Ocean Falls to Rescue Bay

We awoke at 5:30 for a 6 am departure to find an un-forecast but welcome break in the rain. Karen especially was pleased, as she’s the one who casts off all the lines while I stay dry and warm in the boat.

Our early start was designed to reach the Perceval Narrows near slack, before it turns to ebb. When a strong ebb flow meets incoming ocean swells,  that meeting can create large standing waves or at least an uncomfortable ride, as you’re beam to at that point. For planning transit at Perceval Narrows, the data we used is that the turn to is an hour before Prince Ruppet low tide and the turn to ebb is one hour before Prince Ruppet high tide.

As we made our way down Cousins Inlet, the distant skies were broken with a bit of blue sky showing. The clouds embraced the higher peaks, and the winds were light. A perfect morning. As predicted, when we entered Fisher Channel, the current gave us a nice push. It’s going to be a long 6-hour day, so we expected  to see all matter of wind, current, clouds and more rain.

Rather than retracing our path through Gunboat Pass (although it’s shorter), we turned up Johnson Channel followed by a turn down Return Channel. It added 5 miles to the cruise, but it was worth it, especially as we had not been the way before. Tall 3,000-foot granite domes were in every quadrant. The winds stayed light and the water calm. We passed several bear beaches, and we spotted one large black bear foraging on the freshwater grass.

We also identified a potential anchorage behind Beaumont Island at the junction of Johnson Channel and Roscoe Inlet. It has great looking “bear beaches” and views up Roscoe Inlet. Maybe on our way back later this summer.

As we joined Seaforth Channel, winds rose a bit and we felt the ocean swells. But it was a great ride, and we only saw two fishing vessels, no other pleasure craft.

Reid Passage was placid, and though there were some beam swells as we headed toward Perceval Narrows, we hit it at slack as planned and it was a non-event.

We had planned Salmon Bay in Mathieson Channel as our destination for the night, but the forecast could not make up its mind on overnight winds – both strength and direction.  We adjusted the plan to anchor at Rescue Bay instead. A very popular anchorage at the junction of Mathieson Channel and Jackson Passage, Rescue Bay is a very well protected spot. While the winds west of us out in the Ocean were blowing 30-40 knots, we entered with winds less than 15 knots and no fetch in sight. And we had peaks of sun for most of the afternoon.

rescue bay looking south down Mathieson Channel

We were the first to arrive but were later joined by one pleasure boat out of Victoria and one commercial prawner.

The bay is ringed but what we call “bear beaches” but, as low tide approached and the rain came back in earnest, we did not see any animals.

rescue bay looking north up Mathieson Channel

Our theory is that even the bears are tired of all the rain, and have decided to hunker down as they, and the crew of OceanFlyer, dream of better weather.