July 16th – 20th
We pull anchor and depart Ucluelet Inlet headed for the ‘north country.’ Joining the hog line of small fishing boats we troll back and forth for salmon in the (sometimes heavy) fog. We look quite out of place our 38’ sailboat with following numerous 20+ foot power fishing boats. None-the-less Craig does manage to land one nice Coho salmon. We leave the hogline of boats and continue to our destination. We find other likely fishing rocks (rocks that are safely 30 plus feet under the water) that Pam tries to circle while others try to fish. Craig lands a Quillback Rockfish and we again head for our anchorage.
For three nights we anchor just off of Pipestem Inlet, a small fiord. We are the only boat around and enjoy the peace and quiet. Salmon for dinner, black bear cub at the water’s edge and eagles flying overhead. Carl and Craig fish and crab to their heart’s content using our ‘dink’ ET. They harvest many rock fish yet their last throw of the crab pot results in some frustration as they see the crab float slip under the water….guess it is deeper than they thought. Many hours are spent trolling back and forth without success. Our last morning at anchor they again troll at low tide hoping a few less feet of water will allow them to spot the orange float on the crab ring. Success! Numerous jigs of the big hook allows Craig to snag the float and the (brand new!) crab pot is pulled aboard.
Now we are off…..not….in checking the engine oil Carl spies that pesky alternator. Now it is lying in the bottom of the bilge having snapped two of its support bolts. A couple of hours of work by Craig, Pam and Carl and the alternator is back in place yet still not working. Barb has used this time to patiently take numerous photos of a trio of Bald Eagles who hover around waiting for more fish carcasses to sprout from the sailboat.
It is late in the day so we spend one more night quietly anchored, shove off the morning of the 19th and have a soggy motor up the Pipestem and then back to Ucluelet. This evening we have invited Cam and Laura to the boat for dinner. We have had a few successful fishing trips on their boat and stayed in their in home lodgings. They are a wonderful example of local folks who run Beachcomber Ocean Tours and Wild Edge Lodge. Cam is quite the story teller and we laugh and chatter over a dinner of fresh rockfish, Laura’s quinoa salad and fresh Okanogan Bing cherries brought in weekly to the local ‘farmer’s stand.’
We pull anchor and depart Ucluelet Inlet headed for the ‘north country.’ Joining the hog line of small fishing boats we troll back and forth for salmon in the (sometimes heavy) fog. We look quite out of place our 38’ sailboat with following numerous 20+ foot power fishing boats. None-the-less Craig does manage to land one nice Coho salmon. We leave the hogline of boats and continue to our destination. We find other likely fishing rocks (rocks that are safely 30 plus feet under the water) that Pam tries to circle while others try to fish. Craig lands a Quillback Rockfish and we again head for our anchorage.
For three nights we anchor just off of Pipestem Inlet, a small fiord. We are the only boat around and enjoy the peace and quiet. Salmon for dinner, black bear cub at the water’s edge and eagles flying overhead. Carl and Craig fish and crab to their heart’s content using our ‘dink’ ET. They harvest many rock fish yet their last throw of the crab pot results in some frustration as they see the crab float slip under the water….guess it is deeper than they thought. Many hours are spent trolling back and forth without success. Our last morning at anchor they again troll at low tide hoping a few less feet of water will allow them to spot the orange float on the crab ring. Success! Numerous jigs of the big hook allows Craig to snag the float and the (brand new!) crab pot is pulled aboard.
Now we are off…..not….in checking the engine oil Carl spies that pesky alternator. Now it is lying in the bottom of the bilge having snapped two of its support bolts. A couple of hours of work by Craig, Pam and Carl and the alternator is back in place yet still not working. Barb has used this time to patiently take numerous photos of a trio of Bald Eagles who hover around waiting for more fish carcasses to sprout from the sailboat.
It is late in the day so we spend one more night quietly anchored, shove off the morning of the 19th and have a soggy motor up the Pipestem and then back to Ucluelet. This evening we have invited Cam and Laura to the boat for dinner. We have had a few successful fishing trips on their boat and stayed in their in home lodgings. They are a wonderful example of local folks who run Beachcomber Ocean Tours and Wild Edge Lodge. Cam is quite the story teller and we laugh and chatter over a dinner of fresh rockfish, Laura’s quinoa salad and fresh Okanogan Bing cherries brought in weekly to the local ‘farmer’s stand.’
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