Wally The Halibut Guy – Hartley Bay

Sunday May 29th

http://gallery.me.com/sundogjoe/100689

Wally The Halibut Guy – Hartley Bay

After docking in Hartley Bay, a local resident named Wally in a small aluminum skiff with an beat up older motor tied up along side of us to say hi.  He was excited to share his story about how he fished right outside the bay setting a long line by hand and daily pulling the line seeing what he might catch.  This day he had 4 or 5 nice halibut laying in the bottom of his boat and he was kind to give us his smaller chicken halibut (what you call the small ones) for dinner. Wally – thanks for the gift and we had an amazing dinner and almost ate the entire fish.  Lin who does not even really like fish commented that he just ate more fish then he ever has and loved it.

Hartley Bay is not what you would call a yacht club and our dock that we tied on was covered in trash.  I cleaned up the dock once and the crows quickly tore apart my bags again so the second time I managed to find a dumpster at the top of the dock to toss the trash, for payment I threw a little of my own in as well.  With 7 on board and about 15 diapers per day we generate a lot of trash and Canada does not make it easy to unload.  The people were friendly that we talked with but most of the town was empty as they were at their traditional fishing camp harvesting halibut and sea weed.  We did manage to  find a little girl to lead us to the “Store” that turned out to be a house and one of the bedrooms dedicated to the store goods.  Eight dollars later we had a half gallon of neopolitan to split up between the Sundog and Wandrian crew.

The weather is as good as it can get and we keep taking credit for it based on our boat name:)  We heard from a local that it is supposed to be sunny and clear for 2 weeks and that would put us well into AK and we have really only had a very few days of rain on this trip.  The country around us right now is very much like Prince William Sound and we are excited to making more tracks towards our goal.  Our plan is to go half way to Prince Rupert today to a bay called Kumealean and then into PR tomorrow morning where we will spend a few days  readying for the Dixon crossing into AK.

I have a new vexing mechanical issue, when you flip the switch to start the starboard motor it makes the buzzing noise which is normal and then turns off after the motor is running but then it comes on again while running.  I assume this is a high temp alarm or something but my oil pressure is fine, my water temp is fine, I have proper oil in the motor so I am wondering if it is just the deal that makes the noise has the problem.  I will have someone take a look at it in Prince Rupert likely or for sure in Ketchikan.

Spirits seem to be good with the crew, the boys have been doing a lot of carving as we have been boating and have plans of making lots of money selling them at a table in front of our house when we return.  It is a lot of work with the triplets and they are still not sleeping well through the night but they usually take great naps during the day with the motor running.  We are reading as a family through ACTS and it has been great that we have faithfully been doing this every night before bed and the kids ask for it every night.  Dad, will you read the bible to us – gives me joy and somehow the words seem more real and fresh when read upon the sea.  I think it has to do with more of a connection to the reality that we are dependent upon the Lord.  At home we are so distracted with TV, internet, phone, work, home chores and just so many things that pull us from each other and never is it necessary to work together for the safety of each other like it is on a voyage like this.  I have been reading a book given to me by my pastor and good friend Al Thomerson by Henry Brandt and I just read a chapter on “Peace and Satisfaction In This World” and the condensed version is that the things of this world, even an amazing trip up the inside passage do not replace the need to be connected to Christ and peace that passeth all understanding only comes from God.

We are “Slowly and Majestically” cruising behind the Wandrian as I write this and the triplets are hiding under the table by the heater eating a book, the big boys are still sleeping and Cathy is cleaning up and organizing for the day.  If you are reading out posts I would ask that you continue to pray for our safety.  We pray for all our family, friends and loved ones each night.

Cheers from the Sundog Crew from Grenville Channel.