It’s early April 2020, and unusual things are happening to our world.
We are planning to go further than 2 meters.
This week we went for a short shakedown cruise. We are aiming for a mid-April departure for points north. More than just ‘socially distant’, we are heading out for a wilderness adventure.
We are getting prepared. Janet made some masks in case we need them.
The Isolation Trip begins.
We have embarked on our planned 3 month summer cruise despite the COVID-19 pandemic. Rather that practising Social Distancing at home, we are Isolating on our boat.
Our first stop, at Keats Island in Howe Sound, provided just another reminder for why we are heading out into the wilderness.
These sea lions near Powell River were a welcome sight. Out here life goes on as usual.
We headed out in late April during a stretch of wet and windy weather. We had lots of rain and had to sit out a couple of windy days.
We are pretty self-sufficient on board, with enough food for many weeks. Jan got us off to a good start by making a batch of excellent cinny buns.
A few days later I baked our first loaf of bread. This is ‘beer’ bread. Easy to make, like soda bread but with a yeasty flavour from the beer.
Despite the rain, Jan is enjoying a hot shower on the back deck.
Raven Song anchored off the Orford River in Bute Inlet. We stopped here to look for bears. There was a big grizzly in the grass along the river but the bear was shy and wouldn’t let me take his picture.
Native Pictographs (paintings) and Petroglyphs (carvings) are found all up and down the coast. The ages of these artefacts are unknown, as are the meanings of many of them. Using a couple of publications from the 1970’s as guides, we are on a treasure hunt trying to find as many of these sites as we can along our route.
This pictograph at Green Point Rapids depicts a sad Native Chief throwing his valuable ‘Copper’ into the sea.
Rainy day at Blind Channel.
The next morning the clouds broke up and we had a couple of nice, but chilly days.
I set my exercise bike up so that I can pedal while we cruise.
First Ling Cod of the trip!
The ling cod provided several meals including this tasty chowder.
This sea urchin came up in the crab trap. There were no crabs but Jan is excited to try the urchin.
In Forward Harbour there are these cool petroglyphs on the beach.
We outlined some of the designs with chalk to make them easier to see.
More petroglyphs, this time at Port Neville, off Johnstone Strait. These were hard to find so we were excited to spot them.
Jan is getting ready to make a rubbing.
Early morning in Port Neville.
Detail of a pictograph at the entrance to Knight Inlet.
We headed part way up Knight Inlet in search of bears. Knight Inlet has steep sides scarred by numerous landslides.
At Glendale Cove we saw this grizzly grazing along the shore of the estuary. This bear still has its full winter coat. The grizzlies here are easy to photograph as there is a bear viewing resort located in the Cove and the bears are habituated to the presence of people.
Just down the shore from the grizzly was this black bear. We were surprised to see them so close together as the black bears usually avoid the grizzlies.
A group of dolphins leaping for fish in Knight Inlet.
Finally, some nice weather! I moved my exercise bike upstairs so that I could pedal with a view in Tribune Channel.
Lacy Falls in Tribune Channel.
More pictographs – this is a detail of a series of Coppers , located at the head of Kingcome Inlet. Coppers represented wealth, and perhaps this display at the entrance to the village was a proclamation of the wealth of the tribe.
New pictograph at the head of Kingcome Inlet. This 38 foot tall painting was created by Marianne Nicolson in 1999. The making of this painting, and the legends and history behind it are described eloquently in the book Two Wolves at the Dawn of Time by Judith Williams.
We took the dinghy a few miles up the Wakeman River, at the head of Wakeman Inlet. Beautiful scenery, but the fast-flowing river made for an exciting dinghy ride.
Leaving the deep inlets and mountains, we moved out to the edge of Queen Charlotte Strait. Here we spent a morning paddling among islands and rocks with great views of mountains on both Vancouver Island and the mainland.
This dinner featured the first salad from Jan’s rooftop garden, grilled sablefish, and squash cooked in a foil pack on the bbq.
Early morning reflections as we contemplate arriving in Port McNeill tomorrow for our first re-contact with society. We have been Isolated for 18 days.
Raven Song at the docks in Port McNeill. We are here for two days to stock up on groceries and do chores such as laundry, boat cleaning and maintenance and fill up with fuel and water. All the while brushing up on our Social Distancing skills. Port McNeill is our favourite re-supply stop as everything is so close to the marina. No dinner at the pub this time, though, but maybe some takeout pizza tonight.