Pictures: A variety from my files over the past couple of days
Monday July 7th, 2008
OK. We are alive. We are sorry to have concerned anyone. We’re total dummies that really did not think that there would be NO CELL COVERAGE out here. We did not bring the satellite phone either. We would like to thank our friends and loved ones for their emails, text messages, etc. Especially Jim’s lovely mother who wondered if Jim had lost the boat in the poker game! LOL. We did have to purchase a barge to tote away all of his winnings (just kidding!) See July 3rd post below for the continued details of “Shark Eyes Jim” and the Nanaimo Poker Tournament.
At 0500 we departed Lowe Inlet north on Grenville Channel toward Prince Rupert Harbour
It’s hard to be quiet when you start up a big boat and pull up 350’ of anchor chain at 0430. We were the first boat out (as typical so far) and think we might have woken up the other four boats.
We are now on our way into Prince Rupert Harbor (or Harbour as they say it here in the BC).
We are bundled up as it is COLD in here without the heat working. Lara is wearing her Pjs under her pants and shirt. She also has on two jackets – you get the picture.
We have not seen a soul this morning. However; we received a startling DSC alarm. Having never heard this particular alarm before (it s a high pitched ringing bell that really grabs your attention) we spent the first half a minute running around trying to make sure out that we were not on fire (on the other hand the warmth would have initially been welcome). This DSC is an automated broadcast alarm that a boat can activate if they have an emergency and they are ditching their boat. They hit this alarm on their way out. If you have it programmed right, it will send your coordinates out to everyone nearby. How frightening to know that some poor folk were in trouble. It turns out that that a sailboat went aground and the people scrambled to shore – wet but safe.
Sunday July 6th, 2008
At 0500 we departed Oliver Bay west toward Price Island – North on Finlayson Channel (northeast of Princess Royal Island) – North on Grenville Channel (northeast of Pitt Island) – Anchor at Lowe Inlet off Grenville 7pm
We had to circle south of the island and toward Price Island taking us out in the unprotected seas. It was bouncy, dim, COLD and frothy ocean. I think that some might find these conditions frightening. I try not to over think the conditions – I keep telling myself that it’s not THAT remote and that occasionally works! We have not heard much radio chatter and have seen very few people. I really cannot image the early travelers out here in row boats with tents. No wonder the life span back then was about 40 years.
There are several waterfalls along both sides of this channel and the forest is DENSE. The shoreline drops off quickly with little beach. We are occasionally onlt a few dozen yards from shore in more than 1000’ of water! It continued to be rainy and overcast but it is majestic none-the-less. Lara cooked up a breakfast of potato fries, French toast, bacon and coffee and we watched, “Dances With Wolves”. Exciting times on Antipodes!
Breathtaking! Have you ever been so cold that the air is pulled out of your lungs? Our heater is out so we are bundled up. It is cold. Water Temperature is 48 degrees. Outside temp unknown but we are able to see our breath inside! Jim has read all the manuals etc... so we (that’s a “royal we”) will attempt a repair when we are at Prince Rupert where we can obtain parts.
We selected Lowe Inlet for the night as there is apparently lovely waterfall and it is charming! There was a seal and a group of birds circling the entrance to the falls. They were fishing for their dinner (salmon that are attempting to get upstream). I am sure if we were here long enough we would see a few bears join in the feast.
This inlet had five other boats by the time we buttoned up for the night. Another trawler entered (about our size) and then a 85’ yacht with a crew arrived. The crew has matching rain gear!
A special, “Thank You” to Emily for that Christmas present a few years back – the rain slicker set has gotten some use this trip during the anchoring festivities each evening! It is very quiet and peaceful when anchored. The gentle swing of the boat on the anchor makes for a good nights sleep.
Jim sets an anchor alarm that will go off if the boat sways out of a fixed range. With the new “ground tackle” we would be hard pressed to drag anchor in these benign inlets.
Saturday July 5th, 2008
Port Hardy – Across Queen Charlotte Sound – Pass to the south of Cape Calvert – Northward on Fitz Hugh Sound – Passing between Hunter and Shearwater Islands (Lama Passage) – Northward Pass between Campbell and Chatfield Islands – Anchor at Oliver Cove off Reid Passage behind Cecilia Island
We are finding that this northern territory is a lot more remote than we expected. All of the guide books make mention of the traffic in the Inside Passage and how hard it is to get away from it all. That must have scared everyone away this summer! It’s not unusual to go through an entire day and only see one or two other boats (including commercial traffic). It’s usually only in the evening when we anchor that we see any other boats. .
We have been unable to post because we can’t find any available internet. Part of the problem is that we are running long hours. Our departure is typically 5am and arrival about 7pm. We arrived in Port Hardy and found an internet café – however they had closed by the time we arrived!
Port Hardy puts out an extra floating dock in the summer on their public wharf. There was no room at Garden Harbor so they sent us to the public dock. It was nearly full with large fishing boats but Jim found a way to wedge us in. Two of the fisherman from the near 100’ ship behind us sent crew to help us with our lines (and I am sure to see that we did not bash their boat). These guys looked tough – one looked like a modern day Popeye the Sailor man complete with bald head, earring and goofy grin. However; if Jim bumped their boat I am sure ol’ Popeye would have bent the metal back by hand for both of us! Jim came at the dock at an odd angle (due to the strong current) and the two gentlemen looked nervous. Nevertheless; Jim popped the thrusters and the fellows nearly smiled as Jim shoehorned our boat in the small space.
This dock had a ragbaggedy bunch of vessels on it. As we left the dock for our evening stroll we passed a few folks admiring and photographing our boat!
The town is not much to speak of, it looks a might run down. The gal at the market had lip rings in her upper and lower lops making it difficult for her to talk (and assuring her employment at the market for the rest of her life).
Having found no internet, we headed back to the boat for dinner and bed at 7:30pm!
The lack of internet access has also been a bummer for us because we are reduced to using only the radio weather forecasts which we are finding we are finding difficult to follow since they frequently refer to local place names that may or may not be on our charts.
The radio weather yesterday was for gale force winds (bad) and 25 knot to 35 knot winds (unpleasant). We learned in 2005 that these types of weather reports were not good when one is in a 35’ sailboat. However; Antipodes is a larger and more rugged ship. We are beginning to find out that she (and we) can take these kinds of conditions with ease as long as the seas haven’t had too long to build.
Weather reporting here seems pretty straightforward: Winds from the [North, South, East or West – fill in the blank], wind speeds [Increasing if they are currently low and decreasing if they are currently high], rain showers expected, temperatures in the low to mid 50’s. Just fill in the blanks and repeat each day!
We left this morning (0350- Saturday) into more gale force winds departing Port Hardy for the open ocean (hoping to run straight for 36 to 48 hours along the west coast of Canada) to Ketchikan, Alaska. Our strategy continues to be to take advantage of the weather and to “run” to Alaska as fast as possible and then slow down and enjoy a slower pace on the return.
At first light this morning, Jim was startled (huge adrenalin rush) as he thought he was about to run into rocks that were not identified on the chart. Turns out there were two humpbacks playing in the tidal currents; broaching one after another. Attempts at photographing them were dashed as the boat lurched due to the waves from their splashing – it all happened so fast as the whales saw us and dove for the safety of the deep. Lara missed it as she had gone back to bed after getting underway.
So much for our west coast run (west of all the islands) the weather got uglier and we ducked into the Inside Passage. After reading about the options (inside verses outside passage) we decided to take the safer and more protected route.
Once inside the Inside Passage, the seas were much calmer. It rained all day – cold and overcast. We saw whale spouts. Unless they are beside the boat we are too lazy to even try to photograph them! We have seen a few other boats today and there has been very little radio talk. We watched several movies to pass the time.
In the early afternoon two killer whales surfaced in the bay. It was pouring rain so photographing them was not possible. It was fun to watch them move about. They are really large and much of their head/upper body comes out of the water as they move around. In that same area there was a whale spouting.
We spent much of the day dodging logs (big logs) and decided that running at night would not be possible due to the inability to dodge a log. We anchored at Oliver Cover, arriving around 7pm. There were three boats (one sailboat; one small power boat and a miniature tug looking boat) tucked in for the night. It continued to pour rain so we got fairly wet in the process but got tucked in too as the light dimmed for the evening. The sun does not really go down but rather dims away close to 11pm.
In the process of anchoring, we watched a bald eagle circle the bay and return to his perch. Again, if it had not been pouring and overcast the photos might be better.
OK. We are alive. We are sorry to have concerned anyone. We’re total dummies that really did not think that there would be NO CELL COVERAGE out here. We did not bring the satellite phone either. We would like to thank our friends and loved ones for their emails, text messages, etc. Especially Jim’s lovely mother who wondered if Jim had lost the boat in the poker game! LOL. We did have to purchase a barge to tote away all of his winnings (just kidding!) See July 3rd post below for the continued details of “Shark Eyes Jim” and the Nanaimo Poker Tournament.
At 0500 we departed Lowe Inlet north on Grenville Channel toward Prince Rupert Harbour
It’s hard to be quiet when you start up a big boat and pull up 350’ of anchor chain at 0430. We were the first boat out (as typical so far) and think we might have woken up the other four boats.
We are now on our way into Prince Rupert Harbor (or Harbour as they say it here in the BC).
We are bundled up as it is COLD in here without the heat working. Lara is wearing her Pjs under her pants and shirt. She also has on two jackets – you get the picture.
We have not seen a soul this morning. However; we received a startling DSC alarm. Having never heard this particular alarm before (it s a high pitched ringing bell that really grabs your attention) we spent the first half a minute running around trying to make sure out that we were not on fire (on the other hand the warmth would have initially been welcome). This DSC is an automated broadcast alarm that a boat can activate if they have an emergency and they are ditching their boat. They hit this alarm on their way out. If you have it programmed right, it will send your coordinates out to everyone nearby. How frightening to know that some poor folk were in trouble. It turns out that that a sailboat went aground and the people scrambled to shore – wet but safe.
Sunday July 6th, 2008
At 0500 we departed Oliver Bay west toward Price Island – North on Finlayson Channel (northeast of Princess Royal Island) – North on Grenville Channel (northeast of Pitt Island) – Anchor at Lowe Inlet off Grenville 7pm
We had to circle south of the island and toward Price Island taking us out in the unprotected seas. It was bouncy, dim, COLD and frothy ocean. I think that some might find these conditions frightening. I try not to over think the conditions – I keep telling myself that it’s not THAT remote and that occasionally works! We have not heard much radio chatter and have seen very few people. I really cannot image the early travelers out here in row boats with tents. No wonder the life span back then was about 40 years.
There are several waterfalls along both sides of this channel and the forest is DENSE. The shoreline drops off quickly with little beach. We are occasionally onlt a few dozen yards from shore in more than 1000’ of water! It continued to be rainy and overcast but it is majestic none-the-less. Lara cooked up a breakfast of potato fries, French toast, bacon and coffee and we watched, “Dances With Wolves”. Exciting times on Antipodes!
Breathtaking! Have you ever been so cold that the air is pulled out of your lungs? Our heater is out so we are bundled up. It is cold. Water Temperature is 48 degrees. Outside temp unknown but we are able to see our breath inside! Jim has read all the manuals etc... so we (that’s a “royal we”) will attempt a repair when we are at Prince Rupert where we can obtain parts.
We selected Lowe Inlet for the night as there is apparently lovely waterfall and it is charming! There was a seal and a group of birds circling the entrance to the falls. They were fishing for their dinner (salmon that are attempting to get upstream). I am sure if we were here long enough we would see a few bears join in the feast.
This inlet had five other boats by the time we buttoned up for the night. Another trawler entered (about our size) and then a 85’ yacht with a crew arrived. The crew has matching rain gear!
A special, “Thank You” to Emily for that Christmas present a few years back – the rain slicker set has gotten some use this trip during the anchoring festivities each evening! It is very quiet and peaceful when anchored. The gentle swing of the boat on the anchor makes for a good nights sleep.
Jim sets an anchor alarm that will go off if the boat sways out of a fixed range. With the new “ground tackle” we would be hard pressed to drag anchor in these benign inlets.
Saturday July 5th, 2008
Port Hardy – Across Queen Charlotte Sound – Pass to the south of Cape Calvert – Northward on Fitz Hugh Sound – Passing between Hunter and Shearwater Islands (Lama Passage) – Northward Pass between Campbell and Chatfield Islands – Anchor at Oliver Cove off Reid Passage behind Cecilia Island
We are finding that this northern territory is a lot more remote than we expected. All of the guide books make mention of the traffic in the Inside Passage and how hard it is to get away from it all. That must have scared everyone away this summer! It’s not unusual to go through an entire day and only see one or two other boats (including commercial traffic). It’s usually only in the evening when we anchor that we see any other boats. .
We have been unable to post because we can’t find any available internet. Part of the problem is that we are running long hours. Our departure is typically 5am and arrival about 7pm. We arrived in Port Hardy and found an internet café – however they had closed by the time we arrived!
Port Hardy puts out an extra floating dock in the summer on their public wharf. There was no room at Garden Harbor so they sent us to the public dock. It was nearly full with large fishing boats but Jim found a way to wedge us in. Two of the fisherman from the near 100’ ship behind us sent crew to help us with our lines (and I am sure to see that we did not bash their boat). These guys looked tough – one looked like a modern day Popeye the Sailor man complete with bald head, earring and goofy grin. However; if Jim bumped their boat I am sure ol’ Popeye would have bent the metal back by hand for both of us! Jim came at the dock at an odd angle (due to the strong current) and the two gentlemen looked nervous. Nevertheless; Jim popped the thrusters and the fellows nearly smiled as Jim shoehorned our boat in the small space.
This dock had a ragbaggedy bunch of vessels on it. As we left the dock for our evening stroll we passed a few folks admiring and photographing our boat!
The town is not much to speak of, it looks a might run down. The gal at the market had lip rings in her upper and lower lops making it difficult for her to talk (and assuring her employment at the market for the rest of her life).
Having found no internet, we headed back to the boat for dinner and bed at 7:30pm!
The lack of internet access has also been a bummer for us because we are reduced to using only the radio weather forecasts which we are finding we are finding difficult to follow since they frequently refer to local place names that may or may not be on our charts.
The radio weather yesterday was for gale force winds (bad) and 25 knot to 35 knot winds (unpleasant). We learned in 2005 that these types of weather reports were not good when one is in a 35’ sailboat. However; Antipodes is a larger and more rugged ship. We are beginning to find out that she (and we) can take these kinds of conditions with ease as long as the seas haven’t had too long to build.
Weather reporting here seems pretty straightforward: Winds from the [North, South, East or West – fill in the blank], wind speeds [Increasing if they are currently low and decreasing if they are currently high], rain showers expected, temperatures in the low to mid 50’s. Just fill in the blanks and repeat each day!
We left this morning (0350- Saturday) into more gale force winds departing Port Hardy for the open ocean (hoping to run straight for 36 to 48 hours along the west coast of Canada) to Ketchikan, Alaska. Our strategy continues to be to take advantage of the weather and to “run” to Alaska as fast as possible and then slow down and enjoy a slower pace on the return.
At first light this morning, Jim was startled (huge adrenalin rush) as he thought he was about to run into rocks that were not identified on the chart. Turns out there were two humpbacks playing in the tidal currents; broaching one after another. Attempts at photographing them were dashed as the boat lurched due to the waves from their splashing – it all happened so fast as the whales saw us and dove for the safety of the deep. Lara missed it as she had gone back to bed after getting underway.
So much for our west coast run (west of all the islands) the weather got uglier and we ducked into the Inside Passage. After reading about the options (inside verses outside passage) we decided to take the safer and more protected route.
Once inside the Inside Passage, the seas were much calmer. It rained all day – cold and overcast. We saw whale spouts. Unless they are beside the boat we are too lazy to even try to photograph them! We have seen a few other boats today and there has been very little radio talk. We watched several movies to pass the time.
In the early afternoon two killer whales surfaced in the bay. It was pouring rain so photographing them was not possible. It was fun to watch them move about. They are really large and much of their head/upper body comes out of the water as they move around. In that same area there was a whale spouting.
We spent much of the day dodging logs (big logs) and decided that running at night would not be possible due to the inability to dodge a log. We anchored at Oliver Cover, arriving around 7pm. There were three boats (one sailboat; one small power boat and a miniature tug looking boat) tucked in for the night. It continued to pour rain so we got fairly wet in the process but got tucked in too as the light dimmed for the evening. The sun does not really go down but rather dims away close to 11pm.
In the process of anchoring, we watched a bald eagle circle the bay and return to his perch. Again, if it had not been pouring and overcast the photos might be better.
2 comments:
Lara/Jim, Thanks for the Lat/Long updates today. I have been having great fun following your trip on Google Earth. The scenery looks fabulous!
Wow, I'm glad you guys got to see some awesome wild life. I'm sooo jealous!
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