Day 16/July 16 – Murray’s Labyrinth to Skull Cove to Miles Inlet

Awoke to fog. Pretty thick fog. Not ideal for rounding Cape Caution. We gave it a few hours, navigated out of the labyrinth, poked out around the corner and verified our anticipated discomfort with the fog. We have radar and GPS onboard, but part of the fun of going around Cape Caution is being able to see it! Gave us an excuse to tuck into Skull Cove, row to shore and explore a rustic whale research station we’d seen going past the day before. Lovely spot on a point with an old Dickenson stove, fire pit, cedar benches, driftwood swing and plywood roof.

 

Day 15/July 15 – Port McNeill to Murray’s Labyrinth

Glassy calm as we left Port McNeill. I scrambled to get off a bunch of emails before we left range and Scott landed a nice 6 pound spring salmon. Headed across the strait. Waves turned to rollers. We saw a huge otter in the middle of what seemed like nowhere. The wind behaved itself and we got used to the rolling motion of the open ocean. Found our way into the outer coastal islets. Now we feel like we’re getting North. Wind pummelled trees. Booming waves. Bare rock faces. We were feeling adventuresome and so took the advice of the cruising guide and crept in slowly to Murray’s Labyrinth. Tricky entry, but not too bad with someone on the bow – a wonderful lagoon of moss laden trees, crevassed rocks, kelp forests. Broke in the new dinghy engine with a slow exploration. Had the whole place to ourselves.

 

Day 14/July 14 – Port McNeill

We said good-bye to Gary and Lorraine - they hopped on the bus back to Campbell River and we stayed in their motel room long enough to find ourselves a dingy on Craigslist?! Yup – inflatable Titan dingy with never been used 5 horse engine – it had been posted it the night before by the lovely Art, he’d had a bunch of responses from people further away but noticed our email which said we were in Port Hardy for 4 hours and so he called us. We couldn’t have asked for a more perfect exchange! He came into town and picked us up, took us to his gorgeous property just outside of town (the most amazing concrete raised garden beds), helped us start the never before been started engine in a barrel of water, provided all the tools for us to fix the grommets on the torn webbing that keeps the gas tank in one place, helped us launch the boat, taught us a new knot, shared a few life lessons and took Patchi back to his place to store it for the summer! It really couldn’t have worked out better for us – just perfect. Took her out for a little warm up/break in the engine put-put around the harbour and named her, ‘Sturdi’. Tried to get an early night for the big passage tomorrow, but got distracted by odd jobs. Ate at Gus’ Pub, again.  

 

Day 13/July 13 – Crease Island to Port McNeill

Cruised through the crazy currents of the Broughtons. Passed by all sorts of birds and minke whales. Gorgeous calm, flat seas as we b-lined for Port McNeill for a town day. Laundry, groceries, a few extra fishing tackle accessories…a new dingy! After 5 days of wobbly boarding and un-boarding of Patchi, plus the sketchy evening of rockfishing off Port Neville, Gary and Lorraine convinced us we needed a more substantial dingy. So off to the marine store we went – all they had was a Walker Bay for $2300. We found another one on the street that wasn’t for sale, but was in the yard of a yacht broker. Knowing every boat is for sale for the right price, we tracked down his name and number off the Port McNeill Marina, left him a message and he got back to us – yup, it’s his dingy and it’s not for sale, but for the right price he didn’t want us to be stuck.  Walked back down the hill to cruise the docks for other boats for sale that might have a tender up for grabs and a guy on a motorcycle pulled up to ask us directions – it was Scott Baker! He used to sit across from me (Kim) back at the office. He came over for beer and chips on the bow and a little confab on his way up to the Dawson City Music Festival.

Day 12/Jul 12 – Matilpi to Crease Island

So. Good. Sail. Orcas. Sun. Steady 15 knots. Upwind heaven for 2 hours and more than half our leg today. Nothing else worth mentioning – o except our no-knead bread attempt didn’t really work out. We think it had something to do with the whole wheat flour we used, but after sorting out the pinched fuel line – the diesel oven slays.

Day 11/Jul 11 – Port Neville to Matilpi

 
Great night’s sleep tied up across from a Hans Christian – a few boats came in after dark and were gone by morning. Left early enough to catch 2 nice sized rock cod off the point – one with a bonus squid inside it! Motored up Johnstone Strait into the first rain of our trip. Looked like a bit of fog so we hung a left into Havannah Straight.

Coming up between two islands we spotted a deer head bobbing in the water swimming across our bow. Sun came out again and we stuck our snapper heads in the prawn trap to hopefully catch a little more than starfish this time. Dropped the trap and tucked into Matilpi, an indigenous village site and you could see why. Sheltered, south facing, fresh water creeks, lovely beach with lots of life. Gary and I (Kim) rowed ashore for a little exploration. Crunchy shelled beach, berries and fish popping out of the glassy water. Back to check the trap – yup, another starfish, but the 2 dozen prawns were a significant upgrade!

 

 

Day 10/Jul 10 - Blind Channel to Port Neville

Another early departure, pushed off at 5:20am to get through Green Point Rapids and Whirlpool Rapids. Cold and cloudy morning getting through the first rapids. Dropped the stern anchor in a tiny sheltered cove - Kim did some jigging and Gary some drawing in the sun while we waited for favourable currents to get through Whirlpool Rapids. We nailed slack tide and passed though easily, you could see how this would be a nasty place to hit at the wrong time. Putted up Forward Bay to have a look – nice spot, but we decided to press on.

Turned into a dark and gusty afternoon beating up Johnstone Strait, decided to tuck into Port Neville. Just as we were creeping up on the point, Scott noticed a suspicious looking over turned aluminum skiff and two kayaks on the beach. We turned in to have a better look and take a few photos (thanks for the lens Mars!) couldn’t get much closer with the wind and waves and were relieved to tie up at the pubic wharf at Port Neville.

A lovely white sandy beach, a big old house that used to be the homestead of Oli Hanson who rowed there with one arm from New Westminster in the late 1800’s. Were greeted by the care taking couple that keep the place up, had a tour of the house - mason jars, old stoves, tinctures, rocking chair, news papers and specs. After a little listening, Gary was able to score some fresh kale and lettuce from their garden.

Scott mentioned the overturned aluminum boat and kayaks to Chet, the caretaker, and suddenly we were in an episode of beachcombers – Chet thought he should check it out, but not without his neighbour, Yellow Bear, and invited Scott along too. They all jumped in Yellow Bear’s skiff "I want him back!" I shouted as they took off out into the wind and break. "Who?, joked Yellow Bear – it was only a little bit funny. We all tuned channel 08. Yellow Bear called in to get someone to call the RCMP. Scott called back for us to write down the registration number off the aluminum boat. Later we found out it was a tender that was cut in high winds and waves. The owner is in Parkesville and is headed back up with a trailer.

As if that wasn’t enough excitement for the day. Scott and I headed out in Patchi for a little rockfishing. We tied off to some kelp and caught a few snapper that were just a little too small. We needed to be further out, but Patchi just wasn’t going to do it. We got a few worried check-in calls from Gary on the VHF – this is when we realized we may need a more substantial dingy…apparently we looked a little low in the water.