PORT McNEILL TO TURNBULL COVE

Tuesday, July 22, 2025

My captain told me last night that we’d shoot to leave the dock at 8AM this morning. I groaned as I heard him unplugging the power cord from the dock at 7AM and grumpily made my way upstairs to check in. Well, it seems he was concerned about winds predicted later in the morning in the Queen Charlotte Strait so was anxious to get going. What the captain says….goes. Rules of the water. At this point we were sandwiched into a linear dock between two other large vessels with not a lot of gap, so I expressed my anxiety about getting off the dock without hitting either boat. Captain assured me he had a plan and all would be fine, and I don’t know why I stress about these things because if he is comfortable with the situation it means it will be fine. He has never let me down, being the excellent captain that he is. Sure enough we slipped off the dock effortlessly and were soon underway in pea soup fog. I had a few loads of laundry (always) that needed processing so we fired up the watermaker and washer and I was able to get 3 more loads done including fresh sheets! Yay. We motored in foggy but very calm seas all the way across and made our way back to one of our very favorite destinations, Turnbull Cove, in the Broughton archipelago, only about 30 miles from Port McNeill across the strait. Got a great spot right inside the harbor and noticed it was almost slack high tide, and slack tide means it is time for Ling Cod fishing! My favorite fish to fish for. I packed a picnic lunch and we soon took off for our favorite fishing spot that always produces and spent the next couple hours fishing for the elusive and fun Ling Cod. We caught and released several smaller rockfish and nearly snagged a ling that followed the hooked rockfish to the surface! For a brief moment he latched on to the hooked rock fish and we thought we had them both (which did happen last year – successfully!) but the ling popped off, then the rockfish popped off and we lost them both. We don’t keep the rockfish anyway; most places up here don’t want you to retain them. I ended up catching two nice lings, about 8 and 10 pounds respectively, but failed to take pictures! Dang. Back at the boat around 3PM, the skies had cleared and the sun was out and it was HOT! For the first time this summer I put on a bathing suit and took myself topside for some Vitamin D, it was glorious! I love being perched up there taking in all the sights of the cove. Dinner tonight was fresh ling cod prepared with a piccata sauce of lemon, capers, butter, wine, along with some of Gionny’s “Forchetta” brand pasta, which I prepare with sauteed pancetta, shallots, garlic, red pepper flakes, along with a little cream and parmesan, delish! What a great day and such a treat to get this warm weather.

Not sure which peak this is in the Coastal Range, maybe Mt. Waddington? Anyway, this is the view enroute to Turnbull Cove

Top and Bottom, pictures of a massive slide that happened many years ago. Not a good place for people to anchor because of the debris on the bottom but they do it anyway. Our boat below in proximity to the slide.