Seattle Trip Day 3

Monday August 17 

We had a quiet night on the anchor in Lowe Inlet.

There was some degree of what we call “hull slap,” which is a slapping sound even small waves can sometimes make against the hull.  The sound is amplified and exaggerated in the forward sleeping cabin, so Lisa moved out to the couch for the night, but Bina and I didn’t seem to care about the noise.  At some point in the night it ceased and we had a quiet night on the anchor.

In the morning we pulled anchor and headed out, initial destination Hartley Bay.

On the way down we passed a Nordhavn called the Navigator.  It is an N43 (meaning that it is about 43' in length) which I had seen in Ketchikan a little earlier in the summer.  I spoke to them on the radio and then later in the day we tied up near each other in Hartley Bay.

Hartley Bay is a small First Nations native community which has free government docks for moorage.  They also sell fuel, but they close the fuel dock for the noon hour, which of course is when we arrived.  We tied up to the main dock near the Navigator and had lunch.

Hartley Bay became quite significant in late March of 2006 when the BC Ferry Queen of the North did not make a steering correction and slammed into Gil Island.

On March 21, 2006 the BC Ferry Queen of the North was southbound from Grenville Channel and failed to change course and so slammed into Juan Point on Gil Island (near the red star).  Hartley Bay is the nearest settlement of any kind, and the residents stepped up and greatly aided in the rescue operations.

For a good read on this nautical disaster which claimed 2 lives (99 survived), read Farewell To A Queen, by Don Douglass.

Here are some pictures from our brief stopover in Hartley Bay:

 

I considered spending the night here, but eventually decided to get some fuel, and move on to Bishop Bay Hot Springs.  Here is a map snippet that shows the additional leg to get over to Bishop Bay.

In hind sight moving on to Bishop Bay this late in the day was not wise.  Bishop Bay is known for being a very difficult place to anchor.  There are 3 mooring balls there, and a small float, but the signage says that no boat over 30’ should tie there, so that is out for us.

We pulled in about 5 PM and of course all 3 mooring balls were taken.  It is a very popular place.

I tried to set the anchor but was not happy with the results.  Given the late hour I did something I had hoped to not have to do – I asked one of the boats on a mooring ball if we could raft to them.  I promised to tie on lots of bumpers and to be very quiet.  Thankfully they agreed.

Bishop Bay Hot Springs is a fabulous natural hot springs.  Given the late hour we did not go to the hot springs this evening.  

205 miles to this point.