July 12 -15th – Idol Point – Khutze Inlet

Abysinnia and Raven Spirit arrive after their night in Shearwater. We spend a relaxing time catching up with news from Vancouver and the trials and tribulations and minor slip ups (like not having the dinghy keys and sitting in your dinghy to take your dog to shore while your big boat keeps motoring down the channel….. ) of their crossing. The morning of the 12th, we depart for Khutze. Some of the boats stop for fuel and water in Klemtu and a few groceries, although the storeis picked clean, we are able to get some basics. The weather is the wrmest we have seen it up here with temperatures in the low to mid 30’s. If it wasn’t for the horseflies, we would all be in shorts. Bug spray is the order of the day. The boys go off halibut fishing and we all drop crab traps. Every couple of hours, there are about 8-12 large Dungeness crab, my overnight set yields 16 large with only one female to throw back. The lone grizzly we see on the beach keeps us entertained by splashing around in the water and Gordie gets a good photo of two black tailed deer swimming from one side of the channel to the other. There are about a dozen boats ianchored in here, it’s almost as busy as Desolation Sound! We get a panic call from Rick that he needs his harpoon as his net is too small for the halibut he has on his line. Faye is busy holding onto the Charlie the Fisher Dog so that he does not throw his body into the ocean or the net to help his dad catch the halibut. Between Gary and Mike, they manage to get the harpoon out to them and it took two very strong men to load the fish into the boat and hog tie it! 100 lb on the scale this most ugly beautiful halibut weigh! Fish and chips for all! Faye made a really nice halibut dinner for us and spread the filets around to the boats. Thank you Faye! The flies are incredible in their numbers and the sweltering heat forces us to hide in the shade or inside the sanctuary of our boats to keep from getting bitten. Even going fast in the dinghy does not seem to help. But the crab and halibut make up for the inconvenience. Gordie is so bundled up, he looks like the unibomber, with his hoodie tied up tight to keep his neck and head from being fresh meat from the flies.