The cold water of Queen Charlotte Sound is creating morning fog and not inspiring me to swim. Inspite of the ambivalence of returning from the wonders of Northern BC, we are a little excited at returning to warmer waters. We are still hanging with Puffin and we left Sointula this morning and had a foggy trip towards Echo Bay to see Billy Proctor.

Yesterday we left Port McNeil and the engine sounded loud. Becky and I both looked to each other and we decided to return to North Island Marina. I had just changed the oil, with a different brand of oil, so decided to change it again. I went back to the store and they credited me with the oil and the price of the new. Fortunately it helped. Got to Sointula and Sam had a visit with Gardner Diesel guy, very interesting to visit with. Then we walked up to Tim Motchman’s, who we commissioned two carvings last year. It was nice to see him and his garden. Great visit with Joe and Sam on Puffin, Tim, his wife and a friend. Interesting day….
So passing through the Broughtons and thinking about blasting Johnstone Strait tomorrow to get to Desolation Sound.
It would be nice to go for a swim.

By Paul: It’s been so long since I have written anything, and so much has transpired that I have trouble starting. But before I get distracted and my inspiration vanishes like the humpback whale spouts we frequently see, I will put something down about my thoughts of our trip to Haida Gwaii. First of all I want to thank Jimmy Reid for making the trip out to see us from Florida. His boating skills, weather and routing collaborations and his nack for always popping an, after anchor down, IPA of the day were so much fun. He was greatly appreciated and we miss his presence onboard. Jim joined us in Ketchikan, where we surprised our other high school friends, Tom and Dina Butt,  who were departing. What a great, fun surprise; and a nice time in Ketchikan.

Jimmy made three large crossings with us. The 73 mile crossing from Ketchikan to Prince Rupert across Dixon Entrance and the two 80 mile crossings of Hecate Strait. Jimmy introduced me to the weather app, Predict Wind, which we used along with the ever cautious and conservative, weather Canada web site I was using; With his aid we made some pretty good decisions, adjusted our schedules and kept the boat together without shaking things up, to much. But after all it is a 38 ft boat.

Hecate Strait is a formidably 12 hour crossing that gives everyone pause, with good reason. But it takes you to a very different place. An Island isolated, geographically, biologically and culturally changed by the first encounters with europeans; decimated by small pox, with the loss of 95% of their population, most of their villages and way of life. The Haida were complicit in their demise, as well. They readily sold their sea otter pelts for renewed riches, which directly contributed to the Haida’s rich artistic contributions.  Affluent chiefs put on more potlatches and commissioned more totems. The potlatches were a great feast of gift giving and an interesting distribution of wealth. But alas with the loss of the sea otter and the influx of  diseases, everything crashed in the late 1800’s.

It was humbling and inspiring at the same time. We got to witness Gwaii Haanas National Park; with its Culturally significant Heritage sites. Culminating with the furthest south and most remote site of SGaang Gwaii with its still standing 200 year old totems. We visited with five very different Haida Watchman five different sites and got some great historical perspectives and recent insights. Gwaii Haanas with its unlogged and interesting forest; racked by wind and storms; quiet anchorages, saw whales and spawning salmon.

The memorable Burnaby Passage with its zig zag passage and my full astern, bow thruster rock avoidance maneuver. So grateful for my mate Becky for her bow watch and my running mate Jimmy for watching the ranges and getting me back on course. Sometimes with a current pushing you and three hard right to hard left maneuvers in a row, it take three sets of eyes to keep you square. Grateful that the water there is very clear. We actually tackled Burnaby twice, the second time with an opposing current which was much more manageable and with a mark on the chart for the rock. We left Haida Gwaii with a great sense of gratitude for the blessing of the opportunity to be there.

We visited a very welcoming people with a renewed purpose of sustaining a culture. There has been recent government recognition of the right to the Haida people to their lands, and there is a new awareness of pride and significance as to what that means. A beautiful place that is in flux. Most of the large timbers are gone, the fishing is a fraction of what it was. It will be interesting to see what they can do to sustain themselves. The isolation and beauty will draw many, but the cultural heritage sites are numbered in years. The culture allows for them to return to the land, one only hopes that the attraction won’t diminish.

By Becky: SGang Gwaay is recognized as a historic UNESCO World Heritage Site.  Nan Sdins (aka Ninstints)is a former Haida village.  It has the largest still standing collection of original monument and mortuary poles.  In the past, some of the poles have been reset upright but will now be allowed to decay as per Haida culture.  You can still see where the Haida moved rocks to create a landing spot for their canoes in the bay.

When we went ashore, we were greeted by the Watchman who led us on a long wooden walkway through the forests and to the village site.  It was the most interesting walk so far.  He was full of experience and information and said he would like several more hours to tell us all he would like to share.  It really is something that just has to be experienced to understand the feel of area.

The trip back through Burnaby narrows was not nearly as exciting since we knew where the rocks were and were going against a slight tide.  We stopped for the night in Echo Bay as a stage area for our early morning crossing back to Prince Rupert.  It was one of the best anchorages of our stay.  We took the dingy to a in-flowing creek and saw thousands of salmon trying to get upstream.  It was so fun to stand and watch even though mosquitos and no-see-ums swarmed and snacked on us.

As we headed out early in the morning we had a great rainbow over our path. While the trip back was kind of rolling it wasn’t bad at all.

The first Watchman site we visited is K’uuna Llnagaay (aka Skedans). First settlers could not pronounce  the name of the Chief of K’uuna and ended up calling the village Skedans which sounds somewhat similar to the Chief’s name.  Smallpox wiped out the Haida from over 10,000 to about 600 people.  The remaining Haida moved to a few smaller sites to survive.

Most of the sites have been vandalized and decayed over the years but there are still some remaining poles either leaning or laying on the ground covered in moss. There are large depressions that show how big the longhouses really were.  The Watchman had blown up pictures that had been taken around the early 1900’s that show how the abandoned village looked at that time.  It is so interesting, sometimes sad and sometimes encouraging, to hear of their culture and history and how they are now embracing the culture in new and/or traditional ways.

The next stop was at T’aanuu Llngaay (aka Tanu). Little is left standing there but the spirit of the site is still strong. The house depressions and fallen house posts still provide an idea of what the village was like.  Each Watchman added new information that helped us to understand how amazing the Haida culture was and is.  Each site also had a different personality and feel based on the growth of the forests and trees.  As I said before, I could stay at each site for a couple of weeks listening to the Watchmen and never get tired of it.

By Becky – We spent a leisurely morning in Murchison Island Cove and had a short run to Hot Springs Bay where we were blessed with a calm, sunny morning.

The Watchman, Carol, came to greet us as we landed since we were delivering much needed garbage bags to her sent from Reggie at Windy Bay.  She is a delightful Haida woman who taught us several Haida words.  She also insisted that we walk through her beautiful forest since we had enjoyed Windy Bay so much.

We had been conserving water and therefore not taking regular showers on the boat.  Even though the shower was just lukewarm, it felt great to get clean before going into the hot tubs.  We were given an hour to have all four pools to ourselves and loved each one.  They are well maintained and clean.  It was great to be able to soak and watch our boat in the harbor on a perfect morning.

After soaking we went for a walk through the old growth forest to the bay on the opposite side of the island.  We meandered around for a while on the beach then headed back to our dingy which (as expected) had been left high and dry due to the tide going out.  Carol rounded up a couple of people to help us carry it over rocks and kelp back to water level.

Cruising through Burnaby Narrows was fairly exciting since the charts don’t really show accurately where a huge rock is in the middle of the channel.  You have to zig zag through while water is rushing in or out of the narrows from both ends. There isn’t really much of a slack.  Jim and I helped Paul to line up with the channel markers while I stood as bow watch. There was some excitement when I found the rock where we didn’t really expect it but Paul was able to quickly back down and get us turned in the right direction even though the current was trying to push us on the rock.

We were ready to drop anchor in Bag Harbor just a little south of the narrows and had a very quiet night watching a group of about 5 sea lions floating in a pack on their backs waving their fins in the air to regulate their body temperature.  I can’t believe we get to have such an amazing trip seeing incredible nature at its best and meeting such welcoming Haida people who want to share their culture and history.