Summer 2007 Cruise – Leg 2
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Date |
Double Bay, Hanson Island to Sointula, Public Marina, Malcolm Island
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Weather |
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Cloudy |
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Whales in Blackfish Sound
Mother Whale and Calf
New Nets Installed in Sointula
Oldest Active Co-op in B.C.
Ways in Sointula
Anchor Thought to Date Back To the Days of Captain Vancouver
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The wind had stayed calm all night and there had been
light rain in the early morning hours.
We made a decision along with the XXIV IV to travel to Sointula today
on
After breakfast the Captain of the Sea Foam and the Captain of the XXIV VII took Kona to shore and picked up the crab trap from last night. We were disappointed to hear the trap was empty. We thought with all that fresh bait we surely would have caught something. The bait was put into a Ziploc baggy and frozen for another attempt at another location.
We heard over the VHF radio that there were humpback
whales sighted outside of
As we slowly motored out of our anchorage Rick sat on the bow of the Sea Foam and kept his ears open. You typically hear the whales spouting before you see them. We didn’t wait long and we spotted one whale off in the distance. We didn’t think it was a humpback but more likely a minke whale. They are similar in looks and features but considerably smaller than a humpback.
We carried on to
After securing all lines we decided to take a walk toward
the town about one mile away. In the
1900’s Finnish settlers arrived at
As we walked along the narrow road to the town centre and
the ferry dock there were many quaint houses and several in ruins. The homes along the water front have a beautiful
ocean front view looking across to
There are only three eateries in Sointula, a hamburger stand at the dock, an ice cream stand at the ferry and the only sit down restaurant and bakery also at the ferry entrance. Because it is Sunday the museum and hardware store were closed. We could only poke our noses into the windows to have a look.
Friends of ours haul out their 42’
There was a late supper aboard the XXIV VII (2200) and another late night for the crew of the Sea Foam. |
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Date |
Sointula, Malcolm Island to Alert Bay, Cormorant Island
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Weather |
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Blue sky and breezy |
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Sea Foam in
View from Looking across to Port McNeil,
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I was up by 0700 and the Captain slept on while I filled
the boat with water at the docks from an artisan well on
When the Captain was up we were soon away to
The harbor manager, Dan Kennedy, greeted us on the dock
and welcomed us to
Small cruise ships apparently come into
We did some grocery shopping for fresh veggies and fruit and went back to the boat for afternoon naps. Dinner was on the XXIV VII and the barbequed steaks and fresh asparagus were delicious!
When we checked our traps we found only two small rock crabs. The Captain put it down outside the break water by the dock and decided to leave it out overnight.
We retired early for a change, with plans to go across to
the Broughton Archipelago tomorrow.
The XXIV VII wants to take a quick look in at Telegraph Cove on the |
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Date |
Alert Bay, Cormorant Island to Dead Point, Harbledown Island
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Weather |
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Morning Fog with Blue Sky the rest of the day |
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Blackfish Sound on route to
Mark and April at Monk’s Wall |
The Captain of the XXIV VII woke us up at 0830 because he was in a tight slip and wanted my Captain’s help getting past several fish boats on his way out of the dock. Using his stern and bow thrusters he had no problem getting out and away this morning. My Captain’s services were not required.
They were headed first to Telegraph Cove and planned to meet up with us at Dead Point in the Broughtons later in the afternoon. We had a slow start to the morning and walked to town one last time to get some missed groceries and restock the liquor cabinet.
We stopped and talked to a couple from Comox who had a 34’ Californian which was the same boat my Captain owned for fourteen years. They loved their boat and were enjoying their retirement living on a golf course condo in Comox and cruising during the summer months.
We prepared the Sea Foam for departure and were glad we
delayed. The XXIV VII reported they
went through the
By the time we reached the anchorage the day was beautiful and the sun was warm. We put a crab trap down right away and headed to the beach in search of Monk’s Wall.
Originally it was thought that this wall was built by Chinese monks but it has been confirmed by Billy Proctor, a long standing resident of the area, that it was built by Bill Galley and his wife Mary Anne. They apparently settled on the island in the late 1800’s and established a farm and trading post in this location. This wall was part of their homestead.
After our trip to shore we all returned to the Sea Foam for Happy Hour. Two hours later the Captain checked our trap and we had two Dungeness crabs waiting for us. By now everyone was full of appetizers so we decided to call it an early night. The crew of the Sea Foam cleaned up the galley and retired early after a beautiful day on the water. |
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Date |
Dead Point, Harbledown Island to Waddington Bay, Bonwick Island
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Weather |
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Clear blue sunny sky |
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Approaching
Mamalilaculla from the southwest side of
Remains of Mamalilaculla Docks View from Elliot Passage heading into Knight Inlet
Overgrown Trail and Collapsing Building at Mamalilaculla
Fallen Totem at Mamalilaculla
Preparing to Prawn
A Toast on the Sea Foam |
We woke up to another beautiful sunny day with light winds
and no fog. We contacted the XXIV VII
after breakfast and it was decided we would go in the Catch-Up the short
distance to the ruined Indian
This was a thriving village not very long ago. In her book, The Curve of Time, Muriel Wylie Blanchet records meetings with the residents there. In recent years descendants of the original residents have welcomed tourists each summer, teaching about the history of the village and its people and showing off the progress being made at restoring some of their heritage.
There are still some buildings that have not fallen back to the elements. The school/hospital is still standing in the forest and there are overgrown trails leading to several falling over buildings. Many of the trails are bordered by stinging nettles and not passable. The remains of a dock are in evidence but only a small boat could tie to them now and there is no dock that leads right to the shore.
As we walked along the one trail that was passable, there were many fruit trees and spearmint growing wild. Thimble berries were everywhere. Honeysuckle and lilac trees were along the shore line. It once must have been a beautiful garden surrounding the homes.
In Peter Vassilopoulos’ guide book, North of Desolation Sound, he mentions a book called Totem Poles and Tea, by Hughina Harold (Heritage House). This book gives an account of the author’s days at Mamaliliculla as a school teacher in the 1930’s.
We sat a while on the shell beach and took several pictures and explored the beach front. There was a trail leading up from the beach farther south and that’s where we spotted the fallen totem pole.
After our visit we returned to the anchored boats and
prepared to weigh anchor and head farther north to
As we approached
We radioed the crew of the XXIV VII and they decided to follow us into the anchorage as well. Once settled we took the Captain of the XXIV VII out in our Catch-Up to lay prawn traps just outside of the anchorage. We found a spot on the chart that showed depths of about two hundred and fifty feet so we thought we would give it a try. We have caught prawns in this area before so we were hoping for some success.
Once the traps were laid we returned to the XXIV VII and enjoyed Happy Hour on their upper deck. The Captain of the Sea Foam enjoyed a relaxing time in their new hammock.
After an hour we all moved back to the Sea Foam and enjoyed a seafood lasagna dinner with salad and wine. Another beautiful day on the water completed. |
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Date |
Waddington Bay, Bonwick Island
Waddington Bay, Bonwick Island to Echo Bay
and Billy Proctor’s Bay |
Weather |
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Blue sky with a few cloudy patches. Very hot day |
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Kona’s Morning Shore Leave
Fishing Lessons from The Captain of the XXIV VII
Windsong Resort,
Billy Proctor’s
Visiting Kayakers and the XXIV VII in Billy Proctor’s Bay
Billy Proctor’s Museum
Inside the Museum
Billy Proctor
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Kona woke us up barking at 0730 as the XXIV VII was preparing to go out fishing and they were chatting on their stern deck nearby. They radioed to say they were going to fish the low slack and would be back in a few hours. The Captain and Kona went out for a morning putt in the Catch-Up while I caught up on the log and the pictures.
XXIV VII radioed back at 0930 and said they were on their
way back in with no fish on board. The
plan for today is to proceed up Cramer Passage to
When the XXIV VII returned my Captain and the Captain of the XXIV VII went to retrieve our prawn traps from yesterday. I don’t like to leave them over night but last night no one felt like going and gathering them up. When the Captains returned they had about seven prawns and three sculpin bottom fish. Our trap was floating as the tide was high now and we were lucky we didn’t loose the trap altogether.
My Captain cut up the sculpins and used one to bait a crab trap and the other went into the freezer for future use. Crabs like fresh bloody bait and will come to the trap within two hours if the bait is fresh and if there are any crabs in the vicinity.
Once we had all had breakfast and finished with our chores
we climbed aboard the XXIV VII to travel up the way five nautical miles to
I had heard on the radio earlier this morning what sounded
like plans for a party for Alexandra Morton, the famous whale researcher who
resides in
She and Billy Proctor have co-authored a book, Heart of the Raincoast – A Life Story, (ISBN 0-345-44277-1) telling about the Broughton area, Billy Proctor’s life in the area logging and fishing and their concerns for the salmon runs in the area. The salmon are the food source for the whales and even feed the forest with their dead carcasses. With clear cut logging damaging stream beds where salmon spawn and the ever increasing amount of fish farms in the area, the wild salmon are in jeopardy.
Alexandra Morton and Billy Proctor both share the same passion for the area and the sea creatures that inhabit it. The ever increasing problem of sea lice on the salmon from the fish farms is the current problem.
In her conversation with April at Telegraph Cove, Alexandra said that it is not the fish farm operators that are to blame but instead local government must become aware of the damaging effects from the farms and set standards and safe guards for the running of the farms. For example, when the nets from the fish farms are washed the effluent is poured over into some of the main waterways in the area where wild salmon migrate through. Diseases pass into the spawning and nursery grounds in this way as well.
Another problem is that large totes that are full of “morts”, or dead farm salmon, sit at the farm sites and ooze rotting liquid out of them and into the surrounding water. Formic acid sits on some of the mort floats and some of the dead fish are doused in the acid in an attempt to stop diseases from spreading. The feedlots require chemicals to limit growth of bacteria, parasites and viruses and these chemicals flow directly into the ocean and make contact with wild fish, birds and marine mammals.
Even some species of farm fish that escape their pens are messing up the eco-system of the wild salmon runs. Hundreds of thousands of Atlantic salmon from farms have escaped to survive and breed along the coast, disrupting the fine balance of the five Pacific salmon species and the rivers they have co-created.
When we arrived at
We headed for the docks at
After looking through his museum and buying another book by Alexandra Morton, Beyond the Whales – The Photographs & Passions of Alexandra Morton, (ISBN 1-8948898-23-0), we jumped back into the XXIV VII and headed back to Waddington Bay where the Sea Foam and Kona were waiting for us.
We said our good-byes to the crew of the XXIV VII as they
were going to get closer to Port McNeil by heading south and anchoring in
My Captain took Kona to shore and checked on the crab trap. When he returned he had two very large crabs in the tender and said he had too many in the trap and had to return them to the water. We are only allowed to take two crabs per day in this area. He threw back all the females and kept the two biggest males.
We had a late night bite to eat and retired early to read. Another beautiful and eventful day on the water! |
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Date |
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Weather |
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July 13, 2007 |
Sun, then Rain (heavy at times) |
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No trail found in
Crab Cleaning supervised |
We departed
We searched for a trail on the right side of the spring and saw no indication of a marked trail. We continued for awhile but eventually gave up after crawling over and under rotten trees measuring several feet in width. We hop scotched on rocks across the stream and didn’t find any path on the other side either. We even tried going up the stream bed but got stopped by deeper water and large boulders.
We decided to give up the hike and returned to the Sea Foam. We relaxed for a bit and then I started to peel the crab meat off of our crab catch from yesterday. We made a curried crab dish for dinner and had an early night.
We heard from the XXIV VII that they were leaving Port
McNeil and headed for Goat Islet anchorage on |
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Date |
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Weather |
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July 14th, 2007 |
Mostly sunny with cloudy periods, rain showers in the late afternoon |
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Mark in Kayak with Fishing Rod
Enjoying the on |
After breakfast we heard from the XXIV VII that they were one hour away from joining us in Joe Cove. We plan to kayak today out to Misty Passage and then circumnavigate Insect Island. I got together our picnic lunch while the Captain got my kayak down from the roof of the pilot house. Kona had her morning walk-about and when the XXIV VII arrived at 1130 we were ready to go.
April opted to stay with her boat and have an afternoon nap. We set off on our trip at 1230 with the flood tide in our favor. Mark rigged up his fishing rod from off his kayak and away we all went out into Misty Passage.
Once around the corner and in the passage I saw ahead a butterscotch colored head pop up from the water. I suspected it was a sea lion and the second time he popped up confirmed it. I alerted Rick, who was on my port side, using my walkie-talkie, to get ready with his camera as I could see the large animal under the clear water heading right for his kayak.
As the animal approached Rick could see him too and he wasn’t sure if he wanted to take his camera out of its waterproof case as the big creature was heading right for him! In the time he hesitated the sea lion poked his huge head up about fifteen feet from his boat and then appeared startled and went back down with a flick of his big head. It was a good shot missed but understandably so.
As we approached Insect Island the current had switched and the ebb flow was against us as we negotiated through the narrow pass on the west side of the island. It had just changed so the current flow against us wasn’t very strong. We weren’t long before we reached Indian Passage and started along the top side of the island. We saw only one small aluminum boat go by so far this whole trip. |
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Date |
Joe’s Cove, Eden Island to Cullen Harbour, Broughton Island
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Weather |
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July 15th, 2007 |
Heavy Rain, sunny periods, light fog, blue sky by evening |
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Kona sitting with Joe Cove Kayakers Ann, Rick and Annette
Sea Lion Sunning at
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The Captain took Kona to shore where we had seen the kayakers’
camp yesterday as we kayaked past on our return from
My Captain asked if they were familiar with the trail that we had tried to find yesterday and they directed him to the centre of the bay rather than the west side where the creek itself was located. On his return with Kona he went to where they had indicated and he found two orange survey tapes marking the way in. The kayakers had said they were going to go along in but it was very mucky so they changed their minds.
If we weren’t almost ready to weigh anchor and head off to Cullen Harbour we would have taken the kayaks over, climbed out and given it a go. I always like to find new hiking trails, especially to lakes, but now would have to wait until next year to find this one.
We were underway by 1130 and had only five nautical miles to travel. As we pulled away we heard our friend, Dennis (radio handle, Kodiak) hailing the XXIV VII from the vessel we had crossed paths with earlier, the Curve of Time. This boat was a mothership kayak charter boat and had off-loaded its passengers in Port McNeil and brought on new ones. Dennis was also added to the list of crew to help take the boat back to Vancouver.
As we motored out of our anchorage and out towards the Marsden Islands on route to Trainer Passage there was some ground fog coming in off of Queen Charlotte Strait. The Captain turned on our radar but we also made attempts to stay close to the islands as the fog was less evident there.
By the time we rounded the bottom of the west side of Eden Island the fog was not a factor. Instead, we saw a large sea lion perched high atop a prominent rock at Screen Island. I thought that he might be the same animal that we had tried to take pictures of yesterday while kayaking.
When you see them in the water you usually only see their head so to see the full extend of this young fella out of the water was quite a sight. We were able to idle close to the rock he was sitting on as the area around was about thirty feet deep without any reefs or rock outcroppings in the way of our approach.
As we approached him he seemed to be quite happy to be part of our photo shoot. He gently scratched his neck with his back flippers and seemed to pose for us, changing the angle of his neck and turning his head towards the camera. We think he must have been a young male because if he were the king of the road he would likely have had his whole harem of females with him. None the less, he was a magnificent looking creature!
After getting some great shots of him we continued on into Cullen Harbour just a short drive across Fife Sound. The water was calm with little wind. It was a beautiful day to cross a major waterway.
As we motored into the harbour there were only two other boats at anchor. The last time we were here, about two years ago, the place had about thirty boats anchored in and around the lagoon.
We didn’t waste any time and got our prawn gear ready to go into Booker Lagoon. As we motored into the tight waterway leading to the lagoon we were surprised to find an eight knot flooding current through the narrow passage way. There was a fog throughout the pass from the cool water coming up from the whirlpools. We radio to Captain Mark from the XXIV VII and advised him not to bring his “rubber ducky” five horsepower inflatable into this water!
Once past the narrows the lagoon opened up and there was only one lone sailboat anchored. The sun was out now and it was very pleasant laying out our prawn traps.
After we had put down two traps we went back to the XXIV VII and picked up Captain Mark so he could get in and lay his trap as well. First mate, April, came along as well to see the whirlpools in the passageway and the beautiful large lagoon on the other side.
By the time we picked them up and went back through again the water was not nearly as dramatic. The whirlpools were all but gone but there was still a flood current running through. We came back out without incident and decided to spend some time fishing out in Fife Sound. Not only would we give fishing a go but we would also be listening and looking for whales that might be traveling in the area.
We got our downrigger fixed onto the bench of the Catch-Up, our fishing rod and our tackle box, and headed out into Fife Sound. We motored along for a bit and I decided that the fish finder was showing fish deeper than what we had down. I let out some more cable from the downrigger and the cable snapped and the rod bend over and the line started reeling out. Rick grabbed the reel to stop the line from playing out and the rod bent right over and snapped right in half. The line must have fouled up in the descending cable because it didn’t release from the clip as it would if a fish took off with it. We lost our canon ball, the cable, and of course a useable fishing rod.
We returned to the Sea Foam and prepared to have dinner with the crew of the XXIV VII. My Captain and the Captain of the XXIV VII made away to collect some prawns for dinner from the traps in Booker Lagoon. They returned with only thirty from three traps. They re-baited them and headed back out of the lagoon again.
We had a pleasant dinner of chicken and prawns skewered on the barbeque along with fresh greens from April’s onboard herb and lettuce garden planters. After dinner we watched some of the video footage that the crew of the XXIV VII had collected throughout their holiday.
When it was time to return to the Sea Foam we realized
that we had forgotten to turn on the anchor light on our vessel so Mark
turned on his powerful spotlight and shone it across the anchorage to our
boat across the bay. We had a safe
journey home and retired at 1230.
Tomorrow the XXIV VII would be heading homeward and we would be
heading to the
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