Friday August 11, 2017

We listened to the weather forecast and of course it changed since last night. Today is still good with light winds and good for a crossing, but it comes up Saturday morning now and then rises to a gale in the afternoon. Jesus - can't we go 5 days without a gale warning?!?!?

We're off at 6:30am. There is some fog but it's high and the visibility is good. There are about 1,000 (OK, maybe not quite that many), little fish boats sitting outside Fish Egg fishing. The place is grand central station. We head down Fitz Hugh and it eventually get's swelly. Once we get past the island, it's really swelly. We're up to around a 3.5 on the Bella meter. We have a couple of hours of this unfortunately. There wasn't any wind to speak of, somewhere between 1 and 3 kts which was nice. But apparently the swell was better at West Sea Otter Buoy as they reported better numbers than we were seeing. But anyway!

We listened to the 10:30 weather report and it had (possibly) changed and got worse for tomorrow, so we decided to go all the way into Port McNeill or Sointula. We turned down Gordon Channel expecting it to be better, and it was actually worse. But it was at least directly behind us so we were able to put the throttle down at bit and even it out. Another hour or maybe less down though, it evened out and we slowed back down to normal and had an OK ride. And it just got better, and even the sun came out!

Greg called Steve and double checked that North Island Marina was still full (it was) and then Sue called Sointula and they said the fishing fleet was in and it was unlikely there was room on the dock. We decided if need be we would anchor out. But they had room at the municipal dock and so we both went in there around 3:45pm. And who was there to take our lines but Danny from Potest Fieri. And we were moored right behind Merrion as well. So the band was all back together Merrion is having engine problems still and so was working with a mechanic to try and figure out what the problem was. We are on F dock on the outside, and again, if anyone goes by with any kind of wake, we get quite rocked. Hopefully things will calm down as it get's later.

One of the big reasons to be in Port McNeill was so that Byron and Sue could go to CIBC to deposit some money. So Byron high tailed it up right away before the bank closed for the weekend. We walked up and Greg got a hair cut, we went to the bank and got some cash, and then had a snack at Mugz. Ran into Susan and Lowla again and said Hi and got a wildly delightful greeting from Lowla as if we had been reunited after years. Not until she saw Greg and Bella though, seeing just me was not quite enough - we all needed to be together.

Byron reports that "as per policy", CIBC will put a hold on his deposit until next Thursday, but that if he comes in on Monday to talk to the manager, they might be able to "do something" sooner. Good thing we have reservations until Monday I guess. Dinner on Eagles Gig and an early evening as we are all tired.

Thursday August 10, 2017

Foggy and calm this morning as we left around 8:45. We were heading to "somewhere" in Fish Egg Inlet. We headed down Lama Passage and out into Fitz Hugh Sound. We could see many many boats on AIS heading into Fury Cove to prepare to cross tomorrow. So we were even more desirous of *not* going there. Visibility was down to 1/8 mile in a few places, but in general it was fine. We took a detour to look at Namu on the way down as well. We need a new acronym - YARDC - "Yet Another Run Down Cannery". This one was was also falling apart.

Fitz Hugh was a little choppy in places, like passing Hakai Passage, but not too bad. We decided to check out Greene Island Anchorage as it was close for getting out into the sound, and wasn't too squeaky to get out of if it was socked in with fog in the morning. It turns out it was a lovely cozy anchorage and the sun came out just after we arrived. We hopped in the dingy's and went touring around all the little channels. Then Greg and Byron went fishing for about an hour, but alas, nothing caught. Back to Spellbound for salmon dinner, and an early night.

We decide to leave tomorrow morning around 6:30am and head for Clam Cove. I mention that the recommendation is to round Cape Caution on the flood, which would mean leaving 1.5 hours or so later. But I was over ruled.

August 9, 2017

Slept in. A lot. By the time we got going, B&S had finished their laundry and we all went up to "Chaos" again for coffee and baked goods. We took our laundry up with us and got it all started and hung out at the picnic benches while waiting. Laundry is not as big of a chore when you have coffee and baked goods to keep you pre-occupied.

We put laundry away and then went back up and got a souvenir (earrings for Jan) and these chicken roll ups for lunch. Back to EG for a team meeting to figure out the plan. Decided to cross Cape Caution on the upcoming calm day on Friday. Called Steve and made arrangements to stay in Port McNeill on Saturday. So we'll stay in Clam Bay on Friday night so it's not quite as long of a trip in 1 day. Had lunch, and then Sue and I took the "Sea Bus" over to Bella Bella to look around and go to the grocery store there. It doesn't take much to see the place, so we didn't need much time. I asked them about getting some fresh herbs, and they pointed me to the free community garden to pick whatever I needed. They didn't actually have what I needed of course, but the concept was interesting. Spent 2 minutes in the band store before heading back on the bus.

It was nice and warm today. The other kids wanted some ice cream so we headed back up to Chaos again for ice cream - half of us in the sun, and half in the shade. More general hanging around and did some boat cleaning. One of the NWE boats, Discovery, had come in the day before and also ended up talking to other folks on the dock. We ordered take out pizza for dinner on EG.

August 8, 2017

Greg picked up the crab pots in the morning (surprise - no crab!) but then also did his Bruno Gerussi (sp?) imitation by moving a large log out of the way of Spellbound. We headed out around 10:00 to try and be in Shearwater around 11:00. Although it looks foggy above, it wasn't bad and was clear before we got too far.

Although B&S had an issue previously getting tied up at Shearwater, they did have a place for EG when we got there, and for us too, as long as we rafted to EG. So that's fine, and we did. We headed up to "Chaos" for a coffee and a bagel for lunch. The cloud lifted and it got quite sunny and lovely and warm out. We did some grocery shopping and then headed back to the boats for some sunshine and warmth (or shade if you are so inclined ).

Had some beers on EG's flybridge, and then dinner in the pub. Had an early evening as we were quite tired.

August 7, 2017

Did I mention yet that we've been crabbing at Ocean Falls? Yup, so far no crabs of course. But we read that the crabs were deeper than we were putting the pots, so yesterday Byron and Greg put them out around 90'. Greg went out this morning first thing to pick up the pots (again) and we had 2 keepers! Miracles never cease! So Greg showed Danny and Susan how to clean and cook a crab, and we gave them 1 and kept 1 for us. We cooked ours as well and then put it into the fridge for later.

We said "see you later" to Lowla and Susan and Danny this morning. They are heading south a little faster than us. They weren't sure where they were going to go, but they didn't need to go to Shearwater. (Also said "see you later" to the boat Merrion). We all left around the same time and headed down into Fisher Channel. We turned off into Gunboat Passage and had a lovely cruise through Beales Bay.

We had fresh crab plus some soup for lunch on Spellbound, and then headed out in the dingy to cruise. There is a reversing rapids that you want to traverse at slack into the "outer" and then "inner" lagoon. So we did. It was lovely in there but didn't see anything special. Just gave it about 1/2 an hour or so after slack and then headed back out. Don't want to get crazy or anything. We continued out into Gunboat Passage and into some small islets next door.



Back to EG for "oh-beer-thirty" and dinner and a lovely evening.

August 6, 2017

The internet worked OK enough for email's this morning, so that's what I did. Writing this now, it's a bit of a blur where the day went. Danny and Susan walked over to Martin Valley, and B&S and ourselves walked around town again. We went to go to the gift store, but she had closed up for the day. So we went through "Nearly Normal Norman's" emporium with Norman. We had not been in before and it was a real kick. First, the building is built on a slant. We all thought the slant was due to "decay", but no, it was built that way on purpose - the building is solid. Norman has been living there full time for 30 years, and was initially hired to do cleanup there. So he "cleaned up" a lot of junk and just saved it!

We walked through the entire building as he gave us the "extra" tour. There was a fisherman from Idaho who kept his boats in "the ways" and was living upstairs. There were a couple full bathrooms and showers. He also showed us the kitchen area. Norman had done a bunch of work on the building over the years including putting in sliding glass doors and windows.

August 5, 2017

We left around 8:00am and had a beautiful ride up Return Channel and then down Johnson Channel. The wind picked up a fair amount once we got into the channel, but the current and wind were all behind us so it was fine. We arrived around noon at the dock and there was some maneuvering to get us all on the dock, but the 3 boats all got on the inside. It was pretty gusty and breezy as we came in, but there were no issues.

Greg put the dingy down and prepared to go put the crab traps out with Danny. Between us all arriving and then, the wind had picked up significantly and was now howling through the docks. We all had some lunch, and then Byron and Greg took Byron's traps out as well. He had to squeak in to a spot and didn't have room to put his dingy down. They got a little wet with the wind whipping up the Bay. Susan came by and said there were some signs up advertising a free pig roast in town tonight, and one woman from another boat stopped by to confirm that they wanted all the boaters on the dock. No particular reason given.

Time to get off these howling boats, so we decided to go for a walk through town. Sue stayed behind on EG so it was just the 5 of us and the 2 dogs. We saw a "marmot" in the rocks just past the top of the ramp, and it appeared to be slightly tame? It just sat there looking at us and started getting closer, even with Lowla barking her head off at it. Got photos. We eventually ran into "Rob" who runs the Darkewaters fishing outfit here. We had heard that they don't have the restaurant open because they ran out of food. But he is one of the people putting on the free pig roast. He said they want to do it every year on this "BC day" long weekend and want word to spread to the boating community so that more people come in. (Where would they put them on the docks?). Anyway, they had both chicken and a beef roast stuffed inside the pig as well, and were providing salad and buns and dessert too! All we had to bring was a beverage. How cool is that?

We continued on our walk and went to the gift store (I felt like I should purchase *something* but didn't) and then off through town and up to the dam and then up to the lake and then further down the lake. It was nice to be out of some of the wind, and it was quite warm too. Back down through town and around to look and see what has changed - not much.



Back to SB and then the festivities started at 5:00. We left the dogs behind to make life easier. We sat and talked with folks at the picnic benches and met new folks. Eventually they had carved everything up and had all the salads done etc and we all lined up at the buffet table. The food was *really* good! We had Caesar salad, Potato Salad, Pork, Chicken, nice home made buns, and then some cake for dessert. The gentleman that seemed to put the whole thing on, "Bear", worked his butt off getting it all done, even though he had help. So we're helping to spread the word. If you're boating, you might want to be in Ocean Falls for BC Day long weekend!