Port Elizabeth

                                                                    Now we are here...Echo Bay

PORT ELIZABETH

Last night the Pig Roast was great fun and absolutely delicious! Afterward we sat up on the boat deck of the Ocean Cape and visited while we observed a huge humpback swimming and diving about 100 yards from the marina. What a sight…and no camera…you’ll just have to take my word for it.

The next morning, David got up at 5:30 and made cinnamon rolls for everyone for our farewell breakfast. David always has success baking on the boat, more so than at home. Those rolls were sinfully good and the best ever. 

                              Then we cruised here...Port Elizabeth

                                                   What's not to like?

We took off around 9:30 this morning and down Retreat Passage and Spring Passage to Knight Inlet dodging several small islands along the way. We ended up in Port Elizabeth and anchored in Maple Bay with a fish farm across the bay from us. We have pretty good protection and just hope the winds are kind to us.

After dropping our crab pots we took a cruise around the shoreline. There were several strings of commercial pots all over the bay so it looked promising. We are surrounded by wooded foothills and islands. There are several stretches of rocky shore with piles of driftwood. There are steel cables, ramps and rafts that are remnants of the logging industry, as well as hillsides of new growth. One grassy area near the shore looks like the perfect place for bears to romp. I’m keeping an eye on it.

Winds picked up around 5:00 this evening, and we were doing a bit of rocking but the weather report assures us that it will calm down later tonight. Anchor is holding which is encouraging.

We woke up to a beautifully calm sunny morning but David was concerned about staying here any longer. The winds are supposed to increase and that rocking last night was a bit unnerving. We decided to return to Minstrel Island where we can tie up at the Public Dock again and wait out the winds. We also need to get fuel for our dinghy, and we will do that at Lagoon Cove not far from there. This will be our first repeat destination on this journey.

We hit the motherlode of crab today! Pulled up 18 crabs but once again, could only keep 4…more than enough for us. I let David do the cleaning…I’m better at eating them. Our theory devised in Simoon Sound (after pulling up empty pots two days in a row) about Fish Farms being harmful to the crab and prawn population certainly did not hold true here.

                                       Quite the catch...David and the crab!

We were both pretty exhausted once we tied up at the dock. Naps came quickly. Over the Canada Day weekend we had this entire dock to ourselves but this time we were joined by two Canadian boats. Two of the boaters were from Captain’s Cove which is about ½ hour down the Fraser River from us. Small world.

The building on shore which we thought was a residence is actually a lodge where people come to stay and take bear excursions. A float plane landed twice letting off passengers for their next adventure. They seem to have luck finding bear along the shores of Knight Inlet where we are headed next.

I noticed something different in the window of the small shed by the stacks of crab pots. We took a closer look with the dinghy and laughed at the large cut out photo of a young man in a pink strapless dress obviously having a raucous time. There were also beer bottles strewn all over the dock. I was thinking bachelor party but it sure is out of the way for something like that.

 

We did indeed fill out gas containers at Lagoon Cove at $5.86 (US) a gallon! To date we have traveled approximately 550 miles and have circumnavigated Gilford Island with Claydon Bay off Grappler Sound being our most northern destination.

Fun Boat Name:  Happy Place

Echo Bay

                                                Echo Bay Resort with Belle's stern peaking out

ECHO BAY/PIERRE’S RESORT

We joined in on the Prime Rib dinner last night at the resort. They did a magnificent job barbecuing several roasts. It was cooked to perfection!  We sat next to a couple and their son from Alberta who were kayaking from Vancouver Island to The Broughtons. Echo Bay was their “luxury stop” with hot showers and real beds.

We took about a 20 minute hike along a rustic trail today to get to Billy’s Museum. Billy Proctor who collected all the items displayed, is a local legend. He is a wealth of information about the history of the area. A former logger and fisherman, he made a livelihood from the forest and the sea. Billy met us at the entrance to his museum, and David asked him if he knew of a boat called Invercan V, which was the original name of our boat. He knew the boat right away and remembers it well. We finally found out where the unusual name, Ivercan, came from…it was one of a fleet of five boats owned by Inverness Cannery.

  

                                                 Billy chatting with David in front of his museum

He also remembers well the second owner of our vessel, Byron Wright, who renamed it Prosperity. Apparently, Mr. Wright was a very aggressive fisherman who didn’t always follow the rules and would poach salmon from the rivers and inlets. Billy did defend him by saying, “But he was the nicest guy to meet.” He had a twinkle in his eye when he talked about his “pal”, Byron.

Mr. Proctor did have some complaints about the number of cougars on the island which he claims have decimated the deer population. He also said that there are only two bears left that he knows of and one usually sleeps outside the museum. He has lived in the area for over 60 years and has become an active environmentalist. It was a joy to listen to his stories…he seemed like such a gentle soul. 

                                                 A bridge to Billy's

 

We bought his book, Full Moon Flood Tide, in which he stated that there were petroglyphs on the cliff across from the Echo Bay Marina. And sure enough, we could see them clearly with our binoculars. He also states that one of the best places to spot a bear is Viner Sound where we had spotted only piles of scat.

Our friends. Pam and Dennis, arrived at the marina around 2:30 this afternoon. They have friends, Bert and Joyce, who are also staying here. They are the owners of the Mile High Resort near Kamloops in the Okanagan area in BC. They are all joining us for dinner tonight aboard the Belle. We are going to share some of our crab since they have had no luck catching any. We’ll gloat just a little.

                            Bert, Dennis and Joyce enjoying crab and margaritas

We went to a presentation tonight given by a young woman, Nikki Van Schyndel, who is a wilderness survival expert and naturalist. She talked a lot about the American Indian scouts (Geronimo was one) and what they were taught to do in order to hunt and protect their people. She even went to a “Scout School” in Washington state  and learned to interpret tracks, camouflage herself in order to observe wildlife, and most of all, how to use her intuition to become much more aware of her surroundings. She was delightful. With a willing volunteer, she demonstrated how she applies ash, clay, etc to her face to camouflage herself in the forest. When she was done, you really could not detect where the nose, mouth, or chin were on this volunteer’s face!

We bought her book which is the tale of her experiences and challenges living in the wilderness for an entire year. She lived off the land in an attempt to reconnect with nature. She conducts eco-excursions for groups during which she teaches you how to forage and what is collected becomes your lunch. I understand that at one time Nikki even hosted High Teas in the wilderness!

                                         Pam and her sweet dog, Lola

David went out with Dennis and Bert before dinner and dropped some prawn traps. I guess the trick is dropping it in depths of 280 to 300ft which we have not done and maybe adding some fish oil or cat food. We picked them up the next day and there were 16 huge prawns in two of the traps. Dennis re-baited them and dropped them again. He was feeling lucky.

We had breakfast on Pam and Dennis’ boat, Ocean Cape, this morning and Dave and I got a tour of their lovely vessel. They have been marina neighbors of ours for years but we had never had a tour. I was very impressed with the work they have done on their boat to make it so functional, comfortable and appealing.

After breakfast, we noticed several fishermen returning to the marina with salmon so Dennis decided to go fishing and Bert, Dave and I joined him. We were out for about 3 hours with no luck. As soon as they brought in their lines and put away their gear, a mighty salmon leaped out of the water as if to thumb his nose at us (or is it “fin his nose” at us?). 

              Rods are out and David is moving the boat slowly through the bay

                                  I am ready to give this fishing thing a try

  

Even if we did come back empty handed, I loved the experience and Dennis has the perfect boat for fishing with lots of storage and all the equipment a fisherman could ask for. What was really a thrill was spotting two humpback whales…Dennis thinks it was the same whale we saw twice, but I want to believe there were two separate whales. One even flipped its flukes at us.

                                          Pulling up the prawn traps

                                         Jumbo prawns!

            

We returned in time to take part in the duck race. We had two ducks in the competition but, alas, neither was crowned the winner. There was very little current so the suspense lasted a long time. We didn’t even get to keep our ducks!

                             Pam and Joyce...ready for the race to begin!

                                        We got our ducks in a row...

We have a pig roast tonight that is being hosted by the resort. These last three days have been nothing but eating and drinking. I like to call this marina, “Party Central”.  Pierre’s Resort makes you feel comfortable and genuinely welcomed. They really know how to draw the people in. I believe what has made a difference for us is having friends here to join in on the fun. Thank you, Pam, for including us in your plans.

                                              Ready for the feast!

                                                A well attended event

                        We really liked these campfire swings...hot tub, too.

                                        Echo, the official dock greeter

                                 A Kodak moment during the fishing trip

Simoon Sound

                                                        Cruising to Simoon Sound

SIMOON SOUND

We anchored at the mouth of Simoon Sound in O’Brien Bay yesterday and decided to stay another day. Guess we just needed the solitude after the activity at Sullivan Bay.

Simoon Bay has some history attached to it. Captain Vancouver in HMS Discovery and Chatham anchored here extensively during his voyages of exploration during the summer of 1792.  Anita told us that she had read that Captain Vancouver suffered from chronic depression. This place had to have lifted his spirits. When I look at our charts and see all the islands, inlets, sounds, bays, channels, etc, I can’t imagine the challenges Vancouver’s chart makers faced.

                                                We are here.

Like so many of the bays and coves we have anchored in along the way, this one is again surrounded by mountains boasting of trees. You can definitely see some of the scars of logging on several of the mountainsides. Most clear cut areas are hidden behind a screen of trees along the shoreline. We have spent our time dropping crab and prawn traps, touring the area in our dinghy, staining, sanding, painting and reading. This boat is like the Golden Gate Bridge…you start painting at one end and when you reach the other end; you have to start all over again!  But most of all, we just sit out on the bow or on top of the boat deck and just marvel at the beauty that nourishes us. How lucky we are. Incredible!

Unfortunately, we are being challenged by our navigational system. It is not operating correctly, and David has spent a great deal of time trying to figure out the problem. Reading the manual is like trying to decipher some kind of code. Frustration is too soft a word to describe how we are feeling at this point. We will give it another try this morning and if we cannot remedy the problem, hopefully, Dennis can help us when we see him in two days. There’s always something.

We ended up being crabless and prawnless in Simoon. We believe it might have something to do with the Fish Farm at the mouth of this Sound. To add insult to injury, when I was rewinding the line from the empty prawn pot back into the bucket, my headset radio fell out of my back pocket and into 200 feet of water!  That’s the second radio we have lost on this trip.  My “inner voice” told me to put the radio in a zippered pocket as I always do to be safe. Obviously, I ignored it and paid the price. It has been a rugged two days for us with a lost radio, a marine mishap, zero crab and navigation nonsense so it was time to move on.

We motored on over to Laura Bay only about an hour away and found a very sweet spot to anchor. A crab boat came by and picked up its string of pots and it looked like they had quite a successful haul. We were encouraged to drop our pots once again.

When I woke up at 7 a.m. and looked out the window I commented, “Looks like a whole lot more rocks are around us than when we went to bed.”  The tide had gone out and our stern was aground. We thought we were in good shape in 19 feet of water…it had to have dropped 12 feet at low tide which was unexpected.  We waited for the tide to flow back in and in a little over 3 hours later, we were afloat once again and moved on.

                                       Got a bit too shallow for the Belle

We left for Echo Bay and it was a short jaunt to the docks at Pierre’s Resort. Three other boats were coming in at the same time and those in charge were scurrying from dock to dock to guide boats in. They were fun to watch…Mad Dog Mike, who helped bring us in, saw me poised to step off on to the dock and do my thing and said, “Don’t get off the boat, Ma’am.”  I was more than happy to throw him our line.  This is a very popular destination. We’ve got a good feeling about this place.

That crab boat brought us good luck because there were 10 crabs in one of our pots in Laura Bay.  Seven of them were keepers but our limit is four, and they were the biggest ones yet!

                                            We're having crab tonight!

Fun Boat names:  Another Bill   Rest Assured

Sulivan Bay

SULLIVAN BAY RESORT

On our way to Sullivan Bay we stopped to pick up our prawn pot. We snagged the buoys on our first try with the pike pole and pulled it up to find a whole 10 prawns!! Not exactly a bonanza of prawns but it was better than the zero we got the first time. We are anxious to learn from Pam and Dennis about the proper and more successful way to catch prawns. Getting them from the netted pot to our cooking pot was quite funny. They love to jump and were able to escape from my hands so David dropped them on the deck, and I used the dust pan and broom to scoop them up.  There’s got to be a more dignified way to do it, I am sure, but it worked.

There’s a lot to love about Sullivan Bay Resort with its village type atmosphere, quaint signs and lovely float homes…not to mention the unbelievably delicious cinnamon rolls…but it just didn’t seem like our kind of place. It was probably too much on the “fancy” side for us.

                                    Main Street at Sullivan Bay Resort

We did not know that if you wanted to enjoy dinner at their restaurant you needed to make reservations. By the time we checked in, there were no reservations left. The moorage was a bit higher than we are used to…$1.35 per foot and the power was a surprising $20/per night and there was no water available. They did have a great deal… if you stayed two nights, the third night was free but we couldn't stay more than one night.

We had torrential rains all evening and through the night but downpours didn’t deter us from making it to Happy Hour. When we first arrived there were only two other brave souls in attendance but soon, we were joined by at least 12 others with appetizers in hand. The resort provided a huge tray of nachos that were warm and delicious and the conversation was lively.

                      Had a long walk and had to keep the appetizer dry!

Those willing walked to the end of the dock to a small golf tee area for a try at hitting a float about 100 yards away.  If your golf ball by some miracle hit it, you got free moorage. My attempts were surface skippers, and David had the distance but hooked it. While we were watching others tee off, a downpour commenced, and David got drenched to the bone without his jacket.

                              Can you see the target float way out there?

On our way back from Happy Hour we got a glimpse of our canvas awning over the dodger which was seriously sagging from the weight of the collected rainwater. We should have collapsed it in preparation for the rain but forgot all about it. We even forgot to cover the instruments on the dodger. David was convinced that the aluminum frame had been damaged but in the morning, we were able to straighten it all out and the instruments were operating just fine. Phew!

 

                                       Amusing sign post at the resort

We enjoyed our mighty tasty cinnamon rolls baked fresh and still warm for breakfast from the General Store.  David also purchased cherry turnovers and pepperoni rolls…I should never have sent him unsupervised to the store this morning!  We had a late shove off around 10:45. We did our usual pivot from the dock and nosed right out of the crowded marina.

                                        Which one doesn't belong?
   

About a half hour out of Sullivan Bay, we were called over the radio by one of the boat owners at the Sullivan Bay Resort.  He told us that we had bumped into his bow pulpit with our stern as we departed that morning and there was minor damage. He was not on board but another boater apparently had witnessed the mishap. Both David and I neither saw nor heard anything out of the ordinary as we maneuvered out of the marina, so were totally unaware of bumping into anything. If we had known, we certainly wouldn’t have just cruised out of the marina. 

                            

There are no new gashes, scratches or dimples on our stern that we can see, but we have the bulk compared to the pulpit railing on the injured boat. That’s why we have insurance. We regret that we have caused grief to a fellow boater. Not a pleasant ending to our stay. This is why we like to anchor out!

                                                 Leaving Sullivan Bay

Claydon Bay

                     The rose is still blooming, the crabs are still  trapping and the butter is still melting

CLAYDON BAY

We were comfy in Napier Bay but decided to take a short 1 hour 20 minute  hop over to Claydon Bay and anchor for the night. It’s another beautiful anchorage surrounded by mountains of trees. We had great protection and once again, had the entire area to ourselves.

The first thing David always wants to do is to drop our crab traps so we did that as well as trying out our prawn trap for the second time. It has to be dropped in depths of 200 to 300 feet so had to venture quite a distance from where we anchored. We will pick it up with the big boat tomorrow on our way out since it will be quite heavy to lift with the zinc weight we placed inside it (and of course, all the prawns).

 

   

                                      Dropping the prawn trap

It was a drizzly day and other than our dinghy tour of the area, we stayed inside and relaxed and played games. This morning, I woke up to actual rain showers…wahoo…do we need rain! There are over 190 fires burning in BC right now and the water restrictions in some areas are quite severe compared to ours back home. It is nearly 11:00 and it is still raining…BC could use a solid week of it, for sure.

 

                                                  Morning glory

                       Remnants of an old logging camp's trestle-mounted roadway

                                      The storm is heading our way

We are off to Sullivan Bay Marina today. It is only about an hour away. It has been fun exploring the many bays and sounds in this area. I am trying to take notes on how good the anchoring is in each spot, and of course, the big question is…what’s the crabbing like?  Priorities

Port McNeill and Napier Bay

                                                             Sointula Bakery

PORT McNEILL/NAPIER BAY

This morning we decided to hop on the ferry to Malcolm Island and visit the town of Sointula. Max and Anca, owners of the Kwatsi Bay Marina, have a home there and suggested we visit. In fact as we were boarding the ferry to return to Port McNeill, we ran into Anca coming off the ferry!

Sointula was first settled by a group of Finns who wanted to escape the coal mines of Vancouver Island. They began fishing and logging companies and a real sense of community. Sointula means “place of harmony”. The bakery was recommended to us so stopped in there first thing…delicious croissants! We walked through the neighborhoods and noticed many yards decorated in wood sculptures and bicycles posed in front of businesses and some homes with the bike baskets filled with flowers. Both Port McNeill and Sointula both carry on Vancouver Island’s lovely tradition of colorful baskets of cascading flowers adorning town centers.

The museum was small but packed full of fascinating artifacts. There was a display of the island’s unique craft of making rugs out of gillnet which I had never seen before. Everyone on the island was so genuinely friendly and helpful. There wasn’t a person we passed on the road or in a store who didn’t greet us with a friendly “Hello” or “Good day”. One driver even tipped his hat to me!

 David was fascinated by this little "fixer-upper"...it will only happen with in his next life with his next wife!

Our trip over on the ferry was in fog so didn’t get a view of anything on our journey there but on our return trip, the sun had broken through and it was glorious. Tomorrow we are heading back to The Broughtons across the Queen Charlotte Strait most likely again in the fog. Not my favorite thing to do, but I would choose fog over strong winds and waves.

As always we had a few people walk on down to the end of our dock to get a closer look at the Belle. I always send David out as our “ambassador”. He really does enjoy talking to people about our boat and of course, appreciates the compliments when they come his way. An Australian couple came by last night and they told David they had just completed a bicycle ride across Canada, and now they were cycling Vancouver Island from Port Hardy to Victoria. They were our age…we’re still trying to figure out the kayak!!

                                      Neighborhood art in Sointula

                                     Workers on the future Sointula Ferry Dock

We set 6:30 as a departure time in the morning, but David “encouraged” me to get out of bed at 5:15…skies were clear with no winds…we were going to get going while the gettin’ was good!  We took off out of the harbour at 5:45 in sunshine with sleepy dispositions.

We cruised through swells which got the boat rolling a bit but it was tolerable. All in all, David’s decision to leave earlier worked out great..no fog, no winds, no problem. After 4 hours, we entered Tracy Harbour and anchored in Napier Bay. Up to this point we pretty much have had our anchorages all to ourselves, but found as we entered that we would be sharing this bay with three other boats…the nerve! 

                           Clear skies on our ferry trip back to Port McNeill

       

Never one to waste any time, David got working on installing a mounted radio in the dinghy. He was able to find an antenna for it in Port McNeill. Since our handheld radio found its way into the water on one of our excursions, we needed to replace it. The lost radio was on top of one of the life jackets in the dinghy storage area, and as the jacket was pulled out, the radio was accidentally flipped into the water …not one of our finest moments.

Even though it was a quiet, calm night here in this lovely bay, David had a bad night…wasn’t feeling well…so we decided to lay low here one more day. We had a leisurely morning checking out our charts for the next destination and reading. Our early morning trip out to the traps was very disheartening. It was the first time we have been “skunked” with both traps…no crab!  We moved them to two different areas to see if anything turns up. I decided to throw away the old bait we had been using over and over and try some fresh stuff. Maybe that was our mistake.

We managed to put a second coat of stain on the shady half of our vertical lath of Port Ordford Cedar (from good old Calaveras Lumber) before taking off for a walk. The couple on one of our neighboring boats had pointed out the beginning of a trail to a lake so decided to give it a go. Armed with our air horn and my Mr. Peanuts rattle can, we headed down the old logging road. 

                                                    Armed and ready!

                                          Shake, rattle...let's roll!

We have not noticed any poison oak, poison ivy or snakes on the islands. We are told there are no poisonous snakes anywhere in BC…I knew I loved this place!  What we did notice as we walked were plenty of deer and bear scat. On two of the bear piles, someone had placed a small rock on top as if to draw your attention to the existence of bears in the area. I rattled that can the entire 2 hours we walked!!  I am sure the little forest animals were glad to see the back of us!

We did eventually find the lake and it was huge.  There was no development around its shores, no cleared trails to the water’s edge or picnic tables or camping areas. The lake wasn’t even indicated on our chart. There were plenty signs of logging including towering piles of slash.  We did find what looked like an old pump house next to a rickety raft which we climbed on to get to the water’s edge so we could sit in the shade and enjoy the cool breeze off the lake before heading back. On our return trip, David counted over 20 sightings of bear scat…rattle, rattle, rattle. 

                                                   The Mystery Lake

                                      
 I had another lesson driving the dinghy to and from the shore. It is evident to both of us that I need lots of practice especially bringing her in to a dock and back to the side of the boat with no brakes!

Oh, by the way, we ended up trapping four huge male crabs. It was a good day.


 

                                               Catch of the day

 

                                   Lighthouse on Malcolm Island

                                  The reflected rocks created beautiful designs

                                       

More fun boat names:  Nest Egg,  Adrenalin, Second Love, Quarter Pounder, Seas the Day