Exploring at Waterfall Inlet

July 13th (Saturday) 

It was a beautiful day! We still had dramatic skies and many dark clouds passed over that looked like they might bring rain, but none of them did. When the sun shone through in between the clouds it was brilliantly warm! 

We spent the first part of the morning doing little projects around the boat.  I am learning how to make nets and enjoying it. It is fun because I am making nets for securing things, and having new storage areas while we are at sea. It is also an easy thing to do in the cockpit while enjoying the beauty around us. This truly is a beautiful spot!

We paddled to shore to an area where a small stream flows out. We got out of our kayaks and bushwhacked our way up to the first small lake. Although there was a Red Throated Loon on the lake there were no signs of fish and no bites on the hook. We think the loon may have been fishing for frogs, because when we skirted our way around the lake we came to an area that was hopping with baby frogs. Some of them still had a little bit of their tadpole tails and they were so so cute!! Through about a 30' strip of the shoreline they were everywhere. 

The moss all through this area around the lakes was so thick and cushy it was like walking on pillows, or like walking in snow. We would sink in about a foot each time we stepped, and it would spring back up behind us. We made our way to the second lake, which was somewhat bigger than the first, but unfortunately there were still no fish.

Jason trying some casts for fish in one of the lakes.

Back at home it was actually warm enough to go swimming.  It was so nice. The water was very warm in comparison to the water at the beaches of Calvert Island, and we actually stayed in swimming around for awhile. 

In the evening we went out in Kiki to pull up our prawn trap. Unfortunately there were no prawns, however we did get to see two very cool creatures. One was a Longhorn Decorator Crab. It seems that it was probably close to full size, but that is less than two inches across the shell. His legs make up for his small body and were quite long. The other guy in our trap was a large hairy snail that was about 6" long. It was an Organ Triton, and it felt really neat with its hairy shell. 

We tried a bit more fishing on the way in from pulling up our trap, but got only small fish. When we got back, and pulled up our crab trap there was only one very small crab. This anchorage is absolutely beautiful, but it is a terrible spot for foraging for food. 

July 14th (Sunday)

We awoke to another beautiful morning. After waiting for the sun to come up over the mountains so that Jason could fly his drone with some good lighting, we headed out of Waterfall Inlet around 07:30.  We had just a short trip to go to get to our next anchorage of Kwakume Inlet. 

The main reason we wanted to move to this anchorage was its close proximity to the Koeye River, which we wanted to explore. So when we got here we got ready to head out and explore in Kiki. We set our crab and prawn traps on the way out, hoping we would have better luck here than we did at Waterfall Inlet. 

On our trip up to Koeye River the wind was calm and patches of the water were calm, but current was dramatically affecting other sections. It seemed as though the flooding current was coming through Hakai Passage, which was almost directly across Fitz Hugh Sound, and then hitting the shore and spreading out. This was creating a lot of chaotic water, patches of which looked like the water was trying to jump up in the air. 

The entrance to Koeye River was a beautiful bay with three sandy beaches. There was a first nations’ youth camp based there, and the rest was a BC parks’ conservancy. 

As we ventured up the river we did not know how the now ebbing tide would affect the water level, so we did not venture too far, but we came to some incredibly beautiful green, grassy, marshy areas in which we could easily picture grizzly bears in salmon season. Apparently the river fills with fish in the fall, and I am sure the area equally fills with life. 

Out of curiosity, on the way back out of the river we tried a bit of trolling in the tidal area to see what we might get. We ended up getting a small fish, of which we are pretty sure it was a Dolly Varden. 

We explored the beaches in the bay, and had a picnic lunch. The wind had picked up, and was blowing across from the west right up Hakai Passage. When we left it was quite choppy as the wind had a very long fetch there to build up waves. 

As we proceeded, it became very obvious that the now ebbing tide flowing out against the wind was having a big effect on the surface conditions. There were areas of steep chop and white caps, other areas of smoothed top rollers, a few patches that were relatively calm, and the waves in general were coming from every which way. It made for a very bumpy, and somewhat wet ride home. We had been hoping to test the waters on our way home and try out some spots for fishing, but the sea state combined with the wind made us head straight for home. 

In the evening I finished one of the net projects I had been working on. I made a net that goes between the tubing on the underside of our dodger, and I secured it up with a bungee cord so that we can use it for holding items to keep them from rolling around in our cockpit, perhaps a book, a tea thermos, ipad, or other items.  I am quite happy with how it turned out, and hopefully it will be a handy addition.

Black hand-knotted netting on the underside of the dodger.

How the netting looks with something in it.