Kakushdish and to Shearwater to Pick up my Parents

August 15th (Thursday) 
In the morning we headed out in Kiki over the glassy calm waters of Lama Passage; we were heading to our previous successful salmon fishing grounds outside of Codville Lagoon. We encountered some areas of current and chop in Lama Passage, but otherwise our trip was smooth. We were curious to try salmon fishing in the same area as when we were anchored in Codville to see if the salmon were still there. On the first pass by the rocky cliffs, where we had had so much luck before, Jason got a bite, got it to the boat, and then it got off. The Coho were still there! 

Since having very mysteriously lost our fishing net way back in Forward Harbour in Johnston Strait we have been without a net. For most of our fishing it does not really matter, the fish are usually of a size that is easy to get into the boat. Even the bigger lingcod aren't too bad, because with just having a jig on the end of the line it is easy for the person fishing to maintain tension while the other person gets it into the boat. With salmon fishing, it is a whole different game. The setup with diver, flasher, and hoochie is so long that it is very hard to maintain tension, and so with barbless hooks it gives the fish a good chance to get off. 
We trolled for a while longer, and had no more bites. Then we started to see more and more jumping and splashing and soon after we were getting bites. We got a good little Coho into the boat, and kept it for dinner. I got one really big bite, he put up quite the fight zipping from one side to the other and jumping, but he got away right at the boat again. Jason got a couple more as well, but they slipped the hook at the last second. Oh well, it was good fun anyway, and our freezer is being kept topped up.

Sheya's good little Coho.

While we were fishing we watched as four whales took their time making their way up the middle of Fisher Channel. There were two up front and two a ways behind, and they would surface and then dive but resurface not much further along. Slowly they made their way out of sight. 
Coming back home through Lama Passage was a bit choppy in spots as the current was kicking up a chop that was increased by the building northwest winds. Back home we set out a crab trap with part of the fish carcass. We tried setting the trap much deeper this time, so we shall see of it makes any difference. We are determined that there has to be good crabbing somewhere on the central coast. We haven't had fresh crab in almost three weeks, and we haven't found a good crabbing spot since Miles Inlet at the north end of Queen Charlotte Sound. 
We did some exploring of the bays that were close to ours. There were three, Lizzie, Fannie, and Jane, before our Ada Cove. The shoreline was largely beautiful grassy areas, with many grassy low-lying islands. In Lizzie Cove there were four different places that people seemed to live, including one fully floating place made up of docks, floating homes and other buildings, and a large garden plot. Very interesting. 

Floating community of Lizzie Cove.

August 16th (Friday) 
In the morning we went out in Kiki to pull up our crab trap, and we were very happy to see that we had crabs! We actually had lots, although only one was a keeper. We had five small rock crabs and two small Dungeness, along with one big 7" Dungeness, and it was a male. Yay!!

We were so stoked, but what to do with it? We talked about doing sushi since we had the fresh salmon from yesterday, but since we had not had crab in so long we decided to just do crab dipped in butter with fresh bread and fried salmon. Yummy. Mmmmm the sweetness and differing textures of the meat were perfect!!
Back home, and still remarking on our crab, we pulled up anchor and headed out of Ada Cove. On our way up Lama Passage we did a bit of a drive by of the BC ferry dock, and of Bella Bella. My parents were coming up on the ferry from Port Hardy for a visit, and so we were trying to scope out where best to pick them up. 

Instead of anchoring off of Shearwater, we decided to go into Kakushdish Harbour. At the narrowest part of the channel in, there was a set of high-voltage power lines that crossed the water. They were marked on the chart and in the books as being 75' high, which is well above the top of our mast, but it was still a very unnerving experience watching as they got closer and closer to us, and being completely unable to accurately judge their height, we just had to trust the chart. Of course judging the relative height of two points when looking directly up at them is very hard, but they sure looked closer than they probably were. Either way, we made it into the harbour without incident. The harbour had a very lovely shoreline of grassy flat areas, and the land immediately around it was quite low and pretty. 

After lunch, and having spoken to my parents and confirming that they would come on Sunday, we headed over to Shearwater in Kiki. It was just a quick trip to get some of the errands out of the way while the weather was nice. The forecast was for rain beginning tomorrow, and a gale for Tuesday. 
Back home we enjoyed the peace and quiet of our anchorage, and watched as the evening sky became a beautiful glowing red. 

August 17th and 18th (Saturday and Sunday) 

On Saturday we spent most of the day cleaning and enjoying the beautiful anchorage.  We decided not to go into Shearwater as it was raining and we could do all of our town chores the next day.  It was one of those days where I was quite content to clean, and gave the inside of the boat a good “spring cleaning”.  

On Sunday it was raining and stormy with gusts coming from the South West.  We pulled up anchor and headed out of Kakushdish Harbour.  We left at low tide so as to give ourselves lots of room going under the high voltage power lines.  We came into the deep anchorage by Shearwater with gusts funnelling out towards us. Once anchored we got all of our stuff together and went ashore to do some laundry, get rid or our recycling, and do some shopping in preparation for my parents arriving.  

A little after 15:00 we watched the BC ferry “Northern Sea Wolf” round the island and enter the bay.  We got into Kiki and headed to the dock to meet my parents, waving at them on board as we went by.  They had brought seven boxes of food supplies up for us, so we carried them all down to the dock, and did two trips home in the tender to get everything and everyone on board the Red Witch. 

Now began the fun, but challenging, task of unpacking all of the boxes, organizing everything, finding a home for it, and keeping track of where we put it so that we can find it when we want it later.  We have so many nook and cranny cubbies that it is not hard to “lose” something that we stash without making a note of where it is, especially if it is an item we don’t use for a while.  Surprisingly we managed to have everything sorted and put away within a few hours, and we were then able to relax and enjoy the evening visiting.