Captain’s Log: Kitsaway, Khutze, Bottleneck and Shearwater in BC

April 5-9

Hi All,

Oops….I forgot to mention that we saw 2 adult Sand Hill Cranes in Cameron Cove…..Cindi first saw them….gorgeous….we have been trying to see these guys since Japan!!!

Adam and Cindi left at 9am with their ride to Terrace. We gathered a few fishing supplies and left for Kitsaway by 10am….24nm…arrived around 1pm….then it was a good book and a long nap…popcorn and a movie and in bed early. Kitsaway was a nice anchorage, well protected but once again lots of logging scars at the entrance to the cove and hidden at the anchorage….very little critters.

Aug 6: We were up early heading to Khutze in Fraser Reach….48nm. After about an hour we got into pea soup fog….maybe lasted 2-3 hours….ugh…pretty narrow channels to meet another boat which we did a few times but everyone behaved!! We had been in Khutze in 2006 with Bob and Cheryl on Kasekuchen…..loved it then and love it now!!! DDG….huge green meadows with snow cap mountains down the valley with 2 good size river inlets and several large waterfalls. It is a bit tricky to anchor and we went in front of the falls and dropped in about 80′ but as you swing you can find 120’…deep for sure. With the tide and river flow you do complete 360’s!! We woke up the next day with some weird echo sound images….took the dinghy out to sound and yep, we had found a wreck close to Mystic….looked like a sailboat at 110′ with the mast coming up to 30-50′. Needless to say we moved Mystic over by about 50 yards and thankfully no more sightings on the depth sounder and TG no issues getting the anchor up!!!

We did set a crab trap using the huge King salmon head from Whale Bay…got 3 (2 keepers) the 1st pull, 2 very large males the 2nd pull, and the 3rd pull 7 >7″ large males (limit is 6 for that day!!)…total of 10 for the 2 days!!!!

We took the dinghy and went for a long river tour….while we did not see any bears we did see a wolf running towards us along the shore. I even got a pretty good picture…..outstanding!!!! Over the 2 days we did see 5 Brown bears….a mama and 3 cubs put on a pretty good show and late one afternoon a lone adult walking through the tall grass in the large meadow.

We had 2 mild anchor stress issues. The first was the waking up to a wreck underneath us and the second was from a sailboat of foreign flag….yep, those guys for all you cruisers….well, they came in and circled Mystic 30-40 yards off…I went out and told the woman we had anchored in 30 meters and had 100 meters of chain out…she said thanks and yes it is very deep….I told her over by the buoy the tour boat was using might be a little more shallow…she said thanks. Well, they went over there…great…but then came back to Mystic, circled again 40-50 yards out and then dropped their anchor 50 meters away….we yelled….no, too close…the man came out and said something we could not understand…..they just dog piled their anchor chain and never set it and went below….ODG….we will need to be watchful….arghhhhh!!! Then about 2 hours later we looked up and they had pulled their anchor and came by and profusely apologized for anchoring too close and then left to continue on south….go figure!!!!

Horseflies: ODG….when the sun was out it was an invasion of these huge, female biting horseflies….like leave a divot when they bit…..when we first got there and had our passage beers in the cockpit, we killed 40 w/in 10 minutes…eventually we were chased inside. It was ok when the sun went down or the next morning with fog/clouds until it burnt off and the sun came out…..wow o wow!!!

Aug 8: Out by 8:30ish for the 29nm run to Bottleneck Inlet….a cute, pretty small cove with a little stream and small meadow. Nothing really held our attention so we just relaxed, I respooled one downrigger with SS cable after several issues with the thin dynema strand getting caught in the spool, Kathy cooked all 10 crabs we had from Khutze, had a scrumptious fresh crab dinner, movie and early to bed!!

Aug 9: We were running low of fresh produce after the visit with Adam & Cindi so we decided to stop in Shearwater, a very small resort/marina but with facilities…..45nm in calm conditions…even exposed to the open Ocean in Milbanke Sound but all very calm. I called the marina and got a spot for the night….great….internet, restaurant, power and water…sweet as!!! We arrived around 2:00pm and after a little wait, got a nice spot with 50amp power….Kathy immediately started washer/dryer, I started water, went to the grocery store and found pretty decent fresh produce, then a few beers/pulled pork sandwich at the pub and back to Mystic for some internet…which was pretty slow…ugh!!!

The Plan: We might stay in Shearwater another day if they have room, if not then onto Codville Inlet for a few more days of R&R, then Pruth Bay….then, well not sure…..we need to get our detail plan together but soon after Pruth Bay we will go around Cape Caution (can be a rough point to get around so need calm weather) and then it will be time to explore the Broughtons for a few weeks!!

Critter Stats:
Dungeness Crab: 89 total; 10 large ones in Khutze
Prawns: 95: 81 Spotted, 14 Coon Stripe; hope to prawn in Codville
Whales: 225 total; 201 Humpbacks; 11 Orcas; 13 Minke: 3 Humpbacks in Ursula Channel going to Khutze
Salmon: 12: 3 King, 9 Cohos:
Halibut: 1; 48-lbs off Lowe Inlet entrance
Bears: 73 total: 62 Browns, 11 Black; 5 Browns in Khutze, 1 mama, 3 cubs, 1 other adult
Wolves: 6; 1 in Khutze running on shore
Otters: 981; 1 very large otter in Milbanke Sound….whoa
Mountain Goats: 42 total
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!!