Day 57 ~ Blind Channel to Quaski Cove, Quadra Island Campbell River, B.C.

The rooster had one last opportunity to wake me up this trip and I woke up first. The sun was still deep behind the mountains and the sky was dark with a hint of color.  It was so quiet that we gently prepared for departure not wanting to disturb the ambiance of the morning. We didn’t care how cold or how windy it was we were taking her in from the bridge! 

We had a strong current running against us and strong winds pushing us, which made for a slow ride. We had smoothies for breakfast and used the last of the berries that Wendy and got from Kake. We never did finish the Vodka! 

Our cruise speed was slower than we anticipated which delayed our arrival into the Campbell River area by 45 minutes. We were expecting to dock at the same marina that we stopped at on the way up but learned they couldn’t accommodate us. Fortunately, April Point Resort and Marina on Quadra Island was more than happy to offer us temporary docking so we could wash the boat.

Like a man on a mission, Dad tackled washing the outside while I did all the last minute things in the interior and then we met in the cockpit. Right on schedule we were finished and we moved the boat over to our friends George and Margery’s place in Quathiaski Cove. They are currently in Southeast Alaska and they told Dad he was welcome to leave his boat on their dock. For the last time, I put the Simbalaut on the dock, scored an 8 (needed coaching).  

My original plan was to purchase a couple of duffle bags when we got to Campbell River so I could get more of my stuff off the boat. When we changed docks I had to improvise. I had brought a set of sheets on board, which I needed to take with me so all 4 of the pillow cases turned into duffle bags complete with zip tags for ties. Dad let me use his back pack for my laptop.

Satisfied with our cleaning job, we locked her up and walked up the dock. It was more than just a little emotional for me walking away and leaving Simby behind. I watched Dad walk up the steps and then turn around and look over his shoulder, seems he was feeling some of the same emotions.

Jo-Ann the neighbor offered to run us down to the resort, which was really nice because it saved us time finding a taxi. The Canadian folks are such lovely, kind people. We had a bite to eat on the deck at April Point, while keeping a watchful eye on our pile of pillowcases. If someone took them they were going to be sadly disappointed.

We worked our way down to the float plane dock with our pillow cases in tow. Just two old salties in desperate need of haircuts and a manicure, I can’t remember when I looked this rough. The flight was late so we just stood on the dock, waited and shared with others our summer adventure.

When the plane arrived it was half the size of the one that Becca was on – figures. I had already discussed with Wendy, if they would allow my stuff on that I was going to send it in my place with Dad and I was going back to the resort for a spa day. The pilot packed everything in and then told us that we were going to be picking up two more to go with our four that were already on board.

Dad has flown several times on Kenmore Airlines so he suggested that he and I take the back and let the others take the middle seat. They were shoulder to shoulder. We were all concerned that the doors were going to bust open.

When we first took off, we had a sad moment when we could see the Simbalaut on the dock and our shadow in the water.  But then our float plane ride turned magical. The water was a beautiful blue and you could see all the boats in all our favorite coves along the way. The plane was really noisy but I had Wendy’s Bose head phones and her iPod. I let Dad use them for the first leg and then it was my turn. As we crossed back into the US, one of the Yanni songs that I’ve been listening to all summer started playing and I pretty much lost it – wow what a summer!

When our plane finally landed in Kenmore, we were happily greeted by Wendy and Judy….we were home. Our trip of a life time was over but it will live on in our memories. 

Day 56 ~ Echo Bay to Blind Channel via Lagoon Cove

We departed on schedule at 8:00. The weather was overcast and a bit chilly so Dad drove from the lower helm. Becca and I took advantage of the time and continued our sprucing up the boat project. We got to Lagoon Cove right on schedule. Dad knows Bill at Lagoon Cove and they were happy to just let us hang out and wait for the plane. They put us on the ‘honeymoon’ dock.

Originally, we were going to stop at Lagoon Cove and spend the night because they have a famous all you can eat prawn dinner every night. All of the boats bring salads and other side dishes and you sit on their deck, peel and eat the prawns and throw the shells into the water. It is really fun and they are delicious. The best thing about Lagoon Cove is that if I went way up on the bridge and stood still my phone would work. Much to Becca’s chagrin, the plane was several hours late which gave her plenty of time to continue helping me work on the inside of the boat. We really wanted it to look nice when Dad and Judy return to Campbell River and move the boat south while they play golf. Finally the plane arrived.

There is a 24 pound per person limit on float planes for luggage and I had far more than 24 pounds of clothes, Navigator Rendezvous stuff and my brief case. On top of the fish that we just caught. We had been told that it was up to the pilot to decide how much extra they would carry. So, when I saw how young the pilot was, I sent Becca out with the bag of fish and told her to go and talk to him and she could ask him if he would take anything else. My plan worked, he took the fish, Becca’s duffle and another duffle of my stuff. I thanked him profusely and then he said he would take anything else that I wanted to send with her. He said that his plane which holds 12 only had 4 passengers. Frankly, I think that he just wanted to stand on the dock and flirt with her. I ran back to the boat and since I didn’t have any more suitcases, Dad dumped out his laundry duffle and we stuffed it with clothes and I sent my briefcase!  We waved goodbye to Becca and went about our day heading towards Blind Channel.

The winds were extremely strong but they were coming from behind us so they just kind of pushed us along. The sun was shining so we drove from the bridge. Dad let me drive the boat which was really fun because you could feel the waves pushing the boat around and it was a game trying to anticipate what the boat was going to do and then head it off at the pass.

Blind Channel is an interesting place to dock. They have fairly strong wind currents that run one direction and then strong water currents that go the other direction. I totally misjudged the landing and the strength of the water currents, needless to say Dad had to come up to the bridge and assist. Guess I scored a 2.0 on that landing only because once he got me straightened out I was able to recover with quite a bit of coaching. I was really rattled and disappointed after I had been doing such a good job. Dad being the fabulous coach that he is took the time to walk through with me what had gone wrong and what I should have done. He also reminded me that we didn’t call the insurance company which technically makes it a perfect landing. It is great to have an opportunity to be in a difficult situation, fall flat on your face and get a helping, loving hand to help you up. My confidence meter is still running a bit low!

Blind Channel like most resorts was started by a sole proprietor. One of their niches is their lovely German restaurant. The original folks have since retired and now the son and daughter-in-law run the place. We had a lovely dinner. Dad had some kind of pork dish and I had Roulaudin with red cabbage. We shared a bottle of wine and reminisced about our trip. It was very touching. These past 56 days have been pretty amazing.

After dinner we went back to our chores. We really wanted to finish the inside so we only had to wash the outside when we got to Campbell River. We got to bed about midnight and had our alarms set for 6:00 to make slack tide and to allow enough time to get everything done.  

Becca and all my stuff arrived safely and the pilot even helped her carry her stuff to the car!

Day 55 ~ Fury Cove to Echo Bay, Broughton Island

Armed with one of the longest float plans that we had created the entire trip, Dad and I prepared the boat for departure. We were rounding Cape Caution and bound for Sullivan Bay in the Broughton Islands. Over the course of the summer we had perfected the process of retrieving both the bow and the stern anchor without the use of the dinghy. Becca didn’t want to get up but the morning was beautiful and I didn’t want her to skip on the morning routine, so I made her get up just for our departure. We opened the bridge because the clouds were high and the sun was trying to peek out. I knew that it was going to be a long day with variable temperatures so I had layers of clothes on. We departed as scheduled and headed towards Cape Caution.

You know how when you drive somewhere the first time it seems really long and then the second time it is shorter…well boating is the same. It seemed only a short time and we were able to spot Egg Island and Cape Caution was just on the horizon. When we went north, the cape was totally fogged in. This time we took the opposite route and kept the mainland to our port side and followed it all the way down. We had 10 to 15 foot swells on our stern and beautiful blue skies over head. It was like riding a soft roller coaster in an amusement park. At one point, we changed course a bit and weaved around a few islands just to make it more interesting. Becca had gone back to bed and slept through the entire adventure.

By early afternoon we were already shedding layers of clothes. The wind was behind us blowing as hard as we were running so we virtually had to stand up to cool down. We came past Storm Islands this time with them on our starboard side. About halfway down we started hearing the wonderful sounds of our technology trying to connect. It wasn’t long and both of our phones were working. It was so nice to talk to home after we had been disconnected for several days. Everyone was glad to catch up.

We decided that the weather was beautiful and we were home sick so instead of stopping in Sullivan Bay we pressed on to Echo Bay with the intention of going all the way to Campbell River the following day. Wendy had booked Becca’s ticket out of Sullivan Bay but fortunately Kenmore Air was more than willing to pick her up in Lagoon Cove instead. Their flight came through the islands early afternoon and we figured we could make Lagoon Cove (with the roosters help).

After a beautiful run down Queen Charlotte and Wells Passage we arrived in Echo Bay. We needed fuel and their fuel dock is nestled under the general store.  In fairly strong winds, I got to put the boat on the dock with the bow hanging over the swim step of a boat on the dock. They measure their fuel in imperial gallons so we had to figure out that conversion. The gentleman helping us suggested that we use the internet. We were thrilled to learn that since our last visit they had installed wireless internet. We were also told that sometimes cell phones would work on the upper deck depending on the tide.

Dad gave me a 9.5 on my docking. It was wonderful getting docking and anchoring lessons all summer long. At the marina they decided to put us all the way down away from the general store and the internet hub. The marina is doing quite well and has resurfaced all of their docks since the last time we were there two years ago. They have also expanded their general store which had lovely produce.

We decided to get a jump on our cleaning chores. Dad started getting his man cave organized and sadly put away our fishing gear. Becca did laundry and then together we worked on fluffing up the interior. The internet access turned out to be a joke. Composing an email was so slow that it took about 30 seconds to type out a single letter. We were told that we could get our cell phones to work at high tide, which we patiently waited for and then trucked our way out to the point and no matter where we stood the phone just wouldn’t go through. I don’t know which is worse not having an expectation that technology is going to work or expecting it to work and it not.

I needed to get in touch with Wendy to let her know that Becca’s plans had changed and traditional email wouldn’t work but I could get on Facebook. Finally, I made a post asking someone to call her and ask her to get on FB. Well it worked! 

Our plan was to drop Becca off in Lagoon Cove to catch a float plan home and then we were going to beat it on to Campbell River. Unexpectedly, we determined that Seymour Narrows was not going to support our plans. The currents in the narrows would prohibit our transit until morning. We alternatively went to Blind Channel. It seemed somewhat fitting that we would change plans because it seemed that more often than not our initial float plan got changed. It was a fairly late night before we all gave up and went to bed. 

Day 54 ~ Duncanby Landing, Goose Bay to Fury Cove

The seas rolled into the dock for most of the night gingerly rocking the boat from side to side. When morning came none of us wanted to get up, which was just fine because our plan was to fish one hour before and one hour after slack tide which was at 1:41 p.m. Becca was more than willing to stay in her bunk , but by 10:00 Dad and I were antsy and ready to leave so we shoved off.

I was at the helm as we ran across the mouth of Fitz Hugh Sound in the bright sunlight. It felt good to have shorts on again.  It took us about an hour to get to Clark Point. As we approached the fishing grounds it was reassuring to see several boats out fishing. There were several boats heading in various directions, so Dad took over at the helm and I watched the poles.

In less than an hour we had our first silver salmon on board. It was little but still a keeper. Becca took the next one and was so quick to bring it to the back of the boat that we lost it in the process of getting our act organized. Then I landed a second salmon that was definitely bigger than the first one. Dad kept making big circles back to the spot that we were catching them. Becca decided to take charge of the third one when it hit. Dad and I raced to bring up the gear and both hit the down rigger balls at the same time blowing the fuse. Unable to bring them up, we popped the lines and started reeling them up. All the while reminding Becca to ‘Play’ the fish and give us time to get the gear up. Dad’s line was about 15 feet from the stern when a salmon decided to take his bait and add to the chaos. We were definitely entertaining to the pile of boats around us with two fish on and both down rigger wires hanging straight down.  To add to the circus, Dad’s fish was extremely theatrical jumping in the air and running from side to side getting the attention of anyone that wasn’t already watching.  Becca’s fish, much more under control, was waiting at the swim step to get in the net. I decided that Dad could continue his show, while I successfully netted Becca’s fish, flipping it into the cockpit and out of the net preparing for round two. Dad’s was less cooperative but after a bit of persuasion it too was in the net and in the cooler. I’m sure all the fishermen were more than a bit amazed that Dad and his girls pulled off a double header. Satisfied with our catch we set a course for Fury Cove, which we had scoped out on our way North.

When we arrived, our private little cove had two sail boats and another power boat. We were there on day 5 and there were no boats to be seen; now there were boats everywhere. Dad and Becca set the crab pots to no avail. We had some thawed bait left so I decided to drop a hook of the stern of the boat. Then Dad took a nap while listening to Yanni and some of his other Celtic music. Becca paddled around in the cove in the kayak. I caught a halibut but it was too little to keep.

After nap time, we went on a dinghy ride exploring the entire area of Fury Cove and all the adjacent coves. This country is absolutely magnificent and the sunset was glorious. As we weaved in and out exploring we teased Becca that we were lost but we weren’t.

After dinner (barbecued salmon), we all walked out to the bow to soak up the air and the evening. I’ve always known that I was a sappy person and after two months with my Dad I now know where I get it. We leaned against the rails of the boat and he talked how he thought the Simbalaut was so magical. She goes where we point her nose and does it with great passion to ensure our safety. She is covered with salt and happy that she has gotten off the dock and gone exploring. I was teary eyed listening to him talk. He loves this boat and boating period, I think that it represents his free spirit. This trip has been everything and more that we had hoped it would be and tomorrow we round Cape Caution as we head to familiar grounds. We are both anxious to get home to our families while sad that this is all coming to an end.

While I finish updating our story for the evening, Becca drifted off to sleep on the couch and Dad was snuggled in bed with his stuffed horse, I could already hear him snoring. I awakened Becca and went to bed myself after setting the alarm….tomorrow would be a rooster day!  I hate that darn rooster.

Day 53 ~ Dawson’s Landing, Rivers Inlet to Duncanby Landing, Goose Bay

We were slow to move off the dock because we had internet and our next destination was just a few hours away. At exactly 1:00 our internet went down. We figured it was a signal from them that they were ready for us to depart. Dad and I wanted to go up to the store to pick up a few things before we left. Of course as we started to step off the boat a light rain started. Good thing my rain coat was handy.

We walked up the dock to the general store which is in one of the float houses. It was lined with white Christmas lights. The foundation under the store was simply impressive. The logs had been lashed together with a massive cable sure to hold in any weather. The store had a large selection of logo wear and a small selection of fruit and produce. Dad and I both found shirts. Unwilling to purchase the fruit I grabbed two bags of chips. At the register I found out the chips were $6.00 dollars a bag! When I got back to the boat I woke up Becca to let her know what we had purchased and to let her know that we were getting ready to leave.  She jumped out of bed and headed to the store with my credit card to shop for herself.

We left the dock and fished our way to Duncanby’s Landing. We caught nothing, except a ticket from the Moose and Goose for barbed hooks. We should have read the rules before they boarded us. Fortunately for me, Dad went under the bus or should I say boat again and took the fall and the ticket. It helped that I was driving the boat when they came aboard. Becca who was out helping Grandpa without a license was laying low. The sea was sending big swells our way so we decided to head to the dock. This time I got a score of a 9 because I could have done it faster!  Wow the bar was rising on a daily basis!  The cool part was that there were several Seattle Yacht Club boats on the dock and other than being a bit slow it was a beautiful landing.

Duncanby’s Landing is a first class lodge that was totally renovated in 2005. Today it has several cabins, a lodge, a restaurant and lovely sun deck. They have float plane access twice a week. We first came to the landing in June on our way north but they weren’t open yet.

We had a wonderful dinner in the restaurant. We also visited with the SYC group. They had two sail boats that had left Seattle two weeks before us heading basically on the same course to Juneau. Like us, they were on their way home. After dinner I purchased a 30 minute internet access card for $12.00 and let Wendy and Judy know our plans. I had to go to a common space with my laptop and plug in and enter the access code to make everything work. Oh well, better than nothing.

Back at the boat, we worked our float plan for rounding Cape Caution. Five charts and a pile of sticky flags later we had it all figured out. It kind of tugged at my heart strings when I pulled out the Cape Caution chart and it still had the sticky flags that marked the navigational points from when we rounded the Cape on day 4!  Our plans for the next day were to fish Clarks Point on the bottom of Calvert Island and then stay in Fury Cove before we head south and round Cape Caution.

Day 52 ~ Shearwater to Dawson’s Landing, Rivers Inlet

 It was interesting how different it is with more or less people on board. This particular morning, not a sound could be heard and I really didn’t want to get up. But, I was concerned that the new Navigator boat would leave and we would miss our opportunity to get their contact information. Armed with our new touch cards to notify people of our organization and rendezvous, Dad and I went off to introduce ourselves. We visited with the folks on the 4 EVVA and then wandered farther down the dock to Dan and Mimi’s boat. They are delightful people.  They told us about a bear sanctuary that we floated right past near Wrangell. We hung around as long as we should holding dearly to our ability to talk on the phone and then sadly departed Shearwater towards Dawson’s landing.

We selected Lama Passage for our course because last time we were in the area we went through Gun Boat Passage. Along the way, Dad and I changed our course and went exploring up Fish Egg Inlet. It is amazing how many things we missed on our way up. I’m certain that we could spend a considerable amount of time exploring this whole area.

We arrived in Dawson’s landing to wind and current and I got a 9.5 on my docking score – with lots of people watching. It was really fun to approach a challenging task and not be scared. I felt that I had received plenty of training and I knew from my experience how the boat was going to react and I could control the situation and I could be successful. I was confident through the whole docking execution. Every day at work employees should experience the same. My only disappointment in the whole thing was that after I landed I wanted to share my success with Wendy and my phone wouldn’t work.

We had a fabulous dinner. I had a cookbook that has hundreds of ways to cook halibut and I was going through it when I saw one recipe for Au gratin halibut and one for barbequed halibut. Dad had been talking about barbequing a salmon which I hadn’t done and I had Au gratin potatoes that I could fix for a dinner. One of the key ingredients was chili sauce, which we had onboard so I was off and running. I made the barbeque sauce from scratch and grilled halibut with the barbeque sauce, combined it with Au gratin potatoes and steamed broccoli. It was delicious and in the end there wasn’t a drop of anything left.

After dinner we tried to get on the internet, which turned out to be our biggest challenge of the day. We watched as our one bar came and went. We also watched a sleek black cat walk up the dock and onto the boat across the dock from us. He explored the boat and then left.

Dawson’s Landing is a village of several float houses that lashed together. They, unlike other float house villages in the area operate year round. Reportedly a sixty two pound salmon was caught just the day before out in front of the area. We were one of ten boats on the dock and were told that it was the busiest that they had been all year.

Before we went to bed both Becca and I had showers and Becca braided my hair. I’m so over due for a color and hair cut that the only thing I can do with my hair is put it in a pony tail. It was such a treat to get my bangs out of my eyes. It is also note worthy that for the first time in 20 years I don’t have a single artificial nail. I’ve lost them ALL. My finger tips were so sore that typing had become a challenge.

Day 51 ~ Bottleneck Inlet to Shearwater

We all woke on a mission to get Eileen and Derek to New Bella Bella to make their flight. The well trainied crew had us off anchor 30 minutes prior to our ETA. Eileen took over at the helm and the rest of us worked on sprucing up the boat. We had two shallow passages to make and we were timing our arrival (by slowing down) to the first one to be after slack low water. It was hard to slow the boat knowing we were in a hurry. Derek spent most of the day in the hot seat while everyone kept asking him ETAs to different points.

The first challenges for the day was Jackson Passage. On the way north we went through the passage and thought that it would be fun for everyone to experience the shallow transit. As we got closer it was interesting to note the difference the prior experience made in our confidence level. We sailed right through without even a shiver of concern.

Next on our list was Reid Passage, which we anticipated being at 1 hour past slack low. We determined that we would have a low of 10 feet. The Simbalaut requires 6 feet so we would have 4 feet to spare. As we approached the shallow spot, we slowed and eased our way through one of the easier challenges we had experienced. We got to New Bella Bella in plenty of time and Eileen and Derek grabbed a cab. We later learned that their flight was delayed and that they went shopping for a cooler for the fish they were transporting.

Once back in Shearwater, we topped off our fuel and found a spot on the old commercial dock without power. We gathered all the laundry and Becca and I went to the Laundromat. For dinner we went to the local restaurant. The amazing thing is that I was going to order fish for dinner.  It was nice to get all the laundry done in 2 hours rather than 36. In Shearwater they also have a lovely folding table, oh the little things.

Back on the boat we decided to make a list of everything that we needed to get finished before we left the boat in Campbell River. We decided that defrosting and cleaning the refrigerator sounded like a good plan since I had already done the bar fridge earlier in the day. Dad’s initial response was that he needed to check out the engine room, which Becca and I have renamed to the ‘man cave’. We have determined that when Dad is either looking for space or wants to avoid chores he finds a reason to go to his ‘man cave’. He wasn’t gone long and then he decided that since we had so many things to do that the man cave would have to wait.

Dad had the blow dryer going full blast to defrost the ice in the refrigerator when a couple from our Navigator Rendezvous Dan and Mimi off the Asante came over to say hello. They were in the area showing a family member the ins and outs of the islands. It seems that these islands were the equivalent to the Canadians what the Gulf Islands are to us. They also shared with us that there was another Navigator boat on the dock for us to invite to the Rendezvous.  It was getting late so we decided that we would do our socializing tomorrow before we left.

Day 50 ~ Khutz Inlet to Bottleneck Inlet

Before going to bed last night we had reminded Eileen that there was no need for her to wake up the boat at the crack of dawn. As I started to stir, I could hear the pounding rain and I could see considerable fog through the hatch. I decided to turn off the fan and just listen to the quiet, the rain drops and snuggle with Becca, it was very peaceful. Then I looked up the stairs and realized that Dad was fully dressed standing at the helm with an extremely concerned look on his face. I went up to investigate.

Apparently while I was snuggled down enjoying my blissful sleep Dad was up all night taking manual depth soundings. We have no idea why, but all three depth sounders were getting false readings of as shallow as 3 feet!  Frustrated with technology, Dad hooked a weight on the end of fishing pole and used it to take manual readings. He dropped the weight off the side of the boat and then casted it out from all sides. At 3 a.m. according to his method we were in sitting in about 100 feet. All night the alarms kept going off and Dad kept doing his manual check with the same results. Needless to say he didn’t get much sleep.

Fed up with the situation, Dad instructed me in my pajamas to fire the engines so we could move!  As we departed the channel the fog was thick and the rain was pouring and then we noticed the center windshield wiper stopped working so we stopped to make repairs. Our entire transit for the day was in fog, rain and 3 to 4 foot seas. Eileen was at the helm with Dad on watch and Derek navigated. Becca was helping me with a project for the rendezvous when she started to get a bit sea sick. Ginger cookies and looking forward over the bow of the boat settled her tummy enough that she was able to take a nap.

Unwilling to skip our history lesson for the day, we pressed on to Carter Bay where the ship Ohio was run aground after hitting a rock later named Ohio rock. I wonder if my great great grandmother, was ever on the Ohio. No luck finding the Ohio, I guess we need low tide.

There were several boats in the inlet trying to escape the weather. Once on anchor Dad retired for some much needed sleep and so did Becca. Derek and I fished off the back of the boat while Eileen took a shower. We had several bites but couldn’t hook anything. After diligently trying we decided that the bites were coming from something smaller than our bait!  It is funny how you can feel a bite on the end of a fishing line and imagine this huge fish on the other end and then when you pull it up it is a little bitty thing.    

While fishing I took up the slack in the stern line that was caused by the changing tide. A bit later Eileen was telling me that she had just put on her last dry outfit, when Derek commented on the slack in the stern line. We both responded that it was due to the change in the tide. Simultaneously, the anchor watch alarm went off and Eileen noticed the line floating by the side of the boat. Apparently, it had come untied from the shore!  Eileen and Derek raced to re-secure the boat. I untied my end to give them as much slack as possible, then I decided to grab the camera. As they reached the shore, I heard my end of the rope fall into the water - oops. By the time they were done they were both soaking wet and Eileen no longer had any dry clothes.   

After dinner we continued movie night. The kids seemed to be most excited recounting their experiences. About midnight, Derek was exhausted and wanted to go to bed.

Day 49 ~ Lowe Inlet, Grenville Channel to Khutz Inlet

A full hour before our scheduled early morning departure, Eileen whispered “Can I wake you up now?”  My initial response to her was no because I knew that Dad hadn’t gotten up yet and I didn’t want to wake him. A few minutes later I decided that after 48 days of captaining the boat that the crew and I were capable of hoisting a single anchor in 100 feet of water without Dad’s supervision. I also figured Dad would agree with me. So I got dressed, Eileen happily rousted Derek and I instructed Becca that she was on flaking duty. Derek was out on the bow preparing to jump into action when Dad came up to the galley rubbing his sleeping eyes negotiating for a later wake up time. I tried to convince him that we would be fine and he could go back to bed, but sadly the fog was a little too spooky for him. He went back to his state room and I fired up the boat to warm it up. I didn’t realize that Dad had actually gone to take a shower. But when he heard the engines fire, he did an about face, jumped into his clothes and came up to find us unbuttoning the anchor bridle.

We worked our way through Grenville channel in the fog and the rain, and eventually made it to our special fishing hole just outside of Hartley Bay. Shortly thereafter, we had all poles in the water. Eileen was at the helm and the kids were watching the poles, so Dad and I sat down to jump on Hartley Bay’s technology. Unfortunately, nothing would hold. About that time a pole started wiggling around; we had our first bite of the day and successfully landed a nice silver salmon. Moments later we had our second salmon in the cooler. We were all excited when the kids each had a salmon on, unfortunately they both lost them. Convinced that we had found our fishing hole we circled back around. Then it was Eileen’s turn to reel one in and she fought it for some time before it fouled itself under the boat and snapped the line. I rounded out the final four with losing one in the process of setting the hook.

At that point, Dad decided to take charge of the situation and the next one was in the boat…our luck was changed. Soon we had 5 salmon in the cooler; we were catching them so fast that we couldn’t get all the poles in the water before someone was yelling fish on!  Becca and Derek even managed to land a double. Finally, we decided we had enough fish and departed for an ice cream and an adventure in Butedale.

At the entrance to Butedale a beautiful wide waterfall raged down the hill side. The waterfall would most likely be the only thing classified as beautiful in Butedale, which was once a bustling fish packing camp and now collapsing and falling into the water. I didn’t think that it was safe enough for us to stop but Eileen was on a mission. We finally compromised that I would slide the boat up to the dock and then Eileen and Derek would jump off and run up the hill and get us an ice cream cone.

As we approached the dock, Lou the caretaker along with Tiger the cat and Bert the dog came bounding down the dilapidated ramp to greet us. He was confident that the dock would hold us so we all went ashore. As I weaved my way from one rotten dock to another to get to the ramp, I was less and less comfortable with our decision. Dad was waiting for me at the top of the ramp. Together we gazed around at the unbelievable mess of buildings falling down everywhere. The Waggoner’s book talked about teams of folks trying to save the place but in my opinion it was difficult to see any impact that anyone had accomplished.

About then I had this vision of the five of us walking down the ramp with our ice cream looking down and finding the Simbalaut floating away with the dock tied to her……I went back to monitor the situation. Dad came back with a handmade piece of art and his ice cream. Eileen and the kids were about 20 minutes behind him. It seems that they got an art lesson and they watched a video that he had taken of a local white bear.

As we approached Khutz Inlet, the sun poked out for just a bit and then we were back to rain. Our initial plan of anchoring behind a spit near the entrance was altered when we arrived and found it full of boats. We moved on towards the back of the inlet where we found an amazing waterfall and another SYC yacht. There was a large drying mud flat and a milky haze in the water so we set our anchor near the base of the waterfall in 100 feet of water.

After we got settled we set up a fish processing assembly line and cleaned and packed the fish. For dinner we had crab melts and salmon. We all got our tummies full and then snuggled down for home movie night. We’ve had a home movie night with each group of guests and the night just keeps getting longer and longer.

Day 48 ~ Prince Rupert to Lowe Inlet, Grenville Channel

Before we left Prince Rupert, Derek and Eileen went to shore to get supplies and forgot the cabbage – for the second time, while Dad, Becca and I went to get fuel.  We departed later than normal in order to ride the current down Grenville Channel. Derek navigated our entire trip with Dad initially at the helm followed by Eileen. Our technology held most of the day allowing Dad, Becca and I to work.

At one point Derek made a comment that the long, long channel was just a bit boring. Then they spotted their first of many waterfalls. Later in the day, Dad was taking a nap, Becca was reading and the rest of us were on the bridge when Eileen jumped up and rapidly shut the boat down because she thought that we were running over a fishing net, it turned out to be bubbles. We finally had some excitement! 

We arrived in Lowe inlet to find another boat in our super secret cove and a wonderful waterfall at the head. As the evening approached, the tide changed and foam began to appear from the falls. We dropped the dinghy and Derek and Eileen went fishing. Dad, Becca and I reset the anchor because we were not happy with our holding. We dropped in 104 feet of water!  We had so much chain out that Dad decided it was a perfectly good opportunity to clean out the anchor well and re-flake the chain. This required us to play out all but the last few feet of the chain and then retrieve and flake it. We should have done this when Michael was on board! 

For dinner we had crab, 4 prawns and salmon on the grill. It was delicious. We couldn’t eat all the crab so Eileen, with compliments of Becca, believed that there were 5 clusters left, agreed to clean the rest. Dad did engine chores. The kids and I did the dishes. Then being the great kids that they are… Becca and Derek crawled around on the floor on their hands and knees and polished the galley floor, cushions and table.  

After chores we caught up on our cartography for the day by updating and creating float plans. For the record, I didn’t make up this word; the kids have promised me that this is a real word for using charts to dictate direction. After everything was done, Eileen finally surfaced from the cockpit with about 4 pounds of cleaned crab meat challenging Becca’s ability to count and complimenting her on her ability to sucker her into doing this tedious task.

The rain held off for the entire day but it started spitting as the sun set. We had a fun day with lots of laughter especially while preparing our blog update and fixing my spelling.

Day 47 ~ Mink Bay, Boca de Quadra, Alaska to Prince Rupert, Canada

Eileen was up first and anxious to absorb all that Alaska has to offer, she went off into the dinghy. She was so excited to see this beautiful eagle soaring towards her, up until the time she realized that it was a seagull. Before she returned to the boat she pulled the crab pots, which had a fair collection of crab. Derek, Dad and I were all anxious to get back to the halibut grounds so we agreed to let the rooster wake us up. Becca has obviously taken a few lessons from Wendy because she asked for a reprieve and agreed to be the chain flaker. As we prepared to leave the bay, I realized how warm it had gotten already.

Dad and Eileen hoisted the dinghy, Derek hoisted the anchor and we were off to pull the shrimp pots (we got 4 shrimp). Two hours later we were back to the halibut grounds. The kids and Eileen dropped their lines and then Dad jumped in with them as I tried to keep us off the rocks. Dad was the first one with a fish in the boat, he caught a salmon. Both Becca and Eileen caught a sea bass that Dad told them they couldn’t keep because they were just too ugly. Later, Derek and I heard Dad talking to someone on the phone about how good sea bass were…..seems suspicious. Perhaps it is all based on the effort to clean them. We fished for less than an hour and then we headed off back towards Canada.

Derek had turned into quite the junior navigator. He spent the entire day on the bridge with me navigating our way towards Canada. I don’t think he realized the significance of our route. Everyone else on the boat slept. At one point I said to Derek that the weather was much prettier towards Hawaii, he suggested that we turn right. I explained to him that it would only last so long and that when we ran out of gas we would have a lot of explaining to do. The fog started to set in around us pretty good, it was everywhere but we could still see the seat of the Dutchman’s pants….if you don’t get it you’ll have to ask Wendy.

As we approached Vern’s Passage, we were an hour ahead so we negotiated with Dad and got to fish for 30 minutes. We had several nibbles and then realized that the fish that were biting were just a step larger than the herring that we were using for fishing.

Once on the dock in Prince Rupert, Eileen had a major melt down when her technology wouldn’t work.  Afterwards she recovered and we fixed dinner. After dinner, the kids jumped in and did our next float plan. Derek was all over the physical charts, flagging and measuring while Becca was putting it all into the computer.

The evening was an emotional struggle for Dad and I, while we were both excited about heading home we were both sad that our trip of a life time was rapidly coming to an end. At one point Dad threw open the galley door and told us to step outside and breathe the air of the port! 

After the kids went to bed, Dad and I walked up to the bar but they were closed. Fortunately, the bar on the Simbalaut was open. We got our noses fairly wet before heading to bed. Eileen watched the only movie that was watched the entire trip. 

Day 46 ~ Ketchikan to Mink Bay, Boca de Quadra

The morning started abruptly when a 7:45 am Becca called, waking us all up and advising us that they were on the runway an hour and a half earlier than we thought. We jumped up and began our transition of getting Thor off the boat and the new group on. As always, laundry was our challenge. The airport is on an island across the water way from the boat so our new crew members had to come across on the ferry and then with my encouragement they hiked their way down to the boat. It was a long walk but after a few days on the boat they would probably thank me. Dad and Thor worked on repairing an oil pressure gauge, Eileen and Derek went to the grocery store and Becca and I finished cleaning.

Thor’s flight departed just after noon. He was taking a suitcase of extra clothes home for me so he didn’t want to take the ferry. We ended up taking him over to the float plane dock and then very quickly getting him off and Derek back on because they threatened us with a $500.00 fine. As we departed the harbor, Derek asked me how I kept from getting bored. I explained to him everything that I had been doing and that each night I drop in bed exhausted. About that time Dad slowed the boat as a school of Dall porpoises started swimming under our bow wash. The kids were very excited. Afterwards, I did the typical in servicing of the new crew and Derek’s passion for accuracy made my heart go pitter patter! 

We powered our way to the halibut hunting grounds that our guests the night before had described and just as we were instructed, stopped and sent our bait down. In moments, Becca had a fish on and shortly thereafter so did Derek. Both kids worked for some time to bring their fish to the surface. Becca was first to the surface with a 40 lb halibut. Finally, Dad had a shooter. He went and got his gun and prepared to fire and fired… Nothing… cocked the gun and fired again… nothing… he changed out the shells and boom he finally got to shoot his gun.  We no sooner got Becca’s halibut under control when Derek’s giant ling cod came to the surface. It was so big that it had to go back because you can’t keep anything over 40 inches and it was 44 inches. Before we left, Eileen brought another halibut to the surface that we lost before we got it into the boat and I caught a rock.

We worked our way towards our anchorage in Mink Bay. Along the way we dropped the shrimp and the crab pots. Once on anchor, Derek asked if he could go back to fishing so I helped him get set up. We dropped the line over the side of the boat and before we could get it set, the spool took off. Thirty minutes later he brought a halibut to the surface that looked like it was about 60 pounds. Dad was trying to get it lined up to be shot and it came loose!  Poor Derek, two very large fish to the boat and nothing in the fridge.

Mink Bay was a beautiful place to spend our last night in Alaska. Evening had all the beautiful characteristics that we have come to appreciate of Southeast Alaska. The water was calm, the mountains were crystal clear with a blue haze and the trees were vibrant green. The sunset was all shades of pink, blue and purple. Wow… like Dad said if we could have evenings like this every night we would never want to leave.