Crossing Hecate...again

Aug 24

Here we go again - crossing the notorious Hecate Strait. And once again, it
is glassy calm and we motor the entire way. We leave after dinner, and
decide to push all the way to Shearwater, arriving in early afternoon. We'd
passed by a couple popular fishing spots, and we resolved to return here and
fish in the next couple of days.

Our two days in Shearwater were a blur. I battled with a snail slow internet
connection. John did a few boat projects - changing oil and zincs, and
repairing the autopilot that quit on the way here.

As we were getting ready to head out...a familiar boat pulled into the
dock...the Great Dane! John's uncle!! What a coincidence! We decide to spend
another night on the dock and have a great time catching up over dinner with
George and Rose, who even agreed to suffer through a few of our trip photos.


But the cruising kitty is empty, and we need to get off this dock, so we
took off looking forward to exploring some areas of the central coast that
we didn't get to the last time we were up here in 2008. Only a week till we
need to be back in Campbell River - so we plan to make good use of our time
here and enjoy every last moment!

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!

Snug as a Bug in a Rug

Aug 15

My family arrived for a week with us at Haida Gwaii. My Mum, Dad, sister Amy
and Strahan all showed up alongside Renova ferried to our location by a
local tour company. If only Mike and Tara were here, we would be complete.

If you've been on Renova, or been following the blog for a while, you're
probably scratching your head wondering where everyone would sleep. We too
puzzled over this difficulty. On paper, Renova has space to sleep 6, but we
use one of her bunks as our 'garage'. The "pull out" berth at the table has
food bins stashed behind, and behind the other settee are three large
windsurf sails. Not exactly four star accommodations. But my family are
pretty laid back so they arrived undeterred and toting sleeping bags and a
tent!

It turned out that we all slept very comfortable. Well, at least I didn't
hear any complaints! Amy and Strahan ventured to the beach and slept with
the bears and deer on a couple of nights. The remaining evenings, they made
use of the cockpit and set up a cozy nest outside. We were so lucky with the
weather, it didn't rain once. Amazing.

It's a common cruising adage that the perfect boat will seat 6 for drinks, 4
for dinner, and sleep 2. We've always thought that was a pretty good
description of Renova. But now we know her true capabilities. She can sleep
six snoring family members with no problems, provided that everyone is
offered complimentary earplugs. We've also learned that she can handle 11
good friends squeezed into the cockpit for cocktails. And just once, we had
8 people cuddled into the cockpit for a yummy birthday dinner. It's no
wonder we have a bad case of two-foot-itis!

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

Haida Gwaii - North Coast

[I'm desperately behind on blogging about this amazing place. I'll try to
get back on track. Haida Gwaii is an amazing place...I look forward to being
able to add pictures to these posts.]

Finally...after an aborted attempt to reach Haida Gwaii 5 years ago, John
and I are now exploring the wonders of these islands. And we feel fortunate
- blessed - to have the opportunity to do so.

We planned to cross Hecate Strait from Prince Rupert, travel west along the
north coast, then turn south and travel the remote, and poorly charted, west
coast of these islands. We thoroughly enjoyed the North Coast. John
recognized these places from his teenage years as a commercial salmon
fisherman. We stayed at Refuge Cove, and tucked in amidst fishing boats on
Langara Island. As we pushed south on the west coast, we were fighting wind
and waves, and our speed of 2 knots wasn't going to cut it. We weren't going
to make a secure anchorage at this speed. So we made the decision to turn
around. Back to Refuge Cove. And the following day, we made the long trip
down the east coast of the islands to Sandspit.

Although we abandoned the dream of the west coast, we are still excited.
There are lots of great reasons to travel the east side: showers in
Sandspit(!), more ancient village sites to visit, heritage centre, shopping,
fuel opportunities, and so on. And... We could drop our crab traps right
outside the breakwater...California rolls galore!!

Alone at Refuge Cove, but not for long. We were soon joined by several fishing boats...and gifted with salmon and halibut!

 

 

 

 

 

 

This boat, the fish master at Queen Charlotte Lodge, came alongside to say hello, and drop off this...

A yummy lunch! 3 burgers, 4 subs, plus cookies and brownies! Then...he invited us aboard the DRIFTWOOD, their floating outpost for a visit!

 

We visited the ancient Haida village of Kiusta. This triple mortuary pole is very unusual.

 

John's Fishin'

August 1

I was pretty smug about my fishing success in Prince Rupert. Our host Marty
deserves the credit, but I still feel pretty good about it.

But today at Refuge Cove, John had some good fish luck too. He managed to
bring in a halibut and a coho. WITHOUT the use of a rod. The fish even came
cleaned and filleted. He's MR. CHATTY on the docks, and that's what happens.
I was happy to be able to offer up a few banana muffins in thanks for the
coho. The halibut was a gift from a fellow Campbell Riverite. I'll have to
keep a batch of cookie dough on hand, just in case he gets lucky again!
Yippee...fish for dinner!