Alaska 2021 - May 10
We left Lowe Inlet today with a destination of Prince Rupert
but the water and weather are so nice we decided to push on to Dundas which
makes a shorter run to Ketchikan tomorrow.
We are many days ahead of schedule but since we can’t stop anywhere in
Canada if the water and weather are good we just push on. Beautiful snow
covered mountains and scenery on the journey today.
Alaska 2021 – May 9 Mother’s Day
Happy Mother’s
day to all the Moms reading this blog! Today
we cruised up Graham Reach past Khutze Inlet. We went thru Fraser Reach, McKay
Reach, Wright Sound then Grenville Channel to reach our destination for tonight
of Lowe Inlet which was about 60 miles north of lasts nights stop in Horsefly
Cove. We have stayed at Lowe Inlet on prior trips and the Nettle Basin and
Verney Falls are the highlight. The Kumowdah River flows into Nettle Basin over
Verney Falls and drains Lowe Lake. At a low tide Verney Falls will double in
height which leads to some great pictures. It started as another overcast day but much brighter and no
rain-we actually saw glimpses of the sun on the journey but we are back in the
heavy overcast now!
On the journey we
went past Butedale which is the site of a former cannery. The buildings are in ruins,
but the waterfall is still spectacular.
This is a beautiful cruise with high hills
surrounding us and many waterfalls to enjoy. There is still quite a bit of snow
in some of the hills.
April 2021 – May 8
We left Oliver Cove at 8:30 with an
anticipated anchorage in Horsefly Cove in Green Inlet which is South of
Butedale. It is a cold, rainy gray day
again which is unfortunate since this is normally a beautiful ride up Mathieson
Channel. We went thru Jackson pass and
Jackson Narrows to Finlayson Channel. If you follow the Douglass book you would
probably not anchor here as they say they spent the night poorly secured to a
spit that extends from the stream on the south shore across from Horsefly cove.
Not an assuring post but we anchor the three boats together on one center
anchor and stern tie to shore so we will see how it works out! There are tidal
rapids at Baffle Point and the description in Douglass is enjoy the view of the
ebb current at the rapids – its like watching a jet fighter with is after
burner ignited. The rooster tails of the
waterfall pulsate for perhaps 100 yards on a good low tide! My guess is this is
why we are staying at Green Inlet!
Picture of Dave and Jane on Bidarka going thru Jackson Narrows and
Jackson Channel. Pete is enjoying the ride with my Nana blanket from Evie and
Lexi! We are seeing lots of waterfalls along the route!
Alaska 2021 – May 7
We spent the day cruising in cold wet rainy weather from
Goldstream Bay to Oliver Cove Marine Park via Shearwater. We floated off Shearwater
where we were able to pick up internet and phone service. It’s always nice to be able to catch up with
people when we go by the areas with connectivity! Our intention was to spend about an hour
floating then heading on to our evening anchorage but the local Shrimp pots had
other plans. First Dave floated over 2
pots that got caught on his boat. Glen jumped in Stupid(his jet boat) to go
help and realized he had also floated over a Shrimp float. Glen’s pot was a fairly easy removal to put
the pot back where it came from but not the same for Dave and Jane on
Bidarka. They had 2 floats and after
about 2 hours along with Glen and Pete’s help they were free from the pots but
the result was 2 floats and only one pot.
While Glen and Pete were resetting the pot with 2 floats a local came
out to make sure everything was ok. He
was really nice and friendly about the mishap. The guys gave him money to cover
the loss of the pot and we were on our way to find anchorage. We went thru Seaforth Channel to Reid Pass and
our spot to drop the hook for the night!
Dinner on the Nelsea and another fun evening with friends. The boys
(Steve and Glen) beat Michelle and Liz at Cribbage -2 games. We need a chance to redeem ourselves – hopefully
tomorrow night.
Alaska 2021 – May 6
We fueled up last night at Port McNeill and that will be the last fuel stop before Ketchikan. We used 305 gallons from Roche Harbor! The people at the fuel dock were fantastic! They even ran up to the store for us for a few provisions and brought it down to the boat since we are not allowed to get off on shore. We celebrated Cinco De Mayo with Tacos on the Nelsea. We left Port McNeill today with calm seas – overcast but not raining. Pete Jung is on Nelsea for the ride to Ketchikan and its great to have another Captain on board! The boat picture is Magic Moment with Glen and Liz Dodge. We were headed to Allison Harbor but decided to push on and cross Cape Caution. Cape Caution was fine but the run up to Goldstream Harbor which is on Hecate Island north of Hakai was less than desirable – we had 28 knot winds and wind against current and swell so we had a very lumpy ride. All three boats at some point took a swell that toppled lamps, tables, etc. We went 81 miles and arrived to a beautiful anchorage at Goldstream Harbor. None of us had ever stayed there before but definitely recommend it for a calm evening.
Alaska 2021 – May 5
Campbell River to Port McNeil
We headed out early today to catch the slack tide at Seymour Narrows. Another good day on the water – a little bit more wave action today and overcast skies. We will take on about 300 gallons of fuel which will give us enough fuel to get to Ketchikan. There were a lot of dolphins today that played in our wake. I sent a video home for Evelyn and Alexis to see them in action. We also got to facetime with the girls today which is fun for all of us. The forecast is for winds and waves for the next few days which might stop us from rounding Cape Caution but we will have to wait and see what transpires!
Alaska 2021 – Adventures on the Nelsea with Steve and
Michelle Nelson
Nelsea – 62
Offshore and Nellie – 20 Ft Grady White fishing boat
We are off to Alaska again!
We left home on April 30th for a stop at Roche Harbor and the
annual Ling Cod fishing derby with the Grady White club. It was a tough weekend of fishing but fun fishing with Jeff and Tam Melvin. We got 9 Ling Cod but unfortunately all were
just too small to keep! We had a fun time
meeting up with people since it has been 2 years since we had the Ling Cod Derby due to Covid. After the Grady
group left Roche we met up with our Alaska traveling group. This year
we are traveling with Glen and Liz Dodge on Magic Moment and Dave and Jane
Mehlum on Bidarka. Willard and Diane Thomas came to Roche for the weekend to send us off on our adventures. We headed out on Monday May 3 for Van Isle and Customs. We were briefed on all the rules that go along
with our being allowed to transit thru Canada and off we headed to Nanaimo
harbor for our first night at Anchor. On May 4th we headed out for Comox
but with the good weather and water we decided to push on and are headed for
Campbell River for our night at anchor north of April Point.
