Prince Rupert to Port McNeill

Waiting for dinner to jump into his mouth

The number of fish waiting to jump the falls was stunning

Success!

Patrick's Coho Salmon

Ever hopeful the salmon will fall in his reach

Almost making it over the jump in the falls

Double Trouble on both sides of the falls

Success!

Carrying away the spoils!

8/6/2010

We were underway in heavy rain at 0755, but the seas were calm. There were fog patches before we arrived at the head of Grenville Channel, with the weather clearing as we passed Lawyer and Client Islands. The weather report for Hecate Strait was still for windy conditions and rough seas, so we elected to head down Grenville Channel, arriving at Nettle Basin in Lowe Inlet shortly before 4PM. We managed to pick up three Coho salmon, each about 6 pounds, as the rain continued. The Coho were trying to jump Verney Falls and there were two black bears feeding on the unlucky salmon at the base of the falls.

8/7/2010

Once again, we were underway at 0800 in light rain, but clearing. We cruised past Hartley Bay, up Verney Channel and down Ursula Channel to Bishop Bay Hot Springs for a quick soak. After the refreshing soak we continued down Princess Royal Channel past Butedale and arrived in Khutze Inlet where we anchored behind Green Spit rather than go another 5 miles to the head of the inlet. We set the crab pots at the head of the inlet after launching the tender.

8/8/2010

After retrieving the crab pots (6 nice legal crabs) we raised the anchor at 1000 and continued down Princess Royal Channel, down Sarah Passage, then Klemtu Passage to view the longhouse at Klemtu, through Jackson Narrows and finally anchored in Rescue Bay at 1630. Some of the crabs were converted into Patrick's crabcakes for dinner.

8/9/2010

Patrick made a crab and basil omelet for breakfast before we departed Rescue Bay with the intention of staying in Shearwater. Our route took us down Mathieson Channel, past several humpback whales, through Percival Narrows and then Reid Passage. The docks at Shearwater were full, so we anchored and went in for pizza for lunch. The pizza was not memorable. The weather report was deteriorating and we wanted to get across Queen Charlotte Sound as soon as possible, so we continued on to Codville Lagoon where set the prawn pots after arriving and anchoring at 7PM.

8/10/2010

After pulling the prawn pots (only 80 prawns), we headed out of Codville Lagoon. We listened to the weather report which predicted gale force winds in Queen Charlotte Sound on Thursday and Friday, so we made it a long day, heading all the way to Blunden Harbor. Humpback whales were active in Fitzhugh Sound, with several leaping clear of the water, but too far away for photos. The swells off Cape Caution were running up to 6 feet on the beam, giving the stabilizers a real workout. The fog and rain set in about Egg Island and fog plagued us the rest of the way. We finally anchored in Blunden Harbor at 7:15 PM in brisk northwest winds. By that time we elected to just have dinner and retire for the evening.

8/11/2010

The weather continued foggy, about 1 mile visibility as we headed across Queen Charlotte Straits to Port Mcneill to re-provision, a trip of slightly over three hours in a moderate beam sea. The fog began to lift as we arrived at the marina, where we joined two other Selene's as well as the Westbay Sonship 58 "Seventh Wave", owned by Ray and Sue Biggs from our yacht club. We joined Ray and Sue for cocktails as the weather continued to clear and the wind continued to increase from the west. The skies have cleared and we hope the wind subsides.

We now show 3746 nautical miles on the log since May 1.