The North Coast and Beyond

Stocking up with food in Masset for the next stage around the NW tip of Graham Island and down the West Coast was easy, such a big supermarket for such a small place. It had everything we needed, even huge hot slices of pizza piled up with meat and cheese to takeaway for $2.99. I ate two in the time it takes to read this sentence and could have gone back for more. 

Thursday, morning we were up and about in the drizzle loading Meredith’s Mercedes with all our our food and gear. We pulled away from the slipway at about 9 and out into Masset Sound. The Sound is at most 1km wide and 35kms long, the entrance to Masset and Juskatla Inlets, a huge body of water that has been called Haida Gwaii’s ‘inland sea’. The two Inlets would have a combined area of at least 200km sq so the Sound is basically a big tidal ‘river’ with currents particularly on the ebb of 7kns or more. As we pulled into the ebbing current taking us north out to open sea we also had a 10-12kn headwind. It was a very strange experience working quite hard into the NW wind and choppy sea, yet watching the land wizz by 3kn faster than our paddling speed. 

The NW winds slowed our progress over the next few days but the days we’re generally sunny, clear and warm, with no rain!

Sunday morning we were on the water at 6am and few kms west the ebbing current started drawing us with increasing speed through Parry Passage between the mainland of Graham Is and Langara Is. We pulled out of the current to check the weather on the VHF. In Canadian waters, the same as US the marine forecast is broadcast continually 24/7 on one of ten WX channels. You just scroll through the channels until you find the channel for your location, then listen through the recorded loop until you hear the sea areas you’re interested in. 

The forecast wasn’t brilliant, moderate Westerlies in the morning but strengthening substantially in the afternoon. Given the forecast and paucity of sheltered landing spots as we headed down the West Coast it was looking like we’d be camping early to wait for better weather, either on the north side of Cape Knox or around the Cape in Lepas Bay where we knew they was shelter. 

Some of these possible landing and camping spots require permission from the Haida so we called in to Kiusta Indian Reserve where Haida Watchmen are based through the summer. The Haida Watchmen keep an eye on the area, their clan land. Protocol expects a call ashore on Channel 6 to ask permission to land, this we did and we were greeted on the beach by the two Watchmen. They had mentioned on the radio there was no access to Lepas Bay at the moment. They offered us coffee and we swapped stories of our travels, respective families and their life on Haida Gwaii. Incongruously a few kms north across Parry Passage from their rudimentary hut at Kiusta, Henslung Cove on Langara Island heaved with massive buildings, dozens of boats and helicopters. Fishing lodges full of ‘sporties’ as we’d already learned to call them. The previous clear blue sky days from Masset has been marred by large helicopters flying overhead every 30 mins or so. The Watchmen explained each one held 16 people, cashed up and I mean really cashed up people from all over the world come to assist in the further depletion of the fish stocks in Haida waters. “Haida Pirates” the Watchmen called them. A couple of days before we counted twenty runabouts full of ‘sporties’ off one headland alone. As we talked they relaxed and said we could access and camp at Lepas Bay if we needed to. 

At low tide Lepas Bay provided us with the largest mussels we’ve ever seen.