Chapple Inlet to Alston Cove

Today we head for Laredo Inlet and return to Alston Cove, last visited in 2019.

The weather was bright and sunny, with totally calm seas. The best kind of travel day.

there is calm and then there is this kind of calm

Departing Chapple Inlet, we saw a deer posing at Doig Point. Karen swears we saw the same deer in the same place in 2022. Interesting. This deer waited until we were in good visual range, pranced out of the woods, and then stood there in her glory for adoring fans.

Exchanging glances with the locals

As we turned left into Camaano Sound and the start of Laredo Channel, we could see Haida Gwaii 80 miles away.

We remembered Alston Cove fondly from our prior trip and were interested to see the fish weirs at the head of the bay again. Alston has a cozy feeling due to the narrowish entrance,  despite being spacious once inside, with a pretty valley at its head.

No boats were seen in Laredo inlet as we made our way towards Alston Cove and we had the Cove completely to ourselves for the evening.

Chapple Inlet Lay Day

A cloudy and misty morning and a crew that could not wake up means today is going to be a lay day.

We’re going to catch up on the blog, boat chores and do some reading and eventually trip planning.

What a busy schedule!

McMicking Inlet to Chapple Inlet

 After a great day of exploring the beaches in McMicking Inlet it is time to move on. Karen found an extra day in the schedule, so we’re going to go only 23.3 miles to Chapple Inlet.

The southwest tip of Campania Island has been a reliable spot to see humpback whales, and this year did not disappoint. We saw a pod of five whales. They were making lots of blows in unison.

lots of humpback blows

From a distance I thought it might be bubble feeding, but as we got closer it felt more like they might be herding their prey into more shallow water. There were a couple of small recreational fishing boats in the general vicinity, so that’s probably what was happening. We stopped and watched the whales for a while before continuing on.

We visited Chapple Inlet in 2022, and really liked it so Karen decided we should make a return visit. It’s a long way back to the head, but that’s our preferred spot. As we worked our way into the Inlet, we passed two sailboats who were departing Kiln Bay.

We continued to the very head of the inlet. The shoaling and reefs are well marked on the chart. At low tide the obstructions are mostly visible, but at higher water it’s best to mind the charts and go slow. There are a couple of narrow spots that deserve attention.

 At the head, there is lots of room to swing and the holding is very good in 30-40 feet over mud. It was sunny and we mostly lazed about enjoying the weather and the views.

looking back at oceanflyer from the head of chapple inlet

a good look at the shoaling in chapple inlet

We kept a sharp eye out for critters. No bears, but we saw two sandhill cranes.

Very late in the evening we were joined by a Ranger Tug. The tide was high, and we were worried because it appeared to be on a course towards the charted rocky shoal.

They poked around for a long time and finally dropped anchor. About 45 minutes later, we heard them raise their anchor and reposition themselves 200 feet to the south. My guess is they swung over the shoal, and after doing some math, realized that their location would be a problem when the tide goes out.

McMicking Lay Day

We woke to a beautiful morning, bright sun and a great day for exploring. The rafted fishing boats left early this morning, but we lazed around, waiting for the right tides to explore our favorite beach. The amazing sand beaches are a key reason to visit McMicking, and are almost on par with Pruth or Rugged Point.

Mcmicking anchorage

looking back to the entrance and the beaches from the anchorage

a peekaboo shot from the cove around the corner

The challenge in visiting our favorite beach is two-fold. First, it’s a shallow approach – we prefer a steeper beach drop off to make it easier to maneuver (and depart). Second, the beaches are exposed to swell and some surf, so it’s key to pick your landing spot with care. We have a spot that leverages some rocks to help protect us from the swell and surf.

our favorite place to beach the dinghy using rocks to break up the waves

Although we should probably have waited for the tide to rise a bit, I was able to get Karen to the shore to hold the dinghy painter while we offloaded more lines and the sand spike.

I brought the drone, as it’s hard to capture the grandeur of this beach with a camera at ground level.

this is but one of many beaches along the island

the river empties across the sand to the ocean. you can see this feature on google earth

rocks and sand are the beachs of the coast

The beach was just as nice as we remembered from 2022. Long and wide, with a hoard of sea shell treasures for Karen to beachcomb.

sand and granite mountains are are certain sign you are on campania Island

After capturing the bird’s eye view, I joined Karen as we walked the vast expanse of the beach and found lots of wolf paw prints. We understand there are a lot of wolves in this area, but have yet to be lucky enough to see one.

lots of critter paw prints

After a long while, we decided it was time to return to OceanFlyer. Getting off the shallow shore was a challenge, even with a higher tide and judicious use of the anchor buddy. But we did it successfully and returned to our anchorage slightly windburned but happy.

We had a new neighbor in the anchorage, another small recreational fishing boat. We spent time chatting with the nice Canadian couple before returning to OceanFlyer.

Dunn Passage to McMicking Inlet

McMicking Inlet, our next stop, is all about exploring the many large white sand beaches at the entry to the Inlet. So today we will position ourselves there in anticipation of the next few days being sunny, the best type of weather to visit beaches.

Calm seas as Campania island, on the horizon, beckons us

There were a lot of rocks and small islets along the shoreline as we ran down the Campania Island coastline, but they are no issue because the area is very well charted. We passed Betteridge Inlet and promised we’d visit that interesting maze on our next visit.

As expected, there ilests that guard at the entrance to McMicking inlet and there is a narrow “neck” as you head up the inlet to the anchorages. All very well charted.

nothing else looks like Campania Island

Unlike our last visit (2022), we did not see any small boats fishing the area as we entered.

There was just one small sailboat named Sally in McMicking when we arrived, anchored on the 12 foot “mound” charted just outside our favorite cove. We actually set our anchor in the same spot as we did in 2022, and settled in for the afternoon.

About dinner time, a small recreational fishing boat came into the anchorage, and spent a lot of time looking around for his “spot”. Perhaps we were anchored where he wanted to be.  At long last, he dropped the hook not too far away, put down fenders indicating he was expecting someone to raft up later, and started cleaning salmon.  Before too long, a second fishing boat came in to raft up and more fish cleaning commenced.

Later on, the captain from the first boat set out for an exploration in his fishing kayak. He made a beeline for OceanFlyer, and Karen stepped out to chat.  Fishing had been good, he said, but prawns were wiped out from the commercial fleet. She asked him about the unusual grab bar on the front of his kayak – it almost looked like the “staple” you find on the back of swimsteps. He said it was for his wife, who had MS – it was a stable way to get in and out of the kayak from the boat and made kayaking easier for her. Sounds good to us – it’s always a struggle to get back out of the kayaks and onto the boat.

The water and wind were quiet that evening, with a peaceful night in store for us.