A Storm Moves Through
Thursday, June 7th – After crossing Queen Charlotte Sound, we have about 275nm of relatively protected channels, as we follow the Inside Passage through British Columbia to Prince Rupert. Today we motored about 60nm of that distance. We saw whales several times, but generally, we were surprised with how boring and monotonous some sections of the Inside Passage can be. We detoured into Namu Harbor to see an abandoned cannery and motored past the uninteresting town of Bella Bella. The islands are all low lying and the distant snow covered mountains have all but disappeared. At least, the waters are peaceful and the winds quiet. The weather reports, unfortunately, have us on edge, for a big low-pressure system is moving in. Remember when we left Port Hardy in dismal weather yesterday morning to cross Queen Charlotte Sound before another front arrived. The weathermen have now issued a “Gale Warning” for that crossing.
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Anchored in Oliver Cove, it is such a calm, peaceful evening that it is hard to imagine that foul weather is moving in on us.
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Friday, June 8th –This morning, the weather reports are more dire. We should go to a secure harbor tonight, and our planned destination, named Windy Bay, does not meet that requirement. After studying the charts, The Captain decides that the best anchorage for us to sit out this storm is only 15 miles up the road. Anchorages further on do not provide us the shelter we need from high winds. We would really like to travel further north today since, with friends arriving, we are on a schedule. Wisely, The Captain had built some weather delay into the schedule, and a day of hunkering down out of the storm will not hurt us.
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We arrive at Rescue Bay around noon, and it appears to be a very secure spot. That is good, because shortly after we anchored, the weather warnings are upgraded from “Gale Warning” to “Storm Warning” which means winds could exceed 50 knots. Right now, it is quite cloudy, but winds are light. We see eagles, a deer and a bear. Later in the afternoon when several commercial fishing boats join us, their appearance tells us that we have chosen well. This will be a good spot to ride out a storm. There should not need to be any rescues in Rescue Bay.
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Expecting to spend just one night here while the storm blows through, we end up sheltering for two nights. The barometer fell to 990, and it was overcast, cold and rainy all the next day. Our sheltered anchorage, however, protected us from the worst of the winds, as The Captain had planned. Though both of us are eager and know we need to get underway again, it is nice to have the down time after the fast pace we have been leading.
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Sunday, June 10 – After covering only 15nm in two days, we are now behind schedule! The First Mate’s childhood friend, Jane Minor, is joining us on June 12th in Prince Rupert which is almost 200nm north of us.
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Continuing north, we enter an area called Fiordland. Though the front has passed, it is still raining with a heavy overcast and mist. Winds are minimal as we motor along. Visibility is limited by the clouds, but fine for our navigation. We detour down Kynoch Inlet for a good view of a waterfall. How we wish we could fully see the landscape around us. It’s got to be magnificent.
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Fiordland, for us, is a land of shadows, misted mountains and ….
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…. waterfalls too numerous to count.
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The Captain’s Log notes that we easily passed over 100 waterfalls today. With the rain, they were all flowing heavily. We covered almost 60 miles and spent the night in Khutze Inlet, not our favorite anchorage.
Monday, June 11 – The First Mate is dreaming of ducks. That’s right – ducks! Could it be that the constant sound of the rain on the cabin roof (not 18” above her head) has brought up images of ducks? Both of us are tired of the rain and the damp chill that comes with it, but we tell ourselves that this is probably more the norm from now on as we get nearer to Alaska. After all, Misty Fiords, on the next leg of our trip, didn’t get its name from bright sunshine pouring over the area.
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Dressed in her red storm jacket and bib overalls with 2 layers of fleece under everything and thick waterproof gloves, The First Mate is bundled against the damp cold.
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We still have 140nm to cover in the next 2 days to get to Prince Rupert as scheduled. That doesn’t prevent us from a slight detour to Bishop Bay Hot Springs. Oh heavenly, now this is water she can get into! A motor boat is on the dock ahead of us, but, as we approach, we see they are leaving. We have the place to ourselves.
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The natural hot water from the springs has been channeled into a bathing/soaping area and two hot tubs – indoor and outdoor. We revel in the sheer luxury of it. Four Seasons, eat your heart out!
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We leave cleaned, refreshed and invigorated — and the SUN is shining. There’s blue sky. Just look at those mountains! This is more like it!
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And “more like it” lasts for about an hour and a half before the rain hits again, but it was enough to lift the spirits. Note the snow on the nearby mountains.
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Even with our stop at Bishop Bay Hot Springs, we managed to cover 78nm before anchoring for the night in Nettle Basin. This was a large anchorage, and there were about a dozen other boats, more than we had seen in days. Our thoughts of solitude and remoteness had also been diminished earlier in the day when we saw our first cruise ship.
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Tuesday, June 12th – The Captain’s birthday! Is this not a picture of a happy man?
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We wake up again to rain and begin motoring north in Grenville Channel to Prince Rupert, gaining an assist from an unexpected favorable current. As we neared our destination, we needed to keep close watch for floating logs and trees. The mouth of the Skeena River is not far south of Prince Rupert, and the recent storm had dislodged a lot of debris and sent it floating downstream. Prince Rupert is a large port for northwestern British Columbia, but the commercial port was empty when we passed. Arriving by mid-afternoon, our first stop is the fuel dock where we fill both of our nearly empty tanks. We have not used our sails since leaving Port Hardy and have been powered by diesel fuel for the entire distance.
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Prince Rupert’s local nickname is “Rainy Rupert”. Fortunately, the rain eases as we approach a harbor area that is jammed with fishing boats and a few cruisers like us. There are no empty slips at the docks, and we have to raft outboard of two other boats.
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The First Mate’s longtime friend, Jane Minor, meets us on the docks in the late afternoon. Jane is not an experienced cruiser, but we break her in quickly. Everyone wants to get underway the next morning, but before then, laundry and provisioning have to be done. What a chore that turns out to be! Hauling bundles of laundry and bags of groceries multiple times across a workboat filled with pipes and then across the large motor yacht that Avante is tied to is a tiring feat of balance and dexterity. Finally, cleaned and provisioned, we tuck in for the evening. Tomorrow starts another adventure.