Day 20/July 20 – Dawsons Landing to Un-Named Cove on Calvert Island – Wuikinuxv and Heiltsuk Territory

We took our time getting off the dock and headed out for Fitz Hugh Sound going through Burke Channel (or Slaughter Alley) on the way. We dropped our speed and our lines and bam, bam we caught two salmon, just like that. Brought them on deck and picked up speed again with the satisfaction of good eats for the next couple of days.

We spotted humpbacks in the distance as we headed up the Sound – blasts of spray, humps come up followed by slow tail gracefully emerging and then disappearing. Had a good upwind breeze and switched to sail – with the current we weren’t making much head way, but it felt great. And then there were humpbacks everywhere. Ahead of us, beside us, behind us – we couldn’t keep track surrounded by bursts of breath, surfacing humps and tails. Tried as we might we just couldn’t get a good photo – shuffling between the wide and zoom lenses. Just as we thought they were all falling off into the distance – we jumped with a HUGE burst of spray and turned to see a the giant glistening back of a humpback not  1 boat length away! It felt like he could have hit the boat if he moved his tail in the wrong direction. We sailed with whales for about 3 hours before turning on the engine and heading into Kwakshua Channel. We anchored at Un-named Cove, set the bug net over the pilot house and enjoyed a peaceful evening.