Free Spirit(s) V

August 6 - Dawsons Landing

We came back to Dawsons Landing to drop of Quina and Dylan who will take a Grumman Goose aircraft on the first leg of their trip home. Quina is not keen to fly on this small amphibious aircraft, and Bill does not miss an opportunity to (jokingly - ha ha) fuel her fears. Nevertheless, she was brave and even funny as she boarded the plane.

The Wheelers - Quina, Dylan, Bill, Eileen and Casca

Before he left, Dylan generously gave us two crabs. Rob has cooked the crabs and put a bottle of white wine in the freezer to chill. It is a sunny, summer day and we will have a nice evening here.

Female crabs must be thrown back. The one on the left is a female -
with a larger white area on the underside.

There are several small recreational fishing boats nearby. They have set up a tent camp on their dock and they are making a lot of noise. The dock owner warns us that they will be rowdy tonight. Until 9 p.m. Then they will reportedly crash so that they can get up at 5 a.m. tomorrow and go fishing again.
Now that we are officially on our way home, we can estimate that we will round Cape Caution again on or about August 11th (weather permitting).

August 5 - Finn Bay, Rivers Inlet

It was a beautiful sunny day and we spotted another Humback Whale as we set out this morning for Fury Cove. The prospect of strong winds re-directed us to Finn Bay, a picture perfect spot where we now sit alone (i.e. just the two boats) near an empty, non-operative fishing lodge. There are many closed lodges on this coast and some are for sale. With fishing stocks low, the heyday of fishing lodges seems to be a thing of the past. It is depressing to see them falling into disrepair.

At Finn Bay, we anchored and stern tied our respective boats to shore. This is an exercise that only a few weeks ago would have taxed our abilities but today, it went off without a hitch. By Jove, I think we’ve got it!

Rob has gone fishing with Bill and Blue. A chicken breast is thawing, just in case… I love these afternoons alone on the boat. For me, it is the epitome of peace. The late afternoon wind is trying its best to spin the boat around but the stern tie is holding fast. The gentle rocking motion could theoretically cause me to nod off. Theoretically.

We had a farewell drink with Quina and Dylan aboard Eileen and Bill's boat tonight. They are great company and caught a lot of fish. A lot. And crab too. Dylan has grown up fishing and now gives his Dad a run for his money.

We enjoyed the rougher waters today

August 4 - Green Island Anchorage, Fish Egg Inlet

Rough start to the day. The dinghy engine is still not ok. Rob dropped a bowl of cereal and the non-breakable bowl shattered in a million pieces (I do not exaggerate). I have seven insect bites on my face, at least two of which are large black fly bites. As we started toward Green Island, I descended into a fine whine which included a recitation of things that I miss, a very few of which include: not wearing non-marking soles, clean hair every day, a Slurpee on a hot day, a hot day, carrying my things in a purse, the things that I would carry in a purse. It went like that. Rob listened but would not engage. And then, in Fitz Hugh Sound, we encountered a couple of Humpback Whales spouting and breaching. We stopped our boats to watch a fabulous display and I was immediately back in the zen zone with a smile on my bitten face. I am excited to be on our way home but I want to enjoy every minute getting there. We won’t be back here for a long time and I know we’re going to miss it. This afternoon, Rob fixed the outboard motor on the dinghy(!) and went fishing. I told him to be careful. He told me to instead wish him luck. I told him to be very careful.

August 3 - Pruth Bay, Fitz Hugh Sound

It was a long but beautiful journey to the Pruth Bay area today. We traveled through Hakai Passage, which opens on the west to Queen Charlotte Sound. We avoided the popular Pruth Bay anchorage and instead anchored nearby in a tiny cove. It was a bit of a nailbiter getting settled in a good spot in this small, shallow cove and wondering whether low tide would leave us beached (it didn’t but we had only about 1.9 meters to spare). After anchoring, we traveled by dinghy to “The Hakai Institute” in Pruth Bay where we took an easy walk through the woods to a beach that is as beautiful as any I have ever seen. Exiting the trees, the spectacular sandy, deserted beach was actually a bit of a shock. The dogs ran hard, up and down the beach. Sometimes a dog can show you what pure joy looks like and this was one of those times.

Eileen and Bill with Casca and Blue in tow

Rob

Unfortunately, Blue drank so much saltwater (chasing and biting the waves) that he felt ill and cried and pawed me all the way home.

Our dinghy outboard motor is giving us trouble and so it took us a long time to get back to the boat. Not sure if we’ll be able to figure out the problem on our own but we’ll try…we really need the dinghy to work.

August 2 - Good-bye to Pam and Lyle and on to Fancy Cove

Today, Eileen (who had spent a few days in Vancouver) and her daughter-in-law, Quina, joined us on our boat and together we dropped off Pam and Lyle in Bella Bella. We were sad to see Pam and Lyle depart. It has been an absolute tonic having them aboard; they are such easy and wonderful companions. We then proceeded to meet up with Bill and son, Dylan (husband of Quina) at Fancy Cove. At Fancy Cove, Rob rather expertly backed our boat up beside Eileen and Bill’s already anchored boat and we tied the boats together. Bill and Dylan had been fishing non-stop since July 30^th and had enjoyed tremendous success. When we arrived Bill was at least an hour into cleaning fish and Dylan was removing what looked like his 1,000^th prawn head. We were later treated to prawn tempura and a salmon-tasting, pitting Humpback (pink) salmon against Spring salmon. It doesn’t get any fresher than this and both were delicious but there could only be one winner. The verdict: Spring salmon rules.

I know we're supposed to catch crab in our crab trap but
I am always so impressed with the Sea Stars we often catch
(and release). This may be the biggest one yet.

I think this is a Sunflower Star, the fastest and largest sea star
which eats basically any other living organism it encounters
(according to Marine Life of the Pacific Northwest: A Photographic
Encyclopedia of Invertebrates, Seaweeds and Selected Fishes by Andy Lamb and Bernard P. Hanby, Harbour Publishing 2005 -
a beautiful book!)

August 1 - Back to Shearwater

We awoke to a picture perfect day. What a difference; under brilliant blue skies, Ocean Falls looks more like the idyllic spot it once was. We traveled back to Shearwater today so that we can drop Pam and Lyle off at Bella Bella tomorrow. We sat outside for most of the journey to Shearwater, soaking up the warmth.

Rob and Lyle driving up top

Blue sleeping on the bow

Me, annoying Blue

Back at Shearwater we went for a hike with Blue. During WW II, Shearwater was a military seaplane base. A rusted and coiled barbed wire barrier (now cut to permit passage on the trail) is a powerful reminder of the fear of invasion. Nightcaps and a spirited human rights discussion followed fish and chips at the wharf restaurant - when we get together, the four of us seem to love a good argument.

Pam took this picture of the rusted hull of a very
old-looking tug at the Shearwater dock

Meant to post this for Forit Bay: the guys going fishing

July 31 - Back to Ocean Falls

Today we returned to Ocean Falls with Pam and Lyle. At times it rained so hard that it felt like the rain was being poured out of buckets. Walking around a deserted and disintegrating town in torrential rainfall is um… depressing. However, Pam and Lyle were very interested and moved, having read up in preparation for this place.

It was interesting to see Pam's photos for Ocean Falls - every person sees different things.
Here are a few of Pam's photos:

The roof on this abandoned house is carpeted in moss

A close up of the Martin Inn

A window of the Martin Inn
The shredded curtains blow in and out of the window

A stuffed animal sits in a bucket in the downtown
A bit creepy

A scooter lies abandoned on the road

At the end of our walk, we encountered local resident “Nearly Normal Norman” exiting the old “Marine Ways” building. Norman is a slight and bearded fellow, probably in his late 60’s or early 70’s, who presides over the town “museum”. It had reportedly been a quiet day although Norman said a bear had been in the building. Although he had been on his way home, Norman said that if we had the time, he’d love to show us around. He asked us to choose between a tour of the building and a visit to the museum. We picked the museum and in the end, we got both. The museum defies description but I’ll try. The collection is comprised of a huge volume of salvaged items from various places, buildings and times in Ocean Falls. The artifacts run from 1950’s signage (including one illustrating the four contestants in the Dominion Day beauty contest and a subsequent sign revealing the number of eventual votes for each contestant –harsh!), to a table of frog tchochkes, arcane kitchen appliances from the old hotel, stuffed animals (which it turns out can be rather sinister) and sandals. Yes, sandals. An old “High Times” magazine on display features a younger bearded Norman on its cover and an article (which we did not read) entitled “Better Sex With Norman”. Anyway. Norman was such a nice guy, with a story for every artifact, that we ended up spending quite a long time at the museum; it was a surreal experience actually.