I got up around 4:45 and was underway a few minutes after
that. Sam M. continued to sleep and we
cruised at a leisurely 5 knots until we finished breakfast at 7:30. Given the miles that we were hoping to cover,
I opened up the throttle a bit and we continued north at 15 knots, arriving at
Bishop Bay around 11:00.
The scenery as we traveled north in Princess Royal Channel
was nothing short of spectacular, and it kept getting better and better. Snowcapped peaks, sheer cliffs, plunging
waterfalls, and beautiful, cloudless skies.
I wish I had more time to spend in this area, but Sam M. has to be in
Ketchikan for a flight so we’re rushing through. Oh well, the return trip will be at a much
more relaxed pace and I’ll be able to spend much more time in the area.
Bishop Bay hot springs are described in the guidebook as a don’t miss spot. They’re right. There’s a free dock to tie up on and a boardwalk through the woods to a bathhouse with several pools of differing temperatures, all quite warm.
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| Part of the hot springs |
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| Lots of great views from the helm |
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| New C-Dory ad? |
We soaked for a couple hours, visited with the owners of
Westwind Tugboat Adventures who were moving their boat north from Vancouver for
the summer charter season, and then headed out.
Just a mile from the dock we saw a whale surface a few times, in the
midst of which the engine overheat alarm started buzzing. I quickly shut the engine down, determined
that a bunch of seaweed was clogging the water intakes, removed said seaweed,
and started the engine again. No
overheating issue, so we continued on our way.
Thankfully this all occurred in a windless, wave less bay, although it
would have been pretty easy to deal with in all but the roughest conditions.
Scenery on the way out of Bishop Bay
As we headed out of the bay we also saw a small group of
porpoises. They were darting all over
the place, jumping out of the water, and seemed to be having lots of fun. I’ve got to get some pictures of these one of
these days.
We pulled into Hartley Bay at 2:30 and bought enough gas to
get us up to Prince Rupert. 143.4 liters
at $1.443 per liter. I got a cell phone
signal and checked the weather for Dixon Entrance and it looked like Sunday was
going to be awful, with gale force winds and big seas. Monday, however, looked good. Getting into Prince Rupert requires crossing
Chatham Sound, which can apparently get ugly in strong winds. Given the forecast for Sunday, the distance
from Hartley Bay to Prince Rupert (77 nm) and the time (3:00 pm), we made the
decision to go run to Prince Rupert when the weather was good.
The trip up Grenville Channel was long and beautiful. We got a several knot boost from the current
for the first half, then lost several knots the second half. It was actually pretty windy as we approached
Chatham Sound, but it Chatham Sound itself was calm and the trip was
uneventful. We pulled into Pillsbury
Cove anchorage around 8:30 and dropped the hook for the night. Another new record for the most miles in a
day.
157.3 nm today and 614.5 total
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