53° 47 N, 131° 36 W
TALK ABOUT BEING GLAD
YOU'VE TURNED RIGHT. IF OUR ENGINE HADN'T STARTED WE PROBABLY WOULD HAVE RETREATED, HEADING SOUTH – MISSING THE 138 RAINFOREST-COVERED ISLANDS OF HAIDA GWAII.
If you haven’t been to the
Queen Charlottes, all we can say is:
go and go soon. Of all the places we’ve been fortunate enough to cruise to so far in the Pacific
Northwest, Haida Gwaii is the most transcendent: lovely wilderness
anchorages,
fascinating cultural heritage, extensive colonies of
nesting
seabirds, challenging sailing, and almost no other
travelers. (The islands can only be reached by sea or air.) Above all, though, it’s meeting the Haida people and
visiting their abandoned village sites, that makes the experience so profoundly moving.
The spirit of the place left a deep impression on us. What a privilege to visit!
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| Haida Heritage Centre Pole, Hecate Strait |
We made the 55-mile crossing over Hecate Straight in 9 hours
and were blessed with ideal conditions. (The shallow strait can be treacherous if weather comes up.) The crossing was great: we left
at 6 am and got in at 3 pm, sails up the whole way with a 17-knot breeze of the
port beam, a fantastic ride.
Twenty miles in we came upon a huge pod of humpbacks, we counted
50 or more – all tail splashing, fluke-slapping, just playing. It was an incredible sight; we watched
for 45 minutes, but regret now that our pictures are so poor. Even aboard the Mighty Heron we felt VERY small surrounded by
so many whales and wanted to give them their space!
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| Huge pod of about 50 - yep we counted 'em - humpbacks off the boat at dawn. Awesome! | | |
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| Captain Looking Good Midway Through the Crossing... |
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| Yikes: BIG Hair Day for First Mate! |
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| All that wind means more canvas, tho.... beautiful!! |
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