Friday July 21^st – Today we are heading out of Prideaux Haven to once again head north to Dent Island Lodge. The lodge is owned by the Nordstrom family, it’s fancy (for BC coast standards) and expensive but it’s also a lot of fun with a great restaurant and charter salmon fishing fright from the lodge.

But first we had to check our shrimp pots. We had a bit of a wager going to see who could catch the most shrimp but we were at a disadvantage right from the start because one of our pots had a missing door and couldn’t be used. However, we won the bet with a measly 11 shrimp. Not great for an overnight soak but we were excited because it was the first shrimp we’ve ever caught.

We left Prideaux Haven for a timed arrival at Yuculta Rapids. These rapids run like a river except at slack water when the current is starting to change directions. In a slow heavy boat like ours its only safe to run these rapids at slack water. You have about a 1-hour window to get through before you would need to wait for the next tide cycle.

We charted our course and arrival time with a brief detour up Teakern Arm to see a large waterfall. We had a great cruise through the rapids and tied up on the Dent dock in a great location.

That night all 14 of us had an awesome dinner in the lodge where we got a little riled up and placed bets on our salmon fishing trip tomorrow. We chartered 3 boats. One boat was our family, one had Bruce, Todd and Zach and the other Scott, Vickie and Curt. Each boat had to put $100 in the pot. The boat with the biggest fish would win $150 and the boat with the most total pounds of fish would win $150.

7am the next morning before our charter we all confirmed the bet. It all sounded great after a few drinks at dinner but now the wager seemed a little steep. However, we were all committed regardless of our bad judgment the night before.

Off we went all cruising to our guide’s favorite fishing spots. It was still raining a little, and the thick fog made for eerie but beautiful sights.

Lines in the water searching for the Salmon we patiently waited for the bite. At about 9am one of the reels set off with a whizzzzz… Skylar grabbed the pole and started fighting the fish. The look on his face was pure joy! It fought hard, coming almost to the boat then taking off again several times. We could tell it was big! When our guide Jon finally netted the catch we all had a sigh of relief. It was in the boat and we couldn’t believe how big it was. Jon said it was defiantly over 20lbs but we would have to wait and see its true size when we get back to the dock and officially weigh the fish. We fished for a couple more hours with only a small Pink Salmon we threw back to account for.

We didn’t have a whole lot of fish but the one we did have seemed to be pretty big. The question was, would it land us the win. When we got back to the dock one of the boats in our group was already there and they had 1 fish! Their fish weighed in at 20lbs. Jon put Skylar’s fish on the scale as we waited in anticipation. 30lbs on the mark!! Not only did we beat the other boat but 30lbs earned Skylar a spot in the Tyee Club, a board that lists all the fish caught that season 30lbs and over. Nice job Skylar!!

However the bet was not over. As we waited for one more boat to come in we heard they convinced their guide to stay out an hour longer. All we could think is cheaters!! Regardless, they came in with 1 nice fish as well but their 18 pounder didn’t match up to Skylar’s 30. He was the winner in both categories!

 

 

Thursday July 20^th – After 5 days of traveling we are staying put in Prideaux Haven today. The last 5 days of travel have been nice and sunny but this morning we woke up to the sound of rain pounding on the deck. It was kind of relaxing while we laid in bed until Julie got up and realized one of our deck hatches was open allowing mother nature to try and fill our boat with water.

The rain wasn’t letting up so we decided to just do all the things we normally would. Julie, Skylar and I jumped in the soaked dinghy for a run outside of the park to try our luck at some bottom fishing. At first the rain wasn’t bad, but then we all started getting wetter and wetter, the rain soaking in everywhere it could find the path of least resistance. Skylar caught 2 nice Yellow Eye Rock Fish while Julie and I kept fishing determined to catch our limit of 1 more.

We were cold, soaking wet and Julie had to pee so what else would we do, we kept fishing! We toughed it out as long as we could but had to hang it up when our toes got numb.

After getting warmed up the rain let up for the rest of the day. So we set our shrimp pots and went back out for some more rockfish in a new location. With the weather much more enjoyable this trip we caught 3 more nice Yellow Eye Rockfish.

We had fun hanging out with friends, all 3 boats rafted together, (our boat, our friends Todd & Tami’s boat & Todd’s parents Bruce & Gloria’s boat) and a total of 14 people, we had a huge dinner all together that night.

 

Tuesday July 18^th – Our trek north continues. Leaving Poets Cove at 8:20 am we needed to get to Nanaimo on the east side of Vancouver Island. Nanaimo is a great stopover point before heading out across the Strait of Georgia. The Strait of Georgia is a large body of water that can get extremely rough at times. It’s usually best to leave very early in the morning and Nanaimo provides a great jumping off point for the 15nm crossing.

But first we had to get to Nanaimo and that requires transiting Dodd Narrows. This is a narrow (1 boat at a time) passage that flows a lot of water. It can look exactly like a raging river with tall standing waves if wind opposes current. We timed it just right to hit the narrows around slack water so we didn’t have to deal with the fast current. As you approach the narrows and just about to enter, it’s proper etiquette to announce your passage on the VHF radio so opposing traffic will know your intentions. The announcement goes something like “Securite’ Securite’, (Securite’ is VHF radio talk for a message concerning navigation is about to be announced) 52’ power vessel entering Dodd Narrows north bound, any concerned traffic come back channel 16”. Skylar was a little nervous but I made him make the announcement over the radio. After a couple practice runs he did a fantastic job.

We made it through Dodd unscathed among shore side onlookers who were watching all the boats go through. We continued on to first get some fuel in Nanaimo then tied up on the huge commercial dock, our punishment because we didn’t have reservations. Todd & Tami were right behind us.

All 8 of us had lunch at Penny’s Palapa, a semi famous tiny Mexican restaurant right on the dock. After lunch we walked through the town then re-provisioned some essentials at the grocery store for the last time before heading to Desolation Sound.

Wednesday July 19^th – After getting a favorable early morning “light wind” forecast the day before we decided to make our run across the Strait of Georgia pulling away from the dock at 5:40am.

We motored out of the harbor and got our first look at the strait, the kids still asleep in their bunk and our friends right behind us. At first glance things looked fine but then they started deteriorating quickly. Soon we had 4 & 5 footers with the occasional 6’ wave on our aft quarter. We couldn’t head straight into them due to our destination so the boat was rolling pretty good. Ava was trying to sleep but kept getting rolled out of her bunk. She was exhausted and didn’t feel great, so she went back to bed in the master stateroom where the bed runs the opposite direction.

After a while we started getting somewhat used to the motion and continued on for a long 76.4nm day arriving in Prideaux Haven in Desolation Sound at 1:00pm. So far we have traveled 240nm (that’s 276 regular miles) north of Tacoma.

Todd’s parents (Bruce & Gloria) were already anchored in the bay so Todd and I both rafted to him. Bruce had a bit of a mishap. While anchoring a line got caught in his prop and wrapped around the shaft causing the engine to stop. He was glad to see all of us willing to dive under the boat to cut the line free. Skylar, Zach, Todd and I all took turns diving under the boat to cut free the tangled line. The kids were excited for the adventure and did most of the work. It took at least an hour or more but after a whole lot of dives, Bruce’s boat was free.

That night we all had a great dinner together.