JULY 2nd. Early morning departure at first light. Anticipation. The slack at Seymour Narrows is 609am and we have roughly 6 miles from the anchorage to the narrows. We have about a 15 minute window to transit the narrows. George Vancouver once called Seymour narrows ‘the most vile stretch of water in the world’. It’s notorious for its incredibly strong currents. Faster boats have a wider margin of safety, slow boats like ours need to nail the slack. According to the Canadian Hydrographic Service “small vessels have been capsized with loss of life even near slack water in reasonable weather conditions. All crew members should be alert and ready to cope with any emergency.”
I’ve had a quarter cup of coffee, still blinking because it’s 5am and Jodi is sound asleep in her bunk. Perfect – let’s go.
I’m typing as we head into the narrows. It’s another gray morning, but fairly calm except for the small whirlpools and rip tides. The last evidence of a dying flood as we approach slack. Incredibly, even though slack is only 50 minutes away, we’ve got a 3 knot current against us.
Now we’re approaching the narrows – about a mile ahead of us. Right on schedule, the water is calming and the whirlpools are fading. Slack. One boat is already through, I’m next and there’s one behind me. The sun is rising over the mountains. Beautiful.
The passage itself is anticlimactic. Just as it should be.
0700 hours, July 2. Just about to head out of Discovery Channel into Johnstone Strait. First bear sighting. Strolling on the beach looking for breakfast – a beachcombing bear. Couldn’t get close enough for a decent picture.
0946. 50.24.081N, 125.55.123W. The Ebb is pushing us north. We hit 12 knots at one point. So far, making great time. Just got buzzed by 3 Dall’s porpoises. They streaked towards us, swam by our keel and were gone in a shot. I could clearly see them underwater as they zoomed by.
Johnstone strait is tricky to navigate. It’s the main thru way for all sorts of vessels and there are specific strategies to navigate them depending on how the current is running. If there’s a wind, Johnstone strait can be a nightmare. I had my courses set up on the laptop, but I watched a commercial fishboat in front of me. He wasn’t steering a straight course and it occurred to me he’s reading the water as he’s going along. These guys know their stuff and with fuel prices the way they are, there’s a reason for every move. He was watching the backeddy line and staying to one side of it. I tried it and picked up nearly 2 knots. A boat behind us was following the book. We handily beat him even though he should have been a little faster. The fishboat taught me a good lesson.. Currents don’t go in straight lines. When playing the currents, neither should boats go in straight lines.
We made very good time up Johnstone straight. Need to put the totals together, but I bet we averaged nearly 9 knots. Not bad for a 6.5 knot boat….
So good, in fact, that I just killed the motor. The wind is filling in from the east and we are sailing at around 5 knots. Very quiet without the motor!!
Well that didn’t last for long. 30 minutes of quiet, then had to crank up the motor again. Got out of Johnstone Strait and went through Chathom Channel. Tiny little channel, but looks more challenging than it is. We’re getting close to our destination for the night, Lagoon Cove. Need to squeak through the ‘blow hole’ then we’ll be there.
The ‘blow hole’ is a small channel just before you get to Lagoon Cove. Slow and easy and we’re through.
I forgot how nice Lagoon Cove is. It’s the most southern ‘resort’ in the Broughton Archipelago The ‘resort’ is a house, a boat shed, and a dock with some floating buildings attached. Bill, the owner, greeted us at the dock and gave us an overview of local news. Which included the exciting outcome of yesterday’s annual running of the crabs. Featuring 4 different heats, heavy betting, and over 60 crabs racing as if their lives depended on it. Which it did. The winning bet was placed by a 10 year old kid, winning the whole betting pool and letting the winning crab go free. Most of the remaining crabs were eaten last night. The left over crabs are tonights meal. We learned later that last year’s winning crab was not so lucky. The winner of the betting pool decides the winning crabs fate – the 10 year old had compassion. Last year’s winner surmised that the winning crab was in awesome shape and should be the best tasting crab of the bunch.
Bill reminded us that cocktail hour starts promptly at 5pm and all guests were invited to bring appetizers to the party. Bill provides the prawns, crabs and stories. We have just enough time to straighten the boat, take a hike, and be back for happy hour. Perfect.
Happy Hour at Lagoon cove is far more than that. Years ago, a good friend of mine stopped by Lagoon cove and heard about the appetizer party. He prepared a pretty good one. He was proud of what he had prepared. He walked and plopped down his dish. The next guest? Graham Kerr, the galloping gourmet. Also a sailor. You never know who’s going to show up.
We didn’t see any celebrities – at least none we recognized. But the food! Wow.
Bill told some stories about early Broughton history, and the names of certain coves and inlets. Turns out one was named after a fellow that moved his wife to the cove. His wife had a brothel and loggers from miles around would visit. Locally (not on the charts) the point just outside the cove is named ‘pecker point’ (his story, not mine!).
Bill also told another story dating back to the early ‘20’s. Seemed this young fellow just out of school was looking for a job. It was September and he was going door to door and he walked into the headquarters for a timber outfit. The guy behind the desk said ‘heck, winter is coming – we’re laying people off, not hiring! At which point the kid turn around with a defeated look on his face. Just before he got out the door, the guy behind the desk said “hey, we do need a care taker for the winter at our camp up in Knight Inlet”.
The kid said, “well, maybe, what’s involved?”. He was told the responsibilities and the salary, and the kid says ‘ok, where is it?”.
The guy behind the desk pulls out a chart and shows him the Broughtans and were Knight Inlet is. The kid says “gee, that’s looks way out of the way. Won’t I get lonely?”. The guy behind the desk smiles and lies. He says ‘see all this water? There’s boats and people going by all the time. Plenty of people”.
So the kid signs on, gets a lift from a tug and in mid October becomes the caretaker of the logging camp at Knight Inlet.
For the last 2 weeks of October, no one stops by.
November. No one stops by.
December. Not a soul.
Ditto January and February.
Finally in mid March, there’s a banging at the door of the caretakers cabin. There’s a voice that says ‘hey anyone in there??”
The kid answers the door – after nearly 5 months of solitude he’s desperate. More than desperate for human contact. He opens the door and there’s a trapper. A huge guy. 6’5” at least and is a mountain of a man. Hasn’t seen soap all winter, smells like the animals he traps, but desperate for human contact, the kid invites him in.
The trapper says ‘I just want to welcome you to Knight Inlet. You are new in town right?”
The kid nods, but says “I’ve been here 5 months since last October, so I’m not exactly new, but thanks for the welcome anyways”.
The trapper doesn’t even blink. He says “hey, I’d like to invite you to a party”
The kid, desperate for any human contact, says “Party? Really, a PARTY??” I’d LOVE to go!!”
The trapper says “Great! But there’s one thing I need to warn you about. There may be some dancing”.
The kid says “Dancing? That’s ok, I’m a good dancer. I like to dance. Dancing is great. I can’t wait to dance”.
The trapper says ‘Great, but there’s something else. There could be some drinking”.
“Drinking?” the kid says. “After 4 months of not seeing a drop of alcohol, may be a drink or two would be just fine. Sounds great!!”
Then the trapper says “Ok, but there’s something else. There may be some fighting”.
“Fighting?” the kid says weighing the prospect of actually talking to other human beings after a long, cold, lonely, winter vs fighting. He decides and says “fighting is OK. It’s a party, fights break out. I can take care of myself. I’m in – when and where is the party?”
The trapper says “Great!. But there’s one last thing. There could be some sex involved”.
The kid says ‘sex?’ After 5 months he can’t wait. He says “I’M IN! What do I wear???? I really want to go, but is it formal? Casual? What should I wear???”
The smelly, huge trapper looks the kid up and down and says “what you have on is just fine. After all, the party is just you and I.”
Those are the stories you hear up in the Broughtons…..
