Captain’s Log: Cruising the Broughton’s; Allison to Greenway Sound

Aug 15-21

Hi All,

We only stayed one night in Allison Harbor. We arrived around 1:30pm and well, really not much to the Bay. It certainly was well protected but the water was very dark, full of tannins, not many critters….just a few seagulls and ducks and the shoreline very rocky with short scrubby looking trees. The commercial crabber did set many pots and when we raised the anchor the next day, the chain and anchor were covered in that sticky mud crabs love!!

Aug 16: We woke up to a calm anchorage in Allison but the weather forecast was full of high wind/gale warnings for Queen Charlotte Strait. We weren’t sure what to believe as no wind in the anchorage plus we had no wind rounding Cape Caution the day before. Well….we got outside the Bay and here came the winds….10-15G20kts from the WNW….at first wind against tide so a bit choppy but soon the tide changed to flood and we had wind and tide flowing together…but still it got to 2-4′ chop behind us…..I’m sure it will get pretty nasty once the tide changes to an ebb and the winds increase to the forecasted 25-30kts…yikes!!! We decided to pass on Blunden Harbor as it still is located in QCS and with all these wind warnings we wanted back in the Inside and calm waters. We turned into Wells Passage…..passed many boats fishing….then up Grappler Passage to Turnbull Cove….a cute, small cove…..41nm….beautiful forests all around….but already 3 other boats in the anchorage…yep, back to the popular Broughtons….we were hoping it was getting late in the season but maybe still 3-4 weeks away before the crowd leaves!!

We stayed for 2 nights and just chilled….did a few putzing chores, Kathy cleaned and did laundry….you know those pesky chores!!

Sunday, Aug 18: Sullivan’s: There are two rather nice, funky, and small marinas in the Broughtons…..Sullivan’s and Pierre’s. There are a few more but these 2 we remember from 2005 & 2006. Unfortunately it seems business is down, certainly at Sullivan’s….maybe by 50%. Poor weather and too many fishing restrictions has kept people away….although the fishing is hot right now. Sullivan’s also has ~8 homes attached to the various docks which gives it a nice appeal. These marinas seem to be popular for many people as they are very social….happy hours at 5pm followed by dinner at the restaurant some nights. We made HH both nights and then dinner Monday night. Dinner was ok…..ham, au gratin potatoes, mixed veggies….the best part was meeting people on mv Shocking and Kathy did not have to cook!!! Since we are trying to reacquaint ourselves to the PNW boaters it gives us a chance to meet people…like we did at Shearwater. Indeed we did meet several Krogen owners the first night and had a delightful time learning more about boating/fishing in the Broughtons.

We also met one of the owners of Sullivan’s….the Lemmons….been a partner since the 1980’s….eight people bought out the original owner, 5 of the 8 are still alive. There is a picture of Sam and Lulu standing by their 300-lb Halibut caught near by in 1983. The story of how he caught and landed the beast was amazing using a hand line….such history to this small marina!!!

Sullivan’s did have a very weak internet/cell signal….barely enough to get emails on your phone.

Aug 20: Hmmm…..another storm is coming….50+kt winds on the outside of Vancouver island….like 50nm away….and for us predictions for 25-35kts winds…..arghhhhh!!!! We were going to Booker Lagoon outside in Queen Charlotte Strait but decided we needed better protection. So, we went to Greenway Sound….on the north side of Broughton Island…..12nm….went up to the head and immediately saw a black bear…whoa….good karma. We tried several spots but deep and rocky but eventually found a spot to hold in 90-110’….deep!!!! I setup our spare prawn trap as mv Shocking told us good prawning in this area….we shall see….first pull after 18 hours we got 8….a lot of work for just a handful, but on our second pull after 22 hours, we got 34 very large Spotted prawns….ok, that is dinner….we have had higher counts but this was the largest by volume as the prawns were huge….much better!!!!

Even though we had gale wind warnings all around us, the anchorage remained calm for the two days….yea!!!!

Boat Stuff: Well, another milestone on Mystic…we crossed over 8,000 hours on the Cummins engine….56,000nm….wow!!! And, we now have 9400 hours on the GEN, 165 hours on the Yanmar and 4000 hours on the watermaker….the hours do seem to be getting up there on Mystic as well as for Kathy and me…ugh!

I also changed oil & filters in both the GEN and Cummins….cold yoga in the ER:))))

Aug 22: The Plan: We are headed to Pierre’s for 2 nights, a prime rib dinner and hopefully decent internet, which we have not had since Prince Rupert over a month ago. From there we will go to Kwatsi Bay, another of our favorites from 2005-6, then do some exploring in Tribune and Knight Inlets. We just realized that we have one more month left for our cruising full time lifestyle….getting a bit emotional over that…ugh!!!

Critter Stats:
Dungeness Crab: 91 total;
Prawns: 152: 96 Spotted, 14 Coon Stripe; 42 Spotted in Greenway Sound
Whales: 234 total; 205 Humpbacks; 11 Orcas; 18 Minke:
Salmon: 14: 3 King, 11 Cohos:
Halibut: 1; 48-lbs off Lowe Inlet entrance
Bears: 74 total: 62 Browns, 12 Black; 1 black bear in Greenway Sound
Wolves: 10; About an hour viewing a large male in Pruth Bay, north cove; then 3 more wolves the next day….wow!!!
Otters: 982; Mama and baby in Hakai Passage;
Sand Hill Cranes: 4;
Mountain Goats: 42
Dall’s Sheep: 3
Moose: 3
Alaskan Husky sled dogs: 60
Stellar Sea Lions: 900;

Hope all is well,

John
Mystic Moon
GO MYSTIC GO!!