PortHardy to Prince Rupert

Sorry for the delay in posting but we had about a week of no connection or cell signal while cruising up the Northern BC Coast.  The northern BC Coast is an absolutely beautiful area to cruise but very remote.  If you want to get away, you will do it here.  Now we are at Prince Rupert waiting on weather.  It’s really been blowing in Dixon Channel so we’re waiting with several other boats for the front to pass.  We thought we might have had a window Wednesday morning but we decided it was too small a window  with the worst of the storm still to come.  So we decided against going and so did everyone else.  So here we sit, in the rain, in the wind, dark clouds, feeling like we can touch Alaska. 

We’ve combined our posts that we did while we had no connectivity so you’re getting a lot at once.

We had a wonderful crossing around Cape Caution.  Seas were calm, light winds from the SE, so all was well. 

 Once we were around Cape Caution we headed inside FitzHugh Sound (another whale siting) for Fury Cove.  What a Place!!  Beach between the trees and you could see out over the beach into FitzHugh Sound to see what it was like outside, but inside was one of the calmest anchorages we have ever found.  A little tricky to get into, through the rocks and shallows but well worth the effort.  The swells from FitzHugh Sound disappear as soon as you get inside the rocks.  We ran Molly until she was good and tired.

Fury Cove to Ocean Falls

This was kind of a long day on the water all the way up to Ocean Falls.  The town in the middle of nowhere.. ..  and I mean nowhere.  Get a load of the sign pointing to the grocery store, which is open only 2 hours 3 days a week, and the bar.  Nothing else in this town.  But the docks are in really good shape and only 50cents/foot.  Water and power are iffy and internet is really weak, but what can you expect.  Didn’t really expect any power, water, or internet.  So very pleasantly surprised.  There we ran into 2 other boats headed for Alaska.  We have been so lucky with weather.  I can’t believe how nice it has been.

Ocean Falls to Oliver Cove

Another beautiful day.  We reached Oliver Cove much earlier than we thought because in talking to the folks at Ocean Falls and searching the charts, we found some shortcuts.  Get a load of the narrow passage and rocks in Gunboat Passage. 

Also the narrow entrance to Reid Passage.

 We spent the afternoon sitting on the back deck in shorts and teeshirts.  Had to put the sunscreens on the windshield to cut down on the sun in the boat.  The guide book talks about a small beach at Oliver Cove.  They weren’t kidding!  So Molly went swimming to use up some of her energy and that did the trick.  She was out for hours.  What a day!  But weather is coming.  Although you’d never know it tonight.

Oliver Cove to Lowes Inlet

We left Oliver Cove and decided to go all the way up Fraser Reach to Kynoch Inlet to see the waterfalls.  So many waterfalls!!!  Get a load of these pics

That night we stayed in Windy Cove.  Wasn’t windy at all, just deep.  But we found a nice corner out of the wind and had a very pleasant night.  We woke up the next morning to fog but made our way to Bishop Bay Hot Springs

More waterfalls along the way

When we got to Bishop Bay we were informed that we were coming into Canada’s Holiday weekend.  Bishop Bay is too deep to anchor (over 110 ft deep).  There is a small float at the head of the bay for smaller boats and two mooring balls.  We got there early enough to get one of the mooring balls and one the boats we had met earlier in the week was able to get the other one.  We went in and took a dip in the hot springs and then had a rousing game of Mexican Train with Jim and Peg from Nightfall.

The hot springs are in a little building, open on 2 sides looking out on the water.  Had planned on getting pics of that but a few things happened.  After our Mexican Train game we all went to take our respective dogs to shore for “potty before bed” and in comes a fishing boat.  It’s after 9:00, (it stays light until 10 now) and the float is full and so are the mooring balls.  Remember, holiday weekend.  So he decides to just tie up to us, WITHOUT PERMISSION.  And, since we weren’t expecting anyone to raft, we didn’t have any fenders out.  We get back to our boat and rushed around to put fenders between the boats.  Fortunately it was a calm night.  Their piece of crap boat against our newly painted hull.  We weren’t happy!! To say the least.  We came out of it with just two tiny scratches and a bunch of crab junk on our hull.  Then we had to roust them in the morning so we could leave.  They promised us they would be gone by 6 am to go fishing.  THAT DIDN’T HAPPEN!  But with all the excitement, we didn’t get back to the hot springs to get pictures of the tubs.  We might have to stop on the way back, as long as it’s not a holiday weekend.

The next day we made our way up Grenville Channel to Lowe Inlet.  There we ran into more boats headed to Alaska and a couple headed south.  The attraction to Lowe Inlet is, you guessed it, a waterfall.  This waterfall doubles in size between low and high tide.  Fun to watch.

A couple of boats were anchored right in front the waterfall, like is done at Princess Louisa, so we anchored off to the side.  Another peaceful night.

Lowes Inlet to Prince Rupert

The next morning we got up early in hopes of catching a favorable current up the rest of Grenville channel.  We had to fight the ebb for about 1 ½ hours and then what was supposed to be a strong ebb never seemed to happen until we were almost out of Grenville.  Once in Prince Rupert, we ran into Mairead, another boat headed to Alaska and they had left Lowe after we did and had the same experience.  The tides and currents in Grenville Channel are based on Wrangell Alaska and it appears, not very accurate. 

So here we are in Prince Rupert.  We have seen eagles flying all over the place and roosting on pilings right next to the sidewalk.  Wish I’d had my camera then.  Hopefully, we’ll get some pics of them before we leave.  It’s pretty stormy today so we’re holed up in the boat.  Not many people out and about. 

Next stop Alaska.  Hopefully on Friday!