were the only ones in the inlet (the other 3 boats that we had shared the anchorage with had left) so we had the whole place to ourselves for the day. We were able to paddle our kayaks over to within 20 feet of where they were feeding. They looked hungry so we didn’t get too close. One time we were kayaking over & I was rushing over to this one spot to take a picture of a bear by the falls. I was so busy concentrating on him that I didn’t see the bear on the rock right in front of me. Good thing I know how to back paddle quickly. The bear did not seem afraid of us, in fact he stood his ground and looked right at us while sniffing the air to see what we were. It was a bit scary. Luckily they seemed more intent on catching salmon then trying to get to know us better. Pete & I went ashore at a grassy clearing to the side of the falls where there is a trail to the lake above the falls. We went about a hundred feet into the forest and then got kind of spooked. The path was heavily overgrown and led right past where the bears were hanging out and feeding. We thought it best not to get too close to them on their turf – especially with a big grizzly hanging around. Also there probably wasn’t a soul around for about 20 miles. We chose to skip the hike and explore the area from the water.

We ended up spending two nights at Lowe Inlet. The sun was out & it was quite nice. Every once in awhile we would jump in the Whaler or the kayaks & go watch the bears eat. Good entertainment. Aside from the black flies that attacked Pete, we thoroughly enjoyed it there.

Our next couple of days were purely travel days. The weather has been gray & rainy so aside from an occasional stop to fish (Pete caught two nice rock cod) we’ve been busy heading south. We have a new appreciation for the “inside” aspect of the inside passage here. Big storms can blow down from the Gulf of Alaska any time of the year. As we traveled over the past couple of days behind the coastal islands, it has been really bad on the ocean side, with storm warnings (40-50kts) and big seas (to 18 feet) on the outside coast, just a few miles from us. We listened on the VHF radio yesterday as the big BC Ferry, Northern Adventure (see photo), responded to a Mayday call from a sailboat who was caught out in Hecate Straights and had lost his rudder in a gale. We have had some wind and a lot of rain from the last series of storms, but we are mostly sheltered behind the small islands and channels that make up the coastline here. When it does start getting bad inside, you are never more than an hour or two from a protected anchorage.

Ocean Falls is a bit of a detour for us but we also heard (from Seas N Ticket) about a hot springs a bit further up the inlet. Might have to go check that out tomorrow.

Until next time…..

Salmon & Whale Tales

Sam caught lots of bottom fish including this sole

Sam's first coho salmon - 18 pounds!!

Reflections in the water - Bakar Inlet, BC

LC is loving the seafood life - loves prawns, cod & salmon equally

Two beautiful coho salmon - Lucy Island, BC

Happy family at Fury Cove Beach, BC

Kayaking in the mist at Fijordlands Park, BC

Seabird bow sunset at Oliver Cove Marine Park, BC

Ice Cave in Fijordlands Park, BC

Loaded barge passing us near Bella, Bella - note trailers on top

Jumping whale - was amazing to watch!!

Humpback whale flying!

Humpback Whale Jumping

Our first prawn catch - only caught 1 this time but caught over 100 later

First catch of the prawn trap - a baby octupus

Bishop Bay Hot Springs, BC - a nice hot soak was so great!!

Boardwalk hike to lake - Namu Harbor

Broken boardwalk - Namu Harbor

Pete with a huge lingcod

Middle of nowhere - the sideways triangle is our boat

August 13

Life has been busy aboard the Seabird. Since leaving Pt. McNeill on August 4^th we have only stopped in one town (Shearwater) briefly, for provisions. We have seen more birds & whales than houses. No cell service, no internet, less people, more wilderness. Very cool.

After leaving Pt. McNeill, we had to cross Queen Charlotte Strait, the last ocean crossing we would have until we head home. We anchored as close as possible to the crossing in a place called Miles Inlet. It was very narrow & remote & kind of spooky. This inlet was typical of the anchorages here in the glacially carved northwest: deep to the shore and very narrow. We anchored in the middle of a 200 foot wide channel (our boat is about 50 feet in length) in about 70 feet of water with a stern line to shore to keep us from swinging and grounding on the granite shoreline. Our anchoring skills have definitely improved over the past couple of weeks. The highlight was after dinner (Halibut on the BBQ) we were sitting in the galley chatting when suddenly we heard a strange noise outside. Sounded like boiling water and it was very loud. Turns out some salmon were chasing smaller fish and they were jumping to escape. Sam grabbed his rod & tried his best but he couldn’t catch any of the salmon. We were awakened throughout the night by the sound of predatory fish and their prey thumping against the hull of our boat.

The next day we made the crossing early and the winds and waves were low. Around lunch a whale started to blow in the distance. We slowed down to take a look and got a great show. Two whales headed in our direction & one of them started to jump. Kept at it for a long time & it was incredible to watch (see photo). Later that day we saw a whale flapping its tail on the water but it was pretty far away.

The next day we headed north & ended up at Rocky Inlet, a little anchorage near the abandoned town of Namu. Namu used to be a cannery with a population of about 800 but its been shut down since the mid 80’s. There is a little dock where most people tie-up, a gift store & caretakers who watch over the place. Near the town is a lake & they built a boardwalk to it. Some of the boardwalk is in pretty rough shape but a lot of it is still there (see photo). We were told there were signs of bears in the area so we made lots of noise as we checked it out, We did see bear scat near the berry bushes along the path, but no bears. It was a cool little hike. Sam & Pete went fishing in the harbor and caught 2 nice rock cod and a greenling – all good eating. We also got a big tip while there. Pete bought a prawn trap in Pt. McNeill but so far we hadn’t caught any. Other interesting things would get into the trap (see photo) but no prawns. We met a couple in Namu who informed us that we were using the wrong bait & gave us prawn bait for our trap. Apparently, the fish heads we were using attract Dungeness crabs which, since they can’t fit into the trap, wait outside the cage and eat all the prawns that show up. Since then we’ve had much better luck. So far our biggest haul has been 16 prawns. We’ve had shrimp cocktail and last night I made coconut shrimp – yummy! We spent two nights at Rocky Inlet as we were the only boat in the anchorage & we enjoyed the privacy.

After leaving Namu we headed east to visit an area called Fijordlands. (imagine cruising through Yosemite if the floor of the valley was 500 to 1000 feet of seawater). Steep, misty, tree-lined, waterfalled strewn mountains greeted us at every turn. We anchored at the end of an inlet called Kynoch Inlet. It was very remote & very pretty. We spent two nights there also as we wanted to explore it with kayaks (see photo). The highlight was exploring a snowcave (see photo) – very cool! Salmon were jumping all around us in this inlet but Sam still had no luck catching one.

The next day we headed to Bishop Bay Hot Springs. We stopped briefly along the way for a quick fishing stop & caught more rock cod and a 20-pound ling cod (see photo).  Had to use the big net for that one which was cool. Got to the Hot Springs around 7pm & to our surprise, though there some people hanging around on the docks, no one was in the hot springs – we had the place to ourselves. The water was the perfect temperature & had no sulfur smell. It was definitely a fun stop.

Then we headed up Grenville Channel to Baker Inlet. Along the way we stopped to troll for salmon but still no luck. While trolling, a couple of whales put on a show for us. One of them was jumping and the other was flapping his flippers on the water. Then they started tail slapping. They were pretty close & we were able to hear the slap & thumps as they did this. It was incredible. There were a lot of fishing boats around watching also. No one seemed to be catching fish, but we enjoyed the diversion.

Later that day, two things happened with the boat. First, we slowed down to watch a small whale who was swimming close to the shore. We had seen another whale further out but hadn’t seen it for awhile. Suddenly our depth alarm went off. We were in 250ft of water but it showed 12ft. It went off for a few seconds & then suddenly stopped as it showed 250ft again. We surmised that the second whale swam under us to join the first on the other side of our boat. A strange feeling. The second thing that happened wasn’t as fun. Pete was at the wheel, Sam was reading and I was sautéing an apple at the stove. We saw a large tree floating up ahead & Pete was steering away from it. Suddenly there was this tremendous loud thump and the bow of our boat kicked up as we slowed from the impact. My heart stopped. I couldn’t imagine what had happened. Luckily Pete was quick & slowed the engine & took it out of gear. We had hit a deadhead. These are trees that float vertically, not horizontally. You usually don’t see them, maybe only the tip will stick out at most. This one had been completely submerged – not much you can do to avoid those. We went out back & sure enough there it was – big log about 20 feet long – I meant to take a photo but I was pretty shaken. After a few moments it sank back down below the surface and was gone. Pete checked all the holds & luckily there were no leaks or cracks – gotta love that heavy mid 70’s fiberglass construction Whew!!

And so now we’re here in Baker Inlet. While anchoring we interrupted a bald eagle diving for its dinner and then we looked around and saw hundreds of moon jellies floating around. It is supposed to be a good prawn area so the boys put out the trap yesterday. We decided to spend two nights here but unfortunately the weather isn’t cooperating. We haven’t seen much sun since heading into the Fijordlands area and today is raining pretty steadily. We’ll see what happens…

August 18

We were all set to leave Baker Inlet and awoke to a beautiful, sunny day. Decided to spend the day airing out the boat, kayaking, fishing and lounging in the sun. Good thing we did because the next day we awoke to pea-soup fog. Had it most of the way cruising into Prince Rupert & then suddenly it lifted about a mile south of the town. Makes tying up in a new city much easier. As it was my birthday, we treated ourselves to nice dinner in town. It was great.

The next day we walked around the docks & asked people where the best place to fish for salmon was. Sam only had a couple of more days left with us & still hadn’t caught any salmon. One guy told us about a place near Lucy Islands, about 1.5 hours away. He said the fishing was good there & we were bound to catch a salmon that day. So, in very thick fog, we headed out. Pete maneuvered us through a very narrow & shallow passage. Could barely see a thing, used instruments the whole way. Once out of the passage, the fog dissipated & out came the sun. A few hours later Sam screamed “Fish On” & sure enough he reeled in his first salmon. It was a beauty (and tasted great too!). Had another close call later that day – as we were reeling a large one in, it got away just as we were getting the net under it. Heartbreaking. Luckily, the next day we went out & trolled around Stephens Island & caught another one. It bucked & thrashed & jumped & I thought it was going to get away too but Pete got the net under it & hauled it in. We’ve had a couple of other close calls but no more salmon. In the meantime we’ve been feasting on grilled salmon, salmon on bagels w/cream cheese & salmon burgers.

Tonight we head back to Prince Rupert so Sam can catch his plane home tomorrow. An“unusually strong low pressure system (storm)” is dropping out of the gulf of Alaska tonight so will probably be hiding out in Rupert for a couple of days. After that, Pete and I head back south and will slowly make our way back down the Inside Passage. Hope to visit some places we missed on the way north & plan to spend a little more time relaxing.

PS - We caught 2 more salmon on Sam's last day - yay!

Will write again then… FYI we havn’t had cellular service up here for a while. Thought we would at least have coverage in Prince Rupert, but turns out this is a pretty isolated area and they have there own local service for cell service and it doesn’t work with our phones. Internet coverage is pretty sketchy up here too. If you need to reach us, try voicemail and email and we will catch up as soon as we can. Communications should improve as we head South.

Go Fish!

Sam's first catch, Rock Cod - Gorge Harbor, BC

Sam's biggest catch so far, Halibut - Farewell Harbor, BC

Sam at the bow

Cruise ship passing Farewell Harbor, BC

Sam & Pete & a 20lb Halibut - Farewell Harbor, BC

LC checking out the scenery

Large sunstar caught in fish trap - Pt. McNeill, BC

Thar she blows! - Blackfish Sound

Anchored @ Hardy Island, BC

Face in tree - Berry Island, BC

Tree Shroom - Berry Island, BC

Chillin @ at the Octupus Islands, BC

August 3rd

Greetings from Port McNeill on Vancouver Island. We pulled in yesterday to get supplies because we're heading across Queen Charolette Strait tomorrow & large towns will be hard to come by in the future. This will also be our last ocean crossing until we head back south.

Sam joined us in Vancouver and got into the groove quickly. Our first night out he caught some bait fish at Hardy Island & has used them to catch bigger & better things. Our next night was in Gorge Harbor. It rained pretty hard so I made some lasagna & we settled in to watch a movie. The next day (after some morning fishing, see photo) we went thru our first pass.  To get thru these passes you have to wait for slack tide. These passes are very narrow and if you try & go thru them while the tides are high you will be fighting an 8-14 knot current. We hit it just about right & aside from having to avoid some indecisive sailboats we cruised right thru. 

That night we anchored by the Octupus Islands. Highlight was seeing an Osprey catch a fish & then being chased by a bald eagle. 

Next day we went thru another pass & then headed up Johnstone Strait. It was a long day as we battled wind, logs (some as large as telephone poles, others just stumps) and glare. Hit a couple of logs but luckily, no damage. As we got close to our stop, we spotted an Orca welcoming us to our evening anchorage. The area is called Blackfish Sound & it had lots of wildlife in it. The next day while driving I saw a Bald Eagle pick a salmon out of the water. 

We anchored in Farewell Harbor & I spent the morning exploring Berry Island while Sam & Pete fished. They caught some sole & then Sam caught a 20pd Halibut. It was huge & put up a fight but he reeled it in like a pro & as I drove us to Pt. McNeil, they cleaned & filleted it & vacuum packed it. Yummy!

So now as I finish this up, Pete & Sam are getting the boat ready for our next leg. Not sure when we will have internet again, but we'll post another log as soon as we do.