The Past Week

A pretty anchorage in the Pearse Islands. You wouldn't think it would be a nice place to be -- it's just a slot between two islands and the current RUNS through -- but it was great! The anchor set with a very satisfying 'WHANGGGGGGG'!

From there we set out for parts north, intending to meet up with friends aboard Grey Hawk, returning from Alaska. We heard them early on the radio, but they couldn't hear us. Finally we made contact and decided Waddington Bay is where we'd meet. We spent three days sharing the bay, stories, and food. The weather was rather miserable though! And I can't believe I didn't take any pictures.

We said our farewells by radio on Sunday evening, and Monday morning when we got up, they were gone. Their boat is going to a broker when they return, so this is perhaps the last time we will see our friends on the water. But we hope to meet up again sometime, either when they bring their land yacht down the coast, or if we have call to drive through Saskatchewan!

At the east end of Arrow Passage, we saw a family of orcas! The closest we've seen in a long time.

We had heard about this. But also heard that boats still tie up to it. In one picture we saw in a 2003 guide book it still looked pretty good.  But the past 13 years have been a steep decline.

Nature is taking it back.

We tied up anyway, but I don't think the float will last much longer. It's not 'floating' much -- the decking was ON the water. We took the dinghy out for a tour, but it was a short trip because it was SO COLD!!!!

Beautiful morning reflections. I took a series of photos before I saw them......

Angels!

More Bears!

We anchored in Sargeaunt Passage with the intention of heading north and checking out several spots on Tribune Channel, but the weather reports were not favorable.

AND the cupboards were getting rather bare, so we decided to head south to Potts Lagoon instead to hold up for a few days on our way to Port McNeil.

We were keeping our eyes open at Sargeaunt Passage anyway, but a friend let us know that bears and cubs do frequent this anchorage. And sure enough.....

This pair looks so healthy with thick shiny coats and wrassling rocks. They were in sight for probably an hour or more!

Knight Inlet - Day 3

There was a brief hour or so where we were worried the waves would make it a rough night, but I think it was the turn of the tide. The wind and waves calmed, but it rained heavily through the night. We had a leisurely breakfast - we knew the trip DOWN the inlet would go faster - before setting out for Glendale Cove and another chance to watch the grizzlies.

Anchor up and on the way. Welcome to June.
We are missing the sunny May weather we had in Desolation Sound.

Every nook on this mountainside in Glacier Bay has its own cloud.

We notice a lot more waterfalls on the way down. Cascade Falls even has a companion that wasn't there on our way up, making it into the 'twin falls' mentioned in The Curve of Time by M. Wylie Blanchet.

 We arrive at Glendale Cove just before lunchtime. The guide boats are out and there are bears everywhere! We drop anchor behind a sailboat, and we are further from shore and further south from our position a few days before. We are further from Nursery Point, but have a better view of the meadow.

Straight ashore is Frank.

And Flora. We think this is the pair we called Romeo and Juliet.

Later we learn that this is Stella, a year old, and her mother Lenore. They move down shore and spend a significant length of time in front of the 'Bus Depot'. I knew that bears will eat grass, but Al says he had no idea that they will graze like cows!

Stella and Lenore are just out of the picture on the right. The car held two employees waiting for the shuttle boat to come pick them up. There is a group of patrons who were dropped off  by the bus from the viewing stands, walking across the tideland to the landing craft -- look closely for the red and yellow jackets -- merely yards away from grizzlies!

My camera works better when the sun comes out.
That's mama Lenore eating, and Stella is lying in the grass to the right of her.

Now on Nursery Point is the mama with the triplets - a big brown dot with three little black ones to the left of her.

One of the cubs even stands up to look around.

The next morning a few bears were out turning over rocks. This one was the closest, straight ashore from the boat.

We were glad for the opportunity to explore Knight Inlet in quite settled weather, except for the rain. We chose this time of year rather than later, having heard that the summer winds can really howl.

Knight Inlet - Day 2

5AM. No, I didn't get up this early on purpose.
It's been a rainy night, and it doesn't look good for mountain viewing in a fjord.

So we dawdle, and by 10AM the clouds have risen a bit, and there are even bits of sky peeking.

We don't have to go far before the color of the water changes, dramatically.
Knight Inlet collects lots of glacial melt.

We had many chances to watch dolphins! They are very difficult to capture on camera.
For more info: http://www.dolphins-world.com/pacific-white-sided-dolphin/

Spire Peaks, nearly vertical granite faces.

Cascade Falls, with Glacier Bay opening up behind the point.

 Try to imagine the above three photos as a panoramic: Green valley on the left, granite middle, Cascade Falls on the right. Everything opened up so green, I felt like I was on the set of Jurassic Park. It is a mile and a half to the beach, but I glimpse a huge splash. We grab binoculars and see that it is a whale! Most likely a humpback.

We have seen lots of logging sites, but none have seemed to be active. This one is! This is where we see the third of only 3 boats we have seen north of Glendale Cove leaving this site and crossing the inlet to the base camp on the other side. The other two boats were fishing boats, we believe were prawning.

Another 'milestone' -- crossing the 51st Parallel.

The window view at this point...

And the chart plotter view.

We have seen a pair of jet fighters previously. They fly over, circle the mountain on the right, and head back down the inlet.

I had a little better luck photographing them than the dolphins!

Gone in a flash.

Two rivers enter the inlet at the head. This is the Franklin.
The other creates quite a delta and is called the Klinaklini River.

Seals - I call them 'the girls' - sunbathing on a boom off a logging base camp at Dutchman Head.

This is as close as we'll get. Even though the chart says we should be in 30 meters (90 feet), we pass over an area where our depth sounder briefly said 5 feet. The sands of a delta are ever-changing! So we promptly turn south again.

As far north as we've ever been!

Our anchorage for the night - Wahshihlas Bay. There is a waterfall hanging on the mountain, the river branches over the beach, and the rocks on the right side are as big as houses. We don't anticipate using the dinghy for several days, so we pull it up on deck -- just before the rain really starts to pound. It rained through the night, and in the morning the river had shifted and we see logs going down the inlet.

Knight Inlet - Day 1

(Just a disclaimer -- the cutest picture is also x - rated .... )

Al REALLY wanted to go up one of the big Canadian inlets this cruising season. On our Gulf Islands/Sunshine Coast trip in 2013, we went up Jervis Inlet to Princess Louisa Inlet, which is the reward for making it up the 35 or so miles on Jervis.

We researched a bit, and decided to forego Toba Inlet for Bute Inlet. They are both very wild areas with very steep walls that continue to be steep below the water, which means there are few anchorages. The mountains often make their own weather as well, and winds can funnel and whip it up.

But, when it was time to leave the Octopus Islands, the timing wasn't right to go through the rapids to the north to get to Bute Inlet. So we read up more, and decided Knight Inlet would be the one.

Memorial Day at Minstrel Island

We entered Knight Inlet north of Minstrel Island and head east for 25 miles. Our destination is Glendale Cove, sight of the Knight Inlet Lodge, and world-renowned grizzly bear watching!

It WAS cold, but I didn't think it was cold enough to be snow. Landslides! Yup, steep rock has a hard time hanging onto soil.

 The cove is larger than it looks on the chart, but we anchor along the west shore. I was scanning the shore as we came in, but no luck. After we waited long enough to be rather sure of the anchor staying put, we got in the dinghy and set out to explore.

First sighting!

 We also saw two more down the way, wandering and grazing ... and then they get closer and closer together....

Rendezvous!

 We leave as soon as we see them watching us, watching them. Seeing no other bears ashore, we head back to the boat. (We have NO intention of setting foot on land here.)

Al set a nice table for Tea Time!

 It begins to rain, so we move inside the cabin. And we notice the lodge's guide boats on a nearby point of land. And I begin to feel so very frustrated and limited by our camera. In the past, I have 'boosted' the zoom on our point-and-shoot with the binoculars. I give it a try again, and you can now make out what I can see with my eye...

A mama bear at the center, and the two darker spots are two of her three cubs!

'Objects are closer than they appear'! 

It's hard to tell, but the mama has settled down, pillowed her head on a rock, and is nursing her cubs.

 THEN, the eagles have a surprise for us! They put on a dinner show!

Hovering

And a catch!

There were 5 eagles, calling and soaring, dipping and splashing, ALL AROUND THE BOAT! We felt like it was a show just for us. We didn't see any large fish captured, but many times saw the eagles reach down to their talons to immediately consume what they had caught. Al called it a Scooby Snack.

We are grateful to be able to bring our home with us, especially since we are warm and dry. But we are conscious of the fact that patrons of the lodge have paid a very pretty penny for this experience, and we stay out of their way. We listen to the lodge's working radios, and watch where the boats are aiming and then grabbing our binoculars for our own look. (Thank you, Santa, for my very own pair, so we don't have to squabble.) It doesn't take much deducing to learn their lingo -- 'blacktivity' means a black bear, Nursery Point is where the mama is nursing her cubs, etc.

Cost to Cruise May 2016 - YES!

May 2016 was spent largely in isolated anchorages with one trip to 'town' for a major restocking.  And it shows!

In May we (for the 1st time) broke the sub $1,000 mark.  No coffee shops, no wide spread access to the internet for 'shopping'.  Just us, the boat and nature.  See, Cities are BAD when it comes to $$

We did spend a couple of nights at Heriot Bay Inn & Marina to make a trip up to the store (several trips actually) and found a coffee shop there.  That, plus a local burger stand and one great dinner at the Inn (a belated anniversary dinner) accounts for the Dining out at Entertainment cost.  Medical is our monthly ACA exchange healthcare premium.

Outside that, rather low key.  Will be most interesting to see how the summer progresses, see if the trend holds up.