7/5/2023
We gave a sad goodbye to Ocean falls - the place had really grown on us over the last couple of days - and made our way toward Klemtu. Seas were calm and only a slight headwind, not great for sailing, so we motored back along Dean Channel and past Shearwater/Bella-Bella. The goal for today was to make it to just this side of Klemtu - but that was a tenacious goal of almost 45 miles. We found some slightly rough seas on Milbank Sound so we decided to take the inland Reid passage. This meant calmer seas, but we had to stop well short of our goal as we weren’t timed for the rapids at Perceval Narrows. We instead pulled in to Oliver Cove Marine Park - a small marine park on the north end of ivory island.
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The park was nice - mostly rocky beaches but a few with small rocks that were good for landing the dinghy and taking Oakley ashore. It was sunny and very warm - delightful. There were some bugs, but not terrible. Angela did some laundry and we grilled steaks with potatoes for dinner. We were the first ones to pull in and we hoped we would have the park all to ourselves - but that was not to be as 2 boats we had seen at Pruth Bay pulled in around 4:30p. It was the 4th of July - so we took some sparklers to a small rocky outcropping and celebrated (this area is in a fire restriction, but a small rock surrounded by water seemed safe enough).
Over the next few days, we will navigate a series of narrow channels - Mathieson, Tolmie, Pricess Royal, and then the longest Greenville channel which will take us right up to Prince Rupert - our last port in Canada. These narrow channels are generally pretty calm - less wind/fewer waves - but currents can be a big deal. 2 knots going with you can make your day much easier than 2 knots against.
7/6/2023
From Oliver Cove, we headed through the Pereceval Rapids (uneventful) and up the Mathieson Channel taking Jackson pass over to Klemtu. Jackson Pass had a small narrows at the east end which were a bit interesting - shallowing all the way to 12 feet at one point. Angela asked if we were going the right way at one point as it didn’t look like there was a way through the rock field at low tide.
Around 1p, we made it to Klemtu - a small First Nations town with some provisions. The town gets resupply only once every 2 weeks - so it’s a gamble if there will be anything fresh. We must have been somewhat early in the cycle as we found apples, plums, and even a pineapple! Klemtu also has a Big house - one of the First Nations wintering houses - that they offer tours of. We asked if we could get a tour, but unfortunatly the one person in town who does them was not in town. We were thinking of just doing a walk around it, but the public dock was full (all locals fishing boats under 15 feet). Instead, we did a quick drive by for pictures and got on our way.
Right after we passed through Klemtu, we ran across another lighthouse complex. We have seen these throughout the north BC coast - they are always impeciably maintained (well painted, no obvious structural issues) but I can’t imagine they are occupied - who needs a manned lighthouse nowadays? This one had a helipad and a solar pannel field - so it was clearly occupied at least part of the year. Interesting…
After another few hours of going - including some sailing and with a 2-3 knt current at our back - we made it to our anchorage for the night, a place called Horsefly Cove in Green inlet. Angela took the helm all afternoon while Sara and I played “Unexploded Cow” - a welcome respite for me (I have taken most of the helm duties thus far) and great math practice for Sara.
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The cove was pretty, but very deep. This was our first chance to use a stern tie - which is where you run a line to shore off the stern of your boat and an the anchor off the bow into deep water. This holds your boat in mostly the same place - preventing the swing that you normally see when anchoring. This was our first time doing it and it worked out pretty well. We ended up anchoring in 120 feet with the stern tie and had a comfortable night - despite getting an anchor drag alert during dinner from a misconfigured anchor alarm (my fault).
7/6/2023
The following morning, we made the short trip up to Khutze Inlet - which is a wildlife protection/viewing area, primarily for bears. The scenery was gorgeous, but no bears - I expect this is a salmon feeding ground and it’s a bit early in the season for salmon. The inlet was also scattered with beautiful waterfalls, the most we have seen to date. Despite the lack of bears, it was a great stop. Unfortunately, the horseflys were swarming as we got close to the tidal flatlands and so we had to leave relatively quickly…
After Khutze, we continued down the Princess Royal channel - making great time with a 2 knt current at our back. I spotted a few ships on AIS and out of nowhere (similiar to shearwater) a cruise ship and a BC ferries boat - both quite large - came down the channel and passed us. I think these might have been the only boats we had seen today (with the exception of one boat and some kayakers in Khutze inlet).
A little while later, we passed a settlement called Butedale. Our guidebook informed us that this was a private settlement and that there was some investment going on that might turn this into a marina/stopping point for boats. We didn’t see it. There was a dock, but everything was falling apart - buildings were toppling. Even the dock was partially sunk. I wouldn’t expect an oasis here anytime soon.
We had lunch as we passed the small inland off of Klekane Inlet and Angela took over at the helm. Dissapointingly, the current flipped at this island and now we were facing a 2 knt current - causing us to crawl along at 4 knts… The ports and passes book made no mention of the tide flipping here and in fact, seemed to imply that the current flipped at Mckay Reach (in about 10 nm). Dissapointing to say the least. Our chart plotter has some current lines that tell you which way the current goes at flood/ebb and they were actually correct - so new thing to add to our daily planning routine is to check the chartplotter for current lines!
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After 3 painstaking hours that should have been less than 2, we made it to McKay Reach and got a small (0.5 knt) current push up Ursula channel to Bishop Bay. We were expecting to anchor and stern tie again, but there was a mooring ball available and we grabbed it. The guidebook implied that this moorning ball was a use at your own risk thing, but the weather was supposted to be calm tonight so we didn’t expect we would have to worry about the mooring drifting.
We went ashore to the small dock with our dinghy. The dock is small and our guidebook informed us that boats over 30 feet should anchor and not use the dock. The signs posted say no boats over 36 feet, so we could have used it, but we were pretty happy with our more private moorning ball and the dock had two very small boats at it that would appreciate the dock far more than we would have.
There was a very well kept hot springs here, complete with a boardwalk connecting the dock to the hot springs, a shelter over the hot springs, a campground, and a composting toilet. Quite the improvement over Eucott Bay! We took a long soak before Sara got bored and discovered that there was a small boy on the boat that just arrived. She headed over to the dock and Sara did some fishing with the little boy’s fishing rod and caught three fish! The two of them ended up catching 5 fish and kept them in a little bucket for a while (they would be put back at the end of the night - too small to eat and I don’t think the kids would have approved of killing their new pets).
We came back to the boat and it was daddy’s turn to make dinner. Burgers with big mushrooms, beans, and cookies for desert!
In order to hit a favorable tide up Grenville Channel tomorrow, we need to pass Hartley Bay after 2p - so it will be a late start tomorrow, figuring it will take us about 3 hours to get to Hartley. We went to bed late (almost 10p!) and slept in the next morning.
7/7/2023
The following morning, we headed to the hot springs again for a quick soak - since we had the time. We also went to explore the campsite area and found a fun geocache stuck in the tree. The item on the top was a letter from the last crew to find it - in February! They cleared snow off the campsite platforms and had to clear the boardwalk of snow to get to the hot springs… wow.
We weighed anchor around 10a and made for Hartley Bay. Currents were against us in the morning and with us in the afternoon - still not great in terms of current planning. The morning run was beautiful running through deep cut channels with gorgeous mountains all around.
We made it to Hartley around 2p and pulled up to the fuel dock. When we were about 1nm out, we received a broadcast on the VHF radio that Hartley Bay was out of fuel. We had a practice of topping off the fuel tanks at every stop we could - so unfotunate that it wasn’t possible here. Fortunatly, we had half a tank and only 70 nm to go to Prince Rupert so we should be ok.
Hartley Bay was a really fun little town. The town has no roads or cars, only boardwalks. Most of the residents we saw used ATVs to drive around, but there were some walkers/bikers.
We were enjoying ourselves so much in this little town that we decided to do the short hike up to the fish hatchery. This was also a boardwalk and it took us along a stream for about a mile - with blueberries of three different types and both Salmon berries and Salal berries - about as much of each as we could eat. I would guess Sara and I ate probably half a pound of berries…
The run up the first 10nm of Grenville Channel went well enough. We had the current at our back for most of the way - only switching right before we pulled into Lowe Inlet. Right before we made the turnoff into Lowe inlet, we saw an boat approaching from behind on our AIS tracker. They hailed us on the VHF and asked if we would move to the port side of the channel - then we realised that this was a huge BC ferries boat (named the Northern Expedition) and was taking up a sizeable part of the channel. So glad we had AIS and saw them coming (and they hailed us) - that would have been quite a surprise to have that boat sneak up on you.
Unfortunately, it was getting late by the time we pulled in - almost 10p - and starting to get dark. We were thinking we would get a vacant anchorage all to ourselves, but there was easily 40 fishing boats there - in rafting groups of 4-5 each with one anchor down per raft. It was quite the anchorage - with lots of merry making, music, games, etc - all around us. We found a spot in the middle and, after one failed attempt, we got the hook down in a good spot for the night.
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It was a beautiful anchorage when we woke in the morning we could actually see it!
7/8/2023
We headed out at around 10a - later than usual to hit favorable currents in Grenville Channel. After breakfast burgers at Sara’s request, we pulled out into the channel and right at the entrance to Lowe inlet was Tom Island! I don’t know about you, but I think this kinda looks like my island…
Unfortunately, I got it wrong and we came out with 3 knts against us. In order to determine the currents in the channel, you have to do three different lookups to determine the time of slack. I should have turned back into Lowe inlet, but I decided to brave it and see if it got better when the channel widened after Evening point. Right in the midst of our fight with the current, who should show up but Northern Expedition! We were hailed again (by a different captain it seems) and pulled over to allow them to pass.
The currents got better as we passed Evening point, but the seas did not. With a 25 knot headwind and some sizable waves, we turned off into Kxngeal Inlet to find shelter.
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Unfortunately, braving the rapids out of Lowe inlet used up quite a bit of fuel and we only had slighly more than 1/4 tank left. This was a low point for us, not only are we still a long ways from Prince Rupert and low on fuel but we noticed that the side of Oakely’s face started to swell up and it looks like she has an infected tooth. There are vets in Prince Rupert that we think can help - but nothing behind us. Tomorrow we face a critical decision of turning back to Hartley Bay (30 nm) and going back through the narrows of Greenville channel (and hoping we get the current calculation right this time) or continuing to Prince Rupert (40nm) through unknown seas facing unknown currents and channels. In smooth seas or with favorable sailing winds, we can make it Prince Rupert with fuel to spare. In rough ones, we will be in a tough spot…
The day had a nice end - we all went ashore to expore and found a beautiful waterfall with a blueberry bush for us to snack on.
7/9/2023
We pulled out of the inlet the next morning and the choice was obvious - a 10 knt headwind which would likely only build throughout the day was blowing us back to Hartley bay. With the currents in our favor this time, we made quick progress from evening point back to Lowe inlet and Hartley Bay - arriving just before the fuel station opened at 1p (lunch break). We filled up on Deisel, water, and tossed some trash. Angela and Sara also headed ashore to the playground for a bit - everyone wanted to stretch some legs. Our turnaround was about an hour, and we headed back out around 2:30p to catch the opposite flood current back through the lowe inlet/evening point narrows. We made very quick progress through - approaching evening point just before 7p. That’s when things turned… About 3 nm from evening point, a huge headwind formed - 25-30 knts - and we had little choice but to brave it. It took us almost an hour to make it the last 3 nm in some big seas… We were all a little frazzled by the time turned around evening point and pulled up to our anchorage.
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The anchorage was nice and calm - almost surreal given how rough the seas were right around the corner. We took a quick trip ashore to stretch the legs and all hunkered in for the night. It has been a long day (68 nm) and a stressful one - all of our nerves were shot and we still had the rest of Grenville Channel to make it through. Hopefully tomorrow will be better.
7/10/2023
Everything always looks better in the morning. We made our way out of Klewnuggit anchorage around 8a hoping to catch the favorable ebb current starting at 9a. Unfortunately, Grenville channel had another curve ball in store for us… The channel floods/ebbs out of both ends at the same time, which means that there is a meeting point in the middle (as I mentioned above) but that meeting point is variable. The book mentions that it’s usually just north of evening point, but today it was almost 10 nm north of evening point. Bummer. We spent the whole day braving a 0.5-1 knt current - not fast by any means, but enough to slow down our forward progress. The day started with a 9 knt headwind and we were expecting it to build during the day - so our plan was to make it as far as baker inlet or maybe one further, which would have been somewhere in the 10-15nm range. Thankfully, the winds slowed as we got closer to the north entrance of Grenville channel. Whew! We made it over 25nm and turned into the Kelp Passage anchorage around 4:30p.
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And guess who we saw along the way!
The anchorage was nice - and for the first time we had a beach that we could walk on… The anchorages for the last week or so have all had a place to go to shore for Oakely, but they are all postage stamp sized - with thick foliage blocking our way inland and large piles of driftwood or steap cliffs blocking our passage along the beach in either direction. This beach was long and walkable. We hiked probably a mile along it - inspecting tidepools, interesting rock formations (apparently marble deposits are common on the beaches here - who knew!), and assorted plants/animals.
7/11/2023
We made out like bandits the next morning. We had about 20 nm to go to Prince Rupert and the favorable currents were from 3a til 9a. First light was around 5a, so after taking Oakely ashore for a quick potty, we headed out around 5:30a. The trip into Prince Rupert was uneventful and Chatham Sound (which can be rough water if a big wind is coming in off the Pacific) was calm and easy. The fog hit around 7a and we thought we were going to be pulling into the heavily trafficked Prince Rupert causeway with limited visibility, but thankfully the fog broke right as we were pulling into the channel at 8:30a. All of the downtown marinas were full (Cow Bay and Prince Rupert Yacht club) so we headed out to the government dock in at Rushbrook. Rafting is allowed at all government docs in Canada - although lots of people don’t love it when you raft up to them (rafting means that you tie up to the outside of another boat that is already on the docks - generally because there isn’t any space on the dock themselves - and you generally have to climb across the boat you rafted up to to get to the dock). We saw that the docks were all full and were headed out to the anchorage across the bay (which would have been a real bummer) but someone poped out of their boat and practically insisted that we raft up to them - Canadians are so nice!
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Welcome to Prince Rupert! We are planning to spend a couple of days here for refit/checking on weather windows before braving Dixon Entrance. Next post will be from Alaska!!!