Windy Bay

We took the big boat to Windy Bay. 

We radioed in and the mooring bouy was occupied.

We decided to try to anchor at a spot about 2 miles away but dragged on the anchor. That's the first time we've ever dragged on our anchor. So we pulled the anchor and continued on to Windy Bay.

By the time we got there the boat that was on the mooring ball - a Morseby Explorers small tour boat - had moved to the Clothes line and we were able to use the mooring ball and take the skiff to the Clothes line and tied up.

We chatted a bit with the Morseby Explorers group. They were finished their tour and were just finishing up their lunch and heading out. They were on the four night tour.

Windy Bay was a wonderful stop.

Walter told us the story of the new Reconciliation Pole that was raised in 2013.

http://www.gohaidagwaii.ca/blog/the-gwaii-haanas-legacy-pole-raised-at-windy-bay

Some close up photos of the pole.

Morgan took us on a fabulous and beautiful forest walk to see the 900 year old spruce.

Our walk took us through the forest for about 45 minutes or so and then came across the little creek at the Clothes line and Morgan pulled us across in his skiff.

After the walk we had a cup of tea at the Watchmen cabin with Walter.

Just as we were ready to leave the big tour boat Swell came and anchored up to bring a group to shore.

It was a wonderful afternoon. The weather was sunny and the winds were calm.

Phoenix Hunter on the mooring bouy. You can see the she is rolling about a bit in the swell there.

We motored back to Murchison for the night.

Later that night a Canadian Hydrographic Services boat came in to the other mooring bouy and Jim went over for a little chat about charts.

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Murchison Anchorage.

After a very rainy evening in Anna Inlet we motored south through Hoya Passage and put in Juan Perez Sound.

Our plan was to go to Murchison Island anchorage. We heard there was a mooring ball and it is close enough to Hot Spring Island and Windy Bay that we could take day trips on the Skiff to either site. Both Hot Springs and Windy Bay are Watchman sites we wanted to see.

We have had grey skies and drizzle or rain off and on all week so far. Hoping for some sun soon.

Murchison anchorage had two mooring bouys. There was no one there and we easily got the mooring bouys. They are a little different than ones we've seen before. There is a big orange Scotchman bouy and it has a thick heavy rope with a loop and a small float attached to it. So you have to grab the rope and loop with the pike pole and then put your own line through the loop.
The mooring bouy line has been floating around in sea water and is covered in slimy green algae. It's a little trickier than the normal mooring bouys.




We spent three nights in Murchison anchorage. There are Park closures in the area until July 15th. We were allowed to be on the mooring bouy but not allowed to go to shore anywhere in the Ramsay Island area except Hot Spring Island.

June 22nd - our second day at Murchison the wind was calm and we took the skiff the three miles over to Hot Spring Island.

There is also a mooring bouy at Hot Spring Island. It was occupied. There is also a Clothes line set up for the small skiffs and dingys.

The Watchmen there was a nice young couple. There were a number of Parks Canada employees there that day working on some pipes and pumps and such.

There were lots of rocks and reefs close to the shore. From the skiff we watched as a worker came out on an inflatable dingy - taking note of what he did for the best route to shore.

Once we got to shore the same worker helped Jim take the skiff to the Clothes line - which was a little off shore.

The skiff was set up securely so we could relax and enjoy the Hot Springs.

The Hot pools had drained a few years ago when there was a big earthquake in Haida Gwaii. There have since been new pools built and this is the first summer they are open since the 2014 earthquake.



They are still doing a bit of work there. But there Hot pools were lovely and warm. Not too hot. There are change rooms, as well as a shower room. Jim and I soaked in the Hot pools for quite a while.

We changed and then went for a walk up the hill and saw one of the old pools. Apparently we missed one of the pools. They are starting to refill.

We walked further up the hill to a lovely look out and took a few photos with my phone. We did not bring the camera.








When we were ready to head back the worker took us in his inflatable back to where the skiff was hanging out on the clothes line.

Back to Murchison and a lovely evening.














The next morning we had sun!! And blue sky!!




We ended up staying 3 days here.



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Tanu and Anna Inlet

Tuesday morning it was raining but the wind was light. We decided to motor south west through Dana Passage and Dana Inlet and enter the Gwaii Haanas Park Reserve.

We decided we would go by Tanu which is a Haida Watchman site.

From the Gwaii Haanas Visitors guide.

T'aanuu Llnagaay - translates to Eelgrass Town. At one time there were between 25-40 longhouses in the village, along with 31 mortuary poles and 15 mortuary houses. Little is left standing but the spirit of the place is still strong. The house depressions and the fallen, moss covered house posts give a vivid sense of the layout of the village.

We went to check out what the site looked like and how we would be able to access the shore with the skiff. How we could we anchor Phoenix Hunter.

We had heard that shore access can be tricky and the temporary anchorages around the Haida Watchman sites are not great for holding. With the tide going up and down it's tricky with the skiff to make sure you aren't left stranded when the tide drops or banging on the shore when the tide rises. We were told that it was best to have an inflatable rubber dingy - which we do not have!

Luckily the seas were calm and Tanu is in the lee of Kunga Island.

As we got close we contacted the Haida Watchman on the VHF 06.

Tanu has a mooring ball right out front for boats to tie up to! The mooring ball was open and we could tie up at our own risk. No need to try to anchor at a spot with poor holding and rocks all around. Great! That worked great!

And there is also a "Clothes line" for the skiff. I never took a photo of the clothes line but it is basically as it sounds. A big long Clothes line that you attaches the skiff to and the push it out to deeper water and then when your ready to leave you just pull it in to shore, what ever the tide height it works.

After we tied up the the mooring ball and started to shore with the skiff we saw the Watchman on shore pointing the way to avoid the rocks. Although we don't have a rubber dingy we have a depth sounder on our little skiff - that helps with rock avoidance!

We made it safely to shore. The Watchman -- Ken - was there to help.

The Watchmen Cabin

Our first Watchman site! Ken was a great host. He walked us through the fallen long houses and told us a number of Haida oral history stories.

We walked around the site with Ken.

The remains of a long house.

The remains of a six beam long house.

A big long spruce root growing along a long house beam.

You can see how large both the beam and root are from this photo.

A two beam long house.

We then went into the Haida Watchman cabin and signed the guest book and met the other Watchman at the site.

A photo from the shore of Phoenix Hunter on the mooring bouy

After our visit Ken helped us get back into the skiff and directed us out of the rocky areas -- something to do with lining up a snag from a tree and going some sort of direction. Lucky we had the depth sounder! Basically we went out the same way we came in.

We throughly enjoyed our visit to Tanu. Both Ken and Vince were helpful and friendly and full of information. It was just jim and I on the walk about tour with Ken. Still a bit early in the season for most boaters.

We decided we were going to go anchor up for the night in Echo Harbour, which was just a few miles south west of Tanu.

As we were traveling south to Echo Harbour we saw S/V Yonder on the AIS going in there - hmmm. What should we do? Go in there - probably lots of room. But share an anchorage with another boat? The horror! When was the last time we shared an anchorage with another boat? Shearwater we think. And there are so many anchorages around... and in the end we decided to go a little further and anchor up in Anna Inlet instead.

It was a lovely little bottle neck anchorage.

We had very little wind all day long -- until we dropped the anchor. The wind came up blowing down the mountains - and we were dropping the anchor in over 20 knots and being blown around in circles. A Williwaw!! That is what Capi in "The Curve of Time" called the sudden blow up of wind coming down off the mountains.

I was a little concerned we'd be hanging off the anchor all night getting blown around. We were in about 60 feet so we put down 200 feet of chain. We never put down that much chain!

The Williwaw lasted only long enough for us to set the anchor! Of course. Then it settles to light wind and it rained hard -- REALLY hard - all night.

A Pigeon Guillemot out enjoying the rain in Anna Inlet.

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Trotter Bay

We were hoping to go into Skedans today ( June 19th ) - a Haida Village Watchman site that is not in the Gwaii Haanas Park Reserve. . But with the wind and wave action coming up the east side of Louise Island back into Hecate Strait we decided it wasn't a good plan.

We went back west up Selwyn Inlet and just went for a little motor. We decided we look into a few spots we'd seen on the way down Selwyn and decide what looked good.

There was a lodge at the top of Pacofi Bay. We think it belongs to the Morseby Adventure group. There was no people or boats about the lodge. It looked a little run down but there were tables and chairs in the main area and everything was intact. We are not sure it it is still in use.




















We went into Cecil Cove at there were 3 black bears grazing on the grass at the head of the Cove. They looked very large. We were not able to get very close due to a large mud flat at the top of the Cove









One of the bears. Not a great photo!


















The bear on shore and the eagle flying along the water.

We heard the S/V Yonder call out a security on channel 16 for Louise Narrows. And we saw the vessel on AIS. But we never saw the actual boat.

We have yet to see another boat since we saw S/V Maple Leaf in Morseby Camp.

We motored up to Trotter Bay and dropped the anchor. Open to Selwyn Inlet but and it was calm and good holding. Started to rain in the afternoon.











Here is a map of the area we are in and I put little orange dots where we have anchored. At the north side of Louise Island is Cumshewa Inlet and then Gillant Arm - there is our first stop - Gordon Cove. Skedans is on the west side of Louise Island in Skedans Bay. Pacofi Bay and Cecil Cove and Trotter Bay are all just east of Talunkwan Island. Thurston Harbour is on the west side of Talunkwan Island. The weather has been a bit wet and windy so far. Well -- a LOT wet! But we are inside a nice warm - and dry boat.

Where the wind takes you - Thurston Harbour.

After a beautiful sunrise in Gordon Cove with sunny calm morning we pulled the anchor and set out.

Our plan was to head to Carmichael Passage and drop the anchor. First we travelled back out to Cumshewa Inlet which was flat calm.

Jim did a little fishing from the cockpit and caught a rockfish.

The forecast was for the wind to come up from the SE in the afternoon - 30-40 knots.

So you have to go where the winds take you around here.

We were thinking of anchoring up in Carmichael Passage but by the time we got there the wind was blowing straight down the Passage at 15-18 knots and since it was supposed to come up later in the day. So we decided the tide was high enough to go through Louise Narrows.

We had less than 9 feet of water under the boat at one point. The most we had was around 12-14 feet. The channel is well marked though.









The channel is marked but it's pretty narrow and shallow.




And just in case you didn't know you need to keep this on your Port side there is an arrow -- this way! Haha. There was a big area of water there with depth of maybe 2 feet!








Out the other side!

Once through Louise Narrows we traveled along Selwyn Inlet and anchored in Thurston Harbour. It was supposed to offer good protection in a SE blow.

We still got quite the wind blowing around the corner and up Thurston Harbour. But it the holding was very good and the swell settled by the top of the harbour.


The difference in 12 hours, from that beautiful morning






Evening anchorage in Thurston anchorage. It has been cold. The mornings have been only 7-10c and 11-14c inside the boat. The heater has been getting a good workout!!




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Sandspit to Gordon Cove

We are back!! We arrived back in Sandspit - and into cell range this afternoon. I will try to put up a few posts in the next few days.

And this is where we have been. Gwaii Haanas Park Reserve







A map from the Douglass book.








The weather was great the day we left Sandspit and headed south. Sunny - very little wind. Which was lovely!

It was 47 miles from Sandspit to Morseby Camp.

There is a gravel road from Sandspit to Morseby Camp and it is the furthest place south in Haida Gwaii that you can go by car. It is used as a base for tour boat operators to load passengers. Kayakers can set up a camp there. There is a small covered picnic and cooking area. A boat launch and small dock for


Morseby Camp is at the head of Gillant Inlet.

As we headed west up Cumshewa Inlet the wind started to come up and with the wind against the tide we started to get a bit of a chop.

We wanted to go all the way in to Gillant Inlet and see Morseby Camp. The S/V Maple Leaf was anchored up in there. And there was a small Cove that we thought we could look into as it was recommended as a nice spot to stay. There was another anchorage close by that we were considering as well.

Jim had picked out a couple of spots he'd like to try fishing for halibut in Cumshewa Inlet but the chop and wind was just much movement for the boat.

We got a good look at the S/V Maple Leaf.

It is 75 ft sailboat that does week long tours around Gwaii Haanas






We dropped the anchor in Gordon Cove. There used to be mooring bouys in there 15 years ago and we could see some remnant of them on the shore.

The wind pick up a bit in there and it was blowing 15-16 knots when we dropped the anchor. But it settled and we had a lovely evening - our first night at anchor in Haida Gwaii.










And a beautiful morning!





























Gordon Cove is a great anchorage - good holding and beautiful vistas.




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