Codville Lagoon to Shearwater

This will probably be our last blog entry for a while. Once we leave here tomorrow (probably) we won't be around towns or villages that have wifi again until we arrive at Prince Rupert in two weeks or so. From here we'll head out Seaforth Channel to turn by Ivory Island light and spend the night in Oliver Inlet. Then, it's around through Oscar inlet and Findlayson Channel to Klemtu Channel where we'll overnight at Clothes Cove just before Klemtu. From there we'll head up Tolamie Channel to Green Inlet and Horsefly Cove for the night. From Horsefly Cove we'll have a long day to Bishop's Hot Springs where we'll probably spend at least 2-days soaking away the stiffness and soreness from the past week's travel. From there it's up Grenville Channel to Lowe Inlet for the night then, if we can catch the tides right we spend one more night in Grenville Channel before making our way to Prince Rupert.

I'm comfortable telling you all of this as, this is the highway most traveled on the Inside Passage. Other than the places we're stopping, there's not much else to distract us. The Channels are long, straight, and without crossings. Since the islands on either side are so tall and the sides so steep, you as the boat-driver, just put it in gear and try to keep from falling asleep from boredom.

An interesting thing happened this morning. I was up at 0630 making coffee for the day's travels. It was already pretty warm (70's) so I had the hatches thrown open as well as the sliding window over the stove and also, had the companionway doors open. As I waited for the water to boil, I heard this loud buzzing sound. I looked up and what should I see? A hummingbird had flown into the cabin and was hovering above the galley. He banked this way and that til he finally, turned and flew out into the cockpit and was gone. This was the second time a hummingbird has visited us. When we were heading out the Straits of Juan de Fuca last year in the fog a hummingbird stayed with the boat for quite a while before heading off into the fog and (hopefully) shore.

We left Codville Lagoon at just after 0800 and headed for Lama Passage. Just before we got there I heard the Alaska State Ferry Columbia make a 'Securite' announcement that they'd be heading down Lama Passage past Bella Bella. We were going to meet in Lama Passage. I worked on the Columbia for two seasons with the US Forest Service giving classes to Elderhostel travelers. This was my ship!

Here we were, two great Alaska vessels meeting in the wilds of northern British Columbia! I was jazzed. (See pic above).

We arrived here in Shearwater just before noon and pulled up to the fuel dock to try (once again) to top up the tanks and cans. This time, the attendant let us know that he was closing in about 10-minutes for lunch. We tied up there anyway and took to Sibs out for walkies. Like sailors everywhere, as soon as we reach an new port, they want shore leave. Sonny has even begun to let out a lusty howl once the anchor's down to let the locals know that a 'new dog is in town.'

We walked up into the woods just past the Shearwater boatyard and found a Geocache located near an old WWII bomb shelter. A quick, fun find and, we were back to the fuel dock in time.

After fueling up we anchored then, went ashore in the dinghy to do some shopping: dog food, tortillas and, wifi access. That, pretty much brings you up to date with our journeys.

David and Christine and Sibs
SV Raven
Juneau, AK

Currently lying: Shearwater, BC

Port Hardy to Codville Lagoon

Well, we left Port Hardy on 6/1 at 1512 heading for the fuel dock to top up the tanks prior to attempting Queen Charlotte Sound. We pulled up to the dock only to have the attendant inform us that "there's no fuel." There's a power outage that's affecting the entire top of the island. No electricity from Port Hardy to Port McNeil. We have enough fuel in jerry jugs on deck to get to Shearwater with fuel to spare. Just that, Shearwater's a resort and very expensive to boot. Well, that's why we carry 25 gallons on deck. Just for emergencies like this. We fill up the water tanks anyway and head out for God's Pocket in Christie Passage for the night and hope for continued good weather tomorrow.

Got up at 0500 6/2 and the weather forecast was good. Had a quick breakfast and headed out Gordon Channel to pass west of Pine Island. Seas calm, wind light, so far, so good. Turned northwesterly to pass west of the Storm Islands, seas pretty calm, wind light and on our nose, still: so far, so good. We raised the main and sheeted it hard while cheating the traveler to try to grab some of that wind on our nose. At the very least, we'll get some stabilization from having the main up there.

Headed up towards Egg Island, very light swell from our forward quarter, light wind on our nose, seas rippled - still good! We're almost there! After passing Egg Island, we started feeling wind coming down Fitzhugh Sound. Again, right on our nose. Seas became a little lumpy but still no noticeable swell action. Even though it makes for a very long day, we decide to bypass Safety Cove and head on up to Kwakshua Inlet and Pruth Bay. We dropped anchor there at 1811 for a total crossing of more than 13 hours! No wonder we're tired. This was a great day for wildlife watching. We passed a group of about 30 Dall's Porpoises, spotted 2 black bears along the shore of Calvert Island and watched a humpback whale slapping his pectoral fin right off the entrance to Kwakshua Inlet.

We expected to make a short day on 6/3 and just head up to Sea Otter Inlet and drop the anchor after only about 4-hours of traveling. Sea Otter Inlet is just under half-way to Bella Bella/Shearwater where we expect to get on 6/4. As it turns out, we're feeling strong and rested after our easy QCS crossing and decide to just continue on to Codville Lagoon where we'll have an easy 4 or 5 hour trip into Shearwater. The last time we were in Codville Lagoon we were pinned down for 4-days by deluging rain and gale force winds. We went stir crazy and were desperate to get out of there. So desperate that we went out into Fitz Hugh Sound in 20-30 knot winds and slogged our way down to Namu where we tied up to a rolly dock. This time, the weather was with us. We had beautiful blue skies and warm wind (on our nose of course). By the time we'd anchored in Codville Lagoon at 1648, the temperature inside the boat was 81. By the 2100 it had risen to 83.3! We had to Lagoon to ourselves. Only the osprey, eagle, mink and sea lions disturbed the quiet. It was so hot and quiet you could hear me moaning for miles.

David and Christine and Sibs
SV Raven
Juneau, AK

Currently lying: Codville Lagoon, BC