July 27 - 31

Pruth Bay

There was a gill net opening again this year on the day we traveled to Pruth Bay.

The fog is starting now -- the North coast and Alaska has a name for the month of August -- Fogest!

The first day at Pruth Bay was pretty foggy.

There were a couple of Krogens there.  We always seem to run into a Krogen or two - or three in Pruth Bay!

A large boat at anchor was adjusting the lines on its skiff and the skiff got away and just floated around for a bit!  Some fellow boater jumped in their dingy and rescued it and returned it to the owner!  Jim was away fishing when it happened, otherwise I'm sure he would have gone off and rescued it.  It was quite the large skiff and the guy who did the rescuing had only a small dingy.

I didn't want to seem like I was taking photos!!  It was a bit of entertainment for me while Jim was out "fishing"  We have found that Jim is best to stick with crabs and prawns - and rockfish!

Lilly having a bit of a tear about the pilothouse.

The sun came out - and it got a little windy. We always enjoy our time at Pruth Bay.

Lilly enjoying the sun. She has many spots on the boat she likes to hang out.

Lilly is starting to get tired of the traveling!  Once we start heading south we often travel every day and she is not as fond of the traveling.  She prefers to stay put for a few days.


The day after we arrived at Pruth Bay, Jenny injured her knee again.  She was in quite a bit of pain and not walking well - and only on three legs.

Taking her to shore became quite difficult.  The dock is very long and steep.  We started taking the skiff  to the boat ramp and then Jim would carry her up to the first piece of grass he could find - get her to do what she needed to do and then carry her back to the skiff.  The owners ( Christine and Eric ) of Hakai Institute came down to see what we were up to a couple of times!  The boat ramp is set up for large supply barges and not really for visitors to use.

We had some pain medication for Jenny that we were able to give her.  We met a Vet from the Vancouver area and she gave us some good advice.

So as is life -- plans change.  We needed to head south to find a Vet and get her some more medication.  We had to wait for a few days because of a wind warning but as soon as we were able to leave we pulled anchor and headed to Millbrook Cove - a staging spot for crossing Cape Caution.

As it turned out - the day we left was not the best for traveling, the wind was down but the seas were really rough and Lilly was very ( VERY ) unhappy.  It was a pretty miserable trip to Millbrook Cove. There were a number of boats out on the water and some of them were bouncing around way more than we were!

We saw a bunch of Humpback whales on the trip though - so that was nice - and we didn't hit any!

The tough part when Jenny is on three legs is getting her to shore.  Millbrook Cove does not have the best shore for her to begin with.  Jim always seems to find a spot and make it work for Jenny.  He was carrying her on and off the skiff and she was just hopping as far as she could.  She was in a lot of pain and we were giving her pain medication every 12 hours.

August 1st - we put the poles down and the fish in the water and set out to cross Cape Caution.  It was an uneventful crossing!  The seas were mostly flat and we made good time!  No one barfed!

We were hoping to go to Port McNeill and stay at North Island Marina and then go to the Vet there, make some phone calls to our Vet and decide what to do about Jenny.  As it turned out the  North Island marina was full - so we changed plans and went to Port Hardy instead.

July 26th

I am catching up on the blog this weekend -- it has been long overdue!  So these posts will be not a full as the previous posts.

As we started travelling back south we were having difficulty getting any wifi connections in Ocean Falls and Pruth Bay and I fell behind in my journal.

We really enjoyed Ocean Falls and will make it a regular stop when we are up in the Central Coast.

As we were leaving Ocean Falls we were not completely sure where we were going next.  We were now in heading home mode - which is a little depressing but we needed to be back by Aug 10th or so to take our granddaughter  - Phoenix - on a trip we had planned for her.

We planned to spend a few days in Pruth Bay before getting ready to cross Cape Cautions.  It was too long of a trip to go from Ocean Falls to Pruth Bay - so we needed a stop in between.  We'd heard there were prawns in Codville lagoon  But we also heard it was a popular and  busy anchorage.  In the end we decided to go there and give it a try.


Codville Lagoon

It was a very pretty spot and I can see why it is so busy.  Codville Lagoon is on King Island and it is a Provincial Marine Park.

When we arrived Jim took the dingy out and put down the prawn pots.  Codville is well known for prawns.  We've enjoyed our fill of crab! Now on to the prawns.


There is a walk through the forest from the lagoon to Sagar Lake.  We heard it was a beautiful little lake.  So Jim and I and Jenny took the trail --- hard climb through rocks and trees!!  It was a lot more strenuous than we thought it was going to be!

There were ropes along the trail to help with climbing up and down the rocks.

There were lots of up and down and scrambling over rocks but there was an occasional boardwalk as well - thankfully

But worth it in the end to get to the loveliest little lake - Sagar Lake.  Beautiful!  

The beach was the most interesting large grain brown sand.  I brought back a small bag of the sand.

Jenny -- of course had a lie down in the water.

Sagar Lake

Before we left the next morning Jim went out and pulled the pots. 

And we got prawns!!

And they were wonderful!!

Next stop Pruth Bay.

July 22 - 25

After our exhausting ordeal with the dingy and the Spirit Bear Lodge -- which left us quite out of sorts for a few days -- we spent the night of July 22nd at anchor in Shearwater.

We had dinner in the pub and got a few grocery items.

The morning of the 23rd we motored back to Ocean Falls. We decided to head back there to refill the water tanks and catch some crab for real this time!!

We had a real mixed bag of weather in Ocean Falls. Mostly rain - heavy at times but we also had a few sunny breaks.

And we got our fill of crab! We ate crab until we could eat no more!






During one of the sunny breaks we took a walk up to the lake.



Walking by the dam on the way to the lake







Jenny got to go into some fresh water - which she loves to do.






A small dock for fishing on the lake. Quite a popular thing to do for the locals.


We wandered around the old hotel a bit.









The mermaid by the dock. She was made by the a long time Ocean Falls resident.


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July 21st

Khutze and Klemtu -- Whales and bears - Oh My! 

We left Butedale earlier than we normally depart - around 7 AM.

The falls at Butedale as we were leaving.

The plan was to go up Khutze Inlet and see if we could see some Grizzly bears. The people from the Spirit Lodge said they had seen Grizzlies up there on the beach at the head of the inlet. It would be about a 2 hour side trip to go up and down Khutze. We thought if we liked what we saw we might even spend the night. 

Khutze Inlet 

We got to the head of the inlet about 9:30 am. It is a beautiful spot. There were a number of boats anchored up though. Too many for us to stay. 

The falls at the head of the inlet.

We toured around a bit and took some photos. As we were getting ready to head out I was in the cockpit taking some photos and I saw a couple of bears stand up tall in the long grass just above the beach. They were a bit far away but we were able to watch them through the binoculars and get a few photos. They briefly came onto the beach. A sow and two cubs.  That was pretty exciting. 

We left around 11:30 am and carried on to Klemtu. When we arrived in Klemtu we motored past the Spirit Bear lodge and there was Ed's kayak on the dock.  We were not sure if he would spend the night in Klemtu or go directly to Shearwater. He was not sure what he would do when we last saw him. 

We went on to Clothes Bay - not a boat at anchor yet and it was about 3:30 pm. We dropped the anchor and Jim took Jenny in to shore. 

When he came back - about 4:30 or so we decided to take the skiff over to the Spirit Bear Lodge - which was about 3 minutes away by skiff and see if we could say hi to Ed and see how he was doing. He had seemed a bit discombobulated the day before. 

When we got to the Spirit Bear Lodge dock there was a young woman going for a swim from the  dock.  We chatted with her a bit, we asked her about Ed.  She said didn't really know much about him but she had seen him at the lodge. She said she was not a guest but wasn't an employee of the lodge. She started to take us up the dock to the lodge. She said we should come up to the lodge. Everyone is so friendly! The lodge is beautiful! 

As we were heading up the dock a man came down the dock.  We now know who the man was. He was pleasant enough in that sort of - we don't want you here - kind of pleasant. He said - yes - Ed was here, he was doing well and he would pass along our message to him, thank you and so long -- hmm. I guess everyone is not so friendly. The woman had disappeared! 

Ok. So we are leaving - we get into the skiff -- it will not start. Oh no!! We walk it down to the far end of the dock. Trying to be inconspicuous and try to start it. Nothing. The skiff has never done this before. We start to panic a bit.  We have 3G so Jim calls Eric. We are FaceTiming Eric -- taking off the engine cover. Fiddling with things. People come out. The man who doesn't want us here comes out. A few people even try to help a bit. We are frustrated. Eric is frustrated!  Sounds like the engine isn't getting fuel.  We have now been on the dock about 1/2 hour.  

But -- then Ed comes out. He saw us from the lodge - no one gave him our message.  He was very happy we came by. We chatted with him. He looked great!! 100% improvement. It was good to see him so much better. We had a nice little visit - even though we were worried about the skiff. Then a group of 3 killer whales swam by in the channel -- so close. One was a new calf of the year!   I tried to get a video with my phone but it didn't really work. It was quite sunny and the sun was in our eyes. 

So we said our good byes to Ed and decided we would paddle with our one paddle back to the boat. The 3 minute ride took 55 minutes of paddling. Jim did most of the paddling but I did spell him off a couple of times. 

There was a current and a bit of wind. Now we know how Ed felt!  And he had two paddles!!  He had offered to lend us a paddle but we didn't know how we would return it. 

We needed to get back to the boat so Jim could get some tools and see what was going on with the engine. Jim was anticipating that he would need to replace the spark plug.  

So after our long and arduous paddle back to the boat I look down to discover that the "kill switch" is lying at our feet!  Yes. It's lying at our feet -- not engaged and therefore the engine is not able to start!! Jim puts it back in -- starts the engine and....  we go have a beer and potato chips for dinner!!  Too tired to even cook!!