Ocean Falls to Kisameet Bay

A misty morning is no surprise in Ocean Falls. We knew this was going to happen based on the weather forecast, which is why we got our land exploration and bakery visit done yesterday!

Today is the day for haircuts. Hard to believe it has been a month since we did this on our way North – also at Ocean Falls. We found “the Shack” to be the perfect venue for this activity.

We had also offered up our Starlink to a couple on a sailboat who needed to connect with family and get weather. In return, they brought us 4 delicious homemade Oatmeal/Raisin/Coconut cookies. Definitely a fair trade, I think.

Two haircuts complete, we cast off for Kisameet Bay. This is a fairly popular anchorage off Fitz Hugh Sound. On a previous trip, we had tried to anchor there but it was full. We decided to give it another go this time.

view of martin valley viewed from our stern as we leave ocean falls

As we entered Fischer Channel coming out of Cousins Inlet, we experienced the first real foggy weather of our trip. It started out with about 3 miles visibility and deteriorated quite a bit as we made our way further south. AIS indicated we would again pass the Kennicott on its way north. For such a big target it was hard to see at first but then the the fog lifted as we passed, off Codville Lagoon.

passing the Kennicott again

We entered the bay between Kipling Island and the Kisameet Islands, leaving a small islet to out port. The entrance is well charted and it was an easy passage. There was one sailboat at the far end of the anchorage, so we tucked into the NNW corner in about 40 feet of water with good holding and protection.

our neighbor in kisameet bay

There is a floating dock in the anchorage now – we don’t remember if it was here last time we entered. There is still lots of room to anchor, so not a factor. There is activity on shore behind the float. It looks like someone is building a homestead.

aerial of kisamett bay

floating dock at the head of kisameet bay

someone building their dream

The fog and gloomy weather put a damper on dinghy exploration, so we simply enjoyed a restful afternoon and evening in this peaceful spot.

Beales Bay to Ocean Falls

The weather is supposed to be “no rain” today in Ocean Falls.  Given that when we were there in early June, it rained pretty much constantly, it would be nice to make a second visit in more enjoyable weather. Besides, Karen called ahead to the bakery to make sure they would have Carrot Cake. Our destination is set.

We had a nice cruise up to Ocean Falls, basically retracing our steps from early June.  We passed one sailboat when we were leaving Gunboat passage, but otherwise, there were not a lot of boats on the AIS.  We saw a couple of boats behind us in the distance, possibly headed for Ocean Falls as well.

When we pulled up to the docks, it was much busier than in early June.  That said, our preferred spot was available and we happily backed down the fairway to get it. I think this is the third time we’ve been in this spot, which on the inside of the “U” on the right hand side as you look into the docks.

ocean falls and its not raining

Because we did not make it up to Link Lake on our last visit,  that became our first mission for the day. The walk takes you right  past the dam. I love seeing the engineering of the dam and the powerful waterflow over the spillway. Unfortunately, there are no really great spots to take a picture of the dam and spillway head on unless you go out in the dinghy.

link lake damn spillway

 Link Lake is very large — 16 miles long — and you can only see a tiny portion from the top of the walk. The Old Bank Inn offers a skiff you can rent for $250 a day and we were tempted. But after looking at Google Earth, we decided that the lake’s shoreline did not look that interesting and given our arrival time, we would not have been able to take advantage of a whole day anyway.

a great view of the damn and the power generation plant

On the way back to the boat, we stopped in the bakery to pick up our carrot cake order and added a loaf of the banana bread we rate 5 stars.

the new covered pavillion contrasting the old abandoned hotel

When we passed by the small gift shop at the marine ways, it was open for business, with several cruisers stopping by to peruse the offerings.

the gift shop is just on the left corner of the big boat shed

We spent time chatting with other boaters, talking destinations and, importantly, the goodies at the bakery. Everyone got into the act, and we saw cinnamon buns, dinner rolls, banana bread and carrot cake being greedily stowed aboard various boats.

looking back toward town and the marina from over the damn’s spillway

the marina looking back toward martin valley

the resident seals on the ocean falls marina breakwater

While most boats we see have Starlink, some do not. After talking with the crew of one boat, they desperately needed to download charts, so I gave them the password for our Starlink router. Another group was feeling the need to reach out to family, so they too enjoyed the benefit of our Starlink. This second boater group traded us homemade oatmeal/raisin/coconut cookies for internet access, which we think was a very fair trade!

We watched as many boaters set and pulled crab pots, to varying degrees of success. Karen and Crab do not get along well, so I was more than happy to watch the antics from the dock.

Later that evening, one boat had set up a tour of Nearly Normal Norman’s museum on the top floor of the ways, above the gift shop. While we have been several times and did not feel the need to go again on this trip, many first timers joined the tour and had a great time seeing all the Ocean Falls memorabilia on display.

Shearwater to Beales Bay

First order of business was to check the sea water pump on the 20kW generator for leaks now that the silicone gasket forming paste has cured.

Mike, the boatyard manager, showed up right after coffee as planned to test the repair. The good news: no leaks! So we are free to cast off for Beales Bay in Gunboat Pass. After dropping off the last of our trash and saying a fond farewell to harbourmasters Geoff and Mollie, we cast off. The weather was rather gray, but the forecast was for no rain.

For us, the main attraction of Beales Bay is to explore Beales Lagoon. We had been here once before, and remember really enjoying the exploration of the outer and inner lagoon behind the entrance rapids.

There was one sailboat in the anchorage when we arrived, so we anchored a little further out than we really wanted, with the lagoon entrance (and currents) in sight. Not long after our arrival, they departed for Shearwater, so we move into their more protected spot.

OceanFlyer in beales bay

Notes from our previous visit in 2019 said that we had 4’ under the dinghy in the entry rapids at a +12-foot tide. That was going to be about 5pm today. The good news was that the tide would continue rising until 6pm, so we would have plenty of time to explore both the outer and far more interesting inner lagoon.

entrance to beales lagoon is on the left

if you look close, ypu can see the rapids between the rock and the ilet

a look at the rapids from the other side a low water

We were headed into the lagoon entry at 5:06pm and had 15’ under the boat. It’s in the “inner narrows’ by the large rock that is where you need to pay attention. The flood current was still flowing strongly around the rock, and we were glad we were in the dinghy rather than kayaks, especially when there were some reasonably benign whirlpools downstream of the rock. We saw a low of 4.3’ and, as Karen tells me I called out, “a shit ton of rocks”.  Once past that area, depth went up to 17’.

the approach to the rapids

a closer look at the rapids entering bealses lagoon. Its here that i “mentioned” the rocks to karen as we crossed them passing the island

The lagoon really is gorgeous. You feel like you are in another world, and we were all alone. We went into all the nooks and crannies, and went as far towards the end as we could.  At about 5:40pm we stopped at a depth of 3.3’. The main pathway forward devolved into grassy channels that we know are quite shallow. We dropped the anchor and just sat there and enjoyed the solitude and the beauty for a while.

passed the spit and just at the junctioe where the lagoon branches to the right and left, is where we stopped in the dinghy. Kayaks cold go further. This image is a low tide.

the east branch at the head of the lagoon

We did notice that someone is building something in the woods on the left hand side at the end of the lagoon. It was hard to make out with binoculars, but we were able to see it in more detail from the drone. Not quite sure what it is going to be.

someone with a vision of a remote home

We retraced our steps and when we got back to the big rock in the inner narrows at 6:24, it was perfect slack, with 5.5’ under the dinghy.

We exited the inner lagoon and then toured the smaller and less impressive “outer lagoon”.  We did not see bears, but we did see a family of mergansers. Mom - sporting that distinctive cinnamon-colored head - and multiple chicks (maybe 7-10) were unnerved by the sound of our dinghy and sped across the lagoon to hide under some logs in the water. Once we turned around, they sped back to their original location, happy to continue with their day.

bright flowers on one of the ilets in the lagoon

We returned to OceanFlyer, thrilled to have such great exploring just 40 minutes from Shearwater. And we remained alone in the anchorage overnight, which was very peaceful and calm.

Shearwater Lay Day

We were up bright and early the next morning so we would be ready for Mike.  Karen went off to tackle laundry while Mike joined me in the engine room to tackle the 20kW. The project itself is not difficult, but the access to that part of the generator is problematic.

Once we removed the old pump, we found a new problem. The interconnect between the pump shaft and the engine itself was extremely worn. What was once a clean rectangular shaped key now had a diamond shape. Nothing to do now but to clean things up and install the pump. It’s not clear how long this will work before the old, deformed slot deforms the new male key on the pump.

deformed engine drive slot for the generator

deformed key in the old water pump

this is what a new shaft looks like on the genertaor water pump

During out last vist to Shearwater I did not take any photos from the drone. So I made up for that below.

overview of shearwater

fuel dock on the left

ariel view looking back toward bella bella showing breakwater

Additionally, we cannot test the repair until the morning after the form-a-gasket has a chance to fully cure, so today’s work on the generator is finished.

Later in the day, we watched as a small tug towed a sailboat right up to the Shearwater docks. The tug operator was incredibly skillful and he put that sailboat right on the docks without a sweat. We learned that the sailboat had engine trouble and was towed all the way from Klemtu, as Shearwater is the only game around when it comes to marine repairs on the Central Coast of BC.

tug to the rescue

Karen later chatted with the captain of the sailboat, who said the tow took about 13 hours. Despite the stress, he said the tug captain and crew were awesome and he and his wife were able to relax and enjoy the scenery during the journey.

We decided to try the pizza at the Shearwater restaurant for dinner, as we have seen many pizzas being delivered to Bella Bella on the water taxi. It was just OK but at least I did not have to cook after a long day of boat repairs.

We had another quiet night on the docks.

Troup Narrows to Shearwater

It’s a short cruise over to Shearwater. We have a particular plan for timing our arrival. We target getting to the dock no later than 11am  because 10am to 11am is a popular departure time for cruisers. Then we add in an hour on the fuel docks for taking on diesel. We will not need all that time as we are only taking on 250 gallons. But that timing gives us a buffer in case we must wait for access to the pumps.

We both wore wide grins as there was no one at the fuel docks when we arrived. Even better, by the time it was time to tie up on the guest dock, nearly all the cruising boats had left. Mollie and Geoff assigned us a great spot with good 50-amp power and near the potable water hose. They were also there to greet us and catch our lines. Geoff was particularly pleased that we arrived on the early side, as the 2nd Waggoner Alaska multi-boat flotilla was about an hour behind us, also headed for the Shearwater docks.

shearwater marine center an boart yard

Karen had been watching the flotilla on Marine Traffic, and we knew they would be heading for Shearwater from Ocean Falls. As Troup Narrows was much closer, we were confident our arrival time would work to get fuel and moorage before they arrived.

This flotilla was well organized, and each boat arrived nicely in sequence, with ample time between so that the prior boat could be greeted and tied up by Mollie and Geoff without rush.

Oceanflyer happy on the shearwater main dock

Our primary mission on this visit was to replace the sea water pump on the 20kW generator. As soon as we were secure, I went up to the marine store to pick up the pump which was scheduled to arrive yesterday. Pump in hand, I went up to the Boatyard office to track down Mike, the boatyard manager, and confirm that we were still on for the installation tomorrow morning.

Mike suggested that he would come to the boat at 4pm today, as tomorrow looked quite busy. So back to OceanFlyer I went, to clear access to the generator and begin the process of cooling the engine room so Mike’s working condition would be more pleasant. That’s why I had originally suggested we do the work the next day in a cool engine room. But if Mike wants to do it today, great.

Karen and I had a nice lunch at Fisherman’s Grill and wandered the docks a bit in the drizzle.

welcome to shearwater

Well, 4pm came and went and no Mike. Turns out his attention was consumed by the Shearwater/Bella Bella Water Taxi which developed a problem. That’s why we always build time into our planning, so things like that do not place undo pressure on us. Back to our originally scheduled program!