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.