Day 11 - Bottleneck Inlet to Butedale

A leisurely wake up at 6:30am today, once again we need to exit Bottleneck Inlet at high tide due to a nice rock shelf that extends across the south side of the entrance. What a gorgeous day! Blue skies with mixed clouds but warm and calm out. Today’s destination is Butedale, on Princess Royal Island, the site of the historic Butedale cannery which at last report is in a state of disrepair. We may need to travel on to another destination if we can’t find anchorage around there or a spot on the rickety dock. As mentioned, I caught 3 keeper crab in my pots in Bottleneck so today I will cook them up and it may be our lunch or dinner today. We remain to be puzzled by the lack of wildlife, even very few birds and really no eagles spotted since Fury Cove. Arrived at Butedale at noon and were greeted at the (scary) dock by the owner and developer of Butedale, Shawn and his son Dayton. Shawn quickly explained that we were welcome to tie up for the night but at our own risk as the docks weren’t in good shape. Even though they were indeed angled and connected by driftwood, we decided they were in good enough shape for a calm night’s stay thus stayed the night. The beautiful Butedale falls are right next to the settlement and are worth a stop and pictures. After securing the boats, Shawn was eager to show us around so immediately escorted us up the ramp to the heli-pad among the ruins of the old settlement. He explained that he purchased the property in 2013 and since then has been working on a master plan to clean up the site and restore some of the buildings enough to preserve the historic value. With the land comes unlimited fresh water from Butedale Lake right above the docks, along with a power generator. It is still very primitive and we weren’t allowed to wander the property due to the many hazards but he spent a lot of time explaining his vision of what it will be someday and showed us his renderings of his master plan. If he pulls it off it will be a destination stop for boaters and also land guests. It will be interesting to see his progress in a couple of years. Tiger the cat also lives here, a giant orange 16yo kitty that was abandoned by the caretaker when he left abruptly last fall, so Tiger had to live off the land and winter over here until the owners showed up and realized he was here. He was practically feral early this spring but quickly began to trust humans again as they provided him food. Princess Royal Island is one of the homes of the white Spirit Bear, and Shawn said they come out frequently to the beaches near the docks. John and I cruised around looking for one at midday low tide but no luck. Put down our shrimp pots because the owner said people catch them right off the dock in 250’ of water. Shannon put down 2 and we put down 2 – NOTHING. Dinner tonight was on Esperança and we dined on Pasta with Bolognese sauce, Green Salad and Garlic Toast. Our routine has become cards or games and cocktails at 5pm followed by dinner on one of the boats. Our mornings have been so early that everyone is wiped out after dinner and ready to turn in. Light rain on and off today, nothing serious. Waterfalls everywhere along the shoreline.