Rose Inlet to Pruth Bay

Up at 4pm in the dark, throw on some clothes and prepare to depart. Last night I configured all the electronics to be as dim as possible. This was to protect our “night vision” in the pre-dawn morning. On those items that I could not dim enough, I covered them with whatever would block the light but still be able to be removed for a quick check. Although I dimmed the laptop as much as possible, it was still too bright, so I placed a sheet of paper over portions of the screen. If I placed the paper right up against the screen, I was still able to see the course line to steer.

This was important because as we left the anchorage, it was still too dark to clearly differentiatte the sea, land and sky. We motored at idle, about 2.5 knots, as we waited for there to be enough light to see any logs along our route.

Using the plotter and radar for navigation, we made our way east. I had to do a little hand steering though the turbulent waters as we turned eastbound. The current was on our stern at 2 knots and the same disturbed waters we had experience two days before were still there.

Thirty minutes into the trip, about 5am, there was sufficient light to clearly see any debris in the water so we advanced the throttles to cruise speed and set off on our 16-hour journey.

The weather was as forecast: “winds from the west 10-15 knots and seas less than one meter.” For the entire trip we had very little relative wind since it was traveling at the same speed and in the same direction as Alaskan Dream. The seas too were on our stern and ranged from flat to 2-3 foot swells in the afternoon. All and all, we could have not asked for a better day.

After my first two hour watch, I went back to bed and Karen let me sleep for three hours. I woke up on my own, but I suspect that Karen’s bladder was about to call me to the helm anyway.

I made breakfast and dinner en-route and Karen took care of making lunch. Her signature tuna melts hit the spot. They are so quick and easy to make while underway, they often are our fall back if we have not made something in advance.

Karen enjoys her off-duty time from the helm

Not much to report, we did see a couple of new critters for us. We spotted albatross and a few sharks. Except for the rest of Mother Goose fleet that was an hour behind us and on a course two degrees further north, we saw only a couple of working boats and a cruise ship. The fleet did pass us about half way across and were about ten miles ahead as they set anchor in Hurricane Anchorage. We could follow them on the AIS and make out the occasional voice transmission that broke through the squelch. Karen called out “Land Ho” at 2:36pm with 50 miles still remaining.

Our destination of Pruth Bay is off Hakai Passage which is renowned for its great fishing. As we entered the passage we found a small skiff bouncing in the waves just off the rocks; probably angling for rockfish. They were from Hakai Lodge just around the corner. We did find many pleasure boats and a few fishing vessels tucked into little coves all along our route. I suspect they are used as base camps from which the crews go out into the Passage to fish in their dinghies or skiffs.

For some, it's all about fishing

Just before sunset we anchored in flat and calm Pruth Bay along with eight other boats. Soon it was time to go to bed after accomplishing what has been our longest single leg of cruising ever.

Rose Inlet, Lay Day

Today we are going to stay at anchor in Rose Inlet. It’s an hour ride over to SGang Gwaii and since there is limited space in the small cove at this UNESCO World Heritage site, we are all going to travel over in two boats rather than six.

Jordan picked us up in the dinghy at 7:30 and dropped us aboard Dream Catcher along with the crew of four from Patos. With Deception in the lead and carrying the rest of the party, we made our way to this unique World Heritage Site. We dropped anchor in 45 feet, with good holding on the northwest corner of the island, designated as the access point. Jordan stayed aboard Deception to watch the boats as this area is listed as having marginal holding. Given the ideal conditions today, I would have no problem leaving my boat unattended for a couple of hours. Though the day started off cloudy with a little rain, the sun peeked through the clouds on our trip over from Rose Inlet and began to seriously shine as we landed on the beach.

Through the woods we go

The United Nations Education and Science Organization (UNESCO) declared this island a World Heritage site because it is the best representation of a Northwest Coast First Nations village. It is the last village in the Gwaii Hannas to be occupied full-time. In its final years of occupation, there were 20 longhouses, along with many memorial, frontal and mortuary poles.

That was in the late 1800’s. Little remains now. The mortuary poles were “re-raised” in the 1960’s when the larger frontal poles were removed by Canada and placed in museums for preservation.

The Haida people intend for all these poles to decay and return to the earth, that is part of their belief system. The mortuary poles, raised in honor of Haida of high standing, contained the remains and the “spirit” of the individual. As the poles fall and are reclaimed by the earth, the Haida believe the spirit is set free. Thus, all remaining mortuary poles will be allowed to fall over time.

All that is left of the houses is the large beams

Therefore it was a great privilege to see this site; so few have the opportunity to visit such a remote location. With only 1,000 to 1,500 visitors a year, it will only be a few more generations who will be able to gaze upon this village before it returns completely to the earth.

Our Watchman guide for today is Doug. His mom was a Watchman before him, and he spent his summers growing up on this island. He brought a very unique perspective as he explained the Haida culture and the various details of this village. It was not hard to imagine visitors to this Haida clan as they came into the small protected bay in front of the village.  Doug described in detail the customs that the visiting chiefs would perform to show respect for their host.

Doug tells the story of his ancestors

I tried to imagine living in this spot 200 years ago

Karen was particularly taken by the mortuary poles, and the beautiful carvings on them that told key stories of importance to the person they were raised to honor. While the poles have decayed, you can still see the Black Bear, or Grizzly Bear, or Eagle figures, and Doug shared the story of many of the poles. If the “head” and “body” of the figures were of equal size, it implied the pole was post-contact with Europeans. If the “head” was bigger than the “body”, that pole was typically pre-contact. We also learned that Black Bears on these poles have their tongues out and claws that look like fingers, while "Grizzlies" have teeth and more claw-like appendages.

This is a rare sight, soon to return to nature and be no more

The little things can be amazing

After a spectacular time on shore, it was back into the dinghy, and then a sunny return to our anchorage in Rose Inlet aboard Dream Catcher.

Karen and I spent the afternoon determining our destination for tomorrow. This is where we part ways with the rest of Mother Goose. They are heading to Hurricane Anchorage just off the BC mainland, but we want to head as far south as practical. Because the watermaker is not working, we added a stop on Saturday at Duncanby Landing, and tomorrow we will anchor in Pruth Bay, leaving us just 27 miles to travel on Saturday where we understand there is water, power and even a restaurant! Tomorrow our trip is 120 miles, the longest single leg we have ever done, crossing the notorious southern half of Hecate Strait.

The rest of the afternoon was spent processing photos  I can give to Emmelina aboard Deception that she’ll use in the DVD she prepares for every Mother Goose leg as a souvenir.

The evening was spent aboard Dream Catcher with Lance and Kathy, sharing thoughts on this trip and planning another in the fall. We also said goodbye to the other crews and got into bed at 9:30 for a 4:00am wake up tomorrow. Our last weather check said that we would have a fairly calm crossing – let’s hope it holds true! 

SGang Gwaii looks like the enchanted place it is

Beresford Inlet to Rose Inlet via Hot Springs Island

Anchor up at 7:15 am and off we went to Hot Springs island. After a short trip of 7 miles we all set our anchors. Captain Rich did not want to raft any more, and I can’t blame him. Deception, Patos  and Grand Adventure dropped anchor in the rocky “marginal area” in front of the Hot Springs while Change of Latitude, Dream Catcher and Alaskan Dream continued around to the shallow and more protected spot between Hot Springs and House island. Our anchor set well and we headed off in the mist on Deception's "ferry dinghy" to the Island, not certain whether we were going to lounge in one of the hot spring pools or if we would just explore.

Part of the fleet anchored in front of the Watch Keepers cabin

We took quick showers ashore in the facility provided on the island and then headed back to the small hot springs "pool" away from the cabins and showers. It was fabulous;: not too hot, clear, cozy and private. We enjoyed it so much, we stayed in for about 40 minutes. While in the pool, the rain stopped and it was pretty magical. Jordan ferried us back to Alaskan Dream and we left at 10:38am.

Karen enjoys one of the hot springs pool

The Watch Keepers bring in supplies from the supply boat in the protected bay

 Jordan is very busy running the ferry service

The schedule changed enroute and we skipped an overnight at Mathieson and preceded directly to Rose Inlet in preparation for SGang Gwaii tomorrow. It was a good idea so we can make up our lost extra day in Prince Rupert.

There were swells and we rolled some for one and a half hours. I made yummy egg scramble with hot sausage, tomatoes, boat cheese, curried onions and green peppers and a fig balsamic glaze. Yum! I nearly fell over a few times making breakfast while Karen was at the helm. After two hours we traded off, and Karen slept for 45 minutes. The weather changed to calm and the sun was thinking about coming out. It was a +5 hour run with swells, but not too bad overall.

I continued to try to get the watermaker working, but to no avail. As we approached the entrance to Rose Harbour, we did see one whale. Deception put the pedal to the metal and rushed up Rose Inlet, made a hard right turn, and dropped anchor behind Ross Island. We continued a bit further up the inlet and found a nice spot to anchor.

Everyone else got protected spots behind Ross Island. We were the furthest up the inlet and less protected, but the calm conditions made for a peaceful night. Had a beer and some snacks and soon Jordan came to look at the watermaker and declared that the raw water pump was dead.

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Rose Harbour anchorage

Tomorrow only Deception and Dream Catcher travel to SGang Gwaii to limit our impact on the small anchorage. We get to ride along on Dream Catcher with Lance and Kathy along with the crew from Patos. Jordan will come over and ferry us to Dream Catcher at 7:45 AM. We are happy to not be one of the two boats because we do not need to clean our boat in anticipation of guests!

We did see a small Sitka Black Tail deer on beach behind us. And one noisy seal bared his teeth at us when we went on the bow to deploy the bridle.

Karen loves the glazed carrots

Dinner was hoisin pork tenderloin and maple glaze carrots.

Crescent Inlet to Beresford Inlet via Tanu & Windy Bay

A hardy breakfast in preparation of a busy day

It’s another early start for our first day of experiencing Haida culture. We have two stops planned at Haida historic sites. 

Our neighbor in Crescent Inlet

A pretty morning as the clouds lift

Karen at the helm

Jordan ferries the fleet in

In less than two hours we were constructing an all-boat raft in the anchorage at Tanu. Despite the rules that say they only take 12 guests at a time, the watchmen were very gracious and took all 16 of us at once. To keep our impact to a minimum, Jordan from Deception ferried us all to shore in their dinghy.

The watchmen were Sean and Helen, and they were both super hosts. Both were very knowledgeable and eager to share. It was a long walk through the wooded areas on a path lined with seashells. The shells let everyone know where to walk so we did not intrude on the sites themselves. We saw the remains of the Haida village with the roof beams on the longhouses about the only recognizable structure. We enjoyed seeing the remaining poles in the village. Everything is covered in moss and Mother Nature reclaims that which the Haida built. It is part of the Haida culture to allow all this to decay and return to the earth. 

We learned that the Haida were fierce fighters and explorers as remains of their canoes have been found as far south as California. A healthy diet with plenty of protein, from both land and sea, led to big men who were often 6 feet tall. Apparently they towered over their adversaries. They did raid other tribes for women and children to expand the gene pool beyond the two Haida clans: the Eagle and the Raven. It is so sad that the European explorers brought disease, smallpox and measles that almost eradicated the Haida nation.

Mother Nature reclaims all

Looking our to the protected bay in front of the village

Watchman Sean shares his passion for the history of the Haida

The Watchman's cabin

The tour was great and we also got to see the watchman’s cabin and some of the old pictures they have of the settlement in its heyday in the late 1800s. It was sunny and the anchorage was very calm.

We then set out for Windy Bay and as we neared we could see how the Bay earned it name: it was very windy and the seas were churned up. To our surprise, Capt. Rich decided to raft all the boats together again. As we approached, we could see the bottom paint of the other boats below the boot stripes.

Sea starting to build

Every fender was put into play between us and Change of Latitude. I spent an extra 15 minutes trying to find the optimum placement of the fenders so they would provide the most protection for both boats.  Again, Jordan ferried all the crews to the shore and he and Capt. Rich remained on the raft to tend to the fenders and keep anchor watch.

The watchman couple, Frank & Denise, greeted us. This site is very different, with less to see. There is a “modern” longhouse; the Blinking Eye meetinghouse that was that was built in the mid-80s for meetings of those who protested logging on island. Now it is a nice shelter for kayakers. Frank told us they got far fewer visitors than Tanu; 300 so far this year versus Tanu’s 1000 visitors. That is due to the site itself being less easy to access and the fact, in my opinion, that there is less history to see. 

Blinking Eye Longhouse

Trekking through the woods and streams

However, we took a marvelous 45 minute walk through the forest and saw the largest spruce tree in North America. It is over 900 years old. We emerged at the Creek and Frank was there to ferry us over to the other sides so we did not have to backtrack along the path.

Karen and Kathy stand below the largest Spruce tree

Jordan, our hero

Meanwhile, back at the boat raft, things were turning into a bit of a disaster and Capt. Rich wanted us all back on the boats ASAP. Jordan ferried us out to Alaskan Dream. Earlier, he untied her from the raft and re-anchored her away from the raft, as the raft was moving up, down and sideways in the wind and swell. Moving her prevented damage. The interior was tossed about but nothing was misplaced other than a lot of our spices! We raised the anchor from the inside helm because it was too dangerous to be on the bow. In a couple of minutes we were underway

Our destination was Beresford Inlet that has a mile-long drying bar to navigate. We throttled back to time our arrival near high tide. Being first off, we led the way, with Change of Latitude on our stern. After we set the anchor we invited Dream Catcher alongside for drinks and appetizers aboard Alaska Dream. Jordan joined us for a while to relax and enjoy a drink after a crazy day.

Unlike Windy Bay, Beresford Inlet was calm and quiet.

Gordon Cove to Crescent Inlet

We got under way before eight, headed for Crescent Inlet. Since we choose to go slower than the rest of the fleet to conserve fuel, our early start put us in the lead with Dream Catcher on our stern. Abeam Olive Inlet, we caught a glimpse of a few seals but there was not much more wildlife to see.

As we approached Louise Narrows, we slowed down so Deception could take the lead through the shallow and narrow waterway. Louise Narrows is a dredged channel and serves as a useful shortcut. As we arrived on a rising tide, we got a good look at the dredged earth on either side of the channel. Alaskan Dream took up position at the end of the fleet so we got some good pictures during the transit. The depths were shallow and the current was running, so the helm was busy keeping Alaskan Dream in the center (deepest part) of the channel.

No doubt where you need to put the boat

The channel has a few turns along the way

Clear water makes it easy to see the things to avoid

The water was very clear so we had a good look at the obstructions on either side of the channel and saw a depth as low as 5 feet under her keel. All in all it was a very interesting passage and a nice break from the open water cruising.

The Mother Goose "train"

Back into open water

Looking back into Louise Narrows

Exiting the channel, we made our way to Crescent Inlet. This Anchorage is one of those where it seems to take forever to get to the head of the inlet. Our watermaker wasn't working so we came alongside Deception to take on some fresh water. She was anchored quite far from the head, so we could not see any bears on the shore. Later we got a report from the other boats that they too did not see any bears so we didn't miss anything!

It was a peaceful night. Dinner was delicious King Salmon with hoisin glaze and baked curried sweet potatoes. “Mega-YUM!”, says Karen.

Part of the fleet anchored in Crescent Inlet

Patos goes our to explore in her dinghy