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SUMMER’S CRUISE
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August 13, 2009. We are pleased and privileged to receive each year cruise reports from people who use the Waggoner. Where appropriate, their information is incorporated into the book for all to use. Often, these reports come from people we’ve never met, but who willingly share their experiences with other cruisers. When we get a rant we give it the attention it probably deserves (little) but we can spot the good stuff. John and Lorraine Littlewood have been sending reports to us for several years. It was they who had the encounter with humpback whales, featured on p. 321 of the 2009 edition. Here is their report from this year’s cruise. We enjoyed reading it and think our audience will enjoy it too.
Waggoner Notes – 2009
John and Lorraine Littlewood, M/V Osprey
Boat Notes
Our “new” boat is a 1995 34’ Sabre Sedan that we purchased in April of this year. Twin 250 Cummins with only a little over 900 hours. This was our first real trip together, a shakedown for us all, so to speak.
Customs in Ganges
Ever since we got our Nexus cards, we’ve been especially scrupulous about adhering to the rules about what and how much you can bring into Canada (and back). Here’s why:
We cleared customs over the phone with our Nexus cards and proceeded directly to Ganges to provision with all of the forbidden stuff (fruits, veggies, wine and booze). As we were approaching the harbor, a fast customs RIB came alongside and told us they would accompany us to the dock and board our vessel for inspection, which they proceeded to do in a most thorough manner for 20 minutes. Finding absolutely nothing amiss, they chatted us up for a few minutes, admired the boat, and walked off for lunch at a nearby café.
Moral of the story: The few bucks saved by bringing your own are far outweighed by the prospect of getting on Customs’ “naughty” list (shared across the border via a common database) and losing those Nexus cards. Boy, do we feel smug.
Claydon Bay
We spent a couple nights in Claydon Bay off Wells Passage in the Broughtons to explore the ruins of a railroad logging operation in the west lobe of the bay (there are ruins in the south lobe as well, but they’re behind float homes and not accessible). This used to be the site of one of the largest floating log camps, and once had its own post office, store, etc. We had hoped to follow the route of the old railway some distance back into the woods, but the ruins of the old trestles ended about a hundred yards into the trees and the “trail” quickly became something akin to the trapper’s cabin hike at Princess Louisa Inlet – lots of vertical motion and not a lot of horizontal progress. We gave up after a half mile or so upon reaching an impenetrable thicket of berry bushes in what used to be a clearing. We retreated to the boat somewhat muddy & bruised.
At the end of north arm of the bay we also “discovered” an extensive shell midden that’s fun to explore. The midden is probably four feet or so thick at the shoreline and extends well back into the woods, evidence of a large seasonal hunting/fishing camp that existed for who knows how long. We’ve found that almost anywhere you can find a beach that’s at least partially sheltered, you are likely to find a midden of some size. Most people look right at them without seeing them.
Burley Bay, Mackenzie Sound
We took a slow cruise through Burley Bay, and in the space of about 15 minutes we saw a black bear on the beach, dozens of huge lion’s mane jellies in the water (the largest about a foot across and several feet long), and an Osprey (our boat’s namesake) perched on a snag. It’s why we cruise.
Acteon Sound
This has been on our “to do” list for a long time, and with the Waggoner’s publication of the Hamilton’s book Cruising the Secret Coast, we just couldn’t wait any longer. So in we went. In a word, FABULOUS! First of all, Cruising the Secret Coast has the clearest, most detailed descriptions we’ve encountered in any cruising guide we’ve used before, and that would be just about all of them. Second, the “chartlets” are perfectly scaled and fully detailed. And finally, the suggestions about shoreside hikes and the accompanying photographs are just superb. Maximum kudos to the Hamiltons and the Waggoner for producing such an interesting and valuable work.
We entered through Snake Pass at high water slack with no fuss, and motored up to Creasy Bay to check out an old supply boat now rotting on the beach. As we approached we could see a small dock nearby but no boat or sign of habitation. Suddenly a fellow leaped up from the dock buck naked. He hastily pulled on his pants, reached into his pockets and produced a cigarette and a lighter, lit up, and gave us a jaunty wave as we slid by about a hundred yards away. With the only access to the place being by boat or float plane, and having seen neither, we surmised that he was a temporary caretaker living in a small trailer we saw a few hundred yards down the shore. Hard to tell if he was annoyed at our intrusion or happy for the company, but we left him to his solitude. We poked our noses into Bond Lagoon but didn’t stay, as we wanted to get up toTsibass to see the entrance. Here it is a little past high water slack.
It was late in the day so we retreated back to England Point Cove for the night. Next day we took the dink up to see the entrance in a more interesting condition and were not disappointed.
The foam extended down well past our cove, about a half mile away. But the main purpose of the trip was to hike into the woods to see the old logging ruins, so we went to the creek mouth as described by the Hamiltons and essentially duplicated their trek. We love trying to imagine what these old sites were like in their heyday, and we spent about 2½ hours in the woods tramping up the old railroad line to the steam donkey the Hamiltons found. We won’t re-write their descriptions; they are excellent as they stand. We can only add that things are considerably more overgrown since the Hamiltons took their pictures, and if you were to try and find your way, you would be well advised not to land anywhere but at the creek mouth. The trail from the logging camp is essentially non-existent now. It’s a wonderful hike in every respect. We saw some bear sign, but nothing fresh. Here are a couple of pictures not in Secret Coast.
The next day we traversed Snake Pass at about a 2-knot ebb just to see the difference and it was easily managed. At no time did we see another cruiser (or any other boat for that matter) in Acteon Sound. A marvelous cruising ground all to ourselves. Can’t recommend it too highly.
Sullivan Bay
We stopped for fuel and ended up spending the night after chatting up the manager. Sullivan Bay has been transformed by the new docks and the general spiffing up. The store well stocked and everyone was friendly and helpful. We, however, were quite the anomaly, our boat being less then the minimum 50 feet or so that seemed to be the accepted norm (34 at the hull, 38 with dink & anchor), and to find a space for us they had to warp us in between a 50 and a 65 footer whose bow extended out over our dink. Later in the day, two incidents transported us from mere inadequacy to beyond the looking glass.
First. An 80-or-so footer docked in the late morning and the appropriately attired inhabitants milled about the dock until a turboprop floatplane landed and taxied over to the fuel dock. The boat folks deployed their “dink” and went over to pick up two folks from the plane and several large boxes. One of the new arrivals, even more appropriately attired in white shirt, tie, khakis, and street shoes stepped off the dink and was warmly greeted by all. He and his partner then offloaded several cases of wine, which was transported below decks. After having described the provenance of the delivery to the delighted folks aboard, the sommelier and his helper were carried back to the plane, which then left.
Second. Later in the afternoon as we were catching up on some boat chores, we heard a strange whirring sound. We looked up to see a Segway and its stately occupant motoring up and down the docks, the Segway having emerged from the garage of another titanic cruiser moored on the outside dock.
After having cruised past Jennis Bay the day before and seeing similar craft rafted up (Cajun night there), we began to see a correlation between docks and big boats and anchors and little boats. Good news for the marina people? Maybe, but having listened to a couple from one of the boats complaining to the gal in the store about not being able to use Skype to make telephone calls, and not being the least bit mollified by the explanation that since Skype uses a huge amount of bandwidth and frequently crashes their system so that no one else can use it, Skype is blocked, we suspect the B.S. to revenue ratio will go up by several orders of magnitude accordingly. Time will tell.
Booker Lagoon
Another new spot for us. We’d been by several times before, but never at an appropriate time to get through the narrows. This time we planned and made it through at low water slack, along with some friends on a 38-foot Nauticat. The depth sounder showed 14 feet under our 4-foot keel.
We opted for the northwest anchorage, as it looked cozier than the west anchorage and the winds were from the northwest outside in Queen Charlotte Strait. We got out the dink and explored the local area, including a small tidal lagoon behind an islet on the south side of the bay. During our explorations we spotted some sturdy looking stairs (more like a ladder, really) leading up into the salal above the beach. We climbed them to find…
this beautifully made little cabin! Those are rough sawn 2x8 cedar planks, sitting on 12x12 cedar foundations, roofed with hand split cedar shakes about 4 feet long and a foot wide – someone’s pride & joy. We explored around some more and found the perfect accompaniment to this little abode, complete with a sculpted-by-nature seat, rain protection courtesy of some unfortunate person’s boat, and a waterproof jar w/paper. Truly a jewel in the woods! We know this isn’t exactly Waggoner’s material, and that’s probably just as well as it unfortunately would likely be vandalized if the word got out (sad but true), but we thought you’d get a kick out of it. Besides, you never know when you might need a comfort stop. [The location was sufficiently obscured in editing to keep wider knowledge away – Ed.]
We had heard some distant logging noise when we first anchored up, and by early evening it was getting pretty close. But we knew they’d be quitting by dinner time, so we weren’t concerned. Not to be. The noise only got louder as the evening wore on. It continued all night and into the next day, with a break between 0300 and 0400. In the morning we came out on deck to see trees, still vertical, marching sideways behind a screen of intact trees near the water’s edge. Turns out they were harvesting using one of those cutters that grabs the tree, scissors it off below the grabber, and carries the tree to the limbing machine that grinds off the limbs. You can imagine the noise. We were determined to get a look at this operation, so we took the dink to shore and hiked up this beautiful little stream to find this…
about 200 yards up. The beautiful little stream disappeared under the slash pile in the foreground. We grew up in and around the woods and are quite familiar with responsible logging practices and this ain’t it. Just disgusting. And all cynically screened from the water by a narrow line of trees so as to “comply” with regulations. Wouldn’t want to offend the tourists. Arghh.
We decided to move to the west cove to get away from the noise, but not before exploring the nearby rock shoreline in our kayak at low tide. The quantity and variety of marine life was amazing. Here in great abundance we saw animals and plants we have never seen before along the coast. As an example, the only other place we’ve ever seen a green abalone was at Burnaby Narrows in Haida Gwaii; they’ve all been plundered elsewhere, but this one was large and in 6 inches of water.
Lots of rock scallops too. Of course, we took nothing and wouldn’t direct anyone to the place, but it’s wonderful to know that it’s there.
We moved to the west anchorage and noted the only obvious presence of the aquaculture operations that until recently filled the lagoon – five large black mooring buoys that appear unconnected, but are gradually deteriorating to the point where some are partially submerged and almost not visible at high tide. Best to give the whole thing a wide berth.
On our way out the next morning to catch the low slack we encountered something about which we will be very explicit as to its characteristics and location – an uncharted shelf of rock extending about 50 feet from the point that marks the southern entrance to the west anchorage. The charts show 10 meters at low tide, but it’s actually about 1 meter and we hit it going about 5 knots. We dinged both props, and bent the starboard strut and the starboard rudder. We had to shut down the starboard engine because of the vibration, but the port engine was usable at lower rpms. There was no seal damage, so no water coming in.
Repair options were Port Hardy or Campbell River. We were headed homeward anyway, so we opted for Campbell River. Conditions in Queen Charlotte Strait were typical summer, IFR (maybe 100-foot visibility) but little to no wind, so we limped over to Knight Inlet, down Chatham and Havannah channels, and out into a then fairly calm Johnstone Strait. By the time we got within an hour or so of our intended stop, Helmcken Island, things had changed. The westerly had built to 25-30 knots behind us and (fortunately) a flood tide. We’d planned for the tide, but not the wind, and it was pretty exciting, especially on one engine, with 4-5 footers and an occasional big one to surf on. But we got into the west cove without incident and hit the liquor locker with force.
Up early the next day and off to a temporary stop at the Chained Islands at the mouth of Kanish Bay to wait for the turn at Seymour Narrows. A beautiful spot, completely out of the wind, and complete with a show put on by several eagles and several more turkey vultures, all contending for the fresh carcass of an unfortunate harbor seal pup. What a drama, punctuated at its climax by the decision of two of the vultures to engage in other, more intimate activity not five feet from the aforementioned frenzy. Now that’s concentration!
When we got through the narrows we called Murray Abercrombie at Cape Mudge Boatworks. Murray had a sandblast and repaint job on his ways and couldn’t help us, so he referred us to Ocean Pacific in Campbell River. Ocean Pacific interrupted their schedule the next day to haul us, survey the damage, replace our two props with the two spares we always carry, bend the strut back, and send us on our way – total bill $330 Cdn. and about an hour out of the water. Great folks – Rolland Langill is the man to see, should you be so unfortunate as we. v
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