Sailing Vessel Karma

whales fish banjo

Are the words I wrote when drafting this over a year ago. After enjoying the ridiculous water park in the small village of Lax Kw’alaams, plunging in Alaskan waters, and being eaten alive by aggressive horse flies in the Dundas Islands, we started south.

For the first time since setting off early May. T’was strange adjusting to a setting sun on the wrong side of the sky…

We wanted to cross west near same latitude as Skidegate on Haida Gwaii as to make it across the Hecate Strait in one go, in daylight. The trip would be around 60 nmiles. We staged at Welcome Harbour after Dundas to wait for a weather window but it was not really welcoming. Very scenic and fantastic holding however. The wind howled for 2 days straight, swinging Karma back and forth on anchor while the squeak of the snubber reminded us continually that we were on a boat.

Later Zoe and I got work clothes on and tuned up ceiling panels and installed trim made from old halyards. Trevor jumped in and snagged a crab off the sand.

Unfortunately it was too small but once it was on the boat, it was without life and so we feasted gladly. Liam and Trevor prepped the crab and we had the most delicious crab cakes.

Trekking south, we anchored one night at Griffith Harbor, located on the northwest tip of the large Banks Island.

The “Hectic” Strait as Zoe started calling it caught traction and we didn’t want to test its irony. The shallow depth across the Strait is the cause for the lore as the often wild winds seen here can build the water up massively. If wind has been blowing or it will blow, you’d be advised to hold out for another chance. Zoe and Trevor, being mountaineering skiing backpacking guides were fun to plan with. Zoe, with her background in avalanche forecasting is also one of those folks who sets off strategic bombs to prevent larger avalanches from happening. Her eye is heavily tuned to the influence of rain on conditions which, apart from pressure implications, doesn’t bother us sailors. The freshwater rinse is often welcomed :^) So with a bit of rain on the forecast the day was set! July 20th. Little to no wind. Plenty of diesel if we can’t sail or better yet the spinasty (ie our spinnaker sail).

Trevor serenaded us much of the crossing and we took turns rhyming words which occasionally even made sense strung together. Under sail and in the fog unable to see them, we were able to hear whales expelling air. It was a *most incredible* auditory sensation not being able to see the blowhole spray but knowing there were whales, humpbacks, surrounding us for hours. The fog would lift momentarily to reveal flukes, dorsal fins, and the spray from their blowholes. They were within 300′ too – close enough that we had to adjust course often. We easily saw dozens that day.

Busied ourselves with projects, knots, knaps, fishing, snacks.

Ended up catching a nice coho salmon! We trolled all day, taking different watches on the rod based on varying interest levels. The fish are plentiful here and historically this was (still is) a major fishing grounds full of salmon, pacific cod, halibut, and other marine organisms.

It is one of the few places in the world to house the elusive glass sponges which are extremely long living organisms. Canadian Parks and Wilderness Society describes them:

While dinosaurs roamed the earth, huge glass sponge reefs thrived in prehistoric seas. The reefs were thought have gone extinct about 40 million years ago, leaving only giant fossil cliffs behind that stretch across parts of Portugal, Spain and France and Germany across Eastern Europe to Romania. That was until 1987 when a team of Canadian scientists discovered 9,000 year-old living glass sponge reefs on British Columbia’s north coast.

With the forecast we chose, we did end up having to motor maybe 2/3 of the way which teased the name Hectic Strait, but we were fine with that. Haida Gwaii has fuel 🙂 The entrance to Haida Gwaii is about mid way up the islands. The park is all of the southern islands while the large northern island of Graham is just your typical residential business walking trails place. Park access requires an orientation with Parks Canada/Council of the Haida Nation which is held in Skidegate, our destination.

Trevor cooked us up a weird dinner reminiscent of a meal gone by. Blueberries and fish skin alongside our usual – sourdough (with pesto:) and potates. Liam and I started atypically carrying potatoes after the Canadians joined us since we wanted to practice making poutine.

We successfully crossed!

The cafe, pub, and small free library produced good things alongside the fruiting berry plants.

Sadly we had to say goodbye to Trevor as he returned to Terrace via ferry the next day but we got some exploring done in the town! Zoe would stick it out with us a few more nights and eventually split off into her own adventures as we continue south.