I’m out paddling by 0600 hrs this morning, hoping to get some good morning light.  Unfortunately, the cloud cover is still with us, so there won’t be any good morning light.  Sure would like to see some blue skies again.

Not too far from the boat I spotted this eagle.

I got this one shot, and then he flew to the other side of the narrows, which was good, because he landed in a lower tree.  

It was a pretty shaky perch, so he decided to find something a little more substantial.

I paddled for 3-1/2 hours.  The water was flat calm, which makes paddling easy.  However, the only other photo op was this merganser.   I paddled and paddled trying to get close enough for a decent shot without spooking her, and she kept paddling just fast enough to maintain a distance that made it impossible to get a good shot.  She finally wore me out and I turned around and headed back toward the boat.

On my way back, I spotted this eagle.  He was situated so that I had to shoot into the glare of the cloud cover, but I liked the shot anyway.  

As soon as I got back to the boat, I helped Al launch the dinghy so he could go set the crab trap.  We didn’t get any crabs here last year, but we’ve had good luck in the past.  We’ll see.

This place has become way too popular.  There are now five other boats in the anchorage, so this morning we pulled the anchor and headed for Nash Narrows, up Spiller Channel.  It rained the whole way. 

It’s just an easy two-hour run to Nash Narrows, and we are pleased to find the anchorage empty.  We have the whole place to ourselves.  

I spent the day reading… such a luxury.  After dinner, I felt like I needed some exercise, so I went for a paddle, even though it looked like it might rain any minutes.  The silence here is deafening, with the only sound being the tiny babbling waterfalls that appear when it rains.   They’re so tiny that you really have to search to find them, but the sound is beautiful.

This whole area is loaded with mussels that encrust almost every rock along the waterline.

I eventually spotted this eagle way up at the top of a tree.  The sea was pretty bouncy due to tidal conditions, and he was so high up that I had to zoom to the max, which makes stabilization nearly impossible; and I was having to shoot straight up into the glare of the overcast sky.  Not good.

Not too far from the eagle, near the top of another very tall tree, I spotted this eagle’s nest.

It doesn’t look too impressive here, but it was about 8 feet in diameter.

It isn’t raining as I set out on my paddle this morning, but it isn’t sunny either.  The cloud cover is almost down to the water.  

I explored the shoreline around the anchorage, where I’d found a pretty creek yesterday. 

On one of the islets, I spotted some Indian Paintbrush blooming.

Then, I headed for The Narrows. A large granite face at the narrows caught my eye.  As I studied it, I spotted some birds way up on narrow ledges.  When I zoomed in on them, I discovered that they were pigeon guillemots.   I’ve never seen guillemots on land before.   I wonder if they’re nesting up there.  They certainly wouldn’t have to worry about predators.

I was trying to get some decent shots of the guillemots, when I looked up and saw two fast runabouts  speeding toward the narrows at full throttle.  Rocks divide the narrows into two channels.  Since I was in the narrower channel, which has the least depth, I assumed the boats were headed for the wider and deeper channel.  I was right up against the rock wall, with no place to go, and they just kept heading right for me.  I thought surely they would see me when they got closer, but if they did, they didn’t seem to care.  I figured if they didn’t run me down, their wakes would probably capsize me.  The first boat barreled right past me at full speed, not 30 feet away.  It was touch and go for a while, but I managed to stay upright.  The second boat slowed down when he saw me and waved.  Nice.  

On my way back to the boat I watched an osprey fishing.  It didn’t take him long to snag a fish and head for a tree… a very tall tree.  I managed to capture these photos at maximum zoom.

Wall-to-wall blue skies!  I can’t remember the last sunny day.  Unfortunately, I’m only able to paddle for a couple of hours, because I have to be back in time to help Al replace the fresh water pump that died last night.  You don’t realize how much fresh water you use, until you don’t have any.  Thankfully, Al had no problem replacing the SurFlo pump with a Jabsco.  He was worried about the connections matching up, but it all went back together without a hitch.

I spotted an eagle, an osprey, a Steller’s Jay, and a common loon, but they were all too far away to photograph.  I finally found a couple of red-throated loons.  They were really too far away, and I had to shoot right into the sun, but I photographed them anyway.

First Nation people came into the cove this afternoon and set a salmon net across the mouth of one of the creeks in the cove.  I guess the salmon must be arriving soon.  Al says he’s going to try some salmon fishing this year.   We’ll see.

As I’m writing this, I can hear thunder.  So much for the wall-to-wall blue skies.

After fueling up with diesel, we’re underway for Troup Narrows, about 11 miles from Shearwater.  I had seen fog out in Seaforth Channel early this morning, but the fog had lifted by the time we got there.  We have flat water, and good visibility….perfect.

When we arrive at Troup Narrows, the anchorage is empty.  Within an hour, however, three sailboats arrive and anchor behind us.  It’s raining again.

This evening’s sunset is spectacular.

The ferry delivered supplies to Shearwater yesterday, and by 1300 hrs, today, the shelves should be restocked at the grocery story.  Al called Kevin, at Shearwater marina, to see if he had space for us at the dock.  He thought he could fit us in, so we’re underway for Shearwater at 1100 hrs.  It’s only a 30 minute run to Shearwater.   Al called Kevin again to see where he wanted to put us.  The only space he had available was at the very end of the long dock, with no electric power, no WiFi, and no water.  But, for $77 a night, what can you expect?  

We were at the grocery store at 1300 hrs, hoping to get everything we needed in the way of fresh produce.  The only fruit they had was Gala apples, which is my least favorite apple, bananas, which were riper than I would like, and Okanagan cherries, which are delicious.  They don’t have prices on anything, and everyone is grabbing everything off the shelf as fast as they can.   When I got back to the boat and looked over my receipt, I found that I had paid $25 for 4 lbs. of cherries.  I have to admit they were delicious, however.  We should be at Klemtu in a couple of weeks.  Hopefully, they’ll have a better selection of fruit.

I’m beginning to think the rain is never going to stop.  Once again, since I can’t go paddling, a pair of red-throated loons were nice enough to swim by.

It rained hard all day long, so I wasn’t able to go paddling.  However, not too far from the boat,  I spotted this merganser.

When he spotted me, he flew up about 50 feet and landed on a dead tree.  The tree was missing it’s top, so it provided a nice platform for the merganser.  I’d never seen a merganser in a tree before.

This common loon came close enough to the boat for me to get these shots.

When Al picked up the crab trap he was disappointed to find only 2 crabs.  We were hoping for 8.  In talking to Ken, the wharfinger, Al learned that a better place to put the trap is just this side of Coolidge Point.  We’ll have to try that next year.

By the time we got the crabs cooked and got underway for Kakushdish Harbour,  it was 1115 hrs and the wind was freshening.  We should have stayed another night and left early the next morning, but we didn’t.  When we got to Dean Channel the wind was blowing 25 knots and the seas were huge and confused, with whitecaps everywhere.  

Then, the wind piped up to 30 knots, gusting to 40.  Al throttled way back and started making long tacks back and forth to get a better angle to the seas, but still the seas were crashing over the bow.  The windshield wipers were going almost constantly.  But, my worst fear was that we wouldn’t be able to see logs in these seas.  Our speed got down to 4 knots at times.  Finally, we made it into Gunboat Passage, where the wind instantly dropped to 10 knots.  Crazy!  

By the time we got to Kakushdish, we were whipped.  We spent the day licking our wounds and promising ourselves, once again, that we would never leave an anchorage later than 0700 hrs.

Late afternoon, I went for a paddle and found this common loon.

A lesser yellowlegs landed on a nearby rock, and stayed just long enough for this one shot.

I found some beautiful prickly roses growing on a little islet where berries also grow in abundance.

The seas are flat calm as we make our way to Ocean Falls early this morning.  We are surprised to see “Northern Sea Wolf” tied up to the new ferry dock, and a bit concerned about how the ferry will be able to maneuver its way off the dock without wiping out boats in the marina.  But, our fears are allayed, when the ferry toots its horn and proceeds to leave the dock, easily clearing the boats in the marina.

We launched the dinghy and Al set our crab trap.  We’re hoping to get our limit, but you never know.

The Old Bank Inn has a laundry service.  So, my first chore was to get my cart out and haul the laundry up to the Inn.  The Inn is now also selling ice cream in their “Little Licker Store”.  I sat down after my tough hike from the boat and enjoyed a delicious double maple walnut.  Yummy!   

Also new at the Old Bank Inn were eleven large barrels of roses on their patio that fronts the street, and a big hummingbird feeder.  There had to be twenty hummingbirds at the feeder, plus the hummers that were feeding on the roses.  I was wearing a red hat, which they kept checking out also.  

I left my laundry, which would be ready for me in a few hours, and went for a walk along the water.  The wharfinger told me he’d spotted a bear walking by his house this morning, so I decide not to go as far as Martin Valley, where the bear was spotted.

There are always lots of wildflowers here, and this year is no exception.

Sadly, the WiFi signal was so poor we couldn’t connect.