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KNOCK ON WOOD 4:30 AM: I woke up hearing Larry stirring around up above. He came down briefly and said it was foggy and the weather report still looks good. He says we have half an hour before we’ll leave. I get up, wash my face, brush my teeth, put contacts in, got dressed, lock the windows up, stow and secure things and looked at Ziggy who is stretched out in a deep sleep on the bed. Poor guy, he has no idea what we are doing today. Larry brings down a cup of coffee to help me wake me up.
Its 49 degrees out. I have a couple gulps of coffee and button down any loose cabinets in the salon and galley while Larry takes Zig out on the Portuguese walk to have a last chance to go while in a calm situation. No go. There’s no going to shore
this morning as we want to get started as soon as we can see. We crank
everything up and I feel a little bad making so much noise as I’m sure we
woke the two fishermen who came in last night so quietly and are probably
so tired. The anchor chain comes up with no glitches and off we go out
the narrow cut and into the channel leading out to Hecate Strait. The
sunlight is just beginning to penetrate through the foggy mist and we can
see quite well actually. We have 1 knot of wind so far and seas are flat
(knock on wood).
I should get up this early every morning as it is so amazingly beautiful. The fog has snuggled around in the coves of all these many little islands. The dark black and grey mountains behind us are beautiful. There’s an orange pink spot above the mountains and under the lavender clouds where the sun is trying to come up. It is so amazingly beautiful. The sky is many shades of pink, lavender, purple, grey, silver and blue. The waters are reflecting all those colors too.
There are some big dead trees floating out here. Imagine being out here in big seas and running into those things. A fishing boat was coming out the channel behind us but veered off along the shore. Up ahead we both thought we saw a sailboat mast and were silently happy that we maybe had someone going with us today. But he’s disappeared. I think it was a figment of our imaginations. As I search for it with my binoculars I can see some ripples off in the horizon. Our course is 231 degrees, SW, feels like we are going NW.
6:20 AM: We can see a big boat far in the distance coming out of the fog bank by Prince Rupert. It's probably the ferry.
It has been a beautiful calm day. The swells are so gentle and small. Larry actually took a nap. This trip was just too easy. What were we thinking all these weeks? All that worry. I guess it was all that worry, now over with, that made him tired. Of course, I’m still not taking this for granted yet. We're not there at the dock yet. We sent an email to our friends Joe and Fran. They are our friends who are flying up to meet us in the Queen Charlottes and spend a week with us. They are also the reason that kept us going on this strenuous schedule that we’ve been keeping. It was an unbelievable strain to get here on the scheduled date that they were coming. At times we would complain about it but in the end it was good because it kept us going. Maybe we would have found an excuse not to push ourselves so hard to get here. Maybe we would have found an excuse to just not come. We kept telling them, "Don't book your flight to Queen Charlottes until we are actually there!" So, I was finally elated to be able to emaile half way across telling them “OK, book the flight as we are half way, flat as a pancake, and not turning around to go back.” We’ll send them another email when we arrive. Little scoters, birds, are passing us going 8.8 knots with a good 4 ½ knot wind in their faces. Hearty little stinkers.
10:50 PM: I awake after a nap too. We are an hour out from Lawn Hill. That’s the point the Haida captain told us to head toward “to keep you off the shoals of Sandspit”. We can visually see the north east end of the island all the way to Rose Spit where the Haida legend believes mankind was created and in the other direction we can see all the way to the southern end where we will journey to see the old village sites. We also see a couple buildings on the hill straight ahead which must be Queen Charlotte City or more likely Skidegate. We are fighting a little current at the moment so have slowed down to 7 knots and the winds have increased a little, only 10 knots coming on our nose which is from the SW. We’ve got lots of fluffy clouds hovering over the islands and streaky ones across the strait below us (means some winds down there) and puffy ones to the north towards Alaska. The water still is flat and creamy, like oil, but clean and safe. I can’t help but wonder about the Haida crossing these seas in their cedar canoes. Imagine an open canoe with no protection, powered only by their strength and skill with pointed paddles. Of course seas like today even a modern day kayaker could come across. I can’t imagine it being any calmer calm than this. Larry really timed the passage perfectly. Three cheers for Larry!!! I was really frightened of this crossing having read too much and listened to too many warnings, thought I really tried not to. IThere were just too many people warning us how rough and dangerous it can get and how shallow the water is and how the winds come up unexpectedly, etc. I guess we were very fortunate today. Knock on wood. LOOTAAS I can’t help also but
think about the canoe that Bill Reed made called Lootass.
Original oil by Gordon Miller © 1988
(Check out this website for some great images of what these islands and their native people were like!)
Once inside the channel we had plenty of depth. It averaged between 150-79 feet deep.
The Coast Guard boat veers off to port after the green marker. They are heading straight to Sandspit Marina. That’s our destination today also but we are so excited to see everything we decide to cruise down past Skidegate and check out the harbor and anchorage at Queen Charlotte City just for the fun of it before we head to the marina. I’m surprised to see so many houses along the shore of Graham Island to north of us which are the little villages of Skidegate and Queen Charlotte City. It is much more civilization that we expected and more than we’ve seen for the last several weeks coming up the desolate BC Coast.
We head in towards Queen Charlotte City area and the depth gets shallower as you come around the point. As we come in close to the public docks and near the anchorage it drops to about 20 feet deep. We saw two sailboats anchored nearby and the docks looked full. It looked like the docks were mostly filled with fishing boats and local small boats. There were no cruisers that we could see at the docks. It was low tide and the shore was exposed as drying flats close to the marina making it look a little intimidating to get in there.
Now I think it has finally hit us. We are getting pretty tired. The mental anguish of worrying about the crossing was over. Even though it was the calmest day at sea we’ve ever had it was mentally a strain just the worry that lead up to it. It was almost anti climatic in a strange way. You jut felt like it was too easy and we couldn’t possibly be here. Knock on wood.
Now the trek back to get to the marina seemed so far. We saw the ferry again crossing back. It must go back and forth quite frequently. We passed behind him and then pointed Knotty Dog as straight as we could for the shortest route to Sandspit. In the distance, I spot a large yacht off in the distance that must have just come across too and it is racing down the long entrance channel. He’s got a wake going like you wouldn’t believe. Larry tried hailing the marina again but no answer, and then we heard the other yacht started hailing the marina, over and over, and no answer. Larry had sent an email to the marina also a couple days ago to see about getting a slip but we never got an answer back.
Now we feel like we are
in a race to get to the marina in some comical way. This guy is just
going gangbusters down the channel a few miles away and we’re plodding
along as usual. Larry speeds up a little and we laugh like it’s a race. It
reminded me of that movie with Gary Cooper where he was Amish and was
racing his buggy with the neighbor who wasn't Amish and had a fancy new
fast race horse.
Larry kind of had that same twinkle in his eye as we were no match for him
as it also was kind of like the rabbit and the hare.
We made it, just in time
before the fast yacht. We head in and follow the little sticks marking the
safe way in. We come around and into the shelter of the breakwater and
see that the long dock that we assumed they would have us tie up to is
completely filled with boats just as we feared. We hail the
dock master again and again and still no one answers us back. The only
place we see that we can fit is on the open dock that looks like it’s a
Coast Guard dock protected from the other docks by locked gates. We
see a couple people on the fuel dock but no one seems to be concerned
about helping us. I go out on the bow and yell to them, asking if they
know where we can dock and where the harbor masteris? A grey haired woman says “There’s no room.”
She seemed a bit tiffed at us. I asked if we could tie up at the empty
place that I assumed was the Coat Guard space. She said we can tie up
there for a short time. I told her
there’s another big boat coming in being us. She looked very stressed and
threw up here hands land said "What she's supposed to do?"
We tied up at the Coast Guard Dock, left the engines on and Larry got off the boat to go talk to her. I knew that he would figure something out. So I watched as he talked with her and they began pointing here and there. I couldn’t hear anything but knew they were discussing moving boats, etc. to make room. Meanwhile the boat that we imagined was racing us came into the channel and harbor. Now we have two big boats in this little marina with not much room to maneuver around. If we weren’t at the Coast Guard dock temporarily tied up it would have been a little nuts in here trying to maneuver for room. Finally Larry comes back and says she going to have some of the fishermen move their boats and we’ll go on the outer dock and she’s going to put the boat that just came in behind us inside and unfortunately for him in a difficult spot to get into up near the dock ramp. I looked over there and thought, thank goodness we were here first or we would have to be going into that spot. We saw the grey haired woman (who I find out now from Larry is the dock master) walk around to the outer docks telling the fisherman to move one of their big fishing boats. He starts up his engine right away, back out and rafts up to a big heap of a boat behind him. Larry says "that’s where she is going to put us." I keep thinking if they snug up a catamaran there or move it to a slip more suited to it's size, then there will be enough room for all of us. It looks like that's what the grey haired woman has in mind. Everyone in the marina is watching as things are happening and the two of us big boats are hovering, engines running. The dock master tries to stir the people from the catamaran but no one seems to be answering or aboard. So I assume they are gone. Finally some guy comes out of the catamaran as slow as can be and the dock master talks with him. The dock master walks back around the docks to the fuel dock again. I can see Larry talking to her again. He comes back and Larry by now is on first name basis with the dock master and said Kathy was going to have the catamaran move but the people in the catamaran “insisted on finishing their lunch first”. So we all sat around with engines running, and still the other boat was trying to stay in the small open area in the marina while we all waited for these people to eat their lunch. In the mean time Larry asked the big fast boat behind us how big he was and he said he was 67 feet. Well, that's 7 feet bigger than us and so he really should have the outer dock space over us. So Larry and the dock master looked at each other and Larry said, “Well, he should go on the outer dock then and we’ll go back in the other space.” Oh darn, that means we get the impossible looking slip back in the narrow channel.back in by the ramp. Larry thinks he can get in there. We both look and study it. He’ll have to turn around in there to get into the slip but I don’t think there is enough room. Finally he decides he’ll just turn her around here and back her down the whole way. That means out and around the fuel dock and all the way down the channel and into the slip. It’s the only way. We’ll have to do a port tie and I’m rigged for a starboard, our preferred tie up. So we cast off from the dock and I begin to re-rigg the lines and fenders for a port tie as Larry slowly begins the approach to the back slip. Meanwhile Larry has yelled to the big fast boat behind us that they will be going in where the catamaran is and where the fishing boat just left which MV Polaris is very happy hear. I’m working as fast and hard as I can to get the line and fenders changed and since we have no gangway on that side it’s not ean asy quick job. I have to run through the salon, in and out doors, carrying and transferring fenders and lines and all the while try to watch out for Larry who is beginning to back her down. I’m like his second eyes for the blind spots. As I’m doing all this, and totally stressed out, I hear someone yelling “Excuse Me!” It’s that “Excuse Me” that Steve Martin made famous. You know, the one where you say it with that up and down irritated over exaggerated whine, the way you would say it if someone was is in your way. It turns out to be coming from the woman off the catamaran. You know, the people that we all had to wait for while they ate their lunch. I looked up and realized to my great surprise that she’s talking to us. I say, “Are you talking to us?” She is very irritated and says, “Would you PLEASE move out of our way so we can get out?” We had already started our approach in so it didn’t make any sense that we should have to back up now and let them come out off the dock as then we’d all three be in the little harbor space trying to keep from hitting each other. I told her simple “No, we’re continuing past you and going to the back dock.” I guess in hind sight she must have thought we were trying to come in where she was or where the fisherman had left or something that didn’t make sense. But once she knew we were going back there she lost interest in us. She’s a snippy little thing, very irritated that they had to move to make way for another boater to dock. So after hurrying as fast as I could, I got the lines rigged. Larry by now is backing her down in to what I thought was a next to impossible spot to get in. I stand out on the bow to make sure he had enough room to make the turn into the slip and that we didn’t hit the bow of a boat that was sticking way out in the channel (as he too was way too big for the slip that he was in too). Once he made this turn it meant he’d already be into the slip, and then I’d have to run to the stern of the boat and get off on the dock and tie the lines. Larry gets her in but soon we see the dock isn’t really big enough so a good part of the boat is sticking out with nothing to tie too. I’d say at least half the boat. Also there is a post at the back of the stern in the slip that I had to tie an extra fender to the swim step in a worst case scenario that we bumped into it. So he passed the bow of the other boat with a foot to spare and then I hurried back to the stern but the dock lady was there and a boater on MV Spirit Chaser were already grabbing lines and helping so a difficult situation all went well thanks to their help and we were in our slip and settled miraculously. Whew. The catamaran then moved to a slip more suited to their size and MV Polaris pulled in nicely alongside the big dock. Everything worked out just fine. We also had lots of power where we were. It was the best power we’ve had yet. We’ll be able to run everything, no problem!
We found out later that the reason no one answers the radio is that Kathy, the dock master, has to do everything. She’s the only here in the morning and late afternoon to early evening and while she’s here she works the fuel dock which is non stop busy with sports fishing boat and fishing boats fueling up. In between all that she goes to the airport and fuels up the airplanes. So she’s working all day long. and I guess that last thing that she needs to deal with are a couple unexpected cruisers showing up. You can see and understand now, there’s no time for the radio. Wow, we were here. It was almost like a dream as it was so easy. Knock on wood, because we still have to get back to the mainland in a couple weeks. I was exhausted and spent the rest of the day collapsed and Larry was so excited he was chit chatting on the docks picking everyone’s brains on places to anchor, etc. and well he just used it as an excuse to talk to people and see what they do and where they’ve been, etc. He was loving every minute of it and it was a joy to watch him. There’s not much around here as far as stores or restaurants and if you are determined to find something like that, it’s a 2.5 mile hike down to the airport where there is one hotel café and a small gift shop. So we had a nice dinner on the boat that night and actually had TV reception and were able to watch a movie. It’ didn’t matter that I had a nap in the afternoon I was still dead dog tired that night and we could hardly wait for it to be a descent time to respectably go to bed as we were ready about 7:00 but managed to stay up to about 8:30. We made it. We’re at Queen Charlotte Islands! Knock on wood. |
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Soon we are all up in the
pilot house. I read the weather report, it look amazingly calm: .5
meter waves, 14 seconds, wind 1 knot. It’s foggy in the anchorage and
dark. I look out and can see two little fishing boats that I thought came
in last night when I felt some vibration and smelled a little exhaust.
They were rafted with each other, snuggled together nicely.
We’ve got Banks Island to
our left. It’s another option for a safe anchorage before you cross or to
get into after coming back across. Just beyond it is Bonilla Island which
looks rugged and treeless from this distance. Off course off to our right
is an inlet called Deadman’s Inlet which makes you wonder how it got its
name. 
8:26 AM: Well, the ferry
boat is actually the Coast Guard and we think they are headed to the buoy
in the center of Hecate Strait. Maybe they are buoy tenders. The
ghostly sailboat emerged again out of the mist off in the distance. We
gradually
passed them. It’s so flat and calm out here that he hasn’t even put a
sail up until now but still there’s no wind to speak of. Knock on wood.
It arrived here in Skidegate, the very same place we’re headed, on July
11, 1987. It was commissioned for the 86 Expo and proudly the name means
Wave Eater. It’s symbolic of the Haida people and all that
they have lost and their pride for what they are and were. They paddled
Lootaas from north of Vancouver to here. Several times they
changed crew and the final crew was 10 paddlers with Bill Reid on the bow
as they were greeted by 2000 people on shore in Skidegate. That must have
been a great sight and a great rebirth for these people after having lost
everything. It must have given them such pride in their heritage.
You can smell the forest
now as there is a breeze blowing off the shore. We see lots of birds,
murrelets in the water. I’ve never seen somany little birds like that. We’re surprised to see a few cars on the shore road. We can’t find
the marker that is supposed to line up with range markers on the shore.
They were supposed to lead us past the dangers of the shallow shoal that
extends out from Sandspit. The
Coast Guard boat, that's been behind us all day, is cutting in a shorter way.
We’ve been watching him in the distance most of the day. The can and beacon are reversed and moved in position.
There is a beacon on the shore but no can to line it up with. We
continue on according to the chart plotter mostly but decide to divert
southward to the second buoy.
We watched the depths and had mostly 25 feet below us. The Coast Guard went across the shoal by the
first red buoy much farther south of us and made up time against us. Now
we are following them in. Nothing made sense or matched the charts but we were fine entering
the channel here. I guess it’s OK for them to cross below
the marked entrance as they have a shallow draft and the seas are flat,
and well, know these waters. After all they are the Coast Guard.
I can imagine in high seas with big waves the dangers that can lurk here
and then I wouldn't want to take the chances on cutting the entrance short
like that. You’d have to be
very concerned about the depths then. 
We
are so excited to be here and just almost can’t believe it. We're in
the channel and the crossing is overwith. But the channel is long
and soon the
excitement kind of dwindles as you soon realize you've got another hour to
get in to the harbor. We see some clear cut
logging along the hills to our right which is sruprising along with the
amount of traffic, cars and trucks along the road parralleling the shore.. There are several cottages on the
hill ahead in Skidegate. There are two little islets off the shore and
that’s where the Haida museum is and where the new Haida Center is being
built. It is fashioned architecturally like a Haida village and looks
like they are nearing completion for their projected 2007 date. That will
be exciting to see. 
We see the little local
BC Island ferry ahead with a car ramp out flat both on the front and the
stern. It just goes back and forth from Skidegate to Moresby Island. It
crosses Skidegate Channel connecting the people from Graham Island to
Moresby Island (north Charlotte island to south Charlotte islands). The
islands are split in half here and it is the only way to connect with a
car. 
The town looked like a
cluster of little quaint cottages and small buildings. It’s a small little village
considering it's the most populated village on the island. We
decided we’d better head back in the direction we came and get to Sandspit Marina
now as it was getting late and we were getting pretty tired now. We
had heard Sandspit has a great marina. 
