After an easy passage up Johnstone Strait, we dropped anchor
behind the Indian Islands, (also known as Matilpi), bordering an ancient shell-crushed
midden beach, one of our favorite spots in the Broughtons. We slid both kayaks in the water and
paddled around the islands' edges, where western red cedar, alders, hemlock,
salal, fir, spruce, gooseberry, red elderberry, salmon berry, and more than 100
varieties of moss (!) grow in crazy profusion.
Here's
Heron anchored off the “midden,” or former front porch of an abandoned
Indian village. The beach is layered with white clam shells – castoffs from shellfish
collected here for decades.
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| Skipper Jeff |
We had a beautiful passage the next morning, cruising up the
bottom end of Knight Inlet to Echo Bay.
With a rare southeasterly off the stern, we even put up the sails
briefly – a rarity in the Broughtons! It was an invigorating day with big bright clouds, and
lots of drama in the sky. Squadrons of auklets flew past single
file. Plump brown murrelets dove. Dolphins sliced through glacial-green seas off the beam...
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| ... could be the Caribbean! |
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| Except, it's not. |
With the wind whipping up to 25 knots we finally took down the
main to navigate the Broughtons' narrow channels.
The sky lowered and milky clouds settled in.
With barometric pressure falling and the sky
darkening, we realized it was blowing 35 on Johnston Strait and were grateful
to be tucking into Pierre’s at Echo Bay.
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| The chief mate's herb garden... |
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| Head in the clouds! |
