June 21 - Codville Lagoon, King Island

Well what do you know! Sunshine in our anchorage what a sight.

This is the remainder of the walkway at Hakai Land and Sea Society. Needs some TLC

Me in my"bug gear" Not so elegant but it sure works!

We left our gorgeous anchorage with some regret, as we almost decided to stay another day. However we set off up Fitz Hugh Strait to investigate Hakai Passage. Gord once belonged to the Hakai Land and Sea Club in Hakai, a fishing club with facilities on Calvert Island. We motored around to the club but either it is no longer operational or they have not yet set up for the year but it has a beautiful white sand beach which still looks inviting.

We saw two humpback whales today breaching and blowing quite near our boat. One was in Kwakshua Channel on the way to Hakai and the other was in Fitz Hugh Channel. We also saw the same Norwegian Cruise Lines ship that we saw in Seattle harbour last summer on its way south returning from Alaska. It was huge and quite a sight in a fairly narrow passage.

We arrived at Codville Lagoon, a huge and very peaceful anchorage to find ourselves the only boat. It felt a bit strange and very isolated. Gord really enjoyed the solitude but I must say that I felt more secure when one other sailboat from Alaska arrived to anchor in the harbour.

The guide books and charts showed a mile long trail from the head of our bay to a freshwater lake called Sager. Gord wanted to take this hike and I finally agreed so long as I could bring the following: Hiking boots, rain gear, bear spray, bear bells, mosquito repellent, whistles, flashlights, compasses, a portable GPS, satellite transponder, bug netting and water bottle. I was now ready for those bears and quite a sight.

The hike was like walking on a stream bed, as the trail was not maintained and quite muddy and slippery. After slogging through the mud and the bugs for a half hour we arrived at a beautiful lake but could not stay too long as the bugs were dive bombing us. I was OK in my bug jacket but Gord poo poos such stuff and was in a bug cloud the whole time at the lake.

On the way back my fear of being Grizzly lunch was offset by my concern about falling into the mud but we finally made it back to our bay and returned to the boat intact.

Our reward for this effort was a rack of lamb with blueberries for desert. Not all bad.