July 29th - Louie's 72nd Birthday!

We celebrated Louie's birthday in Port Hardy. I made him one of his favorite dinners:

Cannelloni Bolognese

Broccoli with Prosciutto

Chocolate Birthday Cake

His Birthday dinner was complimented with a bottle of

"1993 Dom Perignon Champagne" a gift from

The Van Hamersfelds in Friday Harbor.

Just down the dock from our boat is "Cod Father Fishing Charters".

This huge Salmon was caught by a woman!

Cuisine of Seventh Heaven

Daniel the Sushi Master with his "Magic Knife" will prepare:
Fresh Crab California Roll
Ingredients include:
Brown Rice
Fresh Dungeness Crab
Avocado
Cucumber
Sesame Seeds
Cashews
Sushi Nori Roasted Seaweed Sheets
Soy Sauce
Wasabi

Sushi Master spreads Brown Rice on Seaweed.

He places other ingredients in roll.

He sprinkles Sesame Seeds.

He rolls the Sushi.
Rolls are cut into bite size pieces.
We have a Sushi feast in the cockpit of Seventh Heaven in the middle of the wilderness.


Pepperoni Pizza
Ingredients include:
Fresh Baked Whole Wheat Crust
Homemade Pizza Sauce
Pepperoni
Oregano
Toasted Garlic
Shredded Mozzarella Cheese
Bake Pizza until crust is crisp and cheese is melted.
Here is the Infamous Crab Louie Supplying our Fresh Crab and Prawns
Fresh White Spot Prawns
Fresh Dungeness Crab
Italian Baby Clams
Whole Wheat Barilla Pasta
Garlic and White Wine

MANGIA! MANGIA!


Fresh Caught White Spot Prawns
Steamed in Canadian Beer with Garlic
and
Red Pepper Flake
Served with Seafood Sauce
Fresh Coho Salmon.

Fresh Rock Cod and Coho Salmon ready to poach for Salmon Cakes

Add:

White Wine

Garlic

Salt and Pepper

Poach in Oven

Do Not Over Cook

Add:
Poached Salmon and Rock Cod
Eggs
Seasoned Bread Crumb
Capers
Black Pepper
Red Pepper Flake
Saute in Olive Oil
Serve with Plum SauceFresh Baked Sugarless Apple Pie
Fresh Baked Cream Cheese Raspberry and Pear Pastry.

Fresh Fruit Tart

Ingredients include:
Fresh Baked Pie Crust
Sugarless Vanilla Pudding
1 Pear
1 Banana
Fresh Raspberries
Fresh Blueberries
Line baked crust with sliced banana.
Spread sugarless vanilla pudding over banana.
Slice pear and arrange in circle
Add raspberries and blueberries
Chill

July 24th - Roscoe Inlet

The granite walls reach 3,000 feet as we continue deeper into Roscoe Inlet.

First Nation's "Heiltsuk" also known as "Bella Bella" inhabited Roscoe Inlet and surrounding area. Pictographs decorate the granite walls depicting fish, stick figures and canoes.
We find another pictograph as we proceed up the inlet.
Signs of glaciation are scraped into the granite walls.
Glaciated valleys are similar to those in Yosemite in California.
Pieces of granite crack and break off the steep walls.
The inlet is lined with wonderful valleys.
Rugged granite peaks scraped clean by glaciers of the last ice age 15,000 years ago.
The last of the melting snow create water falls in the 90 degree heat wave.
At last the "Bitter End" of the inlet. We decided not to anchor due to the heat and the swarms of Black Flies. The only relief from the heat was to keep moving. We decided to head south to Codville Lagoon.
When we arrive at Codville Lagoon we find the popular anchorages are already taken. Daniel and Louie have to get creative and we find a spot where we will stern tie.
Louie uses our new "Stern Tie" reel that was given to us from our friend Ken Whelan. We are secure for the night and in the morning we will continue south around Cape Caution to our familiar anchorage in Allison Cove.

ATTACK OF THE BLACK FLIES!

There is a price one must pay to enjoy the beauty of the remote wilderness of British Columbia. It is the Black Fly, insect belonging to order Diptera, family Simuliidae. Black flies occur nearly anywhere that rivers and streams are present for immature stages, including arctic regions, and are especially abundant in northern wooded regions. Larvae live in flowing water, gathering fine particulate food by straining the water with their head fans. Larvae attach to rocks or vegetation and complete development in 3-14 days, depending on water temperatures and availability of food. Pupae are inactive and do not feed. Adults may emerge from any water depth, floating upward in a bubble of air generated during emergence. They are ready to fly when they break the surface. Average life span is about 3 weeks.
In Canada, black flies cause human suffering and are a scourge to livestock. In Northern Alberta, weight loss in cattle caused by the black fly attacks in one outbreak (1971) amounted to 45 kg per animal; 973 animals were killed in one area alone. Black flies are a nuisance to humans. For example, forest workers in northern BC and Québec demand black fly control as part of their work contract. Females have biting mouth parts with toothed stylets for cutting skin. Males do not bite and are rarely observed. Both sexes require nectar for flight energy; females use blood for egg development.

Because of the unusually high temperature in the last week there were huge amounts of black flies in the area. They are tenacious and bite through your clothing. This photo is taken on Daniel's electric fly swatter that he calls "Old Sparky" named after the electric chair in a New York prison.
This is another corpse killed by Daniel out of revenge for the 28 bites he has endured!
Notice the cutting teeth on her mouth that she uses to take chunks of flesh!

July 23rd - Namu

Namu has always been one of our favorite stops. Rene, Teresa and Peter welcome us with their wonderful hospitality. They are the caretakers at this historic abandoned cannery. Unfortunately, the future hangs in the balance. The owner has stopped supplying fuel both for the generators that supply power to the caretakers and at the fuel dock that supplies commercial and pleasure fish boats. Attempts at restoring Namu into a resort have failed and the future is unknown. It could be closed for good.

We tied up next to "Temple Rock" and its new owner. We were dock mates with the previous owner at Van Isle Marina. We had a great visit with our pals.
As the sun set we caught 3 nice rock cod within 10 minutes. Eagles soared over our heads and we could hear blows from whales out in Burke Channel. The sound came closer and closer to our little inflatable. Then it happened, just 50 yards from the boat a Humpback Whale surfaced. Our faces flushed with sheer joy as well as fear. The whale swam over to a small island behind us then surfaced and pointed right at us. It blew and dove as we stared at one another waiting to be consumed like "Jonah" or dumped into the frigid water. In a minute or so (seemed like hours) we saw the whale surface once again entering the main channel and concluded that it had swam under our boat. The depth of the water was about 45 feet. We returned to Seventh Heaven feeling just a little bit closer to this wonderful paradise!
Louie removed my rock cod from the hook.
In the morning we headed north to our destination of Shearwater.
At the mouth of Burke Channel we encountered Humpback Whales "tail slapping". Their giant bodies lunging out of the water and then slapping the water with their flukes.
It is not quite known why they do this. Researchers have speculated that it is used by the males to either attract females or it is an aggressive posture to ward off other males.
This Humpback is taking a deep dive.
Their flukes appear when they dive deep below the surface of the water.
Before they dive they take several big breaths creating "blows".

July 22nd - Fury Cove

We departed Port Hardy and crossed Queen Charlotte Strait and then into Queen Charlotte Sound which is open to the Pacific Ocean. We were taking swells on the beam of the boat until we turned into Allison Cove to anchor for the night. In the morning we headed around Cape Caution and into the protection of the Inside Passage again in Fitzhugh Sound. We anchored in beautiful Fury Cove for the night.

One can see evidence of the high tide line on the brilliant white shell midden along Fury Cove. This area is an ancient First Nation's site where clams, oysters and barnacles were harvested.
There is evidence of 10,000 years of inhabitation in the region

Daniel and I explored the labyrinth of small coves and discovered a clear landing site to the midden. Natives would clear a beach of rocks to land their canoes.

The water is cold and clear showing a deep teal color.

We landed wings on another section of the huge midden.

Seventh Heaven is anchored in a protected cove nearby.

I collected these large barnacle shells on the beach.