Wednesday August 9^th – We’ve had an incredible time in the Desolation Sound area! However, at some point you have to start heading south and we still had a lot of destinations in the Gulf Islands we wanted to check off the list. The wind forecast was favorable over the next couple days for the Georgia Strait but beyond that rain was coming in.

We decided to head south. It was a nice day leaving Campbell River so we decided to run down the Georgia Strait on the outside of the Copelands and Savary Island. But first we stopped for some more fishing off Cape Mudge. This time we had the downriggers ready on the big boat for some salmon fishing. Down they went, fishing amongst quite a few charter boats. Nothing for a while then we caught a few very small pinks. Needing to start heading south we were about to hang it up when we hooked up on something bigger. Skylar net the fish as I brought it to the boat. A nice Coho perfect for the dinner table!

We wanted to stay for another fish but we needed to get to Pender Harbor today and its still another 50nm away. On the way we went by a small wind swept island off the Georgia Strait that had a whole bunch of huge Sea lions basking in the sun. We stopped and watched them for a while then continued on to Painted Boat marina in Pender Harbor.

We had an ok, overpriced dinner at the restaurant (years past has been great) then the whole family made a fun evening out of washing the boat stem to stern.

 

Monday August 7^th – Time to leave Taku and head around Cape Mudge to April Point. Todd and his dad Bruce have a planned flight back to Seattle to go back to work for a few days while Tami and the kids stay with the boat at April Point.

We left Taku before the rest of our group with hopes of catching a fish off Cape Mudge just south of our location. There were a bunch of boats in the area so we thought maybe we had the right idea. We were not rigged for downrigger fishing so Skylar and I grabbed some spinning poles with buzz bombs and started whipping them out there. Nothing, after about 30 minutes Skylar got board and grabbed a bottom fishing pole just to see what might be down there. Not more than 5 minutes and wham! “Dad I think I have a big one on” he said. We waited in anticipation as a monster Lingcod came up from the depths. We got the fish in the net and realized Skylar was right, it was defiantly one large fish!

Little Ava gets the most excited. Her hunter instinct comes out as she cheers on the fishermen then jumps with joy when we land the fish. It’s so fun to watch her excitement, she’s the biggest encourager and cheerleader, but when a fish gets lost she gets really upset!

Not wanting to go in we fished for another couple hours while our friends cruised past us on their boats with a seaplane schedule to keep to. No more fish but we were very happy with the one we caught. We wanted to see Todd off on the seaplane so we left in what we thought was enough time to get to the dock. However the tide had changed giving us a 5-knot current against us, and some serious whirlpools. We didn’t make it, but Todd text us from the plane as he flew over our boat.  Bruce and Gloria left on a later flight so we saw them off then went to dinner with Tami and all the kids.

Tuesday August 8^th – We left April Point and went just across the channel to Campbell River. We have been trying for days to get moorage reservations at “the good marina” with no luck. While getting some fuel in the boat Julie tried one last time to see if there were any cancelations. Sure enough someone just canceled so we snagged their spot. We had a great lunch at Moxie’s then went out exploring the town. Tami, Zach and Briana dinghied over from April Point to hang with us one last time before we parted ways. We got some shopping done and of course hit the liquor store where they had nice cold single beers on ice. Seems like that’s just encouraging drinking and driving!

Sunday August 6^th – We all departed Tenedos and headed southwest for a marina called Taku in Heriot Bay on Quadra Island. While entering the bay I put had the boat in forward idle while looking for contact information for the marina. I looked up and just barely saw a swimmer not more than 30 feet directly in our path. Scared the living you know what out of me! This guy had a black wetsuit on, casually swimming across the bay. I don’t think he ever even saw us. I think he was training for something because ahead of him, across the bay was another swimmer but they had a bright orange buoy on their back so boaters could see them. This guy was taking some serious chances with only a black wetsuit on.

After settling in we took the dinghy over to Rebecca Spit. It’s a huge sliver of land that forms the bay with nice sandy beaches and more driftwood than you could imagine. This place gets some serious weather! We all had fun scouring the beaches, playing in the water and relaxing in the sun.

That evening we all went to dinner at the Heriot Bay Inn. They had some really incredible food. It’s amazing that in some of these really remote places they still manage to pull off quality restaurants that would rival any big city.

 

Friday August 5^th – We decided to leave Prideaux Haven and head just a few miles away to Tenedos for a night. After getting anchored and shore tied we decided to take our dinghies to Refuge Cove for lunch and some groceries. Refuge Cove is about 6nm from Tenedos. It’s the only place in the area that has some groceries, and a restaurant if you call it that. In a 13’ dinghy it’s a bit of a trek through some fairly open water but the weather was nice so we decided to make the journey. Following behind us was Todd & Tami and Bruce & Gloria. The 3 dinghies made it without incident but it did get a little sloppy in one area.

We fueled up the dinghies, got some groceries, had lunch and a beer at the restaurant then made the run back to our boats anchored in Tenedos. It was a fun adventure!

Every year a large Ocean Alexander puts on a concert on the back of their boat in Prideaux Haven. We happened to be here this year and today was the day. Back in the dinghies, drinks and snacks in hand, we all cruised over to the concert where there were at least 100+ small boats all tied together ready to watch the concert. We found our place in the sea of boats and tied on. The concert was fantastic and the crowd was fun to watch. One lady was getting a little crazy dancing on a boat. She lost her balance, fell into another boat and totally destroyed their windshield. She was ok, but I don’t think the guy who owned the boat was very happy!

After the concert the kids couldn’t resist the rope swing one more time. They jumped off the boat, and each took turns swinging through the air to the water below. I had to pee, so the rope swing was the perfect excuse to get in the water but it was actually a whole lot of fun swinging with the kids.

 

Friday August 4^th – After Jeff’s funeral Julie and I needed to get back to our kids and boat in Prideaux Haven. We arrived at Northwest Seaplanes terminal in Renton for our flight back at 8am. While waiting for our flight in the lobby our pilot was getting a briefing on where he was going. Everyone in the lobby could hear the conversation that went something like – “Ok so what your going to do is fly to Nanaimo, land there and clear customs, then fly to Refuge Cove drop off some passengers then on to Prideaux Haven to drop off the other two”. The pilot was then asking questions about where to land in these locations and weather or not he need to get fuel in Nanaimo. It was all a little unsettling for Julie and I.

We boarded the plane with 3 other passengers going to Refuge Cove. The pilot was very nice but didn’t have that confidence about himself that pilots usually have. He was fidgety and took some deep breaths just before taking off that really added to our anxiety. Just as we got a few hundred feet in the air he gave us a wheeeewww… as he wiped his hand across his forehead. Not at all comfortable with this situation Julie and I looked at each other with a bit of fear in our eyes. He flew the plane just fine but his body language did not give us confidence. I thought to myself, if he doesn’t land this plane good in Nanaimo we are getting off! Thankfully it was a good landing. The pilot got out on the dock and we waited on the plane for the customs agent. We talked with the other passengers about this experience and they agreed with the uneasy feeling.

Back in the sky the pilot landed way outside Refuge Cove then taxied all the way in asking the other passengers where the seaplane dock was located. The other 3 passengers got off leaving just Julie and I on the plane. Then the pilot looked at us and said, “do you guys know how to get to Prideaux Haven”? Is he joking? Nope, he was serious; he’s never been there before.

After trying to explain it to him from the back seat he asked me to come up to the co-pilot seat to navigate. I crawled up to the front seat as we taxied out of the bay and put on a headset so we could talk with each other. He took off as I explained where we needed to go and how to get there. Prideaux Haven doesn’t have a dock; you need to get picked up by dinghy then taken into the inner bay where boats are anchored. We were only about 7 miles away but you still have to navigate through islands and I explained to him how it’s customary for pilots to buzz the harbor where people are anchored so your pickup knows you have arrived. He buzzed the inner bay then I explained to him where to land. He did a great job but landed a little short just outside the next bay over. No big deal, Todd came over on the dinghy and picked us up and the kids greeted us back.

Happy to be off the plane Julie and I explained the whole ordeal to Todd then quickly grabbed a couple drinks back at the boat to calm the nerves. It was an experience we will never forget and I guess I can check off my bucket list “navigating a seaplane”.

To the pilots credit, he actually flew the plane really well even though he looked really nervous. We later learned he had been flying planes for quite some time but not to those locations.

The rest of the day was spent relaxing, swimming and exploring in the dinghy.

Wednesday August 2^nd – A few days ago we got some sad news. My brother’s dad Jeff Morris passed away. David and I are half brothers but we’ve never thought of each other that way, we are brothers 100%. Although Jeff was not my dad he played an important role in my life while growing up. I had a connection to him that was more than just my brother’s dad. This was heartbreaking news and not expected. I wanted to be there for the funeral and for my brother, so Julie and I booked a seaplane flight back to Seattle.

We left Grace Harbor and headed back to Prideaux Haven through the now fully smoke engulfed islands. (south wind was now blanketing the area with smoke from the wildfires in BC) Briana’s friend Sean was flying in today and Julie and I were going to fly out. Prideaux Haven doesn’t have any docks so we anchored our boats and stern tied them to shore. Todd and Tami were such a big help. Not only did we leave our boat tied to theirs for the 2 nights we would be gone but we also left our kids with them. Thank you guys so much!

The kids swam in the water then at 5:30pm our Kenmore Air flight buzzed the bay and landed just outside. Our bags packed, we jumped in Todd’s dinghy where he delivered us to the seaplane. After a couple stops along the way to pick up other passengers, we had a smoke filled 2.5 hour flight back to Kenmore WA. Even with the smoke it was a beautiful flight. We took an Uber to the Hampton Inn in Renton right by where our Northwest Seaplane flight would be leaving to go home.

The funeral the next day was really nice with a full military ceremony that paid respect to the time in the service Jeff spent. We sure do appreciate Jeff’s sacrifice to keep our country free! Even under these circumstances it was nice to see friends and family. After the ceremony everyone got together for dinner and to talk about memories. Jeff’s family put together a very nice memorial table that was really fun to look at. RIP Jeff Morris, you will be missed.