We timed leaving Kah Shakes as perfectly as the last time we were here: leaving on a minus tide (-2.2ft). Rather than leaving at 6am, ten minutes after low tide, we waited until about 7am when it was just about zero. Mid channel is fine, and we had no less than 14ft of depth, but it is definitely quite narrow and bordered with rocks.
The sky looks a bit stormier in this photo than it actually was, but so pretty!
We picked up the crab traps from Airship and got 4 nice keeper male Dungeness. I think some crab enchiladas are in our near future!
Crossing Dixon Entrance was easy…a little chop from the southwest for the first couple hours out of Kah Shakes and down to Tree Point (1-2ft at the most), and then it calmed down even further after that.
Green Island lightstation showed N/A on the condition reports for the past two days. Um, guys? We could use some info!
We passed a few orcas as they headed north on our port side — one with a very tall dorsal fin, a couple other with medium sized fins, and a baby.
In Venn Passage these two eagles looked very official guarding this piece of equipment.
We’d cleared customs by phone earlier, and tied up on the dock at Prince Rupert Rowing and Yacht Club, where we were meeting Ralph and his friend Mike on Kali.
Early dinner at Breakers Pub and early to bed after a couple of very long days!
In the morning, Kevin and I walked up to the Safeway to get a few things before departing. I don’t think I’ve ever seen what very low tide looks like here. It’s LOW!
Bye for now Prince Rupert!
We departed around 9am, and headed for Baker Inlet. Originally we’d planned to cruise south via the outside of the inside (west of Grenville Channel) but the weather after tomorrow looked like it would not be pleasant out there, so we pivoted and opted for Grenville.
Baker Inlet is a fun stop. The entrance through Watts Narrows is very narrow, but plenty deep. Still, we timed it to arrive around high slack. You could miss Watts Narrows completely if you weren’t specifically looking for it.
Note how little rock wall you can see on either side of the narrows as we enter at high tide.
We dropped the hook at the very head of the bay and Kali rafted to us, making our enchilada dinner a little easier to share! Kevin went out to see if there were any fish (there weren’t) and Ralph and Mike went out in the dinghy to explore, while I prepped for dinner. I spotted a black bear on shore and got a couple of photos while it worked on a grass salad.
We had a fun dinner together and planned to leave around slack in the morning, but this time it would be low slack. When we woke in the morning we saw that we had an extra level of adventure for our departure: fog!
As we got closer to Watts Narrows, the fog was clearing fast. I took this photo looking back toward the head of the bay and you can see how thick (and low and concentrated) the fog was back there.
But up ahead…looking good!
Colorful creatures lined the walls as we exited…oranges and lavenders and pinks.
We turned south in Grenville Channel and there’s hardly a cloud in the sky today.
We’re headed for a spot that’s new to us, on Fin Island, called Hawk Inlet — south and slightly west of Hartley Bay, northwest of Gil Island. We’ll let you know how it is!