2016 Broughtons Cruise – Part 2

Cruise on the “Plan B” – August – Sept. 2016

PART 2 – September

Thursday, September 1, 2016 – Blunden Harbour

Erin and Sheila disembarked at Port McNeil.  I re-supplied with groceries and headed across Queen Charlotte Sound to Blunden Harbour on the north side.

Deluge at Blunden Harbour, and clearing skies afterward. This deluge revealed a number of deck leaks in the Plan B, which tormented me for the rest of the trip, and will have to be dealt with before the next trip!

The beach and signs at Blunden Harbour, former site of a significant Native village.

Tidal rapids and foam in Bradley lagoon.

Rock totem.

Evening light at Shelter Bay.

Saturday, September 3, 2016 – Miles Inlet

Woke up to the sound of rain on the deck. Got up and looked around –seemed like it would be a nice day. Continued north up the coast. Saw two cruise ships further out. Later, saw the Alaska State Ferry heading north – had seen them going south a couple of days ago. Also passed the Coast Guard supply ship anchored among the islands.

My GPS charts did not go further north than the Southgate Islands, so after that I was on my own with the paper charts. The GPS still showed my route, speed, and position – just no chart.

Some of these amazing windswept shores!

Beach at Wilkie Point, just north of Burnett Bay. This was my furthest north point on this trip. After a lunch break and some beach time, I turned around and headed south.

Beautiful still morning at Miles Inlet.

Heading out I heard rushing water – in the north arm of the anchorage there was a tidal waterfall happening. Would be fun to play around in at the right stage of tide – right now there was a four foot drop!

Visibility was limited so I turned on the radar and set a compass course for the Walker Group – diagonally across QC Strait. Part way along an island appeared ahead that wasn’t on the chart! After a few minutes it turned into a ship – looks like another Alaska ferry.

Anchored in the Walker group.

Port McNeill harbour – commercial docks.

The Coastal Messenger Mission boat.

Wednesday, Sept. 7, 2016 – Port McNeill

Janet arrived in the early afternoon.

Easthope engine, Sointula museum.

Toxin dispenser – they had several!

The unique church in Alert Bay with Russian influenced details.

Chilkat blanket in the museum – these are very labour-intensive.

Archival photo of Winter Harbour.

Today was a whale watching day.  It was also the day that the upper steering cable broke while maneuvering around the whales.  I disconnected it and we spent the rest of the trip steering from inside the cabin.

These were transient Orcas hunting sea lions.

Agitated sea lions missing one of their group who fell victim to the Orcas.

Repeated tail slapping by a humpback whale.

Sunday, September 11, 2016 – Goat Island Anchorage

Jan taking her birthday calls.

Launching the kayaks for a paddle to Mamalillacula.

The remaining village poles at Mamalillacula.

Coming back to our stuff, Janet spotted a bear just down the beach!

We were glad to have seen the bear on the beach, and not on the trail!

Happy 58^th Birthday Janet!

Heading up Knight Inlet.

Landslides along the steep shores.

Knight Inlet evening.

Full crab trap!

We gradually slipped out of the fog into a clear morning.

It was a long run up Knight Inlet, but the views were impressive. The inlet sides were steep with a lot of cliffs. The mountains got higher and more dramatic as we went along.

At Cascade Point there is a great waterfall.

Icefields started to appear, and the water had turned milky white (and fresh, as it turned out). This is looking up Wahshihlas Bay, where we anchored for the night:

The Franklin River valley – a beautiful braided river with ice-cold water.

Wolf tracks on the beach.

Evening moon at the head of Knight inlet.

Wednesday, Sept. 14, 2016 – Wahshihlas Bay, Knight Inlet

Came across a moose antler!

We spent the afternoon along the river, having a picnic lunch and enjoying the scenery and the warm sun. I do love these braided river valleys!

Would have been nice to go for a swim but the water was ice-cold!

Back at the boat, we cruised down the inlet a ways and then shut the engine and drifted. Floated around all evening enjoying the glassy calm water and being surrounded by scenery. Finished off the crab and had a bit of pasta to round it out.

Cruised back to Wahshihlas bay just as it was getting dark. The moon was shining across the bay as we snuggled into bed early.

View back up to the head of the inlet:

Ling cod for dinner!

Whale in Thomson Sound

Paddle up the river in the rain…

Cruised over to the Burdwoods and anchored in tight among the islands, just off the east side of the pretty little shell beach.

Janet’s Ikebana from flowers collected at Mamlillacula:

Janet made an excellent chowder from the rest of the fish. We had two dinners and two lunches from that ling cod and they were all excellent.

Brief stop at Echo Bay to check out the store, which was rather empty as it’s now pretty much the end of cruising season.

Views from the Goat Island anchorage in the Broughtons.

A different style of cruising.

Janet had lots of time to knit, and finished this fun toque with earflaps along the way.

Approaching Helmcken Island in the rain.

Speeding past whirlpools through Seymour Narrows.

Reflections in the anchorage.

Nest morning Janet disembarked and headed home. I went to the fuel dock to fill up and then the starter quit. So I took it out (not easy!) and took it into a shop for repair.

Spent the night at the fuel dock.

Long, boring run down Georgia Strait on a beautiful day.

Had to duck in behind the breakwater at Trail Bay in Sechelt due to rough weather.

Heading out at dawn from Sechelt – nice and calm today!

Approaching the Art Laing Bridge several hours later – not in the wilderness anymore!

I parked the boat at Skyline Marina and took the skytrain home. Just getting on to the skytrain was a culture shock! All these people, living all these different lives – most of them could probably not relate to what I had just been through.

Later on:

In October I had the starboard fuel tank cleaned by a fuel polishing service:

In November I took out the steering cable and ordered a new one:

Getting the old cable out was a challenge in itself. Here is the section that went upstairs.

And here I am with my head down by the hull trying to see why the cable won’t pull out:

2017 Cruise preparations

Summer time is here again and the Plan B is heading out on another cruise!
But first, a quick look at some of the preparations.  Lots of maintenance happened over the winter and spring, including a new steering cable, new batteries, boarding ladder, fuel polishing, and lots of  scraping, sanding and varnishing.  Several people helped – Janet tackled just about everything, Phil sanded and varnished the cabin door, and Paul diligently cleaned up dozens of parts that no one will ever know but make a big difference to the final result.  Here are a few pics:

This was the condition of the woodwork when we started.  Janet spent hours scraping off the old varnish.

Janet tarping over the freshly sanded railing to prepare for a couple of days of rain.

Phil took this door home and re-finished it – Thanks Phil!

The bowsprit was removed for re-finishing and re-bedding to prevent leaks.

The finished job – a big improvement!

We didn’t get everything done (it’s a boat, after all!) but summer time is here and the rest of the to-do list will have to wait until after the cruise!