The Continuing Voyages of Spirit: Echo Bay to Port McNeill

August 11

After departing Echo Bay we fished our way down Cramer Pass, snagging one quillback rockfish and no salmon. Steel Tiger entered Waddington Bay ahead of us, and after clearing away the fishing equipment we headed into Waddington Bay and rafted alongside Steel Tiger. Crab pots were readied and placed around the bay. By late afternoon they had yielded 3 large Dungeness Crabs.

By late afternoon the bay had 14 boats anchored, but there was room for more.

After appetizers and dinner aboard Steel Tiger we watched a movie on the making of “The Life of Pi”.

August 12

Breakfast was aboard Spirit, with fruit, biscuits and sausage gravy. After finishing breakfast, the crab pots were checked and yielded 5 more crabs, so dinner tonight will be crab.

We headed out at 1040 for the short trip to Mound Island and were rafted alongside Steel Tiger at 1250 in heavy rain. By afternoon the skies were clearing and the rain was letting up. The three men took a sightseeing tour out into Blackfish Sound and were greeted with Humpback whales, but no cameras.

Returning to the raft-up the crabs were cleaned and boiled in a mixture of spices for dinner that night on Steel Tiger. We gorged ourselves and still had plenty for a crab omelet in the morning. After dinner we watched a movie, “The Illusionist”, on Spirit.

August 13

The crab pots we had set yielded only one Dungeness crab. About 1000 we broke up the raft-up and Steel Tiger left for Port McNeill to drop off their guests, Cheryl and Denny Berg. Spirit headed out Whitebeach Passage into Blackfish Sound and had to stop suddenly as a Humpback whale surfaced right ahead of the bow. We cleared the whale by less than 50 feet. There were also pods of Orca in the area and we loitered for about one hour trying to get good photos.

Continuing up Blackfish Sound we headed back into the islands via Arrow Passage and re-anchored in Waddington Bay. The crab pots were reset in the attempt to entice a few more crabs to become our dinner. Later that afternoon we headed out in the tender to watch a Humpback whale feeding just outside the bay.

The crab pots yielded 2 more crab, so dinner was crab and salad.

August 14

The morning check of the crab pots had only females in the pots. The rain started in the early morning and continued until we departed Waddington Bay for the short run into Port McNeill to re-provision the fresh vegetables.

The wind increased to 31 knots across Blackfish Sound and then decreased to 20 knots as we docked at Port McNeill. It was like reunion time, with many friends from previous trips all gathered to shelter from the southeast gale that was blowing through the area. The rain was heavy at times as we docked and shopped at the stores for supplies.

We shared dinner on the Selene 53 “Wild Blue”, with fresh halibut and salad, followed by Saskatoon Berry pie and ice cream for dessert.

August 15

The wind decreased overnight, but we did have rain again. In the morning we washed the boat, still dirty after all the rain and then greeted Mike and Kathy Hambelton on the Selene 60 “Raindancer”. Six of us gathered on Spirit for a grilled salmon dinner with mushroom risotto and salad. The party continued late into the night. We again had rain overnight and the wind picked up again as another low pressure system approached Vancouver Island.

August 16

The morning brought brisk winds from the south, but the rain disappeared. We decided to try the “Northern Lights” restaurant in Port McNeill and we were pleasantly surprised with good food, large servings and fair prices, along with a great view of the bay. This restaurant is definitely a place to go back to. Miriam and I had the fresh halibut, along with an oyster appetizer and Caesar salads. The halibut was topped with crab and shrimp and a béarnaise sauce and was very tasty. After dinner we headed back to the marina for a long nights sleep before seeing “Orca Fest” tomorrow in Port McNeill.