Saturday August 27/11 Got up at the guest house as 3 fishermen were leaving for a day of fishing off the west coast. Another fine sunny day here. I'm just reading, writing and packing my stuff. Beth went out for a run/ salmon pick up then we all walked down to the Sandspit Resort for coffee then to the airport for a couple carts to take back to the guest house. Loaded our gear up and walked back to the airport then on our way. I had a good view of the coast but was unable to positively make out too many of the rivers, mountains and settlements until Knight Inlet. Plane even took a good view route over the city and then over Richmond. Back at home doing the cleaning-drying-repairing-and-replacing thing today.

This is one place that I will have to go back to one day. Spend more time in the towns and kayak the Hotsprings to Moresby Camp area.

August 26 Got up at 7 or 8 and we puttered around trying to decide whether to pack up or spread things out to dry but rain/ mist was intermittent so we slowly packed up. At about 11:30 we hadn't heard much on the radio when it started coming together that MorEx had a few day trippers they were taking to the Hotsprings, a pickup of 2/7 from Murchison and the 3 of us. Henry and Rob Z paddled to the Hot Springs for a final soak then the guide, Abby came to pick us up, take us to Hot Spring Island where we sat around chatting. At about 3:00 we all went back to Moresby Camp, unpacked the boat, loaded the van and picked up two more MorEx employees then we went to the ferry for 7:00 pm. Finally got back to Sandspit, squared away the bill ($900.00 for me), fuel canisters and duffels. We joined Henry and Rob for Chinese food then chatted with Dick the owner/ cook at the restaurant after it had closed.

Thurs Aug 25 I got up at 6:00 and the weather forecast was for light winds (they don't talk about much else on the marine weather channels - never temperatures or cloud cover and the only mention of rain is in regards to "visibility of less than 1 mile." K&B kept on sleeping but got up at 7:00. I suggested Beresford Inlet and the Hotsprings for a day trip - our last full day :( We paddled into JS Sound and it was some of the calmest waters we have seen the whole trip. We simply made a B-line form Murchison Island to the mouth of the Inlet. The Inlet was formed by a fault. It felt like paddling a straight river, straighter than any river ever but with no flow - it has a current but we basically paddled it at slack tide. Later when we came out, the sound had some wind but it was easy to take the waves at 45 degrees so we were heading again straight for Murchison Island. We stopped before the point for a short break and then when we left we found ourselves in unexpected and big choppy waves. It was quite exciting and when we got around the point the waves were more predictable. I guess that was our first taste of unpredictability at points and capes. I tried to lead a shortcut to the Hotsprings but the tide was too low - we would have had to portage 3 metres - so we had to circle about some islets and rocks. When we arrived at the Hotsprings we were the only ones there. They had over 48 today including a few boatloads like the ones I saw leaving just before we arrived. Great soak on a cooler day and I was wet from tipping over my kayak on a less than graceful exit at shore. We stayed late, paddled back to camp and it was my turn to cook dinner - luckily it was an easy one so we didn't eat too late. Sat around the campfire until 11:00 and now I'm in the tent and this trip ends tomorrow :(

Wednesday Aug 24 Cloudy start to the day but easy paddle across Section Cove. A bit choppy as we diagonaled across Burnaby Straight. We crossed a few bays and the waves due to the out flows were choppy and complicated. As we got to the northernmost point we tried to stop at a small cove but found the swell from Hecate dumped our kayaks on the rocks so we ate out on the water then went for the JP Sound crossing. It was pretty easy with the swell and outflow opposite each other. We continued past Hot Spring Island and set up camp at the isthmus. It looks like some kind of guided trip is staying on the other side. By this time the sun was hot and we were drying - yes drying- our gear including the insides of our dry bags which I have been calling wet bags. We went over to the Hot Springs to find the group of seven guys leaving. They are staying on Murchison Island and it sounds like a few will be leaving on the same Friday Zodiac as us. The rest want to go to Windy Bay but say there is a big storm coming but the Env Can weather reports don't say anything above 20 knots. The Hot Springs were magnificent. Three pools but we couldn't tell which one was the hottest or coolest. We stayed for a while then paddled back to camp. Beth cooked dinner including cheese cake for dessert. I made a small campfire on the beach but the high tide put it out just after 10:00 so we are all in bed.

Tuesday Aug 23 Another weather day. Woke up at 6:00 am with heavy rain falling. The weather forecast said rain would last all day and change to showers late in the day - Not much wind in the cove or at our campsite but it is predicted that winds will be 30 plus tonight. I gave the radio to K&B in their tent, gave them my pros/cons and suggestions but told them to listen to the radio and let me know how they felt. They agreed that we should stay put. A while later we all had coffee and oatmeal then went back to out tents. It's 5:00 pm now, rain is still falling hard and winds are picking up. I haven't seen Kevin and only saw Beth briefly around lunch time when I went out for a bagel. The 4:00 pm weather report says things are looking better for Wednesday wind-wise but may be a while before the rain stops. I'm thinking there maybe a chance that we will have to cross JP Sound in low visibility so I am carefully doing the preparations for that in my GPS using lat/long(for my first time as I've always used UTM before) and found that one source (the boat camping book) has a typo for Ramsey Point campsite that was off by 1 NMile. Hopefully visibility will be good and I can use/ check the GPS for practice and not for real.
Beth came by the tent at about 6:00pm to say dinner was ready. I didn't even hear them cooking under the tarp which is only about 5 m from my tent. That's how much noise the rain makes on the trees and tarps. I have one covering the entrance and half of my tent today. Dinner was delicious and spicy with pepperoni mixed in. As we were eating the rain stopped and we even had a few clear patches in the sky. The wind picked up and we could see lots of white caps in the Narrows and waves breaking against the islands opposite us. Hopefully no wind waves tomorrow when we leave here.
Drying clothes in Gwaii Haanas: Short story: it doesn't happen. Long story: Eventually all clothing gets wet and needs to be dried. It won't dry here so don't bother washing it. Once it gets wet you may as well write it off or just wear it wet therefore wetsuits (neoprene), rubber raincoats (Sandspit sports coat) and gum boots are the way to go. Quick dry is a laugh - it doesn't dry. I have hung a t-shirt in side the tent, 15C or better, tarp over tent, not a drop of rain inside the tent and it has gotten wetter. Paddling gloves, firewood collecting gloves - I've given up on them. K&B have tried drying things over the fire but it has done little except put burn holes in some of their things.
The rain has stopped for today and now the winds are picking up. Luckily we have Burnaby Island protecting us. The wind tonight sounds like a distant freight train that sometimes comes around the corner close to us.

Monday Aug 22 All awake at 6:00. Forecast is for more of the same winds but likely more showers and continuing for the rest of the week. I didn't tell Kevin and Beth about that part. At about 8:00 when we were nearly ready to load the kayaks it started to rain hard. We waited it out and got going about 9:00. Easy paddling today as we had no open water, exposed points or swells. Occasionally wind waves as we crossed bays and minor inlets. Also had a few heavy rain showers - I found myself laughing like a lunatic during one as the rain danced on the calm water of a small cove. The rain didn't matter to me as my kayak is water proof and my anorak shell is too. We went through Burnaby Narrows at about noon and we were all disappointed. Louise Narrows from the Zodiac had more colours and variety. After Burnaby Narrows and a few more showers we were ready for camp. We have found a good one - comparatively - in Section Cove opposite the ranger station. A boat went in briefly around dinner time and now there is a light on. The waters here are protected so it is really calm however there is no driftwood and the wood in the forest is soggy. We had a difficult time getting a fire going with the wet wood and zero wind. Clothes are still not drying so I am wearing wet, stinky, mouldy, smokey clothes. I think I might just burn some instead of taking them home.
Campsites: Parks Canada does not want to make campsites or even recommend sites as they want to minimize impacts - a noble goal - but unfortunately the sites are poor for fresh water access, tent sites and kitchen sites, The tides often go right up to the trees so we have to camp in the mossy, dark wet forest. Kitchen/ fire sites are difficult to use. Fresh water streams often go into the gravel beaches and are hard to see from the kayak. It might be time for Parks Canada to create a few and suggest a few as we seem to spend the last 1-2 hours of the day trying to find something that is barely adequate. On the plus side, the beaches are nearly void of garbage and flotsam that you see on so many beaches. Today some old log boom and logging debris from decades ago. Yesterday some cannery debris from early 1900's but not water bottles, Styrofoam, rope or netting at all.

Sunday Aug 21 Woke up to no wind or rain. The forecast is so-so to iffy so I called out to Kevin and Beth "Let's go." On the water about 8:30 with some wind-waves in the harbour. The resident whale came out to say good-bye blowing just behind us and 20 m to our left, Noticeable swells when we got out to Hecate Straight but while always cautious things never got scary and even got better as the day went on. Each point that we passed, it seemed that things got calmer. Ikeda Inlet was amazingly calm and secluded. We stopped for lunch but did not spend much time there and very little exploring. Passed by the abandoned village of Jedway and went to the next inlet, Jedway Bay. By that time it was raining and we all wanted to camp asap. Couldn't find much but then went to the point separating the inner and outer bay. Found a calm beach with ruins from an old cannery. Camping in the trees and no driftwood but the rotten wood from the forest seems to burn just fine. No luck casting from the rocks. Quiet night and we are all to bed at dark - about 9:00 in the trees, 9:30 on the beach.

Sat Aug 20 Woke up at 6:00 am to hear the wind howling and occasional rain. Weather forecast said winds increasing today and rain heavy at times for today and tomorrow. I called over to Kevin and Beth but they didn't respond so I slept until 9:00. I think they had breakfast and went back to bed just before I got up. I fixed up the tarps and had breakfast and now I'm back in the tent. It's not too bad out there, could paddle with the wind if I had to but it's good to take a day off. Got out of bed at about noon after doing some reading and thought I would try fishing to kill some time. Wind is on shore so casting is a problem. Caught a little rockfish on my second cast, let it go and caught nothing else. The 4:00 pm weather report says not much change until Sunday. Made a campfire and the "heavy at times" rain did not stop. Rain blowing under the tarp soaked us faster than the campfire dried us. Finally went to bed in heavy rain at 10:00 pm. I have set up my gas lantern - first time I have ever used it - and it works better than advertized. I am writing under it's light, warm in my tent while the rain beats down. Too bad my MP3 player packed it in the other night.

Fri Aug 19/11 Blue skies are gone, mist-rain all night and weather channel says "Gale force winds" "storm warning" "Winds up to 40 knots" but our Harbour is calm. Winds are from SE so they will be at our backs. We headed out eager and cautious just after 8:00 am. Winds and swells kept us nervous across the channel outside of Rose Harbour and at rest stations but generally good with the wind (and tide) at our back. Went around Benjamin Point to find the waters absolutely calm on the other side. Since we were doing so well we decided to go into Carpenter Bay for some touring and to camp. In some places we were travelling to the SW so the Southeasterlies and/or coastal westerlies were slowing us down. As we left South Cove to head to our camp behind Samuel Rock a whale rose and blew in front of us from right to left, then left to right then suddenly about 25 m right behind us. It also came by a few times after we stared setting up camp. Later in the evening a sailboat under power came by heading to the head of the inlet and the whale blew a few more times. Beth made a great curry and real rice dinner, great campfire, good camp site with tents in the trees and the wind seems to be easing. We will set the alarms for 6:00 am but will let the weather decide if we get out of bed or not. The mist here does not allow anything (clothing) to dry even with strong winds and a hot fire. Will try drying some things in my pillow tonight. Have removed the bandage from my forehead tonight. Will see if it heals faster without.

Thurs Aug 18 James, the watchman showed us around for over an hour. Many totem poles are still standing and to hear about their meaning from someone in person is captivating. When it was over we took the scenic path back through some of the greenest, moss-iest, place I've ever seen. But then again all the forest here is like that - if you leave the beach you can't penetrate the forest at all. We left SGang Gway as the SF group was coming in. On the way back to Fanny Point the water was choppy with swells from the rear left. Suddenly I saw some white water ahead and it was two whales jumping, breaching, straight ups, a few hundred metres in front of us they came around to our left and more dorsal fins and blowing for our amazement. And we thought a large seal watching us in the morning and rising high enough to see it's belly before falling away from us was a highlight. We went back to west Fanny Cove to find someone else had beaten us to it so we went to east Fanny Cove. Pretty good site but launching the kayaks was tricky - luckily there has been little in the way of weather so far. Today we left Fanny Cove in flat water and followed the shores of Kunghit Island to Rose Harbour and beyond to Heater Harbour. Winds were calm, skies were blue and tide pushed us along. We spent some time in Heater Harbour looking for a good campsite but couldn't find anything spectacular. This one on the north side is O.K. Saw lots of marine life today in the shallow calm waters but tomorrow may be a kayaking day.

It's now Wednesday and we are at SGang Gwai so first some catching up. Caught the 4:00 pm boat fro Skiddegate Landing and found out it isn't a free boat ride - $15.00 for the round trip. Picked up last minute supplies from MorEx and SuperValu. Got up early Tuesday morning as MorEx said they would be arriving at 7:30 am. Young woman who picked us up is owner of the company, Laura. We also tagged along as she had a few other customers to deliver to. Another young woman joined us. We got to Moresby Camp in the rain and set up the Zodiac boat and launched it. Long cold ride in the Zodiac with two 200 HP out boards. Wind and rain in your face made us face the back for most of the rrip. Went through Louise Narrows and Burnaby Narrows. Also checked out a few other spots for reference. Got to Rose Harbour about 3:00 pm to find Ross Island occupied so we went to Rasberry Cove. A group of 3 from San Francisco joined us aroud the campfire. We hung our food from 3 lines and when I went to throw one line weighed with a rock the rope snagged on the ground and the rock pendulumed into my forehead just between the eyes. Blood poured out and even trickled during the night. Rain kept misting and sprinkling until past midnight. Woke up Wed mornig to calm winds and a forecast predicting even calmer conditions. Paddled fairly quickly to SGang Gwai with hardly noticeable swells on the way out. The watchment have told us the next tour leaves in about 1 hour so we are waiting.

Monday August 15 Tried a little fishing from the pier last night as the tide was very low. Luckily I did not catch anything because I didn't know how I would get it up on the pier. Only one other guest at the house last night. We talked through breakfast and then got ready to go to Moresby Explorers for bikes but Rae said she had some out back for guests. We got three Cdn Tire specials that were all tuned up, pumped up and ready to go. We started out to the ferry then realized we had to do 20 km/hr for 30 min to make the ferry. We set up a pace line and rode right onto the boat. Or should I say slipped on as the ramp was slimy with the low tide. Rode over to Skiddegate Landing with 4 cars on a boat that looked like an Albion Ferry. The big ferry to the mainland was getting ready to load but it didn't look like there were too many heading out/off the island. We went to the Fed Govt office/ Haida museum for a tour including the canoe making with a young fellow telling us old people about how they are made. We were getting cold and hungry so we went to Jake's Beanstalk for coffee and sandwiches. We got a good info briefing from the cashier and another local. We rode on through Skiddegate to a souvenir store with some cautionary storm words from the owner. Onto Balance Rock and then back to the Coop for our last grocery purchase. Decided to head out to Queen Charlotte City to see what was there - More than Sandspit and Skiddegate combined but still not too much. Beth is worried about getting cold so she is shopping for more clothes and gum boots. Westerlies picked up while we headed west into QC City but while I sit out here winds have dropped. We will have the winds at our back all the way to the guest house.

Sunday August 14 Not wanting to wake up any of the others we slept until we heard some one else up which was around 8:00 am Showered and had breakfast and as some were going to catch their plane it rained quite hard so they used the taxi service. Also got some good info as they had just finished a nine day trip from Rose Harbour to Tanu. After the rain ended we went to Moresby Explorers to say hello. Ended up doing the orientation then it was time to go back to the guest house for lunch. Went to the airport for coffee then to the SuperValu for more groceries. While Beth went for a run I tried getting through the stacks of written info and testing out the marine radio. Weather looks iffy for tomorrow afternoon-evening. We are considering a bike ride to the other side for tomorrow.

Saturday Aug 13/11 T-minus a couple hours. Going over my checklists and last minute to do's. Not sure how it will all fit into the kayak when the times comes but not a concern today. Just need to keep it under 2 x 50 lbs for the plane.
Sat night: Got to the plane without any delays which was good because we went almost straight on to the plane. We were all suprized how small the plane was (a Dash 8 with propellers) we even had to walk across the tarmac to get to it. They started it up then shut it down, openned the doors and some maintenance workers came in (instrument problem they said) but we were on our way about 40 minutes later. The guy beside me said Jazz was a day late leaving Houston(BC) and now this flight if on schedule gave him about 15 minutes to get to a wedding. Don't think that went well for him. Clear skies to about Earles Cove then cloud until plane dropped down to land. I was on the wrong side of the plane to see Moresby Island. Got into Sandspit and I went to the travel info for suggestions on where to stay. They set us up for Moresby Island Guest House. It's like a hostel with private rooms, shared living rooms and a kitchen with some food for breakfast. SuperValu about 5 minues away but then everything's is 5 minures away. One of B&K's bags didn't make it so we are not feeling guilty about not camping. Walked along beach and road to kill the day and had dinner very late about 9:00 pm and chatted with people here including a few that just finished the same trip we are planning on ling. After 11:00 pm now.

Wednesday August 10/11 At home, a few days before go time and getting excited. Met with Beth (tanned and lean from IM training) and Kevin (proud new home owner) last night where they sang Happy Birthday to me (50th). We looked over maps and made arrangements for dinners, gear etc. If weather is perfect we may be able to see every cove, bay, lagoon and settlement but we worry about being in rough seas, fog or winds and getting split up. But we laugh off the fears and drool over what we are getting into.