Port McNeill to Pruth Bay

Phoenix Hunter on the dock in Port Harvey




May 22 to May 26.

Four nights in Port McNeill at North Island Marina.

If you ever find yourself in Port McNeill the best place to be is North Island Marina. The owner - Steve and all the staff are just great and friendly and helpful. We are becoming regulars there and they are always happy to see us and it seems we are always there for at least 3 nights - usually 4. Often waiting for a weather warning to end.

The grocery store and marine store are just a quick walk up the dock. There used to be two groceries stores but Super Valu closed last summer. So grocery shopping is so-so there.

There is also a laundry and a wonderful little Thrift store all within easy walking distance. I always seem to find something to buy at the Thrift store. We usually get a few items from Fields and. Rona and the Bargin store. We either forget stuff or we "need" stuff and by the time we get to Port McNeill we have a list.

Our skiff trouble was quickly solved by Graham. I'm sure we are assisting in his retirement fund! Seems every year we have a little skiff issue that Graham has to fix.

And we got pizza! The pizza oven wasn't running yet in Port Harvey ( another favourite dock ) but we found a very good pizza at the Sportsman Bar and Steakhouse at the top of the dock.

We always seem to meet a few new boaters at North Island Marina.

We met a couple on a sailboat that we're heading north and waiting for the wind to pass. There were two really windy days in Port McNeill - blowing 25 kts in the Marina -- very windy!!

There was a break in the wind on Friday May 26th so we left the dock and motored up to Clam Cove. The couple we met in Port McNeill came up on Saturday - we had a Happy hour on their sailboat.

This little hand painted sign was there in 2015.




There is a little collection of float houses in Clam Cove. We've been here before. It's a nice little spot and an easy staging spot for Cape Caution





We went for a little dingy ride around the Cove




And a walk on shore.




The first part of the path was an old logging road. But as soon as the path ended it was mossy and wet. It was a very difficult walk for me.






Sunday morning we pulled anchor and left Calm Cove at 5 AM. The trip crossing Cape Caution we pretty much uneventful. We had the poles down - ready in case there was some wild wave action but we never put the fish in the water. It got a little foggy around Smiths Inlet and then a little windy as we came up to the Pruth Bay. The wind always blows the fog away!




It was a beautiful sunrise as we were leaving Sunday morning at the crack of dawn. Not often are we underway at this time of day!!

We travel all the way from Clam Cove to Pruth Bay - 57 nautical miles. Something we probably would not have done with Jenny on board. Getting such an early start is difficult when you have a dog to take to shore - a skiff to put on the boat deck and then poles to put down. So all the prep work was done the night before and we just had to pull the anchor in the morning.



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Prideaux Haven and Shoal Bay

The last couple of years we have not stopped in Prideaux Haven - or Shoal Bay. Both spots are on our favourite places list but they can be quite busy in the peak seasons.

Prideaux Haven is so lovely with the "big vistas" - a fellow boater called them. This year we were able to drop our anchor in the one spot in Prideaux Haven that was his favourite place to anchor. Looking up towards Homfrey Channel and the Coast Mountain range.














A bit of a grey day though when we arrived.

The next morning it was a glorious bright blue sky sunny day.














Could it get any better than this??

We pulled up our anchor and headed north through "The Dents".

When we arrived in Shoal Bay around 1:30 pm the dock was empty. The view from the dock is just stunning - straight up Phillips Arm.




That photo is taken from the cockpit of Phoenix Hunter shortly after we tied up.

There was a photography group from Nanaimo staying in the rooms in the pub. So the pub was not yet open. The group of photographers had been out on their boat and had seen some bears in the estuary at the top of Phillips Arm.

We took the skiff down from the boat deck for a little test and ride up to check out Bickley Bay. It looks like a nice anchorage if the weather is good. The skiff ran well.

Later in the early evening we thought we'd take the skiff up Phillips Arm and look for bears. And -- nope - that darn skiff! Didn't start!!! Well. That's why we wanted to check it out before we got too far along. Probably the battery? We were able to get enough power with the pull cord to get the engine into the tilt position for raising back onto the boat deck.

Nothing ever goes 100% smoothly. And this skiff of ours has caused us a few extra days in Port McNeill before.



Shoal Bay dock from the shore.






Not quite as sunny the morning we left.

So after a night in Port Harvey - where we were too early for pizza and cinnamon buns -- we are now in Port McNeill. And it's blowing a gale out there in Queen Charlotte Straight! So we will be here for a couple of nights and we will get the skiff issue sorted before we leave.


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Lovely evening last night.







This morning we left around 9 Am. obviously not have the dog to take to shore in the morning doesn't get us moving any faster!

The weather has been cool but no real wind and no rain. So that is a good thing.

Flat calm seas on the way north around Powell River.







I am trying to sort out photo size. I used to have a "Blogger" app on my iPad but it no longer is supported or working. I don't think Google really wants people to use Blogger any more. They have made the whole process complicated not not very user friendly!!

This app is called "BlogPress". It works fairly well but I'm having difficulty figuring out how to get a decent photo size. So this list is mostly a test.




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Location:Leaving Pender Harbour

May 18, 2017

Here it is -- a new cruising season and I have not quite finished the last cruising season. Terrible!

So a quick update.

We returned from the Central Coast in early August and took our granddaughter Phoenix on a trip into the Gulf islands for a week. That was great fun! Phoenix - from Alberta - had a couple of rough crossings of the Straight if Georgia and was not sea sick once!

We went to Clam Bay - Sydney Spit Marine Park and Montague Harbour.








We really had a great time with Phoenix.

In early September Jim took a couple of friends on a trip in the Gulf Islands.

At the end September Jim and I went to the "Krog In" in Anacortes. We took a couple of extra days and went to Oak Harbour for fuel and then spent a night in La Conner.

Jessica brought Hunter and Jack for a visit in February. So Jim and Eric brought Hunter to the boat for a little trip up the river.















We are planning to go to Haida Gwaii this year. We have registered to go into the Gwaii Haanas park in mid June.

We have decide not to bring Jenny and Lilly this trip. Although we will miss them terribly. Jenny is getting older and had problems with her knee a couple of times. And getting her on and off the boat and skiff is becoming more difficult. We have found an amazing person to dog/cat and house sit for the summer - so we decided it was the perfect opportunity to make a few long crossings and see some places that we've not been able to see as easily with Jenny and the need for good shore access.

We are heading up to Pender Harbour and will take our usual route up through The Dents. Maybe a night at the Shoal Bay dock.



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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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