We're home now: you can visit us at our website www.janyan.com
Don't forget that this blog is presented "backwards": the most recent entries are at the top. Use the archive at the right to see earlier entries ...
Wednesday, December 10, 2008
Saturday, August 23, 2008
Vancouver - We're home
We left Port McNeil in dense early morning fog, with the radar on and fog horn ready. When we arrived at the Pearse Islands (still early in the morning) we could see two other boats anchored (on the radar: still didn't have enough visibility to see across the anchorage!). We dropped the hook and waited for the fog to lift. We had a great day exploring the islands and listening to the whale-watching boats on the radio, to see if any Orcas were close by. We did see a humpback out in the Strait from the boat.
Eoin at the helm in Pearse Islands
The visibility in the water was incredible: the kelp looked like it was dancing in the current
While waiting for the fog to lift the boys make "huts" in the V-berth
The sunrise the next day was amazing
as we headed up the Johnston Strait with the tide in the fog.
The fog finally lifts.
We spent the night in, Port Neville where Laura the post mistress showed us around the old family store and introduced us to the local deer.
the boys really enjoyed the tree house and the chance to run around.
We explored the inlet in the dinghy and found an amazing little sandy beach that looked like something out of a desert island movie.
Until Conor spotted the bear tracks in the sand!
We got a great boost from the current the next day as we headed down the last of Johnston Strait. We were a little early for clearing the rapids (they can run at 8-10 knots) but what a treat: a pod of Orcas - male, female and young calf - were there to entertain us for the half hour.
After a night in Pendrell Sound we headed to Roscoe Bay to chill at the lake for a few days and celebrate Eoin's birthday.
The boys met a new friend there - Tomasz - and he and his folks joined us for Eoin's birthday celebrations.
the weather forecast was sunshine for a few days, so we decided to end the trip with some beach days at some great beaches recommended by Laurie and Greg. The 1st stop was Tribune Bay on Hornby Island. We even managed to sail there!
What a great spot.
The boys try to convince Ian to sit on a towel ...guess what's underneath. Conor did end up in the hole later!
the boys try Skim Boarding.
On the last day the boys' friend Tomasz arrived. We did a potluck dinner and the boys brought blackberry crisp with the berries we'd picked earlier in the day.
After Hornby we went to Bucaneer and spend a day on the beach
before heading into Vancouver.
It's strange to say it but we are home! We have moved into the house and the boys start school in 9 days!!
Eoin at the helm in Pearse Islands
The visibility in the water was incredible: the kelp looked like it was dancing in the current
While waiting for the fog to lift the boys make "huts" in the V-berth
The sunrise the next day was amazing
as we headed up the Johnston Strait with the tide in the fog.
The fog finally lifts.
We spent the night in, Port Neville where Laura the post mistress showed us around the old family store and introduced us to the local deer.
the boys really enjoyed the tree house and the chance to run around.
We explored the inlet in the dinghy and found an amazing little sandy beach that looked like something out of a desert island movie.
Until Conor spotted the bear tracks in the sand!
We got a great boost from the current the next day as we headed down the last of Johnston Strait. We were a little early for clearing the rapids (they can run at 8-10 knots) but what a treat: a pod of Orcas - male, female and young calf - were there to entertain us for the half hour.
After a night in Pendrell Sound we headed to Roscoe Bay to chill at the lake for a few days and celebrate Eoin's birthday.
The boys met a new friend there - Tomasz - and he and his folks joined us for Eoin's birthday celebrations.
the weather forecast was sunshine for a few days, so we decided to end the trip with some beach days at some great beaches recommended by Laurie and Greg. The 1st stop was Tribune Bay on Hornby Island. We even managed to sail there!
What a great spot.
The boys try to convince Ian to sit on a towel ...guess what's underneath. Conor did end up in the hole later!
the boys try Skim Boarding.
On the last day the boys' friend Tomasz arrived. We did a potluck dinner and the boys brought blackberry crisp with the berries we'd picked earlier in the day.
After Hornby we went to Bucaneer and spend a day on the beach
before heading into Vancouver.
It's strange to say it but we are home! We have moved into the house and the boys start school in 9 days!!
Tuesday, August 5, 2008
Port McNeil
We have come into Port McNeil, we were here for quite a bit going north. We have tracked down the starter problem to an ignition problem. We've provisioned up for the trip back to Vancouver and are heading off again tomorrow. The boys and I have had a great trip to the local swimming pool yesterday, the sun even came out for the few hours we were there.
Old Steam Donkey at Port McNeil
We went over to Alert bay on the ferry today to visit U'Mista the culture centre for the tribe of the Kwakwa̱ka̱ʼwakw today. The totems and Potlatch collection were incredible. This is not a just a museum to display and honor a past culture but a centre like the Haida one in Skidegate that allows the culture to remain strong. It provides a place for the youth to learn their language, dance and carving skills as well as record and document the stories and traditions of the elders.
Relaxing in the sunshine outside U'Mista !
Old Steam Donkey at Port McNeil
We went over to Alert bay on the ferry today to visit U'Mista the culture centre for the tribe of the Kwakwa̱ka̱ʼwakw today. The totems and Potlatch collection were incredible. This is not a just a museum to display and honor a past culture but a centre like the Haida one in Skidegate that allows the culture to remain strong. It provides a place for the youth to learn their language, dance and carving skills as well as record and document the stories and traditions of the elders.
Relaxing in the sunshine outside U'Mista !
Sunday, August 3, 2008
Sullivan Bay
Bottleneck Inlet
We left Khutze Bay in the fog. Little did we know that we would not see the sun again. There were four big prawns in the trap: we had them as an on-the-way snack. They were absolutely the best prawns ever!!
The boys played cards and we kept out of the rain as we headed south with the tide.
It was a quiet day at Bottleneck Inlet, in the rain. We caught one very large crab for dinner ...
Boukind Bay (Roscoe Inlet)
We had a great trip through Milbanke Sound. What we thought was an odd log coming out of Finlayson Channel turned out to be a humpback lolling on the surface. He dived when we were about 30-40 feet away.
We then spotted some sea otters, and to top it off some white-sided dolphins played at the bow for a short while as we left the sound to come up Seaforth Channel.
the lighthouse and weather station at Ivory Island. It's places like these that provide us with the much needed weather reports.
It turned into a very warm sunny day as we came up Return Passage to Roscoe Inlet.
When the sun comes out again we all try and soak in a few rays on the foredeck underway.
The more observant of you might notice Eoin wearing his PJ's , I have to confess there are days they don't come off!! Jane jumped in the 16.7C water off the swim deck after we anchored, but came out quickly, as the sun had disappeared ...
Head of Roscoe Inlet
We had not been getting good output from our alternator. I had tried tightening the belts, but to no avail. I once again tightened the belts, this time quite tight, and it worked!! I think the problem was that the new alternator body, and perhaps even the output terminal, was too close to one of the engine feet, and might have been shorting out against it.
It took us just over two hours to get to the head of Roscoe Inlet. As we were quite a ways inland, away from the coast, we were well out of the 50-60 mile an hour SE winds bashing the coast. All we got was the rain.
Ocean Falls
We motored to Ocean Falls in the rain, still well-protected from the storm. There was no room at the dock, but "Lady Suzanne" kindly let us raft up to them.
Ocean falls is an old pulp town that used to have a population of 5000 to 6000 it now has a permanent population of 35 and summer population of about 100. The government bull dozed a lot of the town on it's abdonment but a number of key strucutres are still there, the hotel, the hosiptal, the old court house, and the dam and power station.
We had a great walk up to the dam and the lake above the dam. Lots of evidence of bears, but no sightings. On our last visit here 9 years ago a bear had boarded the boat!
Is it the RCMP or a Taxi
We stayed here two nights (several boats, including "Lady Suzanne", left after our first night, so we were able to get in to to the dock, and access shore power for the first time since Queen Charlotte City!).
The second day, in the rain, we did a laundry, and walked to the Rain Coast Store and Audrey's Plants to get a lettuce. We must all be used to the rain: no complaints from anyone as we walked half an hour there and half an hour back in the pouring rain!! It poured from the sky, and from the cliffs along the road ...Finding some coins left by the faries under the fairy rock was a big hit with the boys on the way back and they are all ready planning how to spend it at the next town. 1st choice sweets.
it's good to see Eoin hasn't lost his sense of Irishness. He drew this on his forehead while underway to Pruth Bay.
Pruth Bay
Pruth Bay is somewhere I remember from our last trip for West Beach an incredible beach looking out in the Pacific and the Hakki Fishing resort where we had an incredible meal. This time around we didn't get to enjoy the meal but we had a great visit to the beach.
Next stop Japan.
Checking out the treasure we found.
Looking back onto the beach from one of the trails into the woods.
The intratidal live along the rocks on the beach was amazing.
Conor called this big golf... its a old buoy that had washed up onshore and a stick.
\
Ian finds himeself a new girlfriend!
Ian's self portrait.
This boat was anchored in Pruth Bay with us. Notice the helicopter!!
After spending the morning at West Beach again and Eoin taking a swim in his clothes we headed south to Fury Cove to get better n early start on Cape Caution and around behind Vancouver Island again. As the wind was with us and we had the time we took the time to sort out some of the issues on our furling main and had a good sail down. We saw more hump backs along the way and what blew us all away was two breaching alongside each other about 200ft from the boat.
We came around the cape early in what must be the calmest seas we've ever seen there. An oily sea with a low swell and to top it off the sun was shining as we came into Queen Charlotte strait.
We anchored in Blunden Harbour and met up with Lorne and Pat from Samaria after 8 years!
We baked some bread and the boys went ashore to do an explosion with Ian with some baking soda. I must note not at the abadoned Native village which we did explore later in the afternoon.
We are now in Sullivan Bay a neat floating village with houses, shop and a restaurant.
The boys were a little concerned when we said this is where they would spend the night if they didn't listen to their parents!!
I'm not sure how long we'll stay as I write our engine won't start...
Engine started in the morning but with still no real source of the problem we going to re-group on where to go
next!!
We left Khutze Bay in the fog. Little did we know that we would not see the sun again. There were four big prawns in the trap: we had them as an on-the-way snack. They were absolutely the best prawns ever!!
The boys played cards and we kept out of the rain as we headed south with the tide.
It was a quiet day at Bottleneck Inlet, in the rain. We caught one very large crab for dinner ...
Boukind Bay (Roscoe Inlet)
We had a great trip through Milbanke Sound. What we thought was an odd log coming out of Finlayson Channel turned out to be a humpback lolling on the surface. He dived when we were about 30-40 feet away.
We then spotted some sea otters, and to top it off some white-sided dolphins played at the bow for a short while as we left the sound to come up Seaforth Channel.
the lighthouse and weather station at Ivory Island. It's places like these that provide us with the much needed weather reports.
It turned into a very warm sunny day as we came up Return Passage to Roscoe Inlet.
When the sun comes out again we all try and soak in a few rays on the foredeck underway.
The more observant of you might notice Eoin wearing his PJ's , I have to confess there are days they don't come off!! Jane jumped in the 16.7C water off the swim deck after we anchored, but came out quickly, as the sun had disappeared ...
Head of Roscoe Inlet
We had not been getting good output from our alternator. I had tried tightening the belts, but to no avail. I once again tightened the belts, this time quite tight, and it worked!! I think the problem was that the new alternator body, and perhaps even the output terminal, was too close to one of the engine feet, and might have been shorting out against it.
It took us just over two hours to get to the head of Roscoe Inlet. As we were quite a ways inland, away from the coast, we were well out of the 50-60 mile an hour SE winds bashing the coast. All we got was the rain.
Ocean Falls
We motored to Ocean Falls in the rain, still well-protected from the storm. There was no room at the dock, but "Lady Suzanne" kindly let us raft up to them.
Ocean falls is an old pulp town that used to have a population of 5000 to 6000 it now has a permanent population of 35 and summer population of about 100. The government bull dozed a lot of the town on it's abdonment but a number of key strucutres are still there, the hotel, the hosiptal, the old court house, and the dam and power station.
We had a great walk up to the dam and the lake above the dam. Lots of evidence of bears, but no sightings. On our last visit here 9 years ago a bear had boarded the boat!
Is it the RCMP or a Taxi
We stayed here two nights (several boats, including "Lady Suzanne", left after our first night, so we were able to get in to to the dock, and access shore power for the first time since Queen Charlotte City!).
The second day, in the rain, we did a laundry, and walked to the Rain Coast Store and Audrey's Plants to get a lettuce. We must all be used to the rain: no complaints from anyone as we walked half an hour there and half an hour back in the pouring rain!! It poured from the sky, and from the cliffs along the road ...Finding some coins left by the faries under the fairy rock was a big hit with the boys on the way back and they are all ready planning how to spend it at the next town. 1st choice sweets.
it's good to see Eoin hasn't lost his sense of Irishness. He drew this on his forehead while underway to Pruth Bay.
Pruth Bay
Pruth Bay is somewhere I remember from our last trip for West Beach an incredible beach looking out in the Pacific and the Hakki Fishing resort where we had an incredible meal. This time around we didn't get to enjoy the meal but we had a great visit to the beach.
Next stop Japan.
Checking out the treasure we found.
Looking back onto the beach from one of the trails into the woods.
The intratidal live along the rocks on the beach was amazing.
Conor called this big golf... its a old buoy that had washed up onshore and a stick.
\Ian finds himeself a new girlfriend!
Ian's self portrait.
This boat was anchored in Pruth Bay with us. Notice the helicopter!!
After spending the morning at West Beach again and Eoin taking a swim in his clothes we headed south to Fury Cove to get better n early start on Cape Caution and around behind Vancouver Island again. As the wind was with us and we had the time we took the time to sort out some of the issues on our furling main and had a good sail down. We saw more hump backs along the way and what blew us all away was two breaching alongside each other about 200ft from the boat.
We came around the cape early in what must be the calmest seas we've ever seen there. An oily sea with a low swell and to top it off the sun was shining as we came into Queen Charlotte strait.
We anchored in Blunden Harbour and met up with Lorne and Pat from Samaria after 8 years!
We baked some bread and the boys went ashore to do an explosion with Ian with some baking soda. I must note not at the abadoned Native village which we did explore later in the afternoon.
We are now in Sullivan Bay a neat floating village with houses, shop and a restaurant.
The boys were a little concerned when we said this is where they would spend the night if they didn't listen to their parents!!
I'm not sure how long we'll stay as I write our engine won't start...
Engine started in the morning but with still no real source of the problem we going to re-group on where to go
next!!
Friday, July 25, 2008
Khutze Inlet (Princess Royal Channel)
Just a quick update via hf radio, ...Updated in Sullivan Bay with Photos..
this is the lovely sun rise we had leaving Queen Charlotte City across the Hecate st...remember the saying "Red Sky at morning sailors warning" it was a rolly crossing!
Heading towards Verney Falls
the boys checking out an old Salmon weir at Lowe Inlet
this is the lovely sun rise we had leaving Queen Charlotte City across the Hecate st...remember the saying "Red Sky at morning sailors warning" it was a rolly crossing!
Leaving Prince Rupert
We left Prince Rupert in a heavy rain, having to back out of our slip while dodging fishing boats rafted three- and four-deep, we managed to do it without hitting anything, and filled up with fuel and water at the fuel dock ...
Looking back at the dock in prince Rupert
It's been raining for a few days now.. some of you may recognize this look from 9 years ago!!
Baker Inlet
Our first stop out of Prince Rupert was Baker Inlet. The highlight of Baker Inlet is not necessarily the inlet, which is nice enough, but the entrance to it, which is called Watts Narrows, aptly named as it is, in fact, VERY narrow, and the current through it can turn it into a virtual rapids!! Luckily we reached it four minutes after flood slack, after an eight-hour trip from Prince Rupert, fighting currents and the wind.
Dress up passes the time in the rain!
Lowe Inlet
Underway to Lowe Inlet, a male Orca dove three times quite close to the boat. This is the second time this trip we've seen a male alone ...
Its not just whalws we keep an eye out for... there are lots of logs like this along the way that have following of log booms or barges and want to avoid.
We anchored quite close to a large waterfall, which drops about 15 feet at high tide, and about 30 feet at low tide. We had a great walk to the base of the falls through the woods, with lots of singing to let the bears know we were there (we had seen a fine Grizzly on shore earlier), and ate loads of wild blueberries on the way ... In front of the falls, therewere tons of salmon jumping, waiting for high tide to jump over the falls.
Heading towards Verney Falls
the boys checking out the salmon jumping up the falls
the boys checking out an old Salmon weir at Lowe Inlet
The suns out .. a game of Uno in the cockpit
Europa Bay Hot Springs
the mountains of Gardener Canal were incredible in the sunshine on the way to Europa Hot Springs
The hot springs here are excellent! They are a little out of the way, and so are not very busy: we were alone.
Hanging out at the hot springs
We anchored for the night (although the anchoring was "marginal"), as the weather forecast was good. We had all our alarms set (depth, wind speed, etc.) but the night was uneventful. the boys even put on a puppet show.
We left early and had the ebbing and flooding tides with us all the way on the 54-mile trip. On coming through Wright Sound we spotted a mother and young Minke blow and dive a few times.
Khutze Inlet
We're just wrapping up two days in Khutze (pronounced Kootz) Inlet, a beautiful "bomb-proof" anchorage surrounded by snow-capped mountains, with a stunning waterfall cascading several hundred feet down a mountainside. (A lot of the anchorages through here are similar, in that the mountains rise steeply out of the water: it feels as though you could reach out and almost touch the snow ...) The weather in here has been hot and sunny for most of the two days. As we explored in the dinghy near the
base of the waterfall, a young grizzly bear wandered into the clearing and we spent 20 minutes watching him eat grass not 20 feet away!!
There is also a large river estuary feeding into the inlet, and the mouth of the river is full of seals, almost cheek by jowl, waiting for salmon to start the trip up the river. It was here we also saw a very young grizzly cub playing, running through the grasses, and standing on this hind legs.While we explored the estuary in the dinghy we spotted the cub's
and mother's tracks in the mud.
We've dropped both traps (crab and prawn) here, already had success with the crab trap, had crab linguine for dinner!! We'll pick up both traps on the way out tomorrow, hoping for lots of prawns, we had a great catch when we stayed here 10 years ago!
Conor Bringing us back to the boat after setting the prawn trap.
You can tell we are getting back into more popular cruising grounds as we go south: there are three boats at anchor here tonight.
It was such a great stay, we broke out granny's Christmas pudding. Yummy!! All four of us went for seconds, and finished the pudding in one sitting!!
Tuesday, July 15, 2008
Haida Gwaii
On our last night in Haida Gwaii, we thought we should bring the blog up to date on our wonderful visit. It started with a visit to the very south end of the island group, to a small island on the west coast just out into the Pacific called SGaang Gwaii. It is the site of an old Haida village.
On arrival at Gordon Cove and landing on SGaang Gwaii, Conor's first words were "this island is magical". The richness of the shell life and bone life on the beach told of the bounty in the seas around ...
and the forest was enchanting as you looked up into it from the shore.
We walked over to the watchman hut where Shirley and Jordon greeted us. Jordon was to join us on our trip to the abandoned village. Conor was very saddened by the fact that 90% of the population had died from smallpox on making contact with Europeans. It was due to this huge decrease in population that the village was eventually abandoned.
The high wall in the woods here was used to shelter children if the village was attacked by enemies. The children would be let out through the back of the longhouse, where a ladder would be raised to let the children scramble to the top and hide.
The mortuary poles that still stand are quite inspiring. The boys enjoyed identifying the whales, eagles, bears, and other animals and fish carved on them.
In the picture below, I am holding a sea urchin shell that Eoin found under a tree. The purple colour was amazing. Since the sea otters are no longer around to eat them, the kelp really suffers. Sea otters have been spotted on the west coast of Haida Gwaii so they are slowly coming back along the kelp patches.
After leaving SGaang Gwaii we took advantage of the flooding tide and headed up the coast to Bag Harbour. Here's Eoin the next day, rowing around while we wait for low tide to explore Burnaby Narrows. This area is renowned for the incredible intratidal life.
So much so that the deer (and quite often bear)
and this oyster catcher are also out searching in it at low tide.
I'm on rowing duty as we slowly work our way through the narrows at low tide slack (that's when there is no tidal stream)
The photo doesn't do the intratidal justice but it will give you an idea of the star fish, star bats, sea urchins to be found here.
Here are the boys all weighing anchor to head up to Hot Springs.
and what a treat that was.....
So nice we think we'll come back again tomorrow.
We anchored just off the springs and Ilari looked great in the water as we soaked!
We headed up to Windy Bay early the following morning, and had a great trip ashore with the watchmen David and Paul.
The walk through the forest was amazing. It's incredible the tree formations that can occur when the nursery logs rot away.
The highlight was the "Big Tree"
It would take 15 adults to hold hands around it but for someone the size of Eoin that might be more like 25!
A view back at Ilari as we walked through the woods in Windy Bay... note the great day.
We managed to have a bit of a sail back for our 2nd visit to Hot Springs, again in sunshine and then headed over to Haswell Bay for the night. We spotted two Sand Cranes on shore. They looked like ostriches they stood so tall and the feathers are very fluffed at the back.
While out rowing with the boys, we spotted this great cloud formation behind the boat, it looks like a ski slope.
This one, spotted in Echo Bay, looked like a glacier coming down the inlet. Where is headed to the next day.
Oon the way we spotted this whale!
Here is is off in the distance as we entered Hoya Passage.
He makes his way slowly over to us to say hello
...and puts on an amazing show.
He rolled
and he showed his flippers
as he was so close we could hear his breathing. At times it even felt like he was talking to us.
After about 20-30 minutes we backed away and let him move on. All aboard were completely blown away by the experience. I'm not sure that photos can capture it.
We anchored for a few nights in echo bay, as recommended by David the watchman in Windy Bay. Here's me rowing us all up to have a look at the waterfall.
The deer onshore were really friendly. We had hoped to see bears onshore but none were spotted, so we were delighted to catch sight of our first bears of the trip in Thurston Harbour on our first night out of the park.
While waiting out for better sea conditions to head up to Queen Charlotte City we spend a day at Gordon cove near Moresby Camp where the boys spend the day making masks, listening to stories and looking for Waldo!
On arrival in Queen Charlotte City the dock was full so we anchored out in Bearskin Bay. Which meant Ian's sister Nathalie could see us arrive from her window in town!
We visited the Museum and Haida Cultural Centre where Nathalie is the director. The extension and changes that have taken place over the last few years are world class. Unfortunately we'll miss the official opening which is later in August.
Over the last few years contemporary Haida artists have carved some incredible house posts.
Some are still in progress in the carving house where some new canoes are also being carved.
A big hit for the boys was the performance house where the both took to the floor to dance to the beat of the drums!
The boys were blown away by Balance rock, an incredible precariously-placed rock that has stood for generations.
A big advantage to being in town is that Auntie Nathalie is on hand to read stories on the boat and at the cabin!
The trip to the cabin was fantastic I felt I really got to shut down I didn't need to worry about weather, tides and currents or our next anchor spot!
It's a one room cabin on 7 acres of wood in Naikoon Provincial Park that stretches onto the beach... a great getaway.
Here's Conor picking wild strawberries on the way to the beach. The cabin is peeking through the trees. We've been lucky to feast on salmon berries while here also.
There is a sea monster at the beach end to mark the spot.
There are even Jedi warriors there!
We took a great hike up to the Tell river mouth and a wreck from the 1920s, and found all sorts of treasures along the way.
We even spotted some river otters at the mouth. They were upset about something and making an awful snorting sound.
Here's Eoin with all the sand dollars Ian and he found!
Its not all beach walking. Conor learned to play Solitaire (Patience) while a humming bird came by to dance mid-air for us. The Haida say that humming birds bring joy and healing. I can only say that Conor and I were really uplifted by the experience.
We also went up to the north coast where the rock formations are very similar to the north coast of Ireland.
The forest around the property is great for exploring.
Here are Conor and Eoin searching for an old Haida Sweat Lodge.
and Conor and Ian on the trail to the road.
note the mushroom-like features when the moss grows on the stumps!
But it's not all play.. wood has to be cut for the stove.
And fires have to be lit on the beach
for marshmallow roasts!!
On arrival at Gordon Cove and landing on SGaang Gwaii, Conor's first words were "this island is magical". The richness of the shell life and bone life on the beach told of the bounty in the seas around ...
and the forest was enchanting as you looked up into it from the shore.
We walked over to the watchman hut where Shirley and Jordon greeted us. Jordon was to join us on our trip to the abandoned village. Conor was very saddened by the fact that 90% of the population had died from smallpox on making contact with Europeans. It was due to this huge decrease in population that the village was eventually abandoned.
The high wall in the woods here was used to shelter children if the village was attacked by enemies. The children would be let out through the back of the longhouse, where a ladder would be raised to let the children scramble to the top and hide.
The mortuary poles that still stand are quite inspiring. The boys enjoyed identifying the whales, eagles, bears, and other animals and fish carved on them.
In the picture below, I am holding a sea urchin shell that Eoin found under a tree. The purple colour was amazing. Since the sea otters are no longer around to eat them, the kelp really suffers. Sea otters have been spotted on the west coast of Haida Gwaii so they are slowly coming back along the kelp patches.
After leaving SGaang Gwaii we took advantage of the flooding tide and headed up the coast to Bag Harbour. Here's Eoin the next day, rowing around while we wait for low tide to explore Burnaby Narrows. This area is renowned for the incredible intratidal life.
So much so that the deer (and quite often bear)
and this oyster catcher are also out searching in it at low tide.
I'm on rowing duty as we slowly work our way through the narrows at low tide slack (that's when there is no tidal stream)
The photo doesn't do the intratidal justice but it will give you an idea of the star fish, star bats, sea urchins to be found here.
Here are the boys all weighing anchor to head up to Hot Springs.
and what a treat that was.....
So nice we think we'll come back again tomorrow.
We anchored just off the springs and Ilari looked great in the water as we soaked!
We headed up to Windy Bay early the following morning, and had a great trip ashore with the watchmen David and Paul.
The walk through the forest was amazing. It's incredible the tree formations that can occur when the nursery logs rot away.
The highlight was the "Big Tree"
It would take 15 adults to hold hands around it but for someone the size of Eoin that might be more like 25!
A view back at Ilari as we walked through the woods in Windy Bay... note the great day.
We managed to have a bit of a sail back for our 2nd visit to Hot Springs, again in sunshine and then headed over to Haswell Bay for the night. We spotted two Sand Cranes on shore. They looked like ostriches they stood so tall and the feathers are very fluffed at the back.
While out rowing with the boys, we spotted this great cloud formation behind the boat, it looks like a ski slope.
This one, spotted in Echo Bay, looked like a glacier coming down the inlet. Where is headed to the next day.
Oon the way we spotted this whale!
Here is is off in the distance as we entered Hoya Passage.
He makes his way slowly over to us to say hello
...and puts on an amazing show.
He rolled
and he showed his flippers
as he was so close we could hear his breathing. At times it even felt like he was talking to us.
After about 20-30 minutes we backed away and let him move on. All aboard were completely blown away by the experience. I'm not sure that photos can capture it.
We anchored for a few nights in echo bay, as recommended by David the watchman in Windy Bay. Here's me rowing us all up to have a look at the waterfall.
The deer onshore were really friendly. We had hoped to see bears onshore but none were spotted, so we were delighted to catch sight of our first bears of the trip in Thurston Harbour on our first night out of the park.
While waiting out for better sea conditions to head up to Queen Charlotte City we spend a day at Gordon cove near Moresby Camp where the boys spend the day making masks, listening to stories and looking for Waldo!
On arrival in Queen Charlotte City the dock was full so we anchored out in Bearskin Bay. Which meant Ian's sister Nathalie could see us arrive from her window in town!
We visited the Museum and Haida Cultural Centre where Nathalie is the director. The extension and changes that have taken place over the last few years are world class. Unfortunately we'll miss the official opening which is later in August.
Over the last few years contemporary Haida artists have carved some incredible house posts.
Some are still in progress in the carving house where some new canoes are also being carved.
A big hit for the boys was the performance house where the both took to the floor to dance to the beat of the drums!
The boys were blown away by Balance rock, an incredible precariously-placed rock that has stood for generations.
A big advantage to being in town is that Auntie Nathalie is on hand to read stories on the boat and at the cabin!
The trip to the cabin was fantastic I felt I really got to shut down I didn't need to worry about weather, tides and currents or our next anchor spot!
It's a one room cabin on 7 acres of wood in Naikoon Provincial Park that stretches onto the beach... a great getaway.
Here's Conor picking wild strawberries on the way to the beach. The cabin is peeking through the trees. We've been lucky to feast on salmon berries while here also.
There is a sea monster at the beach end to mark the spot.
There are even Jedi warriors there!
We took a great hike up to the Tell river mouth and a wreck from the 1920s, and found all sorts of treasures along the way.
We even spotted some river otters at the mouth. They were upset about something and making an awful snorting sound.
Here's Eoin with all the sand dollars Ian and he found!
Its not all beach walking. Conor learned to play Solitaire (Patience) while a humming bird came by to dance mid-air for us. The Haida say that humming birds bring joy and healing. I can only say that Conor and I were really uplifted by the experience.
We also went up to the north coast where the rock formations are very similar to the north coast of Ireland.
The forest around the property is great for exploring.
Here are Conor and Eoin searching for an old Haida Sweat Lodge.
and Conor and Ian on the trail to the road.
note the mushroom-like features when the moss grows on the stumps!
But it's not all play.. wood has to be cut for the stove.
And fires have to be lit on the beach
for marshmallow roasts!!
Thursday, June 26, 2008
Rose Inlet, Haida Gwaii
We left Dyer Cover yesterday at sunrise (well, it was 4:30 am) for the big leg of the trip: a 16-hour crossing of the Queen Charlotte Sound to the southern tip of Gwaii Hanas, the National Park .
A killer whale (odd to see just one) and a humpback whale came out to say goodbye ...
It was an endurance test for all of us, as we headed into 2 meter rollers for the whole way.
We made good time, and a humpback whale came out to welcome us into the Hudson Channel.
We spent last night on a mooring in Rose Harbour, just around the corner from here, but it was a little rolly from the swell, so we moved to Rose Inlet this morning. We had deflated the dinghy and put it on deck for the Queen Charlotte Sound crossing, and this morning we re-deployed it, and went ashore for a short exploration.
A magical moss-covered forest, wonderful bird life, and an incredible diversity of shells, including the largest mussel shell we've ever seen.
Back on board for tea, card games, stories, and more of the banana biscuits Jane baked this morning. The boys drew comic strips before going to bed.
Tomorrow we're heading for SGang Gwaay, a UNESCO World Heritage Site (previously known as Nintints, on Anthony Island).
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