Monday, April 28, 2008

Day 18 - Dent to Lagoon Cove

"Deer Crossing"

Enroute from Dent to Lagoon, we passed Cardero Lodge and a deer that we almost hit, Mike thought it was a log as the current was running a few knots. Turns out it was a deer making a swim for the other side.

We managed to beat the wind warnings in the morning and we sure know that the accuracy rate of weather forcasting up the coast is much better than in the south coast. When they say 40 knot winds in the early afternoon, they mean it. we managed to get off Johnston straight just at 1:00 pm and we were in relatively choppy seas with 40 knot winds. We arrived at Lagoon around 2:30 in time for happy hour and to see Bill and Jean (owners) at Lagoon Cove.

Bill has installed a new generator (30 kw) and will be able to offer power 24 hours instead of Mornings and early evenings. He is on the hunt for permanent caretakers as his previous caretakers are on vacation and "Big Red" has health problems and won't be back.

Day 16 - Dent Island

Eagle Feeding Frenzy at Dent
Spectacular Scenery enroute to Dent
Brand New Cement Docks at Dent

Cleaning....Cleaning....Cleaning

Cardero Lodge, enroute to the Broughtons

A few things have changed at Dent Island this year. About 1 million in new docks, new rates ($3.00 ft) and a hot tub that is not yet up and working (third year in a row that the hot tub is not up and running yet.) The folks at Dent were real nice as power and electricity were not yet hooked up and the bar and other out buildings have gone through extensive renovation but they allowed us to stay there anyways. It will be interesting to see if the 50' range boats still go in here as it would mean a $200.00 per night stay without going into the lodge for either dinner or drinks. I guess they want to pay for the renovations sooner than later?

We spent a quiet night (after washing the boat again!)at Dent and then headed out with the tide at the crack of 8:00 the next morning.

Friday, April 25, 2008

Day 15 & 16 - Bute Inlet to Dent Island

The worst Kept Secret in Bute

Everywhere you look, this is what you see.

A few more months and this view will be gone

Sunbathing Seal

I Took the Plug out of the Tub too Soon!


Having the luxury of time, we vowed that on this trip, we would go to all the places we never have time to stop at due to the fact that we are always on a 3 week leash, and we are rushing to our final destination at warp speed and slowly winding our way back. Bute Inlet is one of those places. All the books say that this is not a nice place, no anchorages and nothing much to see. Well guess what, they are wrong...dead wrong. We chanced upon a brochure at one of the boat supply places in Campbell River and it was all about a resort called "Bear Bay Lodge"....so we sent them off a quick email and they happen to be there and open. Its a long way in, 40 miles, but definitely worth an overnight stop if not longer. Your hosts are Gisele and Danny and I cannot say enough about the hospitality. They live in a beautiful corner of the world! Lots of logging up and down the inlet so guess who was frothing at the mouth to get the motorbike off the back? Only problem is that due to it being so active, we couldn't very well pull up and starting riding head on into the busy logging truck lanes! It would have caused them quite a start to see 300 lb. of people riding on the little purple and green bike in the middle of their road with a 75 lb. dog running after the bike! So we will save that for another day. Mike did go scout out the end of Bute where the two rivers meet and there are docks, but the draft is very shallow (2 feet)so we wouldn't have been able to moor to get the bike off.

Our Hostess Gisele has lived up that area since around the mid 70's and was very knowledgible about the history and who's who in the zoo on the entire Bute Inlet Area. We did not get to meet our host (Danny) who is a faller (Logging) as he was away working. What a spectacular place in our world. My few photographs on this site, do not do it justice! Fishing is now open at the head of Bute with retention of salmon until May 1, the other guests at the lodge had been very successful with fishing catching 15-26 lb. springs salmon. On researching the area, we found that there was a death at the end of Bute recently, it was a prospector looking for "Slumach's Gold" which is supposedly buried up in the hills somewhere. We had always thoughtthat Slumach Gold was at the end of Pitt Lake in Maple Ridge. I guess thats why they call it prospecting!

We had a nice dinner that Gisele cooked and a bottle of wine and then an early night. Bear Bay Lodge is worth the drive in! Here is their website for anyone interested in going in there. http://www.bearbaylodge.ca/

Can you keep a secret.....no ones supposed to know, but we have it on good authority that the house (above)is part and parcel of the David E Kelly and Michelle Pheifer summer compound. oops, guess its not a secret anymore. Pretty nice digs!

Day 15 - Drew Harbour through Whiterock Passage

Range Markers Everywhere (thankfully!)
Nasty Rocks
Skirt all the Rocks!



White Rock Passage seperates Maurelle and Read Island through a very narrow channel littered with rocks. There are range markers and rock markers all the way through, so as long as there is no Tidal run, its is quite safe. Its a bit of a short cut to get up to Stuart Island area. Its through this passage that we see the school that Suzzane is teaching at.

It isn't an adventure until you push your skills to the limit. When the Captain slows the boat down and says "I'd rather be going slow when we hit the Rocks" - then you know its going to be a challenge! We took a short cut through White Rock Passage enroute to Bute Inlet. Lots of interesting photos along the way. We made it through unscathed and headed up Bute Inlet.

Day 14 - Leaving Campbell River - heading to Quadra Again





Mike is itching to leave civilization again, so we are ready to roll with slack tide around 5:00 pm. Fully loaded with fresh food, more booze and full water and fuel.

Only problem is, it wasn't slack tide and we had opposing winds. The boat handled the huge standing waves at Cape Mudge, but the Admiral (me) did not. Everything is topsy turvy in the cabin and all the wine glasses have been put on the floor so as to not break! We cruised in the slop for about 3 hours and dropped our anchor in Drew Harbour (just outside of Heriot Bay). It was a bit misty, but no rain yet.

During the evening, it did rain, but we were thankful as it washed alot of the salt off the boat. Mike and Kobi had a swell time fetching Sticks.....wonder how Mike knows when to bring it back to Kobi??? 2 other pleasure craft anchored in the bay, its the first time on this trip we have seen any other pleasure boats out. A nice dinner onboard and a DVD and then off to bed.

Wednesday, April 23, 2008

Day 11, 12, 13- Campbell River


We are patiently awaiting our new anchor winch which was inadvertantly sent to Vancouver from Victoria instead of being shipped direct to Campbell River. Its due in at lunch today. We have had a great time in Campbell River with a nice dinner with my oldest friend in the world (and I don't mean her age) - Sue and I have been friends since grade 4 and we are able to pick up were we last left off with hardly a blink. The have been good enough to let us use their car while we are here and shopping and pick ups have been made so much better.

The weather has been glorious up here with daytime highs on the water around 17-18 degrees in the sunshine!!! Hope you Vancouver folks have been able to shovel all that snow away!

Moorage at Discovery Inn (according to the office) has a 4 year waiting list. There are 7 liveaboards in this marina and it has great laundry and shopping facilities. A great boating store is just at the head of the ramp and everything is within Walking distance. Temporary moorage is expensive in the off season at 1.00 foot, we have been paying between .45 and .50 cents everywhere else. Lots of out of town boats (big ones - 60' and over) have moorage here (probably due to the cost) Fuel is a bit crazy here with it being 1.25 lt for diesel and .03 cents lt discount for over 500 lt.

Tuesday, April 22, 2008

Day 10 -Quadra Island - Heriot Bay Inn

Heritage Pub, Heriot Bay Inn
Shark Spit, leaving Cortez


Today we putzed over to Quadra from Cortez - only a 6 mile crossing. We have never stayed at Heriot Bay Inn - and now we know why. The docks are decrepit and almost bordering on unsafe. No power and no water. The Government dock is filled with local live aboard boats and it all kind of looks like a slum. On the bright side, Heriot Bay Inn itself has alot of historical stuff in it, a real live Beer Parlour and good food. We met up with one of Mike's old Managers and her significant other and had a nice dinner and drinks in the Hotel. Another Sunny day! Its almost like we are under a dome of this everlasting sunshine. Its not warm, but out of the breeze it can get up to around 20 degrees.

Sunday, April 20, 2008

Day 9 - Cortez Island - Gorge Harbour

Petroglyhs outside Gorge Harbour
Where's the Anchor Winch?


A short 6 or 7 mile trip from Refuge Cove to Cortez Island into Gorge Harbour. Some great Petroglyphs at the entrance mark a bay we haven't stayed in for at least 15 years. I beleive that the docks are still the same as they were 15 years ago! We're lucky we didn't fall through them. We did get the motorbike off and we rode around the island until the wind chill forced us back to the boat. We managed to see the majority of he island in about hour. In spite of the shabbiness of the docks, the restaurant is worth another stop. The food is excellent and the service was excellent. The sun is shining brightly but the winds that kicked up in the afternoon were bone chilling. Serves us right for laughing at all the snow that was had in the lower mainland and Nanaimo.
During dinner last night, we were phoned by our rowdy friends who were playing cards - had we had better internet service last night, Mike could have played cards via vidcam and conference? Too bad Mike lost his side bets with Wayne and Brenda (methinks the game was rigged!

Saturday, April 19, 2008

Day 8 - Refuge Cove

Another Sunny Day

I heard theres 10" of snow in Nanaimo?
Lots of activity here, docks being resurfaced, looks like a new floating cafe going in. Definitely worth stopping in during high season. We are lucky with the weather still. No rain, just a stiff breeze and a tad on the cold side. On the move today, perhaps to Cortez (another Dock).
Mike has become an expert on research for a new winch. For all of you with Ideal,Maxwell winches, make sure you have them oiled (inside) annually. Back to the maintenance issue! We've blown up more pieces of equipment with failure to maintain (remember the first generator on Shaman?)! C'est La Vie, live and learn. Its only money. More later today when we get situated at a new location.

Friday, April 18, 2008

Day 6 & 7 - Finally some excitement

Entrance to Roscoe Bay

View of the Trail to Black Lake
We were commenting how everything was sort of just coasting along and wouldn't you know....a minor catastrophe.

We pull up anchor on Thursday morning with the huge commute of 2 miles from Prideaux Haven to Roscoe Bay. A walk to the lake and a small beach fire was the order of the day. Oh, and some more varnishing while the sun was still out with us. We pulled into Roscoe Bay with 7 feet of water under us in the entrance, we kind of missed high tide...but no worries, we made it in safe and sound. Betty on the bow scouting for rocks and Mikey at the helm. We anchored in about 16' of water just swinging on the hook (no line to shore)and proceeded to get on with the day, a little sightseeing and a little fire and a little hike. Round abouts happy hour, we turn on the VHF to listen to the weather forcast, well....it certainly did not sound
promising, Storm Warnings, Gale Force Warnings and an Artic Front moving in with a chance of Snow??? I sayz to myself " did we just enter the Twilight Zone?".....
Mike is not comfortable being in a blow just swinging on the Anchor and needless to say, Nervous Nelly Betty would just as soon be tied to a dock. A decision was made that we would pull anchor and move further into the bay and attach a line to shore and ride out the storm. Good thing we were only one drink into happy hour!

We started to pull anchor and wouldn't you know it.....the anchor winch stopped working ##@&##@@ (Expletives with a capital F) The Anchor was right at the top of the winch and as soon as the winch stopped, about 30 more feet of chain started spooling back into the ocean along with the 80 lb. anchor. The anchor might as well have weighed a ton for the luck we hand in trying to hand pull it up! So says the crafty one...."get your prawn puller out and we will just have to winch the anchor up with that"......so the negative one just scoffs and says its not gonna happen, the prawn puller is meant to pull up about 50 lbs. After almost breaking the prawn puller to prove a point, Mike resorts to tieing a rope around the anchor chain (he is in the dinghy) and telling me to pull up the chain and anchor and secure it to the deck. You can almost see the story unfolding....no spinach for breakfast, and flabby under the arms Betty is called a weakling.....we have to switch places.

We change places, Betty in the Dinghy and Mike on the deck. With some skillful dinghy drivingby Betty(with large rope secured around the Chain) and Mikes puny muscles, we manage to get the chain in and the anchor to the top of the winch. At this point, Betty is covered in stinky, oozy mud from the bottom of the ocean and Mike is screaming "Lift the anchor".....ever tried to lift a slimey 80 lb. anchor over your head? After some serious grunting and swearing, the deed is done. The anchor and chain are securely lashed to the deck and we head off for Refuge Cove to a dock and safety out of the wind. Our ride over had us hitting wind speeds of 35 knots, but the ocean was just rippled. An fitting end to an eventful Day. Photos to follow....Mike needs the internet right now to shop for a new winch!!

Day 3,4,5 - Leaving Civilization behind

Mikes Varnishing work hung up to dry
The only boat in Desolation

Woo hooo, we are lucking out with the weather. 3rd Sunny day in a row. We have travelled a mere 20 miles from Powell River to Desolation Sound. We are sitting in Prideaux Haven in a nicely protected little cove.
The only minor setback is sporadic cell service, so internet and telephone are in and out. For those that have left Skype Messages, I have received them and when service comes in…..I will be responding when we are out of the blocked area. Jim, your microphone is still not working make sure it is not on mute! CJ – you don’t need to see with skype, only hear! Get a vidcam, then you can see.
Mike has started some varnish projects…as always, it’s while we are on vacation of some sort! A minor inconvenience dodging all the stuff hanging from our Bimini (inside) See above picture. Mike is enjoying himself immensely building fires on shore (he had a breakfast fire this morning), varnishing and now doing some great sanding projects…of course where all the newly varnished stuff is hanging to dry. I think they smacked his head instead of his butt when he was born. Oh well, we are not in a hurry to go anywhere, so hopefully all will be well by tomorrow.

The Days all seem to be melding into each other. The weather has been stupendous with sun in the day and a bit of rain at night. Just the way it should be. The little bay we are sitting in has Eagles, Otters, Ravens and Crows and a multitude of ducks and loons. Two other seperate pleasure boats have pulled in on two seperate nights. Don't they know its not summer yet!

My stove is getting a good workout with lots of meals being served (piping hot Wayne!) - I have a fully stocked fridge yet, so no need to go prawning and crabbing yet. Tommorrow off to a new location.

Sunday, April 13, 2008

Day 2 The weatherman is a Liarhead

Sunset from my sisters front porch
Boat basin in Powell River

Another stunning day on our beautiful coast We left Pender Harbour at the crack of 9:00 and cruised at a breakneck speed of 8 knots to Powell River. All of the winds did not materialize nor did the rain. It was a sunny and calm day, so much so we wanted to keep going, but we remembered that we were in no rush. Dinner at family in Powell River tonight...woo hooo no cooking again! My new stove is certainly not getting a good work out.
Mike was estactic to find out we had only used 20 gal. of fuel from Vancouver to Pender Harbour (about a 65 mile run) Today was chore day for Mike, he put his new brake cable on the motorbike and did some minor modifications on our dashboard.

Another Spectacular sunset and a wonderful day.

Saturday, April 12, 2008

We're offfffff



Day 1 - Vancouver to Pender Harbour

What a beautiful start to our adventure. Sunny, flat calm and warm. Its a treat to start out this time of year with noone else on the water. We passed only 1 sailboat and 2 tugs in 50 miles. We arrived in Pender Harbour at 2:00 pm, washed the boat and went out to dinner with family. Gale and Storm force winds are forecast for tonight, so it will be debateable whether we leave Pender Harbour tommorrow for Powell River. It'll be an early night tonight (the bon voyage party lasted until the wee hours or the last bottle of wine was drank, not quite sure which was first)