A Berry Island Bear

Day One brought a beautiful anchorage and our first bear sightings; not a bad way to begin the 2015 cruise. Last year it seemed to take forever to spot the first critter, so I consider this black bear an omen of good things to come. Now where is the first whale?

Not long after we anchored Ron cleaned his binoculars and scanned the far shore on Swanson Island to focus the lenses. Black bear on the beach! It slowly ambled along the water’s edge, nosing about to feed on some unseen tidbits exposed by the low tide, and seemed committed to spending some time in the same area. That was an invitation to launch the skiff and run over for a photo shoot. I packed a go-bag with binoculars, camera gear and some snacks, grabbed the coats and life jackets and joined Ron in the cockpit as he readied the skiff. Wait a minute, Black bear on the beach! close behind Rhapsody, so close we could hear the rocks tumble as this bear rolled them over to check for edibles. Grab the cameras and forget the skiff, this was a bonus photo op. Last year we spent weeks looking for our first bear, and here we were with two of them in our first anchorage of the 2015 trip.

                                                                

After the tide rose to covered the intertidal zone, the Berry Island bear wandered off uphill into the dense brush. He returned the next morning, this time spending an hour at high tide munching on the tall grasses around the cove. Ron used the skiff for a closer approach and more photographs. That was one fat, glossy-coated and well-fed bear!

We did finally load gear into the skiff and tour the southeast end of neighboring Swanson Island. We viewed crumbling old homesteads and beached boats, newer cabins still waiting for summer residents, fishing lodges and occasional wildlife, but no more bear. This corner of the island was quiet, even the eagles nest looked abandoned.

                                                 

Photo: eagle nest in tree               

Photo: Sailboat and barge house in disrepair

Photo: Harlequin ducks

Photo: Timid doe on rocky shore at low tide

Destination: Farewell Harbor

Day 1     85.3nm       

We eagerly departed Discovery Harbor at first light, along with some water taxis on their first run of the morning and a few crew boats. Discovery Passage weather was clear and breezy, but the winds picked up as soon as we made the turn at Chatham Point into Johnstone Strait. Typically 10 to 20 knots winds running into an opposing ebb current can make for a chunky run, but Rhapsody’s stabilizers helped to smooth out the ride.

Photo: Entering Chatham Channel

We missed slack water at Blackney Pass, so we detoured on a slightly longer, scenic route up Havannah Channel and Chatham Channel. The area is peppered with interesting sights; old homesteads, newish homes and docks, First Nation reserves, middens and ruins which hint at once-livelier times. Chatham is a narrow, shallow, boulder-strewn passage with range markers as navigation aids. Nobeltec navigation software has made these shoreside markers obsolete, but it’s fun to use them to doublecheck our course.

Next came a brief sidetrip along Clio Channel into Potts Lagoon to check out friend George’s crew camp vessel, Salmon Seeker.  

Photo: Salmon Seeker in Potts Lagoon

Photo: Potts Lagoon logging site

Loggers were busy sorting and stacking logs near the shore while George’s crews were uphill somewhere building or rebuilding logging roads. Signs posted along the shoreline warned of blasting activity, but no alarms sounded while we were there. Nonetheless, Potts Lagoon was a busy place on that day!

Continuing on along Clio Channel into rock-strewn Beware Passage, we finally arrived at Farewell Harbor on Berry Island, a favorite and familiar destination. It felt great to drop the anchor, still in bright sunshine and out of the wind, and realize the adventure has really begun.

'Farewell Harbor was named in in 1870, by the officers of H.M. surveying vessel Beaver, because it was the last place surveyed, and that in the Beaver they had “Fared well, and now it was good-bye, Farewell.” (John Walbran)'

Photo: Farewell Harbor Lodge, Berry Island, BC

Photo: Farewell Harbor Lodge, Berry Island, BC

The Last Few Projects

It seems there's always "just one more thing", some essential machine part or unfinished project that adjusts our departure schedule. This year outfitting and provisioning was nearly stress-free. An unexpected generator issue caused some concern when a replacement part was hard to source in town. Then Altech Diesel came to the rescue - not only did they have the essential part in stock, the only one on Vancouver Island it seems, but Parts Manager Ken jumped in his truck and delivered it within minutes. Wow, that's great service! Thank you Ken and Altech.

One important non-mechanical tradition has been to plant a container of herbs, a smallish pot sufficient to last through our many months afloat. Lately the cheerful staff at Campbell River Garden Center has done the planting honors. 

Photo: Pat (l) and Barb (r) with the 2015 herb pot

This year Barb planted three pots and Pat helped with the selection of basil, chives, rosemary, mint, oregano, sage, Italian parsley, and one lone heliotrope. Why the purple flowering heliotrope? for the hummingbirds, of course. The biggest fully-packed herb planter is positioned on Rhapsody's upper deck, and two smaller pots of tender basil and aggressive spearmint now rest on a galley countertop. These little gardens will definitely keep this cook happy.  

Our dockside neighborhood is changing daily as the annual migration of vessels picks up speed. Several boats that moored here during the winter months have moved on and scattered up and down the coast. Their slips don't stay empty for long. 

Photo: M/V Scorpius departs for Alaska

Scores of small boats, big boats, working boats, charter boats, fishing boats and the occasional mega yacht arrive to fill up the docks. Some vessels stop briefly for overnight moorage, others stay longer for repairs, for major provisioning, or to pick up guests or crew. Then they too depart, most heading north. We'll join this waterborne flock very soon, after one more project... or maybe two.

The arrival of a barge and crane with vibratory pile driver meant the neighborhood really is changing. I've suffered before through the annoying repetitive din of pile drivers pounding away for hours while installing dock pilings, but this week my noise concerns disappeared as soon as work began. Vibratory drivers are nearly silent compared with those older impact drivers. Hooray! Discovery Harbor is extending F Dock, adding additional 45-foot slips along the north side and providing more room for side-ties on the south. 

And now it's time to head north. Tomorrow's 5:50 a.m. scheduled departure is set by a desire for slack-current passages in several spots along the 78 nm (nautical mile) route. Why do we care about slack currents? Here's one example: tomorrow the current at Seymour Narrows ranges from near zero to 10.4 knots, all within 3 1/2 hours. We travel at 9 knots, so for safety and stress-free cruising, careful planning matters. Next post from Ketchikan following 7 to 10 days of cruising beautiful northern British Columbia.