BC Coastal trip to Shearwater 2015

A few shots I found on my Cell phone from our trip. 

Blind Channel Resort @ low tide

Evan using his cast net @ Blind Channel it worked well this time, no bait caught, but a good toss. 

Pulling into Bull Harbour @ Hope Island

You wouldn't think that such a nice place as Bull Harbour would have such crazy ass mosquitoes!

Greg just Chillin after a great morning of fishing, 5 coho in an hour

For more Photos go to Salt Air Photos

Day 7 August 14th 2015

Headed towards St Johns resort, anchored in the bay in front of the resort. 

I believe we caught 5 salmon and some bottom fish this day, no Halibut, unfortunately no Halibut all trip. 

Here is Shawn carefully watching his line, looking for that big spring.    

A rock outcrop which we anchored behind for the night.  The fishing grounds are 7 minutes away in the morning, doesn't get any better then that.  

The sunset colours were crazy, 

I thought it was just the scotch, but....

I knew it was magical

For more Photos go to Salt Air Photos 

Day 5 August 12th 2015

I'm sorry, I cannot remember where we woke up this morning, but the sunrise makes the bad memory all okay. 

Good Morning to all.

Which one do I like best...hmmmm

Even the birds were enjoying the calm weather and sunshine.

In the afternoon we dropped Brian off @ Bella Bella and took a 2 hour cruise to my favorite crabbing area.  It became late faster than we had planned, so we anchored in  Burke Channel, okay we had also caught a couple of crabs so we wanted to wait and give them a good overnight soak. 

Just some evening shots, but the sky kept changing...

The water was a bit choppy, which gave us a wee bit of concern as we were not in a sheltered area, but by morning it was calm as calm can be.

For more Photos go to Salt Air Photos

Day 3 August 10th 2015

Leaving Bull Harbour, heading to Hakai Pass, looking forward to fishing...

There won't be as many photos as it is FISH ON Time!

Evan holding the very first fish caught on the Netta Jean, it was a 35 lb Tyee caught by Photographer and Tyee Slayer, Sandy  

It made for a great start to the day. 

Still can't get over how these trees live on the barren rocks. 

1 Tyee (a spring over 30 lbs) 4 coho a ling-cod, a couple rock cod and a nice snapper, Robbie, Evan and Brian...I was too tired to figure out how to increase the the timer so I could join them, but the smiles say it all!

We anchored in a bay of Calvert Island 

For more Photos go to Salt Air Photos 

Day 2 Part 5 August 9th 

It was a long travel day

Bull Harbour @ Hope Island

We had neighbors tonight 

A tough place to  anchour for the night.  

The sky kept changing all night

From blue to yellow/orange to red

We were trying to convince Evan try his cast net, but he just looked concerned that it was a Very bad idea... It will be okay honest, we even put the dingy down, what could possibly go wrong?!?!

He gave it the old college try, but all he got was wet and a couple of jellyfish...

For more Photos go to Salt Air Photos

peaceful orca

Day 2 - Part 3 August 9th 2015

Heading towards Port Hardy to Fuel up, we came across another pod of Orca which were enjoying a peaceful day out, just like we were. 

Looks like mom and little one

Going our separate ways 

Look at the difference in Dorsal Fins 

Heading into Port Hardy, well the fuel dock

For more Photos go to Salt Air Photos

Day 2 Part 2 - August 9th 2015 - Whale watching

Traveling through Johnstone Strait when we are waved down by a conservation officer, letting us know there is a pod of Killer whales just ahead, and to follow protocol of staying below 8 knots and 500 meters away. 

Robbie enjoying the clam weather and looking forward to seeing some wildlife. 

Just a tug, but looked awesome

We found the pod - I believe these were C-pod. 

There are (so far) three races (or maybe they are sub-species) of "Killer Whale" found in British Columbia's coastal waters.

RESIDENT ORCAS- Fish-eaters, who seem to prefer salmon but will eat other fish when salmon are scarce. Seen most often in coastal and near-shore waters, these are the 'killer whales" that are found gathering along the salmon's main migratory paths.

NORTHERN RESIDENTS- Threatened- About 250+ orcas who live year-round between northern Vancouver Island and the BC /Alaska border, and congregate during Spring, Summer and Fall on the Northern BC coast, and during Summer and Fall in Queen Charlotte Strait & Johnstone Strait. There are 17 PODS (extended families) who can be grouped into 3 major CLANS (related PODS)

Robbie looking for more Orcas..

For more Photos go to Salt Air Photos

Day 2 August 9th 2015

We woke up in beautiful calm Blind Channel Resort, if you have a chance to stop by this amazing spot, don't hesitate. They have a moorage with power and fresh water, a general store with a government liquor outlet, a top end restaurant, showers and a washer and dryer!  They even found a place to tie us up, even though they were completely reserved when we initially called. 

Evan trying his luck at cast netting...

Peaceful morning after a huge downpour the evening before

Fog still around and more narrows to travel through

A great mode of transport, when it is not foggy

Leaving Blind Channel behind

Folks anchoring near Hardwick Island

Islands near Port Neville

Near West Cracoft Island

For more Photos go to Salt Air Photos

Heading into Seymour Narrows 

How do you like the Guest House? 

Just around Comox we started to have a bit of Starboard engine issue, we limped into Campbell River and changed out the Fuel Filter, the Netta Jean is back on track!

The Fog picked up going through Seymour Narrows, this is a channel notorious for wicked tides and currents.

Seymour Narrows is a 5 km (3.1 mi) section of the Discovery Passage in British Columbia known for strong tidal currents.[1] Discovery Passage lies between Vancouver Island at Menzies Bay, British Columbia and Quadra Island except at its northern end where the eastern shoreline is Sonora Island. The section known as Seymour Narrows begins about 18 km (11 mi) from the south end of Discovery Passage where it enters the Georgia Strait near Campbell River. For most of the length of the narrows, the channel is about 750 m wide. Through this narrow channel, currents can reach 15 kn.

Seymour Narrows was described by Captain George Vancouver as "one of the vilest stretches of water in the world."[2] Even after Ripple Rock was removed, it remains a challenging route. In March 1981, the Star Philippine, a freighter, ran aground in the narrows.

We were all happy for Sonar and Radar as the fog blanketed us in pretty good for a while... no photos, couldn't see...:o)

Out of the fog comes a few cabins, very cool to see.

A sailboat that was not quite as lucky, as seen here being towed to Campbell River for repairs

Robbie and Brian, happy we made it through the fog and the narrows...Little did they know, there were more to come.

We moored in Blind Channel our first night, it was now 7:35 pm which made for a long, but enjoyable first day.

For more Photos go to Salt Air Photos