M/Y Iron Lady

Going to do this one in several parts. One of my first observations while cruising in these waters is how much parts of it resemble New Zealand. It does make some sense.

Both are situated at similar latitudes albeit 50 South and 50 North. Both are geologically active and have high coastal ranges that act as barriers to the moist air flowing off the adjacent oceans creating rain forests and snow covered mountains.

In New Zealand, the prevailing weather flows from the Southern Ocean and Tasman from the west.

In BC, the prevailing weather flows from the North pacific from the west.

Both are temperate due to the oceans that surround them.

The following is a brief assortment of pictures – some from BC – some from NZ. I won’t say which is which but it is certainly hard to tell one form the other at this scale.

Lots of differences as well which I will cover in future posts.

Toba Wildernest Marina is at the base of Toba Inlet and sports stunning views of the surrounding mountains.

Owned and run by Kyle and Andrea Hunter, it is a delightful place with 300 feet or so of along side moorage on newly renovated floating docks (Almost all of the dockage here is floating due to the extreme tides and most of the smaller marinas feature side ties on straight or “L” shaped docks).

The marina features three nice cabins with full kitchens for those who wish to stay ashore.

Kyle has cut in some 5 or 6 kilometers of walking trails thru the forest with lovely views of the inlet and water fall that provides power and drinking water to the resort.

This bridge looks like it came out of an Indiana Jones movie.

I mentioned that Wildernest gets its power from a waterfall. Kyle took a primitive hydroelectric plant put in by the prior owner and upgraded it to provide power to the resort – I think he told me it was capable of producing up to 60 KW but he normally runs it at 30.

Water from the waterfall is piped thru an 8 inch pipe down to a manifold where up to 4 3/4 inch nozzles drive a water wheel that drives a generator. Pressure at the manifold is 110 pounds per square inch. Normally only two nozzles are in service. Kyle designed and installed an electronic governor which regulates the flow from the nozzle to provide stable 60 cycle power.

Very cool. Without the system, Kyle would need to have genset and bring in diesel to run it.

While we did not get a chance to give it a go, another visitor was having great success trolling for King Salmon in the inlet. He was kind enough to give us 15 pounder which we are putting to good use.

If this all sounds like a bit of an advertisement – it is. Many of the smaller marinas (and they are getting smaller as we head north), are family owned and run. The season is short, the costs are high and the workload – well you can guess how much work it is.

Toba is a great place and Kyle and his family are working hard to make a go of it. They need all the support the boating community can give them.

On the way up Waddington Channel from Melanie we stopped for the night at Walash Cove (seen of the great oyster hunt). Very pretty little spot but the rocky bottom made for an uneasy nights sleep as the anchor didn’t hold well. The beauty of the place could not be beat however.

This is a view of Waddington Channel.

And some views around the cove.

WE finally gave up around midnight and dropped the hook in deeper water and did a stern tie to shore. That worked well but the current flow still moved the boat around and set off the anchor alarm a few times. Steve and took turns getting up and checking things (not prearranged). If I hadn’t heard him check for a while, I would go up and he did the same.

We both tend to be of a cautious nature – a good thing.

Next morning it was off to Toba Wildernest marina – highly recommended for those who like beauty and solitude (along with good salmon fishing).

Best

We have been reviewing all the websites and written publications diligently with regard to PSP, ASP, DSP and coliform bacterial closures. They are all about as clear as mud but the consequences if you get mixed up with this stuff are serious and even deadly. As a result, with mussels, clams and oysters everywhere, we have avoided them.

Part of the cruising life is talking to everyone you run across about all matters from destinations, trouble spots, fishing techniques, ad infinitum. What we have learned is that the websites are horribly obsolete and the warning signs posted everywhere are even worse.

The breaking point came when we motored past miles of aquaculture farms raising mussels and oysters only to motor into a cove with a sign that it was unsafe to eat same from the cove we were in.

A friendly neighbour stopped by after we anchored up – a long time local resident – and laughed when we asked him about how safe it was to eat shellfish from the bay. He told us he had literally had thousands from there and they were fine. He advised that the government, due to funding restrictions, had long stopped monitoring the health of the oysters and the signs were generally remnants from long ago. Notably, the government didn’t bother to change their website either.

After hearing this from a number of sources including a cruiser in Walsh Cove where we were anchored, we bit the bullet and went oystering.

BIG oysters – the biggest I have ever seen. All those white spots on the rocks are oysters. The largest were the size of my hand. We pried them off the rocks above the high water line and quickly had a large bucket full of them.

We had them raw, we had them grilled, we had them baked – and they were all spectacular – and we are still here to talk about it today.

Fantastic.

Still, going forward, we will check with the locals before harvesting more.

Will cover three places that we visited over a few days in Desolation Sound. All these places are copse – little more then a few hours apart. After leaving Grace Harbour, we made a quick stop at Refuge Cove which sports a store, small marina and fuel.

The store actually had a pretty good supply of items including fresh produce. Beyond that, not much to recommend it other then for a quick supply stop. The tides here run big here – 15 feet or more on spring tides and most docks are floating to compensate for that. You can get a sense of that by looking at how steep the ramp is – almost more a ladder then a ramp.

These folks had it pretty much covered. A motorised dock complete with drums to carry water, a picnic table and umbrella. Their big mistake was pulling out directly in front of Iron Lady – has we not stopped it would have been so much drift wood.

Next stop was Mink Island which has a charming little anchorage.

Steve and broke out the prawn trap in hopes of catching a bunch.

We have bit to learn. Prawns live in 150 to 500 feet of water. We put our trap down in 300 feet. The poly line we used got horribly tangled and took almost an hour to sort out. Not an auspicious start to our prawn career. We left the pot out overnight.

Heavy rains hit about 2 in the morning with thunder and lightning as well (why it is always 2 AM I don’t know but that always seems to be the case).

The next morning dawned bright and sunny with leftover clouds shrouding the mouantins.

Steve and I went to retrieve our pot which was completely empty. A lot of work hauling it up from 300 feet for nothing. Maybe next time.

We put the dink back aboard and headed to Melanie Bay – reputed to be one of th prettier spots in Desolation SOund. We agree.

The entrance to a maze of islands and bays is extremely narrow. You can get a sense of this by looking at the sailboat exiting the narrows.

Once inside, it is simply lovely.

There were only 2 other boats in the anchorage. We were told that in high season (July and August) that the place is wall to wall boats. We much prefer having it almost to ourselves.

Grace Harbor is a beautiful secluded inlet in Desolation Sound. You can find the exact location on the Chart Table page. Entrance to the area is thru a narrow passage with tidal currents up to 3 knots – we saw about that so I was too busy driving to take pictures.

There is a second narrows where you enter Grace harbour gut the tidal currents are minimal in this pass.

Grace Harbour is part of the Desolation Sound park. The sign indicates the park and other warning sings indicate that it is not safe to consume shell fish harvested in the area. Strange as there is a large aquaculture area just out side the entrance to the harbour.

There are a number of summer homes near the entrance.

The harbour itself is pristine and is surrounded by old growth forest.

There were a number of other boats in the anchorage – five altogether and we had a chance to talk to two or three fellow boaters. Never hard to strike up a conversation when you pull in in an FPB. Turned out one of the couples knows Bill Henry (FPB Sarah Sarah). Most of us were headed in the same direction to Rivers Inlet and the Broughtons so we will no doubt see them again. A gentlemen aboard an aluminium trawler named Eventide was clearly rigged for serious fishing and said he would help us out up at Rivers Inlet. We will watch for him on our AIS.

Speaking of fishing, Steve tried his hand off the back of the boat. Shades of a mini Monster Bay – all he caught were small sharks like this fellow.

There is also a fresh water lake about a mile hike thru the woods so the next morning, Deb and I set off with my fly rod in hand in hopes of catching a trout. The trail thru the old growth cedar was wonderful.

The lake was very pretty but looked better suited to small mouth bass then trout and I do not think there are any small mouth bass up here.

Nevertheless, I thru a wooley bugger for about an hour with no results.

There were some loons across the lake but to far away to see.

We did here some noises that sounded like a mama bear with cub – may have been – may not have been – but Deb was making double time back down the trail yelling “Hey Bear” – no bear was going to catch her.

Steve suggested it might have been an elephant. I thought it might have been a lion, tiger or bear (Oh My).

Campbell River is a busy small city with 3 good marinas, good marine chandleries, and stores including Walmart and Target. We are tied along side at Discovery Harbour Marina just north of town.

With guests arriving in July and August, we will use Campbell River as there point of arrival and departure as there is good commercial air service to Victoria and Vancouver. From here, we will explore Desolation Sound with the intent of scoping out good spots for our guests (and Deb who is REALLY interested in going to Dent Lodge owned by Mrs. Nordstrom – they should get along famously as they know our credit card well).

The way in to Campbell River features some ferocious tidal currents near Cape Mudge. Locals advise that currents there can run to 19 knots. We saw 6 plus on moderate tides. Fortunately they drop off in the shallows near the large rock break walls around the marinas. Still, docking in 18 knots of wind was not inconsequential.

There are a number of good restaurants that we have enjoyed – Anglers, Riptide and the Harbour Grill among them.

Went to one of the towns marine museums today but missed the one with the destruction of Ripple Rock – a rather infamous affair that claimed many boats and lives in Seymour Narrows – maybe see it next time we are here.

Still trying to get on to salmon down rigger fishing – have the gear but need some help. One guy said to head for Cape Mudge – sorry, not in 19 knots of current.

Did buy some fresh scallops, prawns and halibut today at Crabby Bobs on Fisherman’s Wharf. Fresh scallops for dinner tonight.

Off tomorrow for Desolation Sound – much nicer then it sounds.

WIll add some better pictures to this post later.

Best