Pearse Islands to Dusky Cove

Fog, Fog, Fog, that’s what happens every morning in this weather pattern. Our plan is to stay on the hook until 11:15AM when the current goes to slack. That way we do not have to lift anchor in the strong current that inhabits this pass.

Fog lifting in the Pearse Islands

Our track line (red) shows the barbell pattern as we swung in the reversing current between the islands

Although the current is predictable, the fog is not. The forecast calls for the fog to lift late morning, but the recent pattern around here is that it takes until around 1PM before the sun conquers the fog.

Arctic Star made her way from the anchorage out into Blackfish Sound (named for the Orcas) where the wind was still and the water perfectly calm. Nothing but the seabirds were out and about. During the previous two days, we spotted humpback whales in these waters, but today not a sound nor a sighting.

Dusky Cove is a small depression in Bonwick Island and lies at the east end of a group of small islets. The pass to Dusky Cove is through these islets but the channel is deep and well charted. One needs to pay attention to the charts and keep an eye to the small outcroppings of granite as they pass, but in no time you drop your anchor in one of the most visually interesting spots in the Broughtons.

Given the large number of islets we decided to make our first exploration in the dinghy. Later, during a low tide we would come back to the most promising spots.

This cove put on a spectacular show at sunset, surrounding us with tree topped granite outcroppings cast about in a sea and sky of crimson and orange.

Dusky Cove sunset

Double Bay to Pearce Islands

The fog was as thick as the preverbal “pea soup” when I awoke at 7:20AM. The forecast was for it to burn off this morning, but I’ve come to learn that in the vernacular of Environment Canada that could be any time up to and including 11:59.

The most interesting activity of the morning was listening to the whale boat reports that complained about not being able to see a thing in the fog. One boat reported that they spotted a fast approaching target on the radar only to have a seaplane land 200 meters from his boat. I thought nothing about that report, until I heard the unmistakable wine of a turbine aircraft engine.

I looked out into the fog only to eye an approaching seaplane.

FOG...  FOG...  FOG...

The pilot shut off his engine, got out of the plane and asked if we knew where the resort that was in Double Bay. He also asked if we could call them to send a boat out to guide him to the resort. I can only image what was going through the minds of the people who had their faces plastered to the window looking out into the murky fog.

Shortly thereafter a small boat came out and the aircraft followed him to the resort.

Follow Me!

It was about an hour later when the fog began to dissipate and we started our engines and the seaplane also took off right in front of us as we departed Double Bay. Such is air travel in British Columbia.

Our destination was the Pearse Islands, a small hodgepodge of islands that lay adjacent to Broughton Strait and are aligned NW to SW. The tricky part of the anchorage is the current. It changes direction evey six hours and runs almost five knots. Since wind would not be a factor, we decided to check it out, because it looked like a good place to Kayak.

The sun pushes the fog away

The Kayaking was more a workout that interesting due to the currents. At one point we had to “pull over” into a small, still, back water cove to rest after having paddled hard only to advance at no more than one knot. We saw lots of seals who seemed to be puzzled by our affinity to try to go into the current. They have long since learned it is smarter to go with the flow.

Arctic Star at anchor in the Pearse Islands

Because we had a good set to the anchor and the winds were to be calm, we decided to spend the night. A sailboat with another couple joined us later in the day and a smaller sailboat being single-handed by a local passed through the anchorage on his way to ports unknown.

The absolutely clear skies made for a brilliant yellow/orange/magenta sunset.

Goat Island to Double Bay (Hanson Island)

The alarm was set for 8am because our plan was to Kayak early, at low tide, before we departed. However, the cold and the low ceiling got the better of us and we huddled in the boat until noon. We spent the morning listening to the VHF radio on the “Whale channel” to get insight into whale activity from the whale watching boats.The reports indicated that the Orcas were resting at Robson Bight, but as the morning wore on the activity increased in the Strait. Therefore, we formed a plan that included lunch at a very small day anchorage and then down to Cracroft Point to see the Orcas.

Our lunch spot at Cedar Island had only 4 feet of water at mean low water and our boat draws 4 and half feet, so the only way we were able to anchor was the fact that we had a high spring tide. We worked our way through the kelp-lined entrance and set anchor in the muddy and sea grass laden bottom.

After lunch we took off for Cracroft Point, but as we rounded Bold Head, I called out to Karen “Whales!”

Whales spout at Cracroft Point

I had seen the spouts of Humpback Whales off in the distance, so we changed course and headed their way. We spent about forty-five minutes with the engines at idle watching these amazing creatures.

Whale Tail

We never tire of watching these magnificent mammals

There was a large male and a female with a calf in tow. Other Humpbacks fed off in the distance, but these three managed to stay near our boat. In fact, once the mother and calf surfaced just 50 feet from our boat. They were so close, I could only include about one square foot of mom with my long telephoto lens…but the sound and sight of them so close was unforgettable.

That's a close-up

We continued on with our tour’s original plan and headed to Cracroft Point, where we had watched the Orcas yesterday. By this time it was after 4pm and all but three had left the area. We sat and watched for a while before heading to our overnight anchorage in Double Bay.Today’s forecast was for the fog to lift by noon and to reform in the afternoon. It took the sun until about 2:30 to clear the skies so we could enjoy a beautiful afternoon where the temperature finally broke 60F.

Blackney Passage enjoys a calm day

As we made our way to Double Bay, we could see a very large fog bank approaching. It was wild to see one island after another be consumed by the white. There was a cruise ship coming down Blackney Passage and all we could see was the lower half of the boat. The poor captain must have thought he was stuck in a permanent fog. This was one time it was good to be in the cheap cabins in the lower decks.

The holding in Double Bay was good in mud and no sooner than we set anchor, the fog blanketed the bay. We saw one very large sea lion as we motored into the bay, and heard him snorting and noise-making a few times later that evening.

All in all another great day with lots of sightings of wildlife: Orcas, Humpback Whales and even a couple of Sea Lions.

Potts Lagoon to Goat Island

The alarm sounded its message at 6am, one hour before sunrise and a half hour before we wanted to weigh anchor. Our passage today would take us through Beware Passage. The information on this passage recommends low slack water as the ideal time to transition through this area. While it looks open, there are many islets and hidden rocks you must weave your way through.

Low tide affords the best possible look at the obstructions, although some never dry. We followed our plan and arrived at the start of Beware Passage right at seven. With an eye on the GPS plotter and another on the water, we had an uneventful passage. By taking it slow and following the recommended “low water” course to the north, it’s a fairly easy pass. The channel is deep, so all your attention can be directed to making good your course.

Shortly after transiting Beware Passage, we tucked into Native Anchorage on Village Island, a spot recommended by Max from Kwatsi Bay. Breakfast was on the agenda, followed by showers and a morning of doing nothing as we hoped for the skies to clear.

Except for a few dolphins that passed though the anchorage, we were alone. As has been the pattern for the last two days, the sun started to part the clouds about noon and we began to think about “where to next?”.

Our first stop was to look at the abandoned Indian settlement at Mamaliliculla. There was not much to see and we were not in the mood to make a dinghy assault on the beach and climb up to see the abandoned structures. We saw some from the boat, so we’ll save the on-shoring for another time.

Next we stopped (in the water) and looked at the Indian settlement at New Vancouver. The native Indians returned to this area in 2003 and built a very nice looking settlement with an outstanding dock and an impressive “big house”. We’ll add this to the “visit again” list to see if we can get a tour of the big house – it looks grand.

We continued a little further and dropped anchor in Mound Bay for a lunch stop. Mound was on our list as a possible overnight anchorage, but the locals gave it only an OK rating, so we decided to make this a brief layover. While having lunch, we heard on the radio that there were both Orca and Humpback whales in Blackfish Sound off Cracroft Point. As we were only 2.5 miles from there, we changed plans again and quickly made our way down Blackney Passage into Johnstone Strait. There were a few boats drifting in the area and sure enough, we saw whale spouts as we approached.

Once there, we took the engines into idle and drifted, watching and waiting. We were not disappointed. We saw numerous Orca whales. They were trying to feed on the white-sided dolphins that were there to feed on the smaller fish that congregate the confluence of Blackfish Sound and Johnstone Strait.

A medium sized female Orca swims by

Coming right at us

It's fun to see the different markings and to try to track specific individuals

Every fin is unique

When these two waters meet, large whirlpools and eddies form and the water churns and spins. As we watched the whales, our boat would spin gently in the whirlpool and bob in the turbulent waters. But that was a small price to pay for a good look at these mammals in action. We would see the dolphins moving along slowly and then suddenly they would accelerate, jump out of the water and swim for their lives with an Orca right on their tails.

After about an hour they moved on and so did we. Max from Kwatsi Bay had great things to say about the anchorage at Goat Island (off Crease Island), so we set course for his recommendation.

Max from Kwatsi Bay was correct. A beautiful panorama surrounds this special spot. As we settled in and after enjoying a beer on the flybridge, I went to the swim step to answer the call of Mother Nature. I was looking over at a nearby island and noticed a black rock. I was talking to myself about how we always hope that these black rocks are black bears, but we are always disappointed. Just then, the black rock moved.

“Bear!”, I called out to Karen, “come quick!” As it turned out, there was no need to hurry. The bear cooperated for the next hour as he went about his business. The funniest part of this experience is that there were a pair of very large ravens that were tormenting this bear.

Surround by noisy ravens

They would cry at him, fly mock attacks, even pick up a large piece of straw and threaten him. The two large black birds would surround him, one in the front and one behind.

What do you think the Raven on the right is going to do with that "stick"?

Air attack!

I’m not certain what the conflagration was all about, but after about 15 minutes, the bear got tired of these two, and moved on. He ate his way along the side of the island, enjoying a series of berry bushes and some hors d’oeuvres found by turning over rocks at the water’s edge.

The berry banquet

When he arrived at the end of the island, he proceeded to walk into the water and swim over to the next larger island.

Who you looking at?

Time for a change of venue

Once there, he continued his feasting on the berry buffet, until he disappeared in the thick forest. Watching him shake off the water like a large dog was really funny!

Shake it off

Needless to say, we had a great day – from now own, September 13th is officially known as “Critter Day.”

Kwatsi Bay to Potts Lagoon

Weather as predicted; as we awoke, we are greeted with low clouds and a fine mist. We are in no hurry; in fact, we spent a very lazy morning reading, working on the blog and doing a lot of nothing. 

The other boats starting leaving around 7:30 am with the last leaving just before we did; about 1 pm. We would have departed earlier, but Max wanted to chat. This is the first year that his family is gone for the winter so the kids can attend school in Port McNeill. The local school at Echo Bay was closed this year, forcing the kids and their mom to take up residence in the “big city” for the winter. Max has lots of projects on his list for winter at Kwatsi, but you can tell he is missing his loved ones. 

His loss is our gain because we were able to spend about an hour with him, listening to his stories and getting local knowledge on places to go, things to do and other destinations not worth the trouble. 

We’re as far Northeast as we planned to go. That leaves us with a three and half hour trip to make our way to the South Broughton Islands.

The weather was a repeat of yesterday, with the clouds clearing and the winds picking up in the early afternoon. The sun was welcomed for our spirits, but as we were traveling directly into the sun, spotting debris in the choppy water was a challenge. 

Karen made lunch in route and we shared duties at the helm because looking into the sun is very tiring.  

Right on schedule, we dropped anchor in Potts Lagoon. A nice sized lagoon tucked well off Clio Channel. There is a small community of float homes that call this lagoon home. The tidy little buildings sit on floating foundations that are tied to the shore. The largest of the buildings, and what appeared to be the oldest, was the site of much construction activity. It looks as if there was a recent addition made to the original building and the workers were busily running their saws and swinging their hammers. 

I started dinner early because we wanted to get to bed before 10pm. We are getting up at 6am tomorrow in order to make slack low water at Beware Passage. This small passage is a circuitous path around rocks, some visible, but most with their tops just below the water. It’s one of those many passages with a reputation that deserves respect. But with proper planning and careful navigation it can be traversed with safety.  

We’re going to take a look at the stars tonight, as the skies are clear. However, since we’re only three days from a full moon, the conditions are not ideal. Of course, not quite ideal here is a 1000 times better than back home with all the human light pollution.