Leaving out of Shearwater on Monday morning under heavy clouds and rain, the first thing I encountered was a BC Ferry southbound in the narrow channel to Bella Bella. Fortunately the big ships announce their intent to transit these narrow passages so I had time to turn around and wait her out.
I followed another cruising boat through and headed down Seaforth Channel towards Ivory Island and Milbanke Sound. There a person has a choice; turn at Ivory Island and take the inside and more protected route or turn into Milbanke and take the faster route. The winds were fairly calm and the gale warning had been lifted for the outside. The closer I got the bolder I felt. A welded aluminum salmon troller had been following me and when the boat ahead turned inside, the troller continued towards Milbanke.
I called the troller on the radio and chatted. He said the route through Milbanke Sound was indeed a lot quicker. I asked his opinion about what he thought the conditions might be in the sound. He said "There's not much happen'n out there. No problem, follow me!".
"Not much happen'n" and "No problem" need to be viewed in light of one's range of experiences.
He was using his and I was using mine. The two are not the same.
Soon we were in 3 to 4 meter southwest seas on the port beam and quarter, remnants of the dying gale blowing the night before. Forty-five degree rolls for the next two hours. The surge was so big that the breakers were marking the rocks with spray 50 to 75 feet into the air! Yeah, "No problem" seeing where the rocks were!
A long way into Finlayson Channel the troller came to a stop. The skipper was out on the deck as I slipped up alongside. He said he needed to change a fuel filter and that I didn't need to wait. I said OK and then said "I'm sure glad that was so flat back there!". With a big grin he said "Yeah, that was nice!". I think he was serious.
I began thinking that I had saved enough time that possibly I could skip an anchorage and pick up a day in my schedule to get to Prince Rupert to meet Ginger. I had planned to stay in Bottleneck in Finlayson Channel but I turned into Tolmie Channel and just kept going. Tolmie Channel turns into Princess Royal Channel, long and narrow with high mountains on both sides and beautiful waterfalls all along it.
Butedale ( N 53 degrees 09.624' W 128 degrees 41.673' ) was my next scheduled stop and I arrived there at 1900hrs. A long day, 75 nm is a long day in this slow boat alone. Lou Simoneau is the caretaker here and I think he and Butedale are a perfect match. A very nice fellow. In the photos you will see the beautiful waterfall and how Butedale, an old fish processing plant, is falling into the sea. Lou told me there has been a white bear hanging around the beach the last couple days but I was not fortunate enough to see it.
Sitting here in Prince Rupert I must say, the internet connections are very spotty. I have been kicked off a hundred times or more but I will continue to try to post.
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