BOAT INLET

July 16

We left Butedale with a porpoise - actually a whole pod of them. The Dall’s porpoises escorted us, playing in the bow wave of the boat, jumping and generally cavorting around us for probably 15 or 20 minutes. I had the door to the pilothouse open (even in the rain) and there they were, screaming by and jumping just a few feet away. As a swimmer, it was amazing to watch them move so quickly and effortlessly through the water - it made me insanely jealous!

After our escort, we continued south and took the Tolmie Channel down until we crossed over to the Finlayson Channel around the First Nation town of Klemtu. We then had a decision on whether to go “outside,” through Milbank Sound (the way we came up) or cut through Jackson Pass and Reid Passage. Since the wind was out of the southwest, this would have meant an uncomfortable beam sea (waves coming from the side) in the Sound, so we elected to go the more protected route. The last hour or so was against a pretty strong flood tide, bucking about a 2 knot current, making only 5-6 knots headway.

It was a long day, covering 70 nautical miles, so we were looking for an anchorage nearby. The one indicated on the charts and cruising guides was Oliver Cove, but it only has room for a couple of boats and two were already anchored there when we went by. The alternative, Boat Inlet, is just across the channel from Oliver, but most people bypass it because the charts indicate 2 foot depth in the channel going back to the bay. Well, we’ve done a fair amount of “gunkholing” in our cruising days, so we decided to go for it, even though it was not yet high tide to give maximum depth. Elaine was on the bow keeping a lookout for rocks or shoals and we went through without a hitch. The shallowest our depthfinder read was 11 feet - lots of room for a boat with a 3 1/2 foot draft. About it not yet being high tide - that actually is an advantage. If you do go aground (slowly, without damage) on a shoal or rock, then you just wait a while for the tide to come in and lift you off.

We anchored inside a beautiful bay, which we had all to ourselves. The rain stopped and we saw blue sky for the first time in way too long. I got down the dinghy and the crab pots, pulled the bait out of the freezer and put the pots out into the bay. About an hour later I had pots full of crab, but only two were “keepers.” The rest were either too small, or female, which must be thrown back. It was great incentive, though, so I dropped the pots again and an hour later had only one keeper, but he was about the biggest crab I have ever seen.

Elaine was already making a great dinner (cheese and spinach crepes) so we waited until after dinner, cooked up the crab and shelled out the meat. Another cereal bowl full of fresh crab meat! Between yesterday’s fresh fish and today’s crab, we’re really getting into the seafood up here…