Log Entry: Monday, May 17th, 1999

Otter Shoal to Lowe Inlet: 19 nm

Another motoring day. This was our first day on the Grenville Channel, a long slender finger of water which separates Pitt Island from the mainland, and which provides some excellent challenges: tidal currents play an important part in planning any passage through here, and the wind will either shoot up the behind you or hit you on the nose. Today, it was on the nose, but it was only a three-hour trip…

We anchored in front of a wonderful waterfall, and shortly after, a motorboat arrived, and anchored a decent distance away. After settling in, we decided to motor over to the mainland and check out the lake above the falls. We armed our dinghy with the 9.9, got in, and for the first time ever, put the oars in as a backup. We also took Ching along, in her collapsible cage. We let go of Ilari, and I started the engine. No. I tried to start the engine. Tried and tried and tried and tried and tried, and then tried some more. No. Then, I noticed that the gas line from the gas tank to the motor was attached backwards, and that I had probably pumped all the gas out of the motor. I reversed the gas line, and tried again and again and again. No. So, we drifted. We saw a mink at the edge of the water. After about ten minutes, a man came out of the other boat, got into his dinghy, and came over to see if he could help. We talked, and periodically I would yank the cord again. He had been fishing above the waterfall, and had caught a good-sized trout. After about another twenty minutes, the engine came to life. We thanked the man profusely, and said goodbye.

We landed near the waterfall, but decided that the animal life (including bears) would get Ching too excited, so we first took her back to the boat. Finally, we got to take our walk by the waterfall. The guide said it was a trail, but it was in fact a track rutted into the mud by bears, going over large tree trunks, up vertical root/rock/mud walls, and over rocks covered in 8 inches of water and slimy sea stuff. It as worth it though: we got a terrific picture of our boat back through the break in the woods, with sunlight streaming through and mist rising from the waterfall …

The current from the waterfall was pretty strong, and the boat gurgled all night, but we were safe and sound.