August 16-17 – Spectacular Fiordland

The fog is thick again, but we have a long day planned, so Skylark leaves Hartley Bay at 08:15 with the help of radar and GPS charts. Lyla and Renova plan to take a different route, so we exchange hugs and boat cards and hopes that we will meet again along the way. They help us cast off, then wave until they disappear in the fog.

By 11:00 the fog is gone and we have another beautiful day. We take a less-travelled route down Finlayson Channel, through Hiekesh Narrows and along Sheep Passage to our chosen anchorage at Windy Bay. We are alone in this beautiful ocean lake, the only sounds the splash of jumping fish, the chirps of eagles, and the cries of loons. The warm breeze carries the sweet cedar scent of the forest, and as night falls a full moon rises, silhouetting the majestic mountains around us.

Again today, Monday, we awake to a shroud of fog, but we will wait. We have taken this route to see spectacular Kynoch Inlet, which the guidebook tells us has “wild and magnificent scenery, high snow-covered ramparts rising 3500 feet above its shores . . . a startling vertical rock cliff rising to the sky … beautiful waterfalls tumbling into the inlet . . “ Not until 13:00 (1:00 p.m.) does the fog burn off, and as we enter Kynoch Inlet, the curtains open on a majestic stage of mountain grandeur. We are so privileged to be in this beautiful place, seen by so few.

We cruise slowly around the inlet for a couple of hours. We take many photos, have lunch on deck in the warm sunshine, and then must continue on our way to arrive at our next anchorage before nightfall. The water changes from smooth to choppy and back again, depending on the strength of the headwind, and we continue motoring south down Mathieson Channel. We see our first boat in twenty-four hours late in the afternoon, and as we get closer to our anchorage, we see a few pleasure boats from Shearwater/Bella Bella out for Sunday afternoon fishing trips. Thick fog blows in from the ocean in the evening, and the last hour is a bit tense as we pick our way blindly, except for radar and GPS, through tricky Percival Narrows and into Oliver Cove, arriving just before dark.