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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!!
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