Sincerely, Denise

 Monday, July 14, 2025

Oh my what a difference a day makes! Gorgeous blue skies this morning, I think we are in for a great day! Indeed we had a fun and adventure filled day today. I ended up putting out a crab pot last night after the rain broke. Went to check first thing and found 1 keeper and some females which isn’t terrible but also not what I was hoping for. We quickly processed that one and went out fishing, dropping the pot in a new location just outside our little cove. First we tried our hand at bottom fishing looking for ling cod. We made our way up the shoreline trying different spots and it’s weird, we didn’t even get a rockfish which normally you pull up 5 little rockfish for every ling bite. We did catch one tiny baby ling and one baby flounder or halibut, but nothing we could keep. Ran across the bay to Draney Inlet (see red dot on map below) which was ROARING as the tide was going out and water was cascading into River’s Inlet. The Draney Inlet is long and thin and a tremendous amount of water has to move in and out of this narrow opening with each tide, creating some serious and dangerous rapids, which we steered clear of fishing off to the side. Ling like the fast water so it seemed logical they’d be there but nothing. Gave up and went back to the boat to switch out to salmon gear so we could go back out fishing. Along the way checked the crab pot in the new location and not a sign of any crab, and the bait I was offering (fresh fish pieces with meat attached) would have attracted them immediately if they were there. Repositioned the pot back inside our little cove in an indentation in the middle of the bay, grabbed our gear and back out fishing. Sun was out, water was glass, my kind of fishing! Although, the salmon weren’t of the same mindset, nobody there. After a couple hours of trolling we decided to pull the poles and run up to Dawson’s Landing, the only fuel and store up here within 80 miles. It’s very rudimentary, lots of canned goods and very little fresh produce or dairy. Didn’t even check for meat, but I was able to snag some milk which we were low on, some fuel for the whaler, and the all important ice cream bars for mid morning snacks. Dawson’s Landing is extremely remote, and the owner lives on site. There is a grizzly bear that also lives in the area and had just earlier that morning come onto the dock (right where we were) and eaten their fresh raspberries right off the vine! The owner was very matter of fact about it, just part of living in the wild! I don’t think I’d venture out of my house at night, that’s for sure. Anyway, his family has been operating Dawson’s Landing for nearly 100 years. It was originally a fisheries department station providing fuel and supplies to the loggers, canneries, and fishermen but was taken over by Jimmy and Jean Dawson and renamed Dawson’s Landing. We had a nice chat with the current operator (name escapes me) who is a descendant of the Dawson’s and lives there with his family. Left Dawson’s and ran all the way back to the boat, about 20 minutes, and stopped to see if anyone was interested in my crab bait – holy cow the pot was full! We threw back a few we knew weren't legal, then took the pot to the boat to sort and inspect to see which remaining ones were legal to keep. Ended up with three more nice keepers, but it was so great to see that there was a thriving population in the spot I chose. By now it was only noon – so much adventure already, and the day was just getting started.  Spent the afternoon cooking and picking crab and making a loaf of sourdough bread. My recipe requires folding over the dough every 30 minutes for 3 hours so it’s a commitment! John went back out fishing and I decided to forgo one of the 30 minute slots of my sourdough routine so I could enjoy an hour long kayak ride around our bay. Gliding among and under the cedar and hemlock boughs gracefully stretching over the shoreline in silence, I felt like I connected with nature and really noticed the ecosystem in this beautiful old growth forest. The granite walls of the bay were alive with seeping water oozing out of cracks and trickling down the face of the rock supporting the growth of moss, ferns and anything else that could plant roots and survive there, it appeared incredibly healthy. Gazing from the shoreline up into the woods the landscape between the trees, some of which had enormous trunks, was fallen logs covered with moss transformed into nurse logs providing life to many, salal, ferns but few deciduous trees as it seemed to be an evergreen dominant environment. I had the best paddle, taking it down a notch, and finding joy in everything I witnessed, feeling so lucky to be one of I am sure very few people that have paddled this cove or observed the symbiosis of everything that lived here. The bay is fed by numerous little streams and outfalls which brings the cedar water into the bay making it brown which some might associate with being dirty, but it’s normal. John came back with a nice fish which we processed and froze. I had been studying the weather all afternoon as well, and it appeared we might have a window “in between gales” to get back down to Port McNeill the next morning. We prepped the boat for departure which means stowing everything in the lazarette, hooking up the tender for towing, and covering the upstairs furniture. Sat down for dinner around 8PM with fresh crab quesadillas on our plates, again feeling very fortunate. Tomorrow will be an early morning so retired to bed after dinner.

We are amazed at these resilient trees whose roots travel uphill as they curve over the water. We theorized that maybe these were trees that were downed long ago then branches just took off and became trees? Who knows but so interesting how they grow.

OK, here's the opening at full high tide, the one our Garmin told us to navigate through!! Couldn't even get a kayak in there

Scenes from my kayak ride

Old growth forest

All these flat rocks makes one wonder how this evolved

Where does the shoreline end and reflection begin?

Ferns and moss living life on the rocks

Nurse log

Just one of many little streams emptying into our bay

Time for a cold one!

Happy Sourdough starter

TRAPPED for further review....

Dawson's Landing main dock, grizzly visited just at the end of the ramp

Scenes from a once thriving destination

View of Dawson's on approach

Beautiful day cruising up to Dawson's

My funny photo of the day, this jig came back up from a kelp bed coiffed with a beautiful new hairdo

This is the "suggested" passage in our bay at low tide

8:30AM in our bay

7:00AM in our bay from the boat

Nature's Rorschach Test

Draney Inlet during ebb

The Rainforest at work, seeping water feeding the ferns and moss