A Week in Gwaii Haanas

Aug 21

The southern portion of Moresby Island in Haida Gwaii is Gwaii Haanas, a
Haida Heritage Site, National Park Reserve, and National Marine Conservation
Area Reserve. We had a week to explore with my family. Of course, the first
thing we did when they arrived was head to the Hot Springs (Gandll K'in
Gwaay.yaay). We managed to spend most of the day frolicking in the springs,
testing each of the pools, and some of us even jumped between tide pools on
the beach and the adjacent hot pools. What heaven.

A big highlight was visiting SGang Gwaay on Anthony Island - an ancient
Haida village recognized as a UNESCO world heritage site. This site was
amazing with its many long house pits, standing corner posts, poles and
other remains. This site is in much better condition that the others we've
seen, as it was the last village on this island to be occupied on a
full-time basis. All 6 of us were enthralled by the site, snapping away on
our cameras madly, as Elsie toured us through the village and explained this
historic significance of the area. I feel privileged to be able to see this
site, before the landscape takes over and returns the area to it's natural
state.

The remainder of the week was spend fishing, crabbing, and exploring. We
ventured through the exciting Burnaby Narrows, up Louscoone Inlet, down to
Cape St James, into sandy Woodruff Bay, and all around Kunghit Island. We
saw plenty of whales, a few porpoises, and oddly enough, we even saw a
SHARK! We caught a couple salmon, many rock fish, and some crabs along the
way. We ate like kings!

It all went by so quickly and a very short week later we were in Rose
Harbour awaiting the boat that would pick them up and return them to
Sandspit. What a week - full of sun, fish, crab, and lots of laughs!! Now it
really feels good to be coming home!

Haida Gwaii - New Crew and Hot Springs

We were surprised to get a call on the radio one evening, with the news that
our crew was just around the corner! The company they had hired to drop them
off was re-scheduling some of their trips, and brought them a day early. We
had a nice evening catching up and planning where we would go tomorrow!

We spent our first day at Hot Springs Island. Amazing. One of our favourite
hot springs anywhere. There are three beautiful pools overlooking the ocean
- magical!

They Arrive!! HURRAY!

My idea of heaven.

Haida Gwaii - Windy Bay

We have a couple days to kill while we wait for our new crew to catch up to
us. We enjoyed visiting Windy Bay, where we wandered through old cedar and
spruce forests. This was the site of the huge protests against logging in
the 80's that led to the creation of this amazing National Park/Heritage
Reserve.

"Looking Around and Blinking House" was built at Windy Bay during the logging blockade of 1985 that led to the protection of the area and the creation of the Gwaii Haanas National Park Reserve and Haida Heritage Site.

Hundreds of pink salmon were preparing to make the arduous journey up the stream to spawn.

 

We saw lots of Culturally Modified Trees here...

And a HUGE western red cedar tree. Around 800 years old...or so.

Haida Gwaii - Tanu

Our next stop was at T'aanuu Llnagaay (Tanu) was also awesome. The Haida
Watchmen here, Helen and Sean, were welcoming and knowledgeable, and toured
us around this village site. Although there were no standing poles at this
site, many longhouse pits were visible and the entire site was covered with
lush green moss. Beautiful.

We also received word that my family would be joining us in a few days -
Mum, Dad, Amy and Strahan. The good little ship Renova is about to get a
little chaotic, and a lot of fun!! :O)
 

The longhouse corner post was still standing.

A longhouse of 6 beam construction.

 

This longhouse was painted by Emily Carr.

Haida Gwaii - Skedans

We left Sandspit following SV Piraeus over the bar and south along the coast of Moresby. After a beautiful sail south, we rafted to Pireaus in front of the ancient Haida village of Skedans or K'uuna Llnagaay.

Mary and Walter, the on-site Haida Watchmen, welcomed us on the beach, and
gave us a tour of the site. We were in awe at the old longhouse pits and
felt fortunate to see memorial poles, mortuary poles, and even house corner
posts. Their tour was excellent, and we were able to compare the current
artifacts with pictures taken in the early 1900s. Very cool.

Our hosts were quick to forgive John's comment about the tasty looking deer
on the beach (which turned out to be Mary's pet) and they were kind and
generous hosts, teaching us about this site and the Haida culture.

Mary was filleting a halibut when we arrived, and generously shared some
with Bill and his guests aboard Piraeus. He invited us to join them for
dinner, and we gladly pulled together some appies and chocolate cupcakes to
celebrate George's birthday aboard. What a feast we had!

We followed s/v Piraeus out of the inlet and over the bar.

Mary's 'tasty-looking' pet.

Mary filleting a nice halibut behind John

This is a horizontal memorial pole. Look closely at the pic below.

Yep - one and the same.

A memorial pole for an important member of the Eagle Clan - whose wealth and importance must have been great, as evidenced by the number of potlatch rings on the pole.

This pole is slowly returning to the earth, yet markings of a whale fin are still visible.

Haida Gwaii - Haida Heritage Centre

We really enjoyed our unplanned stop in Sandspit, Queen Charlotte and
Skidigate. We tied up to the new marina in Sandspit ($.75/ft) and enjoyed
wonderful hot showers. At Queen Charlotte, we tied to the public floats
($.60/ft), which didn't have showers, but we were able to poach an
occasional internet signal.

But our favourite part of our stop here was the Haida Heritage Centre.
Although recently built, they have amassed a wonderful collection of Haida
artefacts, and offer great cultural info and presentations. We wandered
through the exhibits, watched presentations on canoe building and Haida
dance and song, and ate the most wonderful seafood chowder in their café,
complete with herring roe on kelp and seaweed!

Their website is www.haidaheritagecentre.com

Wotje Atoll

After a week of hanging with friends and reprovisioning in Majuro, we set
off through the pass and headed north. We sailed 175 miles to the atoll of
Wotje, which has 75 islands circling the atoll, a total area of 8 km2, and a
peak elevation of 3 meters.

We are anchored in 15 feet of crystal blue water, with a crumbling flying
boat ramp on our north side, and a crumbling pier on the south of us. We're
nicely sheltered in one of the calmest anchorages we've seen!

This island was another major Japanese base during WWII, and our guidebook
tells us that it is covered 'end-to-end' with war bunkers and artifacts.
We've read that 3000 Japanese military were heavily bombed by the Americans
here and many of those who didn't die in the attacks starved to death. Only
1200 survived.

After two days of wandering around, we've seen remains of some bunkers, pill
boxes, a radio tower, torpedo racks and barracks. There does not seem to be
as much here as Maloelap, but we still have some exploring to do. This
morning, we plan to snorkel a sunken ship and plane wreck not far from our
boat.

These racks held the torpedos for the flying boats and planes

Wotje is also the location of the regional high school for northern islands,
so there are lots of students here. It also seems to be more wealthy than
the other two local islands we've visited so far. Most homes are made of
cement block and almost all are painted in cheery colours, a luxury that we
rarely saw on Aur or Maloelap. There are even a couple vehicles here - we've
seen three trucks so far. There is a large generating station providing
power to most homes. It is a pretty unusual sight to see a local home built
of simple materials with a power meter mounted to the outside wall.

This old Japanese ammunition bunker is now being used as a home, and you can see the power meter mounted on the side.

After a couple months of both local planes being away for repairs, the local
airline had one plane running for the last month or so. But now it is back
in the repair hanger. This is a common theme in the islands. It is well
known that if you fly "Air Maybe" there is a good chance that you might not
be able to return as planned. There are currently a few people here on Wotje
that are looking for a ride to Majuro - we've been asked to take four people
so far, and we've heard that there are more. Our plans aren't firm yet,
we're waiting to hear when we need to be back in town, so we haven't yet
committed to the passengers. In any case, looks like we're in for an
interesting ride...

Savannah Joins Us

Our friends on s/v Savannah came to join us at Maloelap. Even though we were holding a piece of their mail hostage, I like to think they came because they wanted to hang out!

Savannah arrives!

We've had a great time hanging out with them again. It's been great catching
up on what we've all been up to since we were last together - we last saw
them in December in Majuro. I've destroyed numerous military bases, rocket
launchers, gun turrets, and even a aircraft carrier as a result of some
serious battles against Jake. He's six. And we're putting a good size dent
into our booze supply with our regular cocktail hours. We've all wandered
around the island, as John provided (once again) his tour guide services of
all the relics we've located here so far.

Touring the junk...

John and Andy dove on a sunken Japanese supply ship. Andy took some amazing
pics, so be sure to check out their blog soon (there is a link on the right
side bar). We've also moved 5 miles to a nearby island of Ollot Island, and
dove on two wrecked Japanese ships. Tomorrow we'll snorkel two Japanese
zeros (fighter planes) nearby.

Jake checks out a stash of old bullets on the beach

Our plans from here are not firm. We're down to our last few potatoes and onions, so I expect we'll head back to Majuro before venturing to any new atolls further north.

Our new position is 8 45N, 171 10E.

Maloelap War Remains

Our first few days at this atoll of Maloelap have been very interesting.
This atoll was a major military base for the Japanese during WWII, and there
are tons of artifacts strewn around the island. At one time over 3000
military personnel were stationed here. Every day we've walked in search of
guns, bunkers, bombs, planes and buildings. And we have not been
disappointed. Some days, the local kids guide us. When they are in school,
we just wander on our own.

 

We've found:
- zeros
- betty bombers
- bunkers
- live artillery shells
- live bombs
- 127 mm howitzers
- machine shop
- generator shed
- hospital building
- large fuel and water tanks
- huge storage areas
- gun emplacements
- sunken ships
- railroads
- air field and runways
- Japanese gravesite or memorial
- rebutments (?) for plane storage

The ground is covered in pits where bombs landed.

And many times, we don't know what we're looking at. The jungle is working
hard to take over the land and conceal all the evidence. Pigs and chickens
dig amidst the rusty relics. Coconuts grown on old buildings. Vines twist
themselves around the guns.

But still...no glass balls.

One of many generators

The locals are using this engine cowling to cover their well

Another boat has arrived here. S/Y Jennifer from Sweden
(www.yacht-jennifer.nu), with 7 people on board. We were treated to a
wonderful dinner aboard yesterday. Today we all tromped through the jungle
on another junk-hunting mission. They are moving quickly and will only be
here another day or two.