Finally at Anchor Again

June 28th (Sunday)

This morning we were once again up with our alarm, but today it was about an hour later because the start of the ebbing tide was also about an hour later.  We checked all of our weather forecasting sites, current conditions at lighthouse reporting stations, and ocean buoy reports, and then we considered our options.  Although we very much wanted to go out cruising, we had also somewhat resigned ourselves to the fact that we wouldn't be going out after yesterday’s disappointment.  We had therefore gotten excited about the exploring that we might do on Link Lake.  Now, with the weather information that we had from what they had forecasted for yesterday compared to what had actually happened at all of the different reporting sites, we were left even more unsure as to what we should do.  

It looked promising that the wind that they were forecasting for the Central Coast might primarily stay offshore, but that was uncertain.  Also the swells for the outer coast had grown from the sustained offshore winds and were reported to be 3-4 metres diminishing to 2-3 late in the day and then to 1-2 metres on Monday morning. Finally we said, “Let’s Go", and we started our engine, disconnected our water and shore power, untied our lines, and headed out.  Yay! 

We motored out of Cousins Inlet at 07:30, catching the start of the ebbing tide.  It had been 6 months and 14 days since we had motored into Cousins Inlet against strong outflow winds and with a minus 5 degree temperature.  As we headed out today, the clouds began to break up and by the time that we were out into Fisher Channel, heading down to Gunboat Passage, it was sunny and calm, and a balmy 10 degrees.  It was a beautiful morning.  

Since our departure had been a somewhat sudden, final decision I spent some time writing up quick emails to send to family, and to our friends in Ocean Falls who would see that we were gone, to let them all know of our plans.  As we passed through the area of cell service that radiates out from Bella Bella we sent our messages and carried on.  

As we motored out through Seaforth Channel the water changed from calm to choppy to a jumbled mess of swell and chop, but the wind was still only about 8 knots.  We speculated that the majority of the chop was caused by the ebbing tide being pushed against the incoming swells and light wind.  It was amazing how little wind it took to create a jumbled surface mess when it was against the current.  

As we neared the area of the Ivory Island lighthouse station and the end of Seaforth Channel, the jumbled chop completely subsided and we were actually surprised at how a little surface wind had created the chop that there was, but we were now truly in the swells.  

Although our boat can obviously handle swells much bigger than there were, we were a little worried that the size of the swells would prevent us from getting to St. John Harbour.  Depending on the prevailing direction of the swells we might have had to turn our boat side-to, and because the swells were compressed against the shore with rebounds coming back out from shore it was possible that the size would cause too much rocking and end up being an issue for everything inside of our boat.  We had stowed things well, but the hard, jarring, rocking motion that could arise from being side-to in swells close to land could cause havoc inside.  Until we were completely out from Seaforth Channel we could not tell the true direction of the swells, as they were curving around the corner and coming straight up the channel.  

As we made our way out through the swells they started to curve so that they were coming at us from a south-westerly direction, and we were able to adjust our heading as well.  It ended up working out quite well for us, and we were able to make our way along the shore of Athlone Island and tuck into the channel behind Rage Reef without getting rocked around too strongly.  Because we were coming in at a lowish tide of 4.3 feet we got some protection from the reef, and the water got calmer and calmer the further we went into St. John Harbour.  

Once inside, we made our way in through the narrow and shallow section at the head of the main harbour and into the first basin inside.  Ken and Shelly in Ocean Falls had told us about the dock that they, and others, had built together in this basin, and they assured us that it was well secured and also well protected from the northwest.  As we came into the basin we were disappointed to see a large powerboat already inside and tied up to the dock.  Luckily we were quite happy to anchor, but it turned out that the dock was located in the most well protected area, and that the rest of the basin was quite deep.  We ended up anchoring in 50 feet of water at the low tide of 4.3 feet and securing ourselves bow-in to the prevailing breeze, with a stern line to shore. 

It was lovely to be at anchor once again; the sounds of the ripples of water along the hull, the gentle motion of the boat, the pristine surroundings, a sea otter feeding in the distance, the sounds of birds chirping from shore, a visiting bumble bee, and the sun shining down on us made it as special as ever. 

After taking some time to enjoy our surroundings we got the outboard onto Kiki and headed out for a little exploration of the area.  By this time the tide had risen and we were able to make our way into the second and third basin areas through the narrows that had a rock in the middle, which was dry at low tide.  The whole narrows area had been dry when we arrived on the 4.3-foot tide.  

The shoreline in this area was so unique and pretty.  Because of the rocky terrain many of the trees were stunted and oddly shaped.  Many of them were clearly quite old as their trunks were thick and solid, and some were only about 20 feet tall. Their branches were often few, and they were twisted and bent, forming odd shapes with tufts of growth on the ends making them look like a sparse head of broccoli, or a cartoon Super Mario tree.  

The forests were filled with dead snags -- trees that over the years had not had the nutrition or water to survive, but they remain standing decorating the green forest with silver limbs.  Everywhere that we looked there was a unique or unusual looking tree or a curious shape in the branches. 

 Many little bay and shoreline areas were carpeted with lush green shore grass, and as we puttered along we startled a pair of Sandhill Cranes, who in turn startled us, as they suddenly started with their very unique, prehistoric calls, and then took off.  We made our way out of the basin area and out to the heart of St. John Harbour where we explored our way down through the area of the “Back Door”, a narrow and shallow area that lead to a maze of small islands, islets, reefs, and shallows, and a great source of outer-coast exploration.  

Here the stunted foliage was dramatically wind swept and large driftwood logs scattered the rocky shores.  It was an area that would get pounded by the winter storms.  

We saw several sea otters, and we could easily have spent the rest of the night exploring, but we made ourselves head back as it was getting late.  

We stopped at a lovely little beach spot on the way back and got out of Kiki to walk around on the sandy shore.  We saw a couple of sets of deer tracks; one was just tiny.  There were two trails that led up into the forest, and we found some beautiful tent sites tucked away in the moss of the forest floor.  We guessed that kayakers must use the beach as a campsite for their exploration of this area.  It was a beautiful spot.  

As we walked through the forest we found two cute little toads.  One was a darker brown colour, but the other was a bright green and it blended in perfectly with the soft forest moss.

It was after 20:00 when we got home and started dinner.  What a lovely day!