KHUTZE INLET - HARTLEY BAY - KLEWNUGGIT INLET

Tuesday, May 16th  Day 32  Shearwater, BC to Khutze Inlet

We got up at 6:30 with great exuberance because the sun was shining on the glassy waters, it was an absolutely beautiful day. John had plotted the course last night. He  fired up the electronics during his morning coffee, I ran the last of the trash up, finished up a post on the blog while the engine was warming up and we were off the dock promptly at 8:30.

ASD’s anchor was still down when we got out into the bay, so they will be catching up with us along the way.  We rounded Dryad Point Light Station at 9:05.  This lighthouse was established November 7, 1899 on Campbell Island. It was kept for many years by  a Bella BellaIndian named Captain Carpenter.

We passed another lighthouse as we ere entering Milbanke Sound. Ivory Island Light Station was erected October 1, 1898 just months after the Egg Island light house was constructed. Ivory Island is completely exposed to Queen Charlotte Sound where it is known for gale force storms. This lighthouse had trouble keeping it’s light keepers and changed hands usually before the the year was up. With annual salaries, sometimes less than $500, illness, starvation, loneliness and madness made the light keepers of British Columbia jobs unbearable. There a little history lesson for you. 

At 12:30 we came upon a large debris field as we entered the Finlayson Channel We had just seen a Killer Whale, which didn’t stay up long enough for my camera. I’m am just  riddled with guilt right now because, we just hit a log during my watch, that I simply didn’t see! It made HORRIBLE sound when it hit the hull!!! John saw it off the stern after it went under us. Surprisingly he didn’t get mad! Bummed me right out!

I put together a meat and cheese platter served it with crackers, pickles and sliced apples for lunch. Just about the time we finished up the amazing waterfalls on Sarah Island came into view.  In the distance it look very small, once you are perpendicular you can see it is a set two huge rock faces with large volumes of water spilling into the channel. We drove the boats slowly in front of them each taking turns photographing each others boat. It was a nice break in the the ten hour run to Khutze Inlet. 

ASD at Waterfall Point off Sarah Island.

There were multiple falls here.
It was high noon, the sun was real bright.
Hard to photograph.

Todays passage has been wonderful! The weather is fabulous, even got up to 66*. The Finlayson Channel is stunning very desolate with very steep mountains covered with millions of dense evergreen, pine, fur and who knows what kind of trees on both side of the channel, snow capped above the tree line and lots of amazing waterfalls! All very majestic!!!  

 We crossed the 53rd parallel while underway. We made our turn into Khutze Inlet of Graham Reach at approximately 5:45. AIS shows there is a 100’ National Geographic passenger ship anchored in here. The Inlet stretches eastward nearly 5 miles, the water is like glass!  Just awesome!!!  I’m I’ve taken nearly 100 pictures today. Making our way to the head if the Inlet, we found that there is a commercial fisherman in here setting crab pots... for every one of his buoys, there is likely to be 10 - 12 pots! He better not be fishing the bay out. 

Sea Bird, National Geographic passenger vessel.

I was able to get some photos of Sea Bird, the National Geographic vessel before they took off.  We secured our anchorage near the waterfall and ASD did the same. We wasted no time launching the tenders and setting the baited crab pots. 

Kay and I got busy in our galleys getting ready for dinner. We enjoyed spaghetti and sour dough bread that Kay prepared, I made Italian sausage and salad. Quite the feast!

Wednesday, May 17th  Day 33   Khutze Inlet

Woke to a most spectacular morning! We enjoyed a nice relaxing day on the hook at Khutze. This is one of our favorite spots in the inside passage of Canada. The scenery and crabbing is breath taking. I made eggs and potato pancakes for breakfast. We took the dingy for an afternoon run about in the 5 mile inlet. 

Later the guys checked the traps, stored the keepers, rebaited and reset the pots closer to the waterfalls for a better yield in another over night soak. I marinated pork chops and we grilled dinner and ate on our boat.  It’s very enjoyable “buddy boating” with Tom and Kay, the crew of Alaskan Sea-Duction.

We will be traveling to Hartley Bay in the morning which is appx 5.5 hours away.

Thursday, May 18th  Day 34  Khutze Inlet to Hartley Bay

I woke this morning to a large racket happening on the bow of the boat. The windlass was not operating again! The guys were on the bow taking turns using a “cheater bar” on the crank to manually raise 200 feet of anchor chain. It took at little over one hour to get the chain in it’s locker and the anchor secure in it’s cradle. Once the anchor was onboard we had to get underway, leaving Tom and Kay to catch up to us.

Now that is a nice catch. Only one female. We kept our limit of ten largest males.

Tom witnessed John’s struggle early on and pulled his pot for him. We had returned our dingy to the flybridge yesterday when we finished with it. There was over 10 dungeoness crab so we got rid of the female and smaller guys. 

Our cruise to Hartley Bay was a great one! I made cinnamon rolls and cut up some fruit for breakfast and had made a pizza snack for everyone which was ready as we arrived secured to the dock.  John got busy cleaning the crab and George, John's local friend from last year, came over to say Hello. I borrowed Kay’s stock pot and got everything ready to boil and seal the crab catch. 

George, Tom, John

While the crab cooled down, Kay and I took the boardwalk hike passed the fish hatchery, along the Kukayu River to the lake at the head of the river. We had a real nice walk, it was welcoming to stretch our legs. I looked for the children I had met last year and only found one at the gym, Dakota. She did not know where her cousins were. 

Giga'at Nation Big House.

There are no motor vehicles in this small boardwalk community of the Gitga'at Nation.

...only ATV's including the fire department.

The boardwalk to the fish hatchery and trail to the lake.

Gitga'at smokehouse.

Doors to one of the hatchery buildings. It houses many huge tanks.

Kukayu River

Back at the boat, I bagged up the seasoned crab leaving two halves out for dinner. Tom and Kay joined us. We grilled steaks and crab for dinner! Damn the bad luck! It was more Game of Thrones (not my choice) before retiring for the night.

Friday, May 19th  Day 35   Hartley Bay to Klewnuggit Inlet

Slept in a bit until 8am. Worked on the internet, banking and such. Kay made breakfast for the guys while I worked on household chores like laundry, trash and galley. I had a nice conversation with Julie while enjoying my morning coffee, working out the logistics for her visit. It was nice to have phone and wifi service for a change. John communicated with Brian at Selene Northwest to sort out the problem with the windlass. John and Tom spent sometime trouble shooting the equipment. Good news, the motor is NOT burned up! They believe it is a relay switch that needs replacement.  Brian will be shipping it out to general delivery USPS, Ketchikan, AK right away. We will have to raft to Tom’s boat at anchor tonight at Klewnuggit and once again between Prince Rupert and Ketchican at Foggy Bay.

We cast ASD off of our starboard side tie, rafting just before noon. We followed suit leaving Hartley Bay to head up to head north up Grenville Channel, which is commonly referred to as “the trench”. Todays SOG is slow at 7 knots due to the tide and current. John and Tom are making water while underway today. I’m getting some laundry done.

Grenville Channel

There is a fair amount of traffic traffic in the channel; cargo barges, tugs, BC ferries and other pleasure craft. As the channel narrowed it became full of debris that we had to steer clear of. It is overcast today, but overall a nice day for a cruise. We should be arriving at our destination at 5pm. 

Photos can't express the magnitude of the majesty of these areas.

Todays passage was somewhat boring, just more of the same. The channel is narrow with steep snow capped mountains towering up both sides. By 4:30pm, we were heading through the wind and the churning seas as we made our way into Klewnuggit Inlet.  Once inside we found to have the entire inlet to ourselves. Once Tom had his anchor set and snubber in place, we slowly crept up to ASD’s starboard side with our port. We carefully lined up the gates, securing the boat with multiple lines. Every time we do this rafting procedure it gets easier.  

Klewnuggit Inlet

Pairadice heading into the inlet for the night.

Alaskan Sea-Duction with anchor set. We slowly approach for our rafted side tie.

Secured and ready for dinner.

Once settled Kay and I got to work on dinner. She shucked crab all afternoon for a crab chowder recipe she has. I baked a yummy crab dip and grilled cheese. When I got to Kay’s galley with my tray of sandwiches and dip, I tripped on the stairs and the crab dip went everywhere! We had to throw it away. It made quite a mess in the stairway and no one got to try the dip! Bummer.... then more Game of Thrones, oh joy.