August 1 2009

Monday July 20 2009

Today we headed fro Hartley Bay and had a very nice cruise down Verney Passage. In my opinion Gardner Canal is more a scenic area.

We anchored just inside Promise Island. This is an excellent anchorage with a good holding bottom. Is was very hot as is the whole west coast so I turned on the air conditioning system and it was wonderful to just sit and have a cold beer.

Tuesday July 28, 2009

Today we went fishing just at the south end of Promise Island and we caught our limit of Coho Salmon in about an hour. Gary caught a nice pair of pinks and we had them for dinner with seasoned with Old Bay, Canola oil and a sprinkle of Brown sugar. We smoked for 15 minute with apple smoke chips.

It was an outstanding meal.

In the afternoon we took both shore boats to Hartley Bay for fuel. This Indian Village with a population of 140 is built entirely on wooden planks and timbers. The street is true dimension 2X12 and they ride ATV’s o the dock like construction. We walk up the hill to the “store” which was a large white house. Once inside we were surprised to find a very large and well appointed home with granite counter tops a large open kitchen where they cook take out meals for the locals. We purchased Ice cream cones and sat outside on a swing in the 90 degree heat to enjoy our treat.

Tomorrow we will start around the outside of Prince Royal Island and do some Halibut fishing along the way

Wed July 29 2009

We stopped in Evinrude Inlet as a recommended anchorage.

It was deep so we stern tied and had a peaceful evening.

Thursday July 30

We got up to make 4:30 high slack tide through Meyers passage as we approached the turn to Meyers Passage we decided to go straight to St Johns Harbor which meant 35 miles in open water. Since it was a calm morning we went for it and arrived at St Johns Harbor by 9:30.

This is a very popular fishing area and has several floating fishing camps.

We were here two years ago with the Codville Armada and caught fish.
Once we were anchored we settled in for a nap and a move and did not begin fishing until the crack of 2 PM.

I hooked 7 salmon lost four and kept 3. One was a very nice 17 pound Coho.

We were back on the boat by 3:30 to begin preparing for another great Salmon dinner.

After dinner we went to next Bay to see the floating fish Camp.

It was a surprise to see 25 guide boats docked to a huge floating hotel complete with rustic but nice wood stairs leading up to the Bar. Lenore asked if we could have a look and a drink and the manager of the operation suddenly appeared and escorted us to the bar and gave us all a drink “on the house”!

The bar was very nice with over stuffed furniture and even a shuffle board. It was just like you would dream of a fancy fishing lodge would be. Unfortunately we did not take a photo camp. What a treat!

Friday July 31

Another day of leisure and fishing. This time Gary and Lenore both caught huge Spring salmon. M Jim caught a couple of very nice Coco in choppy seas just outside of Dyer Cove. But this night we had Cheryl’s famous lemon chicken for dinner and Lenore treated us to awesome chunks of fudge that she made that day.

We have decided that St John’s Harbor is a must stop place for a trip north.

Sat August 1 2009

We awoke to dense fog with the intention of going to Shearwater for fuel, supplies and one of their famous cheese burgers with Sleemans draft beer.

Pulled anchor at 11:30 and ran in the fog about 2/3 of the way and arrived at Shearwater early afternoon, refueled and set the anchor in the bay in front of the resort.