Canada July 5-July 9

 

July 4 – We left Ocean Falls headed for Eucott Bay.  We have been here before and it is a beautiful area that has a great hot springs – it started off as a warm sunny day which unfortunately brings the horseflies but the wind picked up and it rained in the afternoon which makes the bugs disappear! We had a great soak in the hottub with some Canadians who were also in the bay for the night.

 

July 5 – Kwatna Bay – We headed down Burke Channel to Kwatna Inlet and our stop for the night.  The water was flat and the scenery spectacular. We saw dolphins today but they were too fast and far away for pictures to show them. The high mountains with snow and the many waterfalls were great to see.  Pretty setting and Tom got lots of Crab at 85 feet!

                        

   Rick and Pam's boat Beachcomber who joined us in Shearwater.

July 6 -7– Fougner Bay- Sleepy Bay – We are heading South to cross cape Caution so these were two bays we stayed on our way. The most memorable part of these locations is that after driving by Namu which is a derelict old town we were treated to an amazing whale show – we had full breeches, lots of water splashing  and it went on for a long time.  

                          Namu

   

Once we were tied up in Sleepy Bay (not my favorite anchorage) we took a Jet boat ride to Dawsons Landing.  There Glen found Ice Cream – always a treat.  The store was not open but the owner was there so opened up to sell him ice cream.

This is an old fishing lodge that appears to now be abandonned - It looks like it has been several years since anyone has been here.

                      Legacy Fishing Lodge near Dawson's Landing was doing a booming business.

July 8 – Cape Caution – It was a great day to cross so we headed out at 9 from Sleepy Bay and we had a very long day to cross Cape Caution and on to Seymour Inlet up thru Nakwato Rapids.  We decided Taco Friday sounded good – something easy for all of us to make for our shared dinner.

Video of Cape Caution - we have never had a smoother crossing!

Tremble Island - Nakwakto Rapids close to slack tide.

July 9 - Isabella Bay - Seymour Inlet

     We have spent the day inside our boats as it has poured with rain today. We were going to explore the inlet but the weather has not cooperated so its a catchup day on the boats.

 

Canada June 24 - July 4, 2022

 Canada June 24 - July 4

      We anchored just off the two stage Waterfall from Ingram Lake. In addition to the 9 feet waterfall on the lower part just down from the waterfall was a ruined log Cabin.  We went ashore to look at the cabin and then went on the logging road over the waterfall for a hike with hopes of seeing Ingram Lake.  Unfortunately, we only could find peek a boo views of the lake from the road and there were no trails thru the forest.  On the way back we got attacked by Mosquitos – luckily Steve and I had on bug spray but several others were not so fortunate and got many bites.

June 26 – June 27 – Ellerslie Bay – We took dinghy rides to the Ellerslie Lagoon and several of us took the hike up to Ellerslie Lake – the hike is up the side of the very fast moving  waterfall and was very muddy but the view of the lake and Ellerslie Lagoon was great. 

June 28^th – June 30^th -Emily Bay -We left Ellerslie Bay for our trip to Briggs Inlet.  We said goodbye to Dave and Jane Mehlum on Bidarka as they were heading on to Shearwater for their trip home. Emily Bay is about half way up the Briggs Inlet after passing a First Narrows. Once in Emily Bay we had a great anchorage along the western side of the Bay and we were rewarded with HUGE Crab in the bay.  We all agreed that theses are the largest crab we have ever caught so we had a feast!  We also took a hike past the old research project on the waterfall from Emily Lake.  The trail crosses the stream on a log bridge and climbs 100 feet or so north of the waterfalls thru the brush to the lake outlet.  The trail was easy to find as there are black plastic water pipes the entire way to the Lake.  It was a very soggy, muddy terrain and slippery in places but fun to get off the boat and get some exercise hiking thru the woods. We also took Willard and Diane's dinghy and Glen’s Jet boat to the end of Briggs Inlet and the Second Narrows. It was running pretty fast but we made it into the Lagoon (after I got off the Dinghy where I was riding in the front and got on the Jet Boat for the entry!) Not a lot to see in the Lagoon but the guys always like playing in rapids! Tom rode back out in the dinghy with Diane and Willard as I preferred to stay in the Jet Boat!

Goodbye to Dave and Jane on Bidarka - Its been fun!

July 1 – Troup Passage – We went into an unnamed cove past Troup Narrows for a night at anchor. The guys put out shrimp pots and we were rewarded with some very large Shrimp! 

July 2 – Shearwater  - We spent the day in Shearwater washing the boat, stocking up on groceries, getting rid of garbage and getting more fuel! A busy day but we were treated to glorious sunshine and dinner out at the restaurant for Fish and Chips!  A great, productive day. We met up with Rick and Pam on Beachcomber who are joining us for the 2^nd half of our trip around the outside of Vancouver Island. Willow Williamson also joined SeaLife to cruise with us until July 13th.

July 3 – Ocean Falls – We left Shearwater for a cruise up to Ocean Falls – a former  town with a lot of history!  Crown Zellerbach owned the paper mill in town until they closed it in 1980 and most of the town left.  There is also a dam on Link Lake and the power plant still provides power to Shearwater and Bella Bella but most of the town has been torn down – most of the houses were burned by the government because they were worried about people getting hurt in the derelict buildings.  There are still some buildings that were privately owned that could not be torn down – one being the hotel that is now in ruins. You can watch on YouTube – there are several videos produced that talk about the rise and fall of Ocean Falls – in its day they had an Olympic Sized swimming pool that produced many world class swimmers! The BC Ferry system still provides service every 10 days and we happened to be there when the Ferry was in for the night.