Ahclakerho Channel

We left mid morning to catch a slack high water to enter Ahclakerho Channel and spend some time in an area Jim had read about in the book "Cruising the Secret Coast" by James and Jennifer Hamilton. 

To get there we had to travel a distance of Smith Inlet past Greaves Island and then down Ahckakerho channel through a very narrow part of the channel to Broad Reach. There was a spot in the Ahclakerho Islands we planned to drop the anchor and stern tie.  

We saw an otter floating around on it's back enjoying some shellfish as we were coming up the channel. 

We went into the little anchorage in the V of the larger island and we were once again unsuccessful at stern tying. This time we even had the skiff down and ready. But the anchor was not holding. So we decided we didn't really need to stern tie and dropped the anchor and it seemed to hold really well - too well as it turns out - and there was enough swing room for the boat. All rocks seemed to be far enough away.  

Narrows at Ahclakerho Channel 

It was a pretty little spot - we didn't think it was "Prideaux Haven of the Central Coast" and as it turned out it had a couple of downfalls.  There was no where to take Jenny to shore.  After we dropped the anchor and Jim went in the skiff to look around he found that the wind had really picked outside of where we were. Too windy to go too far in the skiff.  The shoreline was all big barnacle covered rocks and salaal and large trees right down to the high water line.   Jim had a terrible time finding just one little rock with a little tuft of vegetation she could hop on to and pee.  Jenny didn't think much of the whole thing. Refused to pee at all on her first trip to shore.  So we certainly couldn't stay there as long as we thought we'd like to stay. 

Jim went out in the skiff to do a little fishing in the afternoon. It was really windy - blowing 20 knots and he didn't catch anything except a very small rockfish that he saved for bait. We were feeling a little down about the day - not really the place we thought it would be. And the boat rolled around on the anchor chain all night long. Not a comforting sound at night.  Jenny finally had a pee and a poop on a little tuffet of moss on a rock. I guess she figured it was this or nothing! She is now a "Rock Hopper". 

So it was decided we would leave the next day on the 1 PM high slack. We decide to pull the anchor a little early and go for a steam up Broad Reach. We had thought of spending the night at a little spot further up the arm - the end of Broad reach there was a little narrow passageway and another little spot described in the Hamilton's book. But we figured the shoreline there would be just as inaccessible. 

Problem number two with this spot - Our anchor got snagged!  It was very stuck and it took a bit to get ourselves free.  The bottom is supposed to be mud but it seemed a bit rocky and irregular. We had to put on the anchor chain dog and Jim turned the boat in a few directions and we had to use the boat power to pull free.  The anchor came free - with a big dip of the bow of the boat - it was quite the pull.  It was most likely that the chain had slipped down gotten stuck between a couple of big rocks.   

With a big sigh of relief we left there - before anything else could go wrong!  We did take a little steam of Broad Reach and then turned around and went back through the little narrow area of rapids at a fairly slack water - a little more current than the day before though. 

Once we got into Smith Inlet we found the wind had really picked up and it was blowing 20-25 knots.  We had a really hard time getting the weather channel in Ahclakerho ( another downfall ) once we were able to hear the weather station we found out that the winds were expected to pick up over the next few days. 

So we decide we would go back to Millbrook Cove - stay there for a day or two. And then head up to Pruth Bay from there. 

We arrived at Millbrook Cove around 3 pm. It was gusting 15 - 18 knots in there. There were to pleasure boats and a big fishing boat already anchored. We quickly dropped the anchor in the wind and settled in for the night. At least there was somewhere to take Jenny to shore. 

Lilly has been great while we travel around. She sleeps in her little spot by the window. She waits in the crate while we are doing things on the boat where we don't want her getting hurt or lost - falling overboard etc.  

She will occasionally go on a little wander around the boat looking for a way to get out and on to the upper boat deck. She really likes to go up there to lie in the sun.  We had let her go up there but it's been too windy and it's not really safe for her.  She will go right to the edge and we will see her little face peering down at us while we sit in the cockpit. I think the wind could blow her right off.  So - no more upper boat deck time for her!  But she gets quite mad at us when we won't let her go up there. She loves to be "UP". She is constantly going into the book shelves - climbing as high up in them as she can. Hanging by her paws as she pulls herself to the next higher shelf.  Most of time she is pretty good and enjoying the boat. She is certainly more cautious in the cockpit around the swim step and the skiff since she fell off the skiff.  We put up the "cat re boarding device"  AKA -- CRBD.  So hopefully it is never needed - but if it's need it works!  

We found a little rug in Port McNeil - in Fields - that looks like grass. It was $7.99. We thought that we might be able to convince Jenny to use it when we were not able to get her to shore.  Jim even carried it when out for a walk with Jenny - to try to get a little of her scent on it.  So far Jenny has no interest in having a pee on it.  But Lilly thinks it a nice little piece of lawn for her to lie about.  At least it's found a use!   

Going around Cape Caution

We left Clam Cove as early as we could in the morning. Jim had to walk Jenny and then we put up the skiff, pulled up the anchor and we were on our way by 7:05 AM. 

It is best to travel around Cape Caution early in the day as the winds often pick up in the afternoon.  We had light winds 6-9 knots and a 1 metre swell that hit us on our front beam most of the trip.  Lilly got sick. Poor thing. Even I felt kinda queasy by the end of the trip. 

Cape Caution off in the distance 

 

We saw a big group of sea otters as we got closer to shore. Quite the site. It was a very large group and they were quite a ways from the shore in fairly deep water floating together on their backs. 

We travel up to a small anchorage called Millbrook Cove in Smith Sound.  We were the only boat in there when we arrived around 11:30 AM. We dropped the anchor and had a little lunch as we didn't really eat  much on trip up. 

We dropped the skiff after lunch and Jim was able to find a little spot to take Jenny to shore.  Not the best shoreline for the dog but there was one spot that had a place for him to land the skiff and a little patch of grass for Jenny. 

Around 3 pm two other pleasure boats came in. One of the boats was the KK42 Aventura.  Later in the evening a couple of small fishing boats came in an rafted together for the night.  

There were a number of commercial crab traps along the west shore of the cove.  The crab boat came to pull then later in the evening. He did not get much from them.  Jim put down the crab pot in the early afternoon and pulled it around 5 pm.  There was just one small Red rock crab.  He tossed that over and put them back down to pull again the next morning.  There was nothing in them the next morning!  No crab for us!  

We might not be able to catch crab but we are really good at catching cats! 

Adventura at dusk in Millbrook Cove 

Clam Cove

Clam Cove 

We left Port McNeil early Saturday morning - to avoid the afternoon winds that were expected in Queen Charlotte Straight. 

Our plan was to head up to Nigei Island and spend the night in Clam Cove and then head north around Cape Caution early the next morning. The were no major wind warning predicted for the next couple of days.  We've been told it is best to go around Cape Caution when the wind is lest than 15 knots and the seas are 1 metre or less. 

Clam Cove is an interesting little spot. It is tucked away behind a few little islets and rocks. Very pretty.  There is a little row of float houses along the north shore. Kind of a hodge podge of homes and docks and crap.  No one seemed to be there when we arrived and dropped our anchor, but when we returned from our walk a group of young adults and an older man arrived by boat.  The kids seemed to have a bunch of supplies with them for a bit of a stay. There is a small row house there as well with what looked like about 8 doors to small room. Something we will have to google when we get Internet again. 

There is a trail that goes from Clam Cove to Port Alexander.  It is a beautiful little trail with moss covered trees and a soft dirt and moss path that is well marked with bit of "stuff" - shoes, beer cans' twine, bleach bottles and the like.  It was a fun walk - not sure what we would see as our next trail marker.  We came out on the beach at Port Alexander - which is just a big bay - and there was a sailboat anchored up there. Chatted briefly to the couple from the sailboat as they were heading back from the beach in their dingy.  I think they were a little surprised to see us emerge from the woods!  

Float homes in Clam Cove 

 

Trail from Clam Cove to Port Alexander

And a shoe marks the trail! 

Jim and Jenny at the end of the trail - Port Alexander.

Booker Lagoon and Port McNeil

We spent one night in Booker Lagoon. There is a very narrow channel into the lagoon with a verystrong current.  The lagoon is best entered on a slack tide. We went in and out on a low water slack tide.  So it's all tide dependant and the tide is not always at the time of day that is most convenient to travel.   

On the way to Booker Lagoon we saw quite the display by a couple of Humpback whales. 

Booker Lagoon was a nice little spot. We should have planned a longer stay there and put down the prawn pots or the crab pots. But because of the tides and our desire to push north we headed up the Port McNeil the next slack low water at 1:30 the next afternoon. 

Early morning mist in Booker Lagoon. 

We spent 4 nights in Port McNeil.  Because we couldn't leave Booker until later in the day we needed at least two full days to do laundry - groceries and a few other errands.  We wanted to finds something we could hang off the swim step as a "self re-boarding device" for the cat.  We are thinking she might go overboard again!  She's a daring little thing!  We bought some burlap sacks - we will tie them to the swim step and if she falls off she could grab them with her claws - that's our hope! 

We saw a couple in Port McNeil that we met last year - had a little visit one evening. 

There was a Nordic Tug across from us " Sea Hawg" Three men from Arkansas.  They had dropped a couple a crab pots just on the other side of the breakwater in front of the marina and got a whole bunch of huge crabs!  

We left early Saturday morning - heading north to spend the night in Clam Cove on Nigei Island. 

June 17th

We enjoyed a great couple of days at Prideaux Haven. We even went in for a swim on Monday evening.  It was quite hot and sunny and the water was very warm.  

A very interesting wood sailboat in Prideaux. 

Lilly had full reign over the boat while we were at anchor and would often go on the swim step and jump on to the skiff and sit at the bow of the skiff - that was when she wasn't getting into trouble! 

We left Prideaux very early Tuesday morning - up at 5:30 AM to pull the anchor for 6:00 to catch slack water at "The Dents". A set of three rapids with very fast currents. 

Our plan was to go through The Dents and stay at one of our favourite little docks-  Shoal Bay.  As we got into Shoal Bay we discovered the dock was completely full.  It seems there was some Gale force winds that had been keeping boats from travelling and most people were staying put until the winds died down in Johnstone Straight.  We decided to go to Handfield Bay and anchor up. Another spot we liked and not too far away. And it was early in the day still. 

We saw this wood sailboat in Handfield Bay. They were there waiting out the winds. This boat if from New Zealand and the couple sailing her had come to Canada via the Aleutians.  Quite the adventure they were having. Unfortunate the west coast is not a great place to sail as the winds are often blowing in the opposite direction of where you want to go! 

The wind was down enough for us to leave Handfield Bay this morning and motor up Johnstone Straight to Port Harvey.  It was a bit windy and bumpy and poor Lilly was a bit sea sick. 

We were here at Port Harvey a of times last summer. A nice dock and and nice little store and restaurant well known for great home made pizza.  

The next night we went to a dock at Kwatsi Bay.  The dock there is getting quite run down. But it's a nice little spot. Not much of a trail to walk Jenny. And there - just after Jim was walking Jenny we saw a cougar on the shore!  That was a little disconcerting. 

Eagle on a tree in Stopford Bay 

The next day we left Kwatsi and planned to go to a little anchorage called Stopford Bay. When we arrived there was a logging camp set up and signs to indicated they were blasting in the area!  So we left there and spent the night at Pierre's in Echo Bay. I like Pierre's a lot, it's a great spot - clean and well managed. Large docks. Great people. There were only 3-4 boats there for the night.  Not quite the season yet. They have planned a pig roast for the start of the season on June 27th. There are Halibut and chips some nights - Prime Rib night!  Great spot. 

Phoenix Hunter at the dock at Pierre's 

After Echo Bay we motored to Monday Anchorage.  It is a nice quiet little spot with the occasional kayaker on the Midden Beach. 

After we dropped anchor Jim took Jenny to shore and she was bitten by something - wasps we think - on her face and her foot.  I never saw anything on her face but her foot was quite swollen and she was limping a bit on it. She came back to the boat and was almost unresponsive for a few minutes.  She was shaking and staggering and her foot was spasming.  We debated pulling the anchor and heading to Port McNeill.  We gave her half an aspirin and let her rest a bit. She recovered completely.  I think the aspirin helped. Then later in the afternoon - while having a little sit out in the cockpit - Lilly wandering about the skiff as she like to do - Lilly fell into the water!   Boy can she swim!  She was going like the wind!  Jim grabbed the halibut net and was able to net her along the starboard side of the boat.  So she was completely soaked in salt water - we gave her a shower with fresh water and a good towel dry.  Hopefully she has learned a lesson there.  We need a little re boarding device for her!  Some people will hang a little piece of carpet off the swim step for their cats to grab.  Of course we have the halibut net at the ready for that exact reason.  What a day that was!  

We spent two nights at Monday Anchorage. Jim went fishing yesterday and hooked a small harbour seal. He tried to get it close to the skiff to pull out the hook but couldn't manage to do that. So had to cut the line.  He felt terrible about that.  The hook was just in the outer skin, so it will most likely work it's way out over time.  Jim and fishing just don't seem to be coming together as he hoped. 

This morning we are off to Booker Lagoon. 

June 15th

We are sitting here having our morning coffee to this view - 

Prideaux Haven

We had a lovely - and very uneventful cruise from Pender Harbour, 53 nautical miles, about 7 hours.   Lilly slept the entire trip, not seasick at all. 

I'm still wondering if bring the cat along was a good idea!! She is a lot of work!  A bit of a hooligan - very curious - and fearless. She has almost fallen in a couple of times and she gets mad if you tell her - NO.  We can keep her contained in the boat quite well when we want. But she knows all the ways she can get out if they are not closed and locked.  She will go to each locked door and porthole and try to get out. And then just gets mad!  It seems half the time she's mad and the other half she walking on the edge of something or climbing into something. 

Here she has climbed INSIDE the crab trap. Seriously? !!!  

And then yesterday --- Jenny decided to jump in the water at the end of her walk on shore with Jim.  Just leapt off a rock.  Jim said she went right under - I guess Jenny misjudged the depth - he couldn't see her and called her - the dog who has never come when she's called - so he leapt in the water after her.  Jenny made it back to shore without assistance and they both came back completely soaked head to toe.  

This trip is going to be an adventure!! 

And we're off!

We have been busy getting the boat to more to how we want it.  New inverter/charger, new batteries and a few other items to upgrade the boat. Plus we replaced the old blue chairs and bought Jim a new Ikea chair. Lots of work with cleaning - replacing windows etc. Jim has been working hard. The boat went up "on the hard" for two weeks in May. 

We went to Calgary for a visit with Jessica and Tim and the kids after the boat went back in the water and then spent two weeks cleaning, packing and finishing up small tasks.  We were having trouble getting the newly installed AIS to transmit properly so that held us up quite a bit. 

I have not posted much on this blog. Although I have done a little bit of a journal on my iPad of previous trips we have done since we bought the boat.  

We are now in to our third summer with Phoenix Hunter.  This summer we plan to head north of Cape Caution and up to the Central Coast - Bella Bella and Shearwater area. 

So I thought I would blog along the way. Add a photo or two and record our adventure of our first "big trip". 

We left home port - June 11th   ( Trites Marina in Steveston ) with a Gale warning forecast for South of Nanimo.  We decided to deploy the Stabilizing poles in case the water was a bit sloppy.  And it was - so we were happy to have the poles down and the "fish" in the water. 

We made good time to Pender Harbour on the Sunshine Coast. We are bringing our cat - Lilly who is 11 months old and new to boating, and our dog Jenny who has been along on this journey since we got the boat.  This year Jenny got a major fur cut - shave - and it has given her a new zest for life. 

As you can see - Lilly is not sure she is impressed with this whole adventure yet!  

We have been in Pender Harbour for a 3 nights. Weather and a small mechanical issue with the skiff has kept us here longer than we had planned. But that's boating for you!  Gave Lilly a chance to recover from a long day at sea and some sea sickness. 

Tomorrow morning we will head out for 2 nights in Prideaux Haven.  We like that anchorage and haven't been there for a couple of years so it will be nice to go back. 

A couple of boat photos from last year.  

I will try to update regularly on this trip but there will be times where there is no 3G and limited wifi at remote marinas.