Magic Moments - Adventures of Glen and Liz

Tuesday, September 27, 2016

September 12 - Hakai to Miles Inlet

September 12 - headed to Furry Cove --- changed plans, now Miles Inlet

Sunny fall day …. Not real warm but warm enough.

Hung around Hakai in the morning then headed out for Furry Cove. Along the way after hearing the weather report and looking at what we could see of the fog bank in front of us, a decision was made to make a run for Cape Caution today. The waves reported at Sea Otter Buoy are 1.4 meters which means 4 ½ feet which is better than it could be. The general rule of thumb is if the report is over 1.5 meters to think about it and if they are over 2 meters think twice. There is also fog out there now but the report says more fog rolling in this evening and that will not clear for a full day or more. So the Furry Cove visit is on hold for another year, Cape Caution here we come.

Saw a number of Humpback whales cruising along not doing much but cruising. Spotted snow in the hills, a Glacier and for a minute had to wonder if we’d turned back to Alaska. The fog bank out in front of us looks like a wall. Humm, it is the edge of the Caution Triangle (aka very north Bermuda Triangle)?

September 11 - Adams Harbor to Haiai Passage --- Hakai Institute

September 11 - Adams Harbor to Hakai Passage, Calvert Island – Hakai Institute

Today is FOOTBALL SUNDAY so the Sea Life crew says we can’t be on the water too long since the Seahawks play at 1:00.

Enjoying the morning sunshine and drying out their wings

At Anchor off the Hakai Institute

Sunny warm day. Must be summer now. Short cruise today about 45 minutes. We went around to the inside and anchored out in front of the Hakai Institute on Calvert Island. When we got there we noticed that the Delphinus was anchored not far off, and shortly thereafter their dinghy load of passengers and crew (about 12) were headed back to the boat from shore. They waved and so did we. The last time we saw them was in Petersburg, before that Elfin Cove. Funny that you see the same boats periodically over the summer. That one is two guys from California who run a charter cruise operation from Seattle to Alaska, each summer with 6-9 guests aboard for 1-2 week adventures. I had visited with them in Petersburg as I could not figure out how they had 12 people traveling on that boat. It’s tight but they make it work and the guests all seem to be having a good time. They pulled out shortly after getting everyone onboard. Too bad I would have like to have chatted with them again to see where they had been.

The Seahawks were playing today and Sea Life’s Sat TV had good coverage so we watch the game. Seahawks vs Miami Dolphins. The Hawks pulled it off in the end.

After the game we went by Dinghy over to the institute dock, walked around the grounds and talked to the cook/chef. Willard asked him what was for dinner and he said Roast Beef. Their summer operation is just about over, but there are some that stay 12 months a year here doing their research. Right now there are 44 people on site. The buildings and grounds were as beautiful as could be with flowers in the manicured gardens, and a great trail system. After the chat we took the trail across the island to the ocean side.

That beach is so beautiful and the sun was warm so walking the beach was great. Pacific Ocean waves crashing on the long sandy beach. We spent a couple hours walking the beach and in the surf. The water was cold but not as cold as we thought it would be but then again we were not swimming in it. The beach has lots of logs but few shells. We did see a frog up in the log area however. He/she had apparently come down from the woods for an afternoon romp on the beach. Can’t say as I blame him/her the place is spectacular.

Pacific Ocean Beach outside of Calvert Island

The walk across the island is on a well-kept trail with boardwalks in places. There are apparently 10 beaches that can be reached by hiking from one to another along the coast line. Maybe next time we’ll plan more time for beach exploring. When we got back to the institute Diane and I went into the lobby area, and looked around at the artifacts and art work on the walls near the lobby. There was a white board at the bottom of the stairs where people recorded wildlife sightings. In the last month there have been Black Tail Deer, Sitka Deer, Wolf, a single Orca, a variety of birds, and a pod of 10 Orca all on or around this island or the neighboring islands. We also talked to a young man that we’d seen out on the beach. He and his group had just arrived for a 14 day stay for ‘stewardship training’. He was from Prince Rupert and said that this is the 2^nd time he has come here for training seminars. Pretty nice place to have to go for a seminar.

Apparently back in about 1993 a group of investors made an attempt to plan and develop a ‘millionaire’s retreat’ over by the west beach. The natives of BC took legal action and stopped the project, and in the investment project went bankrupt. At one point there was a fishing lodge there, then it became a university facility and now it is the Hakai Institute doing research and apparently a conference facility.

Back to the mother ships for a quiet evening on Magic, and more football on Sea Life. The sunset tonight was gorgeous … Behind us lots of pinks and in front of us looking toward the Pacific Ocean it was blues, oranges, pinks. I wish we were still on that ocean beach the sunset there would be amazing.

The moon is coming out.

The start of the sunset

September 10 Adams Harbor, Calvert Island

Sunny and warm - Great day playing on the beaches, watching the waves from the Pacific crash on the coastal rocks and exploring.

We were on the beach just around the corner from where we anchored with the group in 2103. There is an interesting raised boardwalk with railings along one part of the beach. We of course had to explore and thru the trees we found an amazing group of buildings, walking paths, sitting areas, etc…. It is apparently a place where a group of fishing friends have banded together and built this place up into a small paradise for beach play and great fishing. There was a beam on of the buildings where the fisherman brag about their catch. One group in 4 days in July ’16 reported total catch weight 1,060 lbs. They have cleaning, processing, boxing and freezing all available to them right there in those woods. No one was there and most of the building were boarded and locked up for the winter, but they had a sign saying that the building on the hill was open and usable by visitors and that there was firewood cut and available for use for beach fires etc…. Another sign said that the Royal Vancouver YC had reserved the site for an annual outing on September 30^th. I bet they have a great time. The place is just amazing and beautifully done. Going by in a boat you would never know the place existed.

Fire pit and table just waiting for a beach party

September 9 - To Adams Harbor, Calvert Island

September 9 Kayak Cove to Adams Harbor, Calvert Island

Raining again, so a lazy morning. Glen, Diane, and I read or messed with things on our computers. Willard was the one with too much energy. So he went to the beach with tools …. His goal was to ‘get that chain’. I kept suggesting to Glen that he should go play on the beach and help, but he wasn’t budging. After a couple hours of ‘hacking’ at the log with a hatchet, and digging with a garden trowel, Willard found the trick. Digging down about 18 inches was the answer. He won the battle and came back with that chain and gave it to me for my ‘yard art’ collection.

He said that the chain went pretty much directly down from the log, which means that there has been about 18 inches of sand built up over it since the log first came to the beach some years ago.

Not long after his return and the pots pulled (with nothing exciting in them) we headed out. Yep out into the open ‘big water’. This is the same section that we encountered bad water in 2013. Where the Collier’s had many things go flying, their fridge open and unload onto the floor etc… as I recall we only had a few things fall from their assigned perch as we’d but most everything on the floor, but this is also where our couch came off the floor (with me on it). Back to 2016 – one might guess I’m not really excited about this next section of this trip.

On the way out I spotted the Eagle nest that we’d seen in 2013. No Eagle home today.

We made it around the corner easily and down the coastline a couple miles before ducking back inside through Spitfire Channel and the Spider Islands

September 8 - Shearwater to Kayak Cove

September 8 Shearwater to Kayak Cove

We moved onto the Shearwater dock mid-morning after stopping at the fuel dock. The plan was to walk around, relax, do some boat chores, and have lunch out before heading out. I believe we pulled off the dock around 2pm under much nicer weather and water than we’d come in under.

Shearwater had some work done over the summer. The ‘airplane’ wind vane memorial was back on top of its pole, the large bear sculpture that used to be inside the restaurant was now mounted outside near the head of the dock as was a new welcome to Shearwater sign. Both nice additions to this small community and stopping off place for most boaters headed north or south. We looked around, had a bite of lunch, and headed out.

We arrived at Kayak Cove, anchored an the guys put out the crab and prawn pots. Glen and Willard also went for a dinghy ride to check out the ocean waves around the corner. When they came back we went ashore to explore the sandy beach.

The sand has very interesting patterns caused by deposits coming off the hillside.

Anchored in the bay

Soft sand

This beach is a favorite place for kayakers and there are natural tent sites up in the trees and several fire pit areas on the beach.

Our boys (Glen and Willard) found a big log that had a ‘logging chain’ thru one end. Of course they had to try to move the log to get the chain. Nothing happening.

September 7 - Shearwater

September 7 Shearwater

It was a stormy day with rain and high winds – we clocked the wind at 35 knot gusts (remember our meter is reading low so who only knows what it was really blowing). A good day to be in a protected harbor or on a dock. The Thomas’ stopped in New Bella Bella to take Diane to the clinic. Dock space there was too tight and with the winds it was not safe for us to try to dock Magic, so we headed over to Shearwater. The docks at Shearwater were full, including their outer float when we got there so we motored around a bit looking for a good place to anchor and to try to wait out information on Diane. The wind was blowing Magic around pretty well, but Glen was able to do some fancy driving to not hit anything.

We eventually anchored in Shearwater around the corner behind the fuel dock in relative protection. Willard and Diane joined us a couple hours later. News from the clinic was that all major systems are fine, but they could not come up with a reason for Diane’s pain issue.

The storm subsided and we had a nice sunset. We ended up having a light dinner and movie before calling it a day.

September 6 - Day 129 Rescue Bay, Jackson Island

September 6 - Day 129 - Rescue Bay, Jackson Island

Rainy morning.

Glen and I went up the inlet again looking for our buddy the Spirit Bear, but he was not out anywhere to be seen. The tide was very low so there was not much chance of any fish making it up stream. In fact, we were dinkying around in very shallow water. We tried going up the main inlet again but the water level was too low and it was clear that the meadow/tide lands now extended another ¼ mile down the inlet.

We did see fish jumping and schools of them swimming around. Back to the big boats, then Glen and Diane went out to pull crab and prawn pots. Count – 4 crab (one keeper), zero prawn, and a cazillion sand flees who had consumed all of the prawn bait.