South Sea Otter Cove to Bitter End Cove, Fish Egg Inlet

We were undecided where to go after Sea Otter Cove.  We were biding our time a bit, as we worked our way south toward Draney Narrows in Rivers Inlet, our next big adventure.

watching the clounds over fitz huh sound from sea otter cove

Karen left it up to me to choose our next anchorage, so I chose Bitter End Cove at the very far end of Fish Egg Inlet as our next stop because we have never been to this anchorage and it looked as if it might be a place to see bear.

Leaving Sea Otter Cove, we had sunshine for a change. The winds were calm as we entered Fitz Hugh Sound. The water was barely rippled, with just a slight swell in the water.

As we make our way south the wind begins to increase from our stern. The sound got confused and choppy as we are abeam Hakai Passage which is open to the pacific.

By the time we got into Fish Egg, there were whitecaps. As we approached the Narrows, we saw blows and slowed to enjoy the two humpbacks before continuing.

As we approached Bitter End Cove, it was clear that this cove was not protected from the wind or fetch. There were two possible anchor spots, and we chose the one opposite the small waterfall rather than the less attractive (to us) head.

I suspect many boaters would have decided to find a more protected spot, but the anchor bit soundly and OceanFlyer is heavy enough that the fetch wasn’t noticeable. The winds kept the boat cool in the sunshine and we were quite happy with our spot. There were views in all quadrants and not another boat in sight.

Our plan to fly the drone and go dinghy exploring was put on hold until tomorrow, due to the winds and the big whitecaps out in the bay where we planned to go.

Bitter end cove sunset

Fougner Inner Cove Sea Otter Cove

It was a quick one-hour cruise over to Sea Otter Cove, and the day started with sunshine. We could actually see up Burke channel toward the mountains there, unlike yesterday’s low clouds and fog. For a moment we were tempted to change our destination to Kwatna Bay, but there was little guarantee the sunny weather — very nice to have for Kwatna exploration — would hold. So Sea Otter Cove it was.

Karen heard about this anchorage while doing laundry at Shearwater.  There are three arms in Sea Otter Cove, and our plan was to anchor in the South Cove, opposite the “opening” which provides a view into Fitz Hugh Sound.  We knew from Marine Traffic and AIS that there was a sailboat at the head, which would leave us our target spot — right across from the “opening” — to anchor.

After a bit of calculation to determine exactly where to drop the anchor to maximize our view out the cut, we anchored in 60 feet. We were well away from the other sailboat, and it was nice to give them space.

looking out into fitz hugh sound from sea otter cove, south

s/V Aurora II at thehead of sea otter cove, south

looking south at the head of sea otter cove south

As soon as we arrived, Karen spotted a pair of sandhill cranes on the spit of low-tide shoreline where the cut to Fitz Hugh was. They were frequent visitors to this area throughout our stay.

sand hill cranes looking out to fitz hugh sound

Later in the day, we launched the dinghy to explore the other two arms of Sea Otter Cove. We quickly determined that we preferred our current location, the south arm.

One note is that in the dinghy, using Garmin Navionics charts, there was a bit of discrepancy in the location of the drying areas that extend from shore in both the west and north coves.

Add to this the fact that there were a couple of big boulders under the water at the edge of some of the drying areas reminds every mariner to continually monitor the charts and compare that to what you see around you and on the depth sounder.

On our way back to OceanFlyer we chatted with the folks on the Sailboat Aurora II. They were trying to get weather for their southbound rounding of Cape Caution and we happily offered up our Starlink connection.

there is a drying arm at the head you can explore at high tide in your dinghy or kayak

Kisameet Bay to Fougner Inner Cove

The dreary conditions continued this morning with low clouds, followed by some breaks, then the clouds would return. Our anchorage neighbor, the sailboat Leigh Ann, departed before we did, as we didn’t have very far to go and we were lazing about.

As we left the anchorage using the southern approach, we saw the Disney Wonder Cruise ship though the breaks in the islets in and near Kisameet Bay. Being twice as fast as OceanFlyer, we knew she would be past us long before we made our entrance into Fisher Channel. We snapped a few photos of her and didn’t think much more about her.

The disney wonder, a wake machine

To our surprise, our encounter with the Disney Wonder was not so fleeting.  Her wake managed to find us. One mile from her path, the wake was still 1 to 2 feet in height and breaking, requiring us to turn into them to minimize reorganizing the interior of OceanFlyer. We are spoiled by the nearly non-existent wake from the Alaska Ferries such as the Kennicott, even when close.

The Disney Wonder then soon disappeared into the fog. And so we put on our fog game hat (Nav lights, Fog horn, intense focus) and made our way to Fougner Cove.

Karen had read about this cove, found at the junction of Fisher Channel and Fitz Hugh Sound,  and it has been on our list to check out for several years.  We read that it was a one-boat hole and hoped that we would be the first to arrive.  There is a narrow pathway into the inner cove with some rocks guarding the SE edge of the path. We saw no less than 13.5-feet under our keel — on a +6.4-foot tide at Namu.

We were indeed the only boat in the cove, and we found a nice anchorage that would give us no less than 15’ below the boat at low tide. It felt a bit odd, as we’ve been used to anchoring in deeper water requiring more rode. Not that we were complaining.

I flew the drone to get a 3-D sense of the cove. There is a lagoon to one side, with a shallow dinghy entry ringed with rocks. The Douglass guidebook says that turbulent water runs through that entry at certain tides, but we did not see any current at all in the area during our stay.

fougner inner cove with the lagoon in the backgound

the lagoon look rather plain, so we did not go in

an aerial view of the entrance to the lagoon for the next explorer to reference

fougner innver cove with fits hugh sound to the west

fougner inner cove provides an easy resting place just off fitz hugh sound

Later we were joined by two small sport fishing boats and light rain. Fougner Inner Cove is a nice secure anchorage and we had a very peaceful night.

Ocean Falls to Kisameet Bay

A misty morning is no surprise in Ocean Falls. We knew this was going to happen based on the weather forecast, which is why we got our land exploration and bakery visit done yesterday!

Today is the day for haircuts. Hard to believe it has been a month since we did this on our way North – also at Ocean Falls. We found “the Shack” to be the perfect venue for this activity.

We had also offered up our Starlink to a couple on a sailboat who needed to connect with family and get weather. In return, they brought us 4 delicious homemade Oatmeal/Raisin/Coconut cookies. Definitely a fair trade, I think.

Two haircuts complete, we cast off for Kisameet Bay. This is a fairly popular anchorage off Fitz Hugh Sound. On a previous trip, we had tried to anchor there but it was full. We decided to give it another go this time.

view of martin valley viewed from our stern as we leave ocean falls

As we entered Fischer Channel coming out of Cousins Inlet, we experienced the first real foggy weather of our trip. It started out with about 3 miles visibility and deteriorated quite a bit as we made our way further south. AIS indicated we would again pass the Kennicott on its way north. For such a big target it was hard to see at first but then the the fog lifted as we passed, off Codville Lagoon.

passing the Kennicott again

We entered the bay between Kipling Island and the Kisameet Islands, leaving a small islet to out port. The entrance is well charted and it was an easy passage. There was one sailboat at the far end of the anchorage, so we tucked into the NNW corner in about 40 feet of water with good holding and protection.

our neighbor in kisameet bay

There is a floating dock in the anchorage now – we don’t remember if it was here last time we entered. There is still lots of room to anchor, so not a factor. There is activity on shore behind the float. It looks like someone is building a homestead.

aerial of kisamett bay

floating dock at the head of kisameet bay

someone building their dream

The fog and gloomy weather put a damper on dinghy exploration, so we simply enjoyed a restful afternoon and evening in this peaceful spot.

Beales Bay to Ocean Falls

The weather is supposed to be “no rain” today in Ocean Falls.  Given that when we were there in early June, it rained pretty much constantly, it would be nice to make a second visit in more enjoyable weather. Besides, Karen called ahead to the bakery to make sure they would have Carrot Cake. Our destination is set.

We had a nice cruise up to Ocean Falls, basically retracing our steps from early June.  We passed one sailboat when we were leaving Gunboat passage, but otherwise, there were not a lot of boats on the AIS.  We saw a couple of boats behind us in the distance, possibly headed for Ocean Falls as well.

When we pulled up to the docks, it was much busier than in early June.  That said, our preferred spot was available and we happily backed down the fairway to get it. I think this is the third time we’ve been in this spot, which on the inside of the “U” on the right hand side as you look into the docks.

ocean falls and its not raining

Because we did not make it up to Link Lake on our last visit,  that became our first mission for the day. The walk takes you right  past the dam. I love seeing the engineering of the dam and the powerful waterflow over the spillway. Unfortunately, there are no really great spots to take a picture of the dam and spillway head on unless you go out in the dinghy.

link lake damn spillway

 Link Lake is very large — 16 miles long — and you can only see a tiny portion from the top of the walk. The Old Bank Inn offers a skiff you can rent for $250 a day and we were tempted. But after looking at Google Earth, we decided that the lake’s shoreline did not look that interesting and given our arrival time, we would not have been able to take advantage of a whole day anyway.

a great view of the damn and the power generation plant

On the way back to the boat, we stopped in the bakery to pick up our carrot cake order and added a loaf of the banana bread we rate 5 stars.

the new covered pavillion contrasting the old abandoned hotel

When we passed by the small gift shop at the marine ways, it was open for business, with several cruisers stopping by to peruse the offerings.

the gift shop is just on the left corner of the big boat shed

We spent time chatting with other boaters, talking destinations and, importantly, the goodies at the bakery. Everyone got into the act, and we saw cinnamon buns, dinner rolls, banana bread and carrot cake being greedily stowed aboard various boats.

looking back toward town and the marina from over the damn’s spillway

the marina looking back toward martin valley

the resident seals on the ocean falls marina breakwater

While most boats we see have Starlink, some do not. After talking with the crew of one boat, they desperately needed to download charts, so I gave them the password for our Starlink router. Another group was feeling the need to reach out to family, so they too enjoyed the benefit of our Starlink. This second boater group traded us homemade oatmeal/raisin/coconut cookies for internet access, which we think was a very fair trade!

We watched as many boaters set and pulled crab pots, to varying degrees of success. Karen and Crab do not get along well, so I was more than happy to watch the antics from the dock.

Later that evening, one boat had set up a tour of Nearly Normal Norman’s museum on the top floor of the ways, above the gift shop. While we have been several times and did not feel the need to go again on this trip, many first timers joined the tour and had a great time seeing all the Ocean Falls memorabilia on display.