SVSoulsticeAdventures: Leaving Nettle Basin and heading to Kumealon Inlet

June 1, 2023, Leaving Nettle Basin and Arrival at Kumealon Inlet

We left Nettle Basin around 0830. It was a late start for us. We had decided the night before though we were not planning to go too far and would just move farther north down the Grenville Channel. We decided on Kumealon Inlet, 27 nm, away. As we were leaving, interesting EVERYONE was too. We were part of the flotilla without trying.

We all funneled out of the inlet and back into the channel. Stephen and I spent the morning trying to wrap our brains around the tides and ebb/flood currents. There is only one current station reporting and it is way farther north. The currents though can be different and not necessarily flow in the direction imagined. The hydraulics of some of these channels are reported weird like both ebb and flood going north in one. One post states Grenville will flood and ebb, meeting in a middle point and then retreat opposite directions.

Kismet, Don, and Michelle were going to go to Baker Inlet, but the entrance has some serious narrows, with current and zigzags. Pulling their larger tender added a lot of risks. They were encouraged to wait for slack and also to shorten their tender line. They aborted all together and went to Kumealon as well. And so, here we all are again as the flotilla came here too. Luckily, again it is a big enough anchorage to accommodate but it still with deep depths, and hard to find a decent anchor spot.

The fish finder and the laser range finder have been so helpful. We can see when the bottom slopes and also our distances to the shoreline, other boats, hazards, etc…

There are gale force winds projected for Dixon East entrance and so our plan to go to Prince Rupert tomorrow remained tentative. After some more consideration to just include fatigue and figuring a down day would be nice we decided to cancel going tomorrow. Due to this decision, I blew up the paddle boards and went for a nice hour-long paddle around the anchorage. It is quite large with a HUGE lagoon in the north corner. You could spend hours paddle boarding here truly. Stephen stayed back and read. I was happy to get out and see some new sights.

This place is so massive and hard to comprehend its enormity. It does give me a great sense of happiness to know there is this untouched beauty. I recognize you could not see this unless you were on a boat. A plane ride, even a float plane, would not do its justice. I can see why this is a destination that is repeated like SV Aurora every summer for the last 11. It really is a journey that never ends because you can alter the course and make it quite different each time but still give you the fulfilled feeling of appreciating the raw energy of nature.

That night we had a nice dinner and had our own dance party on Soulstice. This often happens:) We start making dinner, have a drink, put on the wireless speaker, and feel the need to get rid of some dance build-up!! It is a lot of fun at least for us:) Maybe reflective of being isolated- ha! But to have a dance party of 2 and have a blast is awesome!

June 2, 2023, Kumealon Inlet

We woke up to some drizzle but being able to just sleep in and not worry about taking off was very relaxing. The day would be planned with morning coffee, reading, plans for a paddle board, Jen studying Spanish, and some workouts in the cabin. We are both immensely enjoying our book The Cruelest Miles. It is so informative and educational on the history of that time besides being a heroic adventure story that I don’t want it to end.

It was 0730am and I thought are these guys staying or going? ( the other boats…) but they all LEFT! EVERYONE! Kismet did get on VHF and we knew they were leaving but we were not sure of everyone else’s plans. The radio was quiet. 11 boats in the anchorage and we were left as the only one. I was curious if everyone was going to go but I could tell on AIS they all went to Prince Rupert. It was nice to know that despite the forecast it was a safe passage but we were not in conflict about our decision not to go. We really wanted and needed this down day. The plan is to really time our time on the way back but it is exhausting hurrying on the way up and we do need to take breaks when we feel like it and so we did!

It rained on and off but today Stephen did get out and paddled with me. We found some tidal rapids at the head of the lagoon which was cool. I told Stephen you could probably just do a 1-2 week kayak trip of just the Grenville Channel and explore all these inlets via Kayak as another holiday idea:) The rain because it is light and intermittent is not really a bother. I am glad we have good gear and that truly does make a difference in your comfort. The enclosed cockpit of Soulstice, although not a pilot house, has made this trip much more enjoyable.

We did see 2 other sailboats come into the anchorage this evening which was cool because it has been mostly motorboats. So this evening it is 2 other big white boats and 2 other sailboats. Tomorrow we will head to Prince Rupert.