Trip report, 1-month boat trip to British Columbia (no 56k)

[paddlenbike]

I recently returned from a month-long boat trip from Seattle, Washington to northern British Columbia, thought some of you would enjoy seeing some pics.

Lake Washington is 20-feet above sea level, so you have to go through "the locks" to get down to sea level (Puget Sound). Here it is before they pumped the water out:
http://home.off-road.com/~kemanuel/2007_BC/01.jpg

A few minutes later we were at sea level:
http://home.off-road.com/~kemanuel/2007_BC/02.jpg

Deception Pass Bridge on Whidbey Island:
http://home.off-road.com/~kemanuel/2007_BC/03.jpg

Anchored out for the night:
http://home.off-road.com/~kemanuel/2007_BC/04.jpg

Declaring customs at Bedwell, B.C.
http://home.off-road.com/~kemanuel/2007_BC/05.jpg

http://home.off-road.com/~kemanuel/2007_BC/06.jpg

http://home.off-road.com/~kemanuel/2007_BC/07.jpg

http://home.off-road.com/~kemanuel/2007_BC/08.jpg

http://home.off-road.com/~kemanuel/2007_BC/09.jpg

Chrome Island Lighthouse:
http://home.off-road.com/~kemanuel/2007_BC/10.jpg

http://home.off-road.com/~kemanuel/2007_BC/11.jpg

One of many cruiseships in the Johnstone Straits returning from Alaska:
http://home.off-road.com/~kemanuel/2007_BC/12.jpg

http://home.off-road.com/~kemanuel/2007_BC/13.jpg

http://home.off-road.com/~kemanuel/2007_BC/14.jpg

http://home.off-road.com/~kemanuel/2007_BC/15.jpg

http://home.off-road.com/~kemanuel/2007_BC/16.jpg

Orca:
http://home.off-road.com/~kemanuel/2007_BC/17.jpg

http://home.off-road.com/~kemanuel/2007_BC/18.jpg

Broughton Islands:
http://home.off-road.com/~kemanuel/2007_BC/19.jpg

http://home.off-road.com/~kemanuel/2007_BC/20.jpg

http://home.off-road.com/~kemanuel/2007_BC/21.jpg

My family's boat on the right:
http://home.off-road.com/~kemanuel/2007_BC/22.jpg

http://home.off-road.com/~kemanuel/2007_BC/23.jpg

http://home.off-road.com/~kemanuel/2007_BC/24.jpg

http://home.off-road.com/~kemanuel/2007_BC/25.jpg

http://home.off-road.com/~kemanuel/2007_BC/26.jpg

http://home.off-road.com/~kemanuel/2007_BC/27.jpg

We ate well:
http://home.off-road.com/~kemanuel/2007_BC/28.jpg

Glad he was on land and we were on a boat!
http://home.off-road.com/~kemanuel/2007_BC/29.jpg

http://home.off-road.com/~kemanuel/2007_BC/30.jpg

http://home.off-road.com/~kemanuel/2007_BC/31.jpg

Ling cod:
http://home.off-road.com/~kemanuel/2007_BC/32.jpg

http://home.off-road.com/~kemanuel/2007_BC/33.jpg

I had never seen one of these before--spider shrimp.
http://home.off-road.com/~kemanuel/2007_BC/34.jpg

"Too cute to eat" was the consensus from others on the boat.
http://home.off-road.com/~kemanuel/2007_BC/35.jpg

http://home.off-road.com/~kemanuel/2007_BC/36.jpg

http://home.off-road.com/~kemanuel/2007_BC/37.jpg

http://home.off-road.com/~kemanuel/2007_BC/38.jpg

Declaring customs back in the U.S. (Friday Harbor, San Juan Islands)
http://home.off-road.com/~kemanuel/2007_BC/39.jpg

If you get the opportunity to go to British Columbia, I highly recommend it!

Ken

[YotaJunky]

Wonderful pics. That's in my own backyard too. One of these days, I'll have to take the family. Thanks again for taking your time to post.

Troy
Vancouver, BC

[Bob98SR5]

good grief, ken, what amazing pics!!! do you have a photobuck acct set up or some other where you posted all your pics?

[paddlenbike]

Wonderful pics. That's in my own backyard too. One of these days, I'll have to take the family. Thanks again for taking your time to post.

Troy
Vancouver, BC


You are very fortunate to live in such a beautiful place!



good grief, ken, what amazing pics!!! do you have a photobuck acct set up or some other where you posted all your pics?


Thanks Bob! I have a Google Picasa site, just haven't had time to upload the pics yet. You would have loved the fishing. I couldn't swim down and hook a fish on my line as quickly as we were catching them. :)

[slosurfer]

Holy Crap! I would have chosen this over June Lake also. Great pics and I can't wait to see the rest.

[Bob98SR5]

that ling cod looks gi-normous. how big was it and how did it taste? :)

[04 Rocko Taco]

Fantastic pictures!! Incredible, Thanks for posting!!

[paddlenbike]

Holy Crap! I would have chosen this over June Lake also. Great pics and I can't wait to see the rest.


DOH! I was hoping no one would notice. I hated cancelling on June Lakes because we had so much fun last year, but this trip was a must-do.


that ling cod looks gi-normous. how big was it and how did it taste?

The ling cod in the photo was only 17.4 lbs. That was three meals for five people and if you've never had green ling cod, they taste excellent! It was sort-of a shame deep-frying the rest of it and turning it into fish and chips (restaurants usually use cheap fish for that), but it was oh-so-good.

We were using frozen anchioves and rubber squid lures, which would usually catch smaller-sized rock cod. We would rehook the rock cod (if you could get him to the surface without catching something else) and use him as bait for ling cod. You had to get the ling cod in as quick as possible because it is quite common to catch a 4-5-foot dogfish shark in the process of bringing him in. I loved seeing the shark up close, but hated the fact that they kept hitting our 20+ pound ling cods.

Crabbing is what surprised me most. Drop a crab net with a $1 piece of chicken attached to the bottom and you would bring in a dozen crab in 15 minutes. They must be a minimum of 6" across the shell to keep them. We did okay with shrimp too; drop a shrimp pot with a pierced can of wet catfood attached to the bottom and leave it overnight. Usually you want 400+ feet deep water, we could only find 250-feet in the area we were shrimping. We were pulling about 2.5-3 lbs of shrimp, not really worth the effort but fun.

[Ric]

woooow, them are awesome pics, thank you so much for sharing.

[habanero]

Wow, great report. Almost makes me want to get on a boat. Almost.

[Bob98SR5]

...2008 British Columbia trip planned. We must commandeer the SS Paddlenbike next summer!

Great pics again, Ken. I can easily udnerstand why you ditched us :hillbill:

[Euphorickaty80]

Those pics are AMAZING! Thank you so much for posting them, hopefully one day i will be able to see such beautiful landscapes in person.......someday

[paddlenbike]

...2008 British Columbia trip planned. We must commandeer the SS Paddlenbike next summer!

Great pics again, Ken. I can easily udnerstand why you ditched us :hillbill:


I suggest we take the MS Paddlenbike instead. (SS is "Steam Ship", which are slow, not many are chartered these days and it would require Bob_98SR5 to shovel coal into the burner to create steam.) :tongueout:

[paddlenbike]

Those pics are AMAZING! Thank you so much for posting them, hopefully one day i will be able to see such beautiful landscapes in person.......someday


Thanks! I use the shotgun approach to photography. Take enough photos and one or two are bound to turn out!

[Good Times]

wow, simply wow! been to BC and it is definitely a beautiful place to visit. I must say our June Lake trip was pale compared to yours.. grrr! looks like you ate well and had a blast at the same time :) I'd definitely love to see more photos too! so is it possible for us to setup a 2008 bc trip?

[slowheelin]

Awesome shots. I've been on that same dock in Friday Harbor. The islands and waterways up there are absolutely beautiful.

[paddlenbike]

so is it possible for us to setup a 2008 bc trip?


Certainly we could go, but it would have to be by kayak. I GPS'd and photographed some of the places that looked best for paddling and spoke to a few kayakers about their trip. Unless someone wants to kick-down for a 45-foot yacht...

[slosurfer]

(in my best Eric Cartmen impression) I hate you Kenny.













J/K I am just jealous.

[paddlenbike]

(in my best Eric Cartmen impression) I hate you Kenny.

:lol:

[reggie 00]

Good Stuff

See you found out the Pacific Northwest Crabbing secrets.

When i was station up there we use to go out to the piers in Bangor and a few other places and drop rented pots, we used chicken and hotdogs. Pull em up after a few beers and check em with a dollar bill.

The dungeness is pretty good, but i want o say the rock crab is better, but for us usually harder to get.

[xonetruthcrewx]

That looks like one hell of a trip, i too am very jealous. Right On.

[Texas Jim]

Wow!!! What a wonderful bunch of photo's!!! I have to say that I am turning green with envy! :king: Looks like everyone had a wonderful time!!

I am amazed at the wildlife photo's. Both the cougar and eagle were very relaxed with your boat around. I also liked seeing the whales.

I have been on a cruise that went from the sound in Seattle to Lake Washington, it wasn't near as cool as your ride was.

Thanks so much for sharing your photo's!! Please post a link to where the rest of your photo's are posted.
Glad you made it back and all went well for your trip!!
Thanks again!! :D TJ

[paddlenbike]

See any resemblance?

http://www.homedepot.com/catalog/productImage/34d55021-b5c6-466e-8db8-82686d79fea6_300.jpg

http://home.off-road.com/~kemanuel/2007_BC/32.jpg

[turboale]

Awesome pics!! That looks like on hell-of-a trip!! I have always wanted to venture up that way myself.

[d0ubledown]

beautiful paddle...always in awe of the scenery around here...although i dont get to venture out and explore it as much as i'd like. sealife always will provide some fantastic eats...im itchin for some seafood right now! :drool:

of course if a bc trip is planned...let us know! theres enough of us here that will be glad to show you guys around...as long as we get a free ride on that pimpin boat of yours! haha...

glad you enjoyed your trip!