Day 9- Columbia Cove, Just South of Brooks Peninsula

This morning, I did some computer work while I had Internet and talked to the locals about what to do and where.  Joe on Chapter 45 was an experienced cruiser on the West Coast of Van Isle and we poured over the charts together.  Thanks, Joe!

Then, I had to go to the store and buy some new down rigger equipment as I lost the whole bottom end when I wasn’t paying attention and hooked the 10 lb. ball on a rock at 145’.  Funny thing is, I had a fish on but it got my line all wrapped up in the rocks and I lost my flasher and that gear as well.  A stupid $50 mistake on my part.  Downriggers aren’t supposed to plow through under water hills!

We grabbed a quick bite to eat while tied to the dock at Winter Harbour and then decided to head out for a quick fishing trip to see if anything was biting.  Val spotted another bear on the beach on our way out so we floated along with him for a bit.  Of course, I had to stop at the only spot I knew that had a cell signal to check voice mails.  An hour later, after drifting and chatting on the phone, we set sail again.  Connor caught two nice Rock Fish but no salmon this time.  We didn’t work at it that hard.  It was fun just to be out there and even got to see a few more whales.

The wind was not too bad and dying down as the day went on.  We decided to make the run around Brooks Peninsula.  It was only 30 miles and this stretch is notorious for bad weather, currents, etc. but it seemed to so nice.  I was glad I didn’t even have time to worry about it…we checked the 4PM forecast and decided it was as nice as it was going to get.  No problem.  We flew around at 30 MPH and never had to pull the throttles back once.  Wow.  God has granted us amazing travel mercies: smooth water, sunny skies, no mechanical issues.  Everything is going just great.

We found this amazing cove called Columbia Cove.  It’s a Jurassic Park like setting.  It is so gorgeous here.  The light is amazing.  We snarfed down the leftover crab-stuffed salmon and all jumped in the dinghy to go exploring.  We found an old Coast Guard cutter wreck and think we found a trail head to a beach…we’ll explore that tomorrow.

My GPS says we’ve logged 482 miles so far.  Lately, we’ve only averaged maybe 20 miles a day.  I like this pace a lot better although I could spend several days at each anchorage.  I’m not getting near enough kayaking time in.

The moon is starting to show itself and the last of the sun is fading.  It’s time for me to crawl into my cozy berth and do some reading.  Connor is finishing his homework and Val is pouring over guide books, charts, and working on an exciting plan for the next few days.  It feels like we’re flying by so many cool things to see and do but we have to cover a lot of ground to get back on time.  We could spend years poking our way into all these coves and beaches but reality calls.  For now, I’m going to ignore it.  Sleep tight.