A cloudy day

 

North Kent Island

In the anchorage, the day started well  ... at 6 a.m. the sun shone brightly. However, by 8:00 the fog had rolled in and there was a total white-out. Later and even as the fog dispersed, it was unreleningly cloudy. 

 Undeterred, we jumped in the water and into the amazing colourful world Beneath. I marvelled at the beautiful plumose anemones ... Larry captured some amazing photos. The World Beneath is spectacular here in Supernatural British Columbia!

plumose anemone

Clown nudibranch with eggs

Our Underwater World

Excitement in the Narrows

Approaching Rait Narrows

We're gradually making our way back south to Port McNeill. The aim is to spend more time underwater. Every time we stop for a few nights, we look for suitable dive spots. We look for  steep rock walls which we can anchor close to in safety. Steep walls and deep water depth close to the wall ensure more interesting underwater life. This time of year, walls which are in shadow are preferable because kelp proliferates in the sun and we have more trouble descending into kelp-laden water. 

We've passed through Meyers, Jackson and Rait Narrows on our way here. Larry's been choosing interesting routes. These Narrows are on routes we hadn't experienced before. 

Because Traversay has a large Under-carriage, we don't want to get stuck. Getting stuck was FUN in Australia where we could wait (along with other marooned boaters) for the water to come back in and float us up. However, here in the BC Wilderness we often don't see another boat all day. So Larry approached the Meyer's and Jackson Narrows with due caution ... on a rising tide so if we did get stuck, the tide would come in and release us. 

In contrast, the Rait Narrows gave us (and the Watch-bird) quite an exciting ride. The Rait is VERY narrow (see photos) but it is also Deep. So we didn't worry about touching ground. As we gingerly proceeded through the Watch-bird (a huge eagle) swooped up into one of the overhanging trees. He proceeded to monitor us very closely as we passed under him and through his territory. All three of us had a most exciting time.

In the midst of the Rait Traverse 

Marine Life of the Pacific Northwest

 This beautiful book is by Dr. Andy Lamb and Bernard P. Hanby. It's  invaluable for everyone sailing or  living near this coastline. The assembled photographs and basic information introduce one to all the amazing plants and animals gracing this coast from Alaska down to mid-California. We live in one of the BEST scuba-diving and adventure regions on earth (at least that's our prejudiced view). 

Nearly 30 years ago,  we took up diving to allow us to clean, monitor and dive under Traversay's hull. However we were not happy together underwater ... Larry was too fast-moving for my leisurely pace. That changed once we enrolled in Andy's Marine I.D. course and Larry started photographing animals we saw.  We really enjoyed the course - particularly savouring Virginia Lamb's breaktime cookies! Discovering the New World underwater became one of our paramount pleasures. 

We never imagined that scuba diving would become one of THE most fun, people-meeting and important skills we could have during our travels. Shortly after we met Andy we spent significant time on Lamb-organized West Coast Dive Charters.  Bernie was also 'on location' using his skills to photograph the tiniest and most improbable-seeming underwater creatures. His images literally took our breath away.

During our travels, in order to meet local people, we would sometimes print extra photos of endemic underwater creatures so people could see the wealth of beauty underneath their boat hulls. Some marine folks we met (including Dr Paul Brickle in the Falklands) wanted to use this book as a model for future Marine I.D. books for their dive areas.

Tunicate Siphon Hydroid (endocrypta huntsmani)

A few days ago, I decided to start reading the book rather than just using it as a reference. I admit I didn't get very far into the first section (on Flowering Plants and Marine Algae) ... my attention  span began to  falter with the enormity of knowledge present in these pages. Progressing a little further, I was amazed to find the I.D. of a species Larry had just photographed under the later Hydroid category. 

This ANIMAL lives with a more advanced life form - the tunicate - but rather than attacking and eating the tunicate itself, it harmoniously shares it's food in a commensal relationship. Thank goodness we had Bernie's picture and Andy's description of the Tunicate Siphon Hydroid (see it on page 103).

Emily Carr Inlet

We couldn't have guessed that such incestuous goings-on could be happening in this beautiful location!