Raincoast Cruising

June 9

Rescue Bay to Lowe Inlet

Each calm, gray day ranged from pleasingly light gray, filled with misty ribbons of low clouds, to gloomily dark with sudden and complete downpours.

Wow? What prompted this cheeky raven to join us during a rainstorm? He landed noisily on the bowrail with a squawking kerfluffle of feathers, shouting insults or challenges at some unseen follower. A few minutes later he flew off, just as suddenly as he had arrived.

Spring’s abundant rainfall combined with snowmelt from the year’s heavy snowpack to decorate the hills with hundreds of waterfalls. Some were powerful, thundering into the channel with a force that pushed our bow around. Others appeared as thin ribbons formed high up on the cliffs, then disappeared in the trees and reappeared as multiple threads farther down the hillside. This is a beautiful section of British Columbia, its Raincoast label aptly descriptive.           

At the helm, I was surprised by a huge whale splash about 50 yards off the port side. Then the fin of a second whale cruised by. And then it was over. The two humpbacks did surface a few more times behind us in the channel, but there were no real displays. Once again it happened too fast to grab the camera. But we were ready later on in Fraser Reach, where connects with McKay Reach. A school of white-sided Pacific dolphin played in the bow wake for about 10 minutes. Remembering the image of those sleek, leaping forms rocketing through water and air still makes me smile. This time there’s video footage to share - after we deal with editing and posting issues. Better yet, come aboard and visit to see the video.