Swanson Bay – east side of Graham Reach - Princess Royal Channel

August 13 Day 84

We slipped lines from the Govt' dock at Hartley under rainy and foggy skies at 8am this morning. One would wonder why we are leaving but it is already Aug 13 and we don’t think the weather is going to get nicer until we are in the Broughton’s or further south.

One of the crew from the coast guard boat helped us with lines and was giving John recommendations as to where to go. There are still gale force winds in South Hecate Strait which is just outside of the south end of Gil Island. Our plan was to head to the south tip of Gil Island and spend a day whale watching but as we said before, the front is hanging around longer than we expected and with the rain, fog and forecast of winds, it was decided to just head down protected Princess Royal Channel and spend the night in Swanson Bay, which is 40 miles south. We are not scared of these types of conditions but why put yourself in them if you don’t have to. Why make yourself uncomfy.

So here we are, motoring in rain, light fog and calm seas. It is 10am and the advantage of the rain and fog is the seas are usually calm. But John said he is growing his second set of gills.

Don, Diane and Chrystal are keeping warm and dry on Saoirse also. He has fixed up a way of sitting half way inside Saoirse to keep dry & warm by the red dot heater and still see fine to steer..

We keep saying we don’t want to complain about the damp weather because we have had such wonderful weather when we have needed it but enough is enough……the “forecast” says the rains should stop tonight. We will see.

After arriving in Swanson Bay, it was a light drizzle type rain, and we anchored Omega off the creeks mouth with the current holding us into position. Don and Diane took the dinghy to shore to see the ruins of an old sawmill and pulp mill on the beach and back in the trees. They found the 3 story concrete building just inside the tree line. Ashore are also the ruins of what once was a formidable shipping center. The wharf is gone, and only a few pilings remain.
Waggoner’s state that Swanson Bay shipped its first load of pulp in 1909 and in the 1920s had a population of 500. Its last shipment was in 1934. For some reason the notes don’t show the source of this information, so no guarantees as to accuracy.
Diane was excited to explore this area as she worked in the paper industry for quite a few years.

We enjoyed corn beef and cabbage for dinner and slept great.

We woke up to the blue skies and calm seas. Yeah!!