Day 16 & Day 17:

Waking up this morning at the end of Princess Louisa Inlet and listening to the rushing water of Chatterbox Falls is a delight to the senses. The sheer walls of the nearby cliffs remind me of Yosemite but they are closer. It is 9:00am and the sun is still over two hours from coming up behind the huge expanse of granite. There is a dock placed within 100 yards of the falls for boats to use while visiting. It was placed here because the water is very deep and anchoring is difficult due to the amount of chain & rope necessary for enough scope. Being this late in the season there are only four other boats on the dock besides our group of five. One of the boats is a huge aluminum catamaran that was built by the owner that we talked with last night. It is a massive shiny craft that looks a bit imposing. We were going to take a picture but wanted to wait until this morning for better light. When we got up, it was gone. There are restrictions about noise before 9:00am, so we waited to turn on the heat, but now it is getting warm in our salon, to the delight of Dianna. Earlier I put the kettle on to boil water for coffee and the warmth from that was welcome, but did not last long.

Yesterday was day 16 and we made our way up the long winding Jervis Inlet, through the Prince of Wales Inlet, then up Queen’s Reach to the Malibu Rapids, and finally into Princess Louisa Inlet where our dock is located. The day began with us leaving at 7:00am so we would time the slack tide at Malibu Rapids that was to occur at 1:00pm. We arrived at 1:20pm and easily made it through the narrow passage. We took pictures, but internet access has been down since noon yesterday. At the opening of Princess Louisa Inlet is a stunning group of buildings that began in the 1920’s as a resort for well healed guests, including Hollywood stars. They arrive for a few days and watch the tides rise and fall, while enjoying the rapids. The facility fell into disrepair for a few years and was finally purchased by The Young Life Church to be used as a summer camp for children. They have put a lot of time and work into the grounds and buildings, and it is beautiful. After going through the rapids we docked our boat and walked around for more than an hour. We couldn’t help think how amazing it would be to come there for a week or two as a child. It would be an experience they would never forget. From there to the end of the inlet was another 45 minutes but what a sight as we arrived! Here is a quote from one of the books on board our boat, “The powerful beauty of Chatterbox Falls at the head of the inlet, with it’s magnificent backdrop of lush green forest and sheer granite cliffs stretching skyward surely make this spot the eighth wonder of the world”.

We dined on steak & lamb chops on our boat outdoor grill, with mashed potatoes & gravy, and leaves of romaine with, you guessed it, a mustard vinaigrette dressing. The wine was red and a treasure that we found in Campbell River. We “splurged” on this selection, but the artistic label was more than we could stand (see picture). It is an elephant with a man riding on top next to his house with smoke coming out of the chimney on the house. Behind the elephant are a series of empty wine bottles running across the bottom of the label. It is a very enchanting and creative label on a short fat bottle. We hope to bring it home somehow. Oh, and the wine was really good.

I am sitting here looking out the window and watching the sun reflect of the granite wall beside me. The reflection is slowly moving down the face, where it will eventually reach us and our boat. Today we plan to hike up to the falls for views of the surrounding area. More later on that. We will be at this location all day today, and won’t leave until tomorrow (Tuesday) morning to again time the tide at the rapids.

Just a bit about hot water and showering……….we have a hot water heater on board that is heated when the engines are running, so shortly after arriving at any destination, it is smart to use the shower on board before the hot water turns cold. Yesterday we discovered another option, as we were motoring up the various inlets in very calm waters, we took turns showering and being at the helm. The engines are running so the supply of hot water is constant, allowing for a much longer time. The only limitation is our water supply but that is 160 gallons, so not a real issue. Whenever we stop at a marina we top off the tanks, and have yet to use the 80 gallons in the port tank. Shower while underway is especially nice because our starboard suite includes a stall shower that is 6’7” tall, so all is well for me. Most other boats on our trip have showers that use the bathroom (head) faucet that extends out for showering, but the downside is, you are spraying water all over the sink, commode, and everything else.

A little more about the history of Princess Louisa Inlet (read or skip): “Without the passion and determination of James F. Macdonald who took possession of the 115 hectare (292 acres) property at the head of Princess Louisa Inlet from British Columbia government in 1927, a very different sight might welcome visitors today. Macdonald turned down generous re-sale opportunities and offers from large hotel chains to purchase “The Princess”. His only dream was to preserve her natural beauty for himself and future generations, as he believed that “this beautiful peaceful haven should never belong to one individual.”

“In 1964 his dream came true when his treasured home was deemed a Class A Marine park. The non-profit Princess Louisa International Society passed the administration of the property to the government of British Columbia and the property was named Princess Louisa Provincial Marine Park.”

“Macdonald died in a Seattle rest home in 1978. His ashes are planted inside a boulder at the head of Princess Louisa, beneath an inscription that reads: “Laird of the inlet, Gentleman, friend to all who came here.”

Later in the evening………

What a relaxing day we had: slept till 8:00am, read for awhile, worked on the blog, made a huge breakfast of bacon, cinnamon toast, scrambled eggs with sharp cheddar cheese, and went for a walk by the waterfall. Dianna and I spent some time together on a very lovely bench overlooking the waterfall, and it was truly relaxing. Just looking up at the great granite expanse and hearing the waterfall is entrancing. It reminds me of so many majestic places that I have been fortunate to have seen in my life. Jaw dropping moments when you really can’t believe how beautiful the world can be and how words like beautiful, amazing, wonderful just don’t seem to be strong enough to describe the feeling of the moment. I love when that happens to me, and I miss the space between those times.

Today is the first day it has felt like fall, with the leaves turning and the air getting colder. We saw some huge leaves that I took a picture of with Dianna’s hand/foot as a comparison. The Canadian Maple tree species… fun to see all the gold leaves on the trees, and soon to be finding their way to the ground. This evening the group gathered for cocktails and appetizers around a fire pit (see picture) before coming to our boat for a spaghetti dinner (cooked by Mike, our flotilla leader). We had 14 tonight and everyone seemed to have fun. The appetizers were our responsibility and included: deviled eggs, garlic stuffed olives, chips and salsa, and tooth picks with tomato, basil, & mozzarella cheese marinated in a mustard vinaigrette. Being way out here in a remote camping like setting, people were amused at the level of work we put into our offering, but to us this is just what we do. I know that sounds fancy etc, but we have a lot of fun creating stuff to share. We both like doing it……..Oh, and I made home made brownies with walnuts that I baked this afternoon. Okay, but I cheated and used a mix, but still…….really good……

We are off tomorrow morning at 7:00am so we can get through the Malibu Rapids at slack tide. The plan is to go to Pender Harbor for the night where we will probably dock and eat at the local pub for dinner. I can’t believe our trip is coming to an end on Friday, but we have had a blast and we have three full days remaining!

More tomorrow! Cheers and goodnight.

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Day 15:

Leaving Campbell River we had a slight current behind us so we were able to reach 10 knots over ground with very little RMP on our engines. The flotilla leader suggested that we sail past Mitenatch Island, because there is a colony of sea lions that hang out there. About a half an hour out from the island, I spotted whale spouts and alerted the group. We happened upon a pod of whales that were very actively jumping and playing, or so I thought at the time.. One of the members of our group is a Northwest wildlife specialist, who explained the whales were chasing a sea lion for their lunch. She said the process sometimes takes three hours to complete, because the whales have to “wear down” their prey, by continuing to chase and bump them. It was really amazing to see all the flips and spins! The whales came completely out of the water when jumping. We watched for 45 minutes, but then needed to move on, as we have 42 miles to travel today to Ballet Bay at the mouth of the Jervis Inlet. We went by Mitenatch Island where indeed, the colony of sea lions was huge. It looked like hundreds of them, and you could hear the barking. I took a video but we will see how it turns out. We found a great anchorage in Ballet Bay that was through another small opening that narrowed even further. It was difficult to see from outside that there really was a passage through to a small private bay. There are many vacation houses on these little islands with only access by water. The families that enjoy them must have great moments together in these waters and woods. Our group is now down to 5 boats, so two of them entered first and anchored with stern ties to trees on the shore. We were the last to be put in place between two boats on each side, and they wanted us to back into a space only wide enough for our boat. The catamaran is very maneuverable so I was not worried (I know Jeff Irvine & Stephanie Spurr are doubting that based on my experience at home :)) I have gotten very used to how this boat handles. As I was backing in Dianna made the comment for all to hear, “this is like getting into last years jeans”. Everyone got a kick out of that, as I smoothly “threaded the needle”. Yea, I know, it sounds like bragging, but it is fun to get better at this, especially with so many witnesses.

Tomorrow we will head up the inlet into Prince of Wales Reach that eventually takes us to the famous “Malibu Rapids” where the passing must be carefully timed to enter and depart, because the tides are very strong at their high and low. I suggest searching “you tube” for video on the rapids at high and low tide. It is quite remarkable. Our final destination is the waterfalls at the end of Princess Louisa Inlet, where we will spend two nights. It is likely we will go for another dingy ride or two, and there are hikes to the surrounding mountains where pictures can be taken of our boats and the waterfalls. It is a very remote area where the internet may not be available.

Today we sailed downwind for a couple of hours with a “wing on wing” sail configuration, and Mike, our flotilla leaded, put up his spinnaker. It was beautiful and I will add to the pictures if internet allows later today.

Last night we went out to lunch and dinner at the Riptide restaurant in Campbell River, and it was really good food. By 7pm it was completely packed with people and the wait was 90 minutes. I posted a picture this afternoon. Going to bed last night knowing that we had fresh clean clothes, food and drink for seven days, and eight hours before we had to get up for our 8 am departure was wonderful. We took care of all the business in Campbell River and we were now ready for week number three.

Tonight is Chicken Enchiladas that we bought at Costco before we left Bellingham, and hearts of romaine. We found some fun wine yesterday that is local, so I will be sharing the fun labels for those who are interested.

Today was amazing with the whales, sailing, and all the sunshine & blue skies. We just keep remarking on how lucky we are to be actually doing this trip! What great memories we are making………I love that!

Cheers

I am writing this on Saturday morning from Campbell River where we are leaving today in an hour. Today is calm and lovely but cold. The temperature is 45 at 7:30am, so we have the heater on. The heat is powered by diesel fuel and is very loud outside but very effective inside. The vents are near the floor so at night we put our shoes near them, so we will have nice warm and shoes the next morning.

Back to yesterday and the late Thurday night….. Before going to bed Thursday night the wind was coming up and was supposed to be 20 to 30 knots durning the night. We were tucked away in a nice little cove and all rafted together with two anchors out and two boats tied off with stern ties. At around 4:30am we heard some noise outside and some people were crossing over our boat. I did not think much about it except that the wind was really blowing, so I rolled over. By 5:00am I decided to get up and see what was going on. I went outside and most of the guys were up shouting in the wind so they could hear each other. The situation sounded a little tense but I was still sleepy so didn’t really get all of what was happening. It turns out the wind was stronger than we forecasted and both stern lines snapped free, and at least one anchor was drifting, so now the entire flotilla of six boats was moving! We were only 50 feet off shore to begin with. The consensus was that we needed to break each boat off the raft of boats, and then anchor one by one until 7:15am when we would depart for Campbell River. We couldn’t leave this early because it was pitch black and because the tide at Seymour Narrows was going to be too strong if we departed early. We put on our life jackets, found my headlight, turned on the engines, turned on the chartplotter, and tried to be calm; all this when the wind is blowing 25 knots, with light rain, in complete darkness. The group wanted the catamaran off first (us), so we released the lines from both sides with the help of others, and we were now on our own to anchor in the dark in deep enough water to clear other boats and the shore line, and a rock that was 100 yards out off our starboard side. I had been using the chartplotter to navigate our course for two weeks now, so I was completely comfortable with knowing where we are in relation to the shore and the rock, but was having trouble seeing the other boats because of the darkness. The wind and currents made it a bit tricky because the boat kept swinging around to differnt headings, so I was having to power left, then right, then forward to keep us steady. We went our farther than I originally planned to set the anchor, but it felt safer that way. Dianna was forward getting the anchor ready, and we had done this before, so I felt comfortable. I gave the signal and she let it go out where we were in 28 feet of water, so we decided on a scope of five to one. As it hit the bottom, I put us in reverse idle, but going straight back was a challenge in the wind. After 150 feet of chain was payed out, we hit reverse to 1000 RPMs to make sure it was set. I did not turn off the engines until we were sure all was okay. For 10 minutes we watched the chartplotter and coordinates to make sure we were on the bottom without dragging. When we were satisfied, we turned off the engines and put on the kettle for coffee. Whew. All was good, we were on the bottom with one hour to first light.

We planned to leave at 7:20am, so at 7:10am we started the engines and raised the anchor. Dianna had the anchor two thirds of the way up when the windlass (motor that pulls the anchor up) stopped. She looked a little startled because there is no way to raise the anchor by hand. I reminded her that we might have tripped the circuit breaker, so she went below and, sure enough, that was the problem. She finished raising it exactly at 7:20am, and we were now ready to go. By this time the winds had calmed down and the waves lessened to almost nothing. We got underway with everything in place. The journey to Campbell River was an easy 3 1/2 hour journey through the rapids of Seymour Narrows. The only issue was the amount of logs floating in the water to avoid during the trip. The storm had probably released them from their temporary home on the shorelines, as the winds and waves did their work.

Great day in Campbell River! More about that later. We are leaving soon……