5/25/2024 We continued North while waiting for Kinship to get new batteries and rejoin us. Our next stop took us to Bishop Bay Hot Springs at the head of Bishop Bay. Local residents have built the bathhouse and boardwalks around the hot spring. There was only one other boat in the bay when we arrived so we had private use of the hot spring. The water is wonderfully warm and has no odors at all. There is a strong flow into the tub that keeps it very clean and fresh. No slimy growth!
5/26/2024 Lowe Inlet - We left Bishop Bay after another very calm night and headed towards Lowe Inlet on Grenville Channel. We took the scenic route through Verney Passage, along the west side of Gribbell Island. This passage is lined on both sides with polished granite mountains 3500 feet high. The weather lifted a little bit for us in the passage and allowed us to take in the beauty.
Leaving Verney Passage, we crossed Wright Sound and entered Grenville Channel, a straight 45 mile long channel that takes us almost to Prince Rupert. Our destination for tonight is Lowe Inlet.
Lowe Inlet is a provincial park off Grenville Channel. We anchored directly in front of Verney Falls, the current held the boat in place. We had another very calm night. That was not the case for the Slow Boat flotilla who were here two days earlier and had a rough night due to winds. Lucky us! We tried a crab pot here, leaving it down for about four hours and didn’t even get a nibble at our bait. We hear there are crabs here, but we may have been too close to the fresh water lagoon outlet for good crabbing. If it hadn’t rained constantly while we were here this would have been a pleasant place to hang out.
Meanwhile back on Kinship… with new batteries installed, Phil and Annette started the long trek to catch back up to us. They left Port McNeill on 5/25 and traveled to Shearwater, spent a short night at dock and headed to Butedale on 5/26. After another short night the headed up the Grenville channel and met us as we were leaving Lowe Inlet. They earned the endurance award for covering 300 miles in 38 hours of run time with two short nights of rest.
Along the way they went through Reid Passage to avoid Milbanke Sound. This includes Jackson Narrows at the east end of Jackson Passage. They followed American Tug Samson through the narrows. Annette said it felt like she could reach out and touch the rock sides that were only ten feet away. The narrows is only about 40 feet wide at the shallow point, and only 10.5 feet deep at the shallowest point. Bill and Sally definitely would not have liked that passage.
5/27/2024 With our little flotilla reformed we headed in to Prince Rupert for a few nights of rest and a chance to catch up on things like laundry. This is also the staging area for crossing the Dixon Entrance, our next section of passage that is open to the ocean.
Next stop, we will move to Dundas Island (5/29) and spend the night before crossing into Alaska on Thursday (5/30).
Comentarios