Airship | McMicking Inlet on Campania Island

Yesterday we cruised from Anger Island past Pitt Island, down Principe Channel, through Nepean Sound and Estevan Sound and into McMicking Inlet on Campania Island.

Oh, and I keep meaning to mention…if you click the “Where is Airship?” button on the front page of the blog that shows you where we are via our Garmin InReach, and you see our location marker in a really weird place that a 50 foot boat should NOT be, then it’s probably the dinghy. We’ve been getting in the habit of taking the InReach out with us in the dinghy when we go exploring (and Kevin takes it when he goes fishing, because then we can text back and forth). It’s a good safety measure! However, we’ve gotten a few “Where ARE you guys?” questions from astute followers and friends…not to worry!! Okay, back to the cruise report.

Where Principe Channel connects with Nepean Sound we passed a humpback doing some cool maneuvers…flipping over on its side and splashing a bunch of water with its tail…not like the tail slaps we usually see, the movement was more like the way you’d swing your arm through a pool to splash your little brother.

Conditions were cloudy, gray, and super calm!

Nepean Sound

Campania Island is rugged and rocky and tall, more so than most if not all of the other islands in this area. The highest point, Mount Pender, peaks at 2,430 feet (the clouds obscuring the top of it here as we approach the inlet). White sand beaches along the shore could fool us into thinking we were in the tropics on a sunny warm day (this was not that day).

We anchored in the cove just southeast of the head of the inlet, and then took the dinghy out to explore the rest of the inlet and out to walk the beaches.

Airship anchored in McMicking Inlet
Airship anchored in McMicking Inlet
Dinghy on shore (with a very long line tied a rock out of frame) while we explore the beach
Gorgeous sandy beach peppered with rocks and seagulls galore

We immediately spotted the tracks of several wolves on shore. This guy in particular was huge!

It looked to us like there were three sets of tracks…two walking together (one very large deeper set and the other smaller and lighter) and one more about 12 feet up toward the trees.

Wolf tracks on the beach
Dead jellyfish in the sand
Rocky shore

We returned to Airship and Kevin got some aerials of the inlet:

There was one other boat here, in a cove further south…Invictus, a Nordic Tug 32, owned by Peter and Roma. Peter called on the radio in the afternoon after seeing us come in, and the four of us got together on Airship for an after dinner scotch and several hours of great conversation. Cheers to new friends!

In the morning we pulled anchor (and crab traps…only females and red rocks this time) and headed out.

Sunrise from Airship
Invictus departing McMicking Inlet

As we passed one of the beaches on our way out of the inlet, we spotted one wolf on shore and were able to grab a couple quick shots before it disappeared behind some rocks.

Today we’re headed to Kent Inlet on Princess Royal Island!