Kayaking at Higgins Passage

November 5th (Tuesday)

There was a gale forecasted for Thursday, and yesterday we had found an area within Higgins Passage that we would be able to stern tie and hopefully be out of the worst of the wind. So, in the morning we pulled up anchor and moved about one nautical mile, and re-anchored and stern tied ashore. We were hopeful that this would be a good area for us to be in for the forecasted winds.
It was a beautiful morning. It was clear blue sky, and as the sun came up it made the fog retreat.
After doing some little chores on board after moving our anchor spot, we headed out kayaking. It had been a while since we had been out kayaking, and it was nice to be paddling again. 

The visibility in the water was perfect, and we could see the bottom even in quite deep water. We were seeing Kelp crabs, Rock crabs, Dungeness crabs, Sea Slugs, Starfish, and many other creatures. We saw a mink swim ashore ahead of us. Then as we watched the rocky shore we saw that there were two of them. One of them was smaller and quite curious. It came towards us along the shore, stopping here and there to stare at us. It scampered up into the shrubs and then reappeared to look at us again; so cute. 

Later, we saw another one in a different area. It had been diving, and it came up maybe four feet off of Jason's port side with a crab in its mouth. It was swimming for shore, and did not stop to look back until it was ashore with the crab still held tightly in its teeth. After one look at us it hurried up into the bush. 

We stayed along the sunny shore as we paddled, even though the sun remains quite low in the sky this time of the year, it still makes it a lot easier to see into the water. It was also wonderful to enjoy the heat from the sun on a beautiful crisp November day. When the air was still, and the fog was distant, the heat from the sun made us take our extra layers of clothing off, but it didn't take much of a breeze or for the fog to roll back in before the chill of the air was evident again. We stopped on shore for a picnic lunch and enjoyed the rays from the sun sheltered from the breeze, but by the time that we were paddling home we were both wearing more layers than when we had left in the morning. 

While we were out, the fog had rolled in and out, and at one point a fogbow formed. It was almost like a rainbow, but without the colour, it was an arch of light. It was the first time that we had ever seen such, and it was quite neat.

As we kayaked home through the northern-most part of Higgins Passage, between Lohbrunner Island and Swindle Island, the current was flowing swiftly to the west on the flooding tide, and the narrow and shallow passage was a flowing river of jellyfish. We had seen many moon jellies here, but they were always in a different area, seemingly depending on the tide. Because of the currents through the passage, they were getting pulled and pushed, this way and that, as the currents changed. As we paddled through the narrows the water was so thick with jellyfish that we were very glad that we were paddling and not coming through using the outboard on our tender.
Before going out kayaking in the morning we had checked our round crab trap, and we had one keeper. After getting home we checked it again, and we had two more. It was so nice to be catching crabs once again. We spent some time in the evening cleaning the crabs; the two that were left from yesterday and the three from today, and we put two bags of crabmeat into the freezer, and mixed up some crab and mayo for crab sandwiches. Yum yum.
It was a beautiful night. The sky was clear, the air was crisp, and the waxing half-moon was shining.