Dawson's Landing

     We rarely stay in one place for more than a day. We haven't any phone service. This is a strange way of living. I feel so primitive sometimes.  Conserving water, making bread two or three times a week, using powdered milk, washing clothes in the cockpit by hand and hanging them out to dry.  Sometimes I get so frustrated with the whole thing and want the conveniences of being a "land lubber."  Then, on the other hand, fishing for our daily meat is kind of exciting.  I do have to tell you though, I filleted the cod the other day and had such a hard time.  I don't know how to fillet ANYTHING!  I made such a mess (a bloody, yucky mess) and the fish was looking at me while I was stripping him of his meat, which I mutilated and wasted so much of.   Scott has done the catching, and cleaning and I do the cooking.  Anyway, we were underway and fishing and I HAD to do the filleting.  It was terrible for me! I thought, "Oh, my....I think I might have to become a vegetarian." Well, we had cod and rockfish for dinner that night and all that passed.  The fresh food is unbeatable.

     We spend most of our days anchored and tucked away in little coves away from and out of the weather.  Our solar panels provide enough electricity to watch a movie and have lights at night. Our stove is propane and we have diesel heat. The heater, uses less than a gallon of fuel a day. We carry 57 gallons of diesel in our tanks and 150 gallons of fresh water lasts us about two weeks. We haven't hiked in a while because we have been in bear country and we don't have bear spray. When we go out I carry a beer can full of coins and spend the entire trip making noise.  We would really like to see the bear instead of scare it so we set out peanut butter bagels and sit on the boat waiting for a show. We haven't seen the show yet.

     We have seen many other forms of wild life which is totally cool though. And we DID see that Mama with her two cubs. What we really wanted to see is this bear called a Spirit Bear. It is a blonde brown bear.  You can look it up and read about it.It is not albino, just has an odd gene and there are about 400 of them on Princess Royal Island, BC.

      Right now we are held up in a place called Dawson's Landing. We have been here since Thursday the 19th. The weather has been calling for gale force winds (Southeast) between 20 and 40 knots and seas up to 8 feet. We have to go South around Cape Caution so we need the wind and sea in our favor. We think we will be here until Tuesday. We are feeling very cooped up. The rain is relentless and the only trail here is the dock which is about 400 feet long. I am ready to move on.

     On the bright side.  We crossed paths with this wonderful couple in Princess Louisa Inlet. They are traveling on a boat named 4th of July. We re-crossed paths on our way back down in Lewall Inlet on Stirling Island. They also ended up here at Dawson's Landing, waiting out the weather. We are very happy to spending the time on the dock with them. They have turned out to be top notch people, and we have decided to keep them. They are good friends. Their names are Ken and Mary and they live in Nevada. They cruise this area once a year for vacation and have done so for years.

Photo Update

These swings have been appropriately labeled "Adult Swings."
They are located on a trail in Lagoon Cove.  Scott could almost touch the sky!  He got the swing as high as a 90 degree angle!

The swings from a different perspective

From Lagoon Cove to Sullivan Bay

A fire on the beach a Fury Cove

And marshmallows ....  of course

And sand/shell castles

The monster trucks work much better on the beach than on the boat

HAPPY DANCE! HAPPY DANCE!
NOW THIS....is a sand beach.  This is called West Beach at Pruth Bay on Calvert Island

Yep...real sand and a WHOLE sand dollar

The finder (he left it where he found it)

Rock climbing after some wave running

A full day of exercise (we all love this)

This is the coolest outhouse on any trail we have wandered thus far (Pruth Bay)

Fire and Mallows (peace, love, and joy!)

We are artists!  Our sculpture on West Beach

This is art (not done by us)

Carved in a tree at Pruth Bay

Butedale....there is history here

The remains of an old cannery

Looking a bit worn down

The dock at Butedale. It only looks unsafe

Another view

Planes dock here too...must be safe

The powerhouse

generator for electricity

ran using an alternator 

The mind that makes this work is a brilliant one

Look!  Scott caught dinner!  21 1/4 inches

It actually fed us two dinners!  Indescribably delicious!

We were hoping to see a "Spirit Bear," (which is a blonde brown bear)....all we got was  a research ground that was surrounded with barbed wire that captured the hair of the bear as he walked around the baited area.

So....we gave up bear scouting for the day and went swimming instead (brrrr...it was like 46 degree water)

This like a good place to build a sculpture

And he was right

Scott builds one and so does Bucket...TWO sculptures left at Morris Bay on Lady Douglas Island

Our return trip to Shearwater (as we head back down) blessed us with a velvety sunset

And a second stop at West Beach in Pruth Bay

Offered Bucket a beach race with a student at the research institute (his name is David, he is researching the life and behavior of the River Otter)

Bucket also joined the girls on the dock researching the Moon Jellyfish.
He was sure they were disappointed when he had to go.
His words were, "Well girls, sorry, but it is time for me to go.  Don't touch the Lion Mane Jellyfish, they will sting you."

Wild life....An Eagle observes the line up of Ravens on the breakwater at Alert Bay

Swan in the wild.....such an "AWE" moment for me

Dinner (cod, and not his good side for this photo)

Eagles...lovely sight....so proud and majestic

Cape Caution on our way up

Whale fin....say hello

And good bye

showing a bit of hump

and a bit more

before he fades away as mysteriously as he appeared

We LOVE LOVE LOVE the dolphins  (I am trying to post a video of them dancing and playing at the bow of the boat while we are underway)

Southbound

Ahoy!

     We are back at Shearwater Marina on Denny Island.  We left here on May 30th with a course set for Klemtu (which we passed by and found anchorage in Bottleneck Inlet on Roderick Island).  I fear the internet connection will not allow me much time for posting, therefore I will have to keep this update short and to the point, definately no photo posting (sadly).

    A few days before we docked here at Shearwater, we had anchored in  a place called Murray Labyrinth spent the day there and left early the next morning to find anchorage in Fury Cove on Fury Island.  Here we met Mark from the Waggoner Cruising Group.  We were coming to the end of the bible and guide to the best places to visit and anchor in the inside passage.  Lucky for us he had a guidebook onboard that we bought, it is called, "Exploring South East Alaska."  There is a list of itineraries in the back of the book.  While looking over them we discovered that we should have been on some sort of time schedule in order to make it to Alaska and back down the coast to Seattle by mid August (to make the weather window for traveling South).  That would mean we should have been traveling 30-100 miles a day and we travel an average of merely 6.  We herby dub ourselves "Dawdlers of the Inside Passage" and feel our life has been truly enhanced because of it.  We have seen natures finest creations in our dawdling, likely things that most people who hurry their way to reach Alaska miss.  Dolphins dancing and playing at the bow of the boat, Mink finding it's daily meal in the mussel beds, Killer Whales, Bears, A Wolf, Bald Eagles, Ravens, Wild Swans, Sandhill Cranes, we have had the freshest of fresh seafood, including salmon caught right off the stern of Velvet Sky, we have breathed the fresh salty air every night as we sleep under the star filled, non-light polluted skies.  We have experienced remoteness like no other, no hustle and bustle, no schedule, not much concern with time (just the tide and currents).

    This leg of our journey is the fine example of "It's the journey, not the destination."

     We  made it as far north as Hartley Bay and are now heading back down.  Our plan is to take the West side of Vancouver Island, and get a bit of open Ocean experience. We will be anchoring most of the time and will be away from civilization and internet, so no worries.  Know that we are having a great many experiences and we will return to the busy-ness and high activity of the modern world eventually.



     Until then......

Fair Winds and Oceans of Love,
The Dawdlers of the Inside Passage and Dwellers of the Velvet Sky

Happy Father's Day!

To The Men I Admire and Love.....

Dad(s), Uncle(s), My Husband, Brother(s), My Friends who set the example for others of how men should treat and honor women of all ages.

       Happy Father's Day!  Thank you for encouraging me to be the best I can be at whatever I am doing.  Thank you for being strong emotionally and allowing me to cry ('cause girls cry) when I needed to cry.  Thank you for the logic and rationality you bring to my world.  You are balance, calmness, strength, repairmen, craftsmen, educators, you make a difference in my life and I am ever so grateful for each and every one of you!

I Love You!