August 7, 2010 – Leg 6, Day 6 – Bottleneck Inlet to Shearwater

The Mother Goose fleet awoke to a misty morning, and as we exited Bottleneck Inlet, we were greeted by a humpback whale – maybe the same one we saw last night. We proceeded down Finlayson Channel, scanning the shores for bears, when suddenly a pod of Orcas found us! They were all around us; it was hard to know which way to look. Navigator’s crew had great orca juju as a large male surfaced several times just off of their stern. Unlike the pod of orcas we had seen earlier, which had stayed together in a fairly tight group, these were more spread out and were probably hunting, according to naturalist Emmelina.

Continuing on after the orcas left us, we entered into Jackson Narrows, a passage that has a tight constriction at its eastern end. Captain Bill had timed our transit for high water slack and all the boats successfully navigated the narrow rocky channel which then opens out into Mathieson Channel. We cruised along rocky islets and islands and saw another humpback whale before entering into Reid Passage, a scenic passage into Seaforth Channel, but alas, we didn’t see any bears.

Once in Seaforth Channel we began seeing more boats, especially as we neared the towns of Bella Bella and Shearwater. Steve, the harbourmaster at the Shearwater marina, was expecting us, and had places on the dock for each boat (Thanks, Steve!). As soon as we were secured, we headed up the dock to the Shearwater Store and Pub (and wi-fi connections for those who had been forced to be internet-free for several days in the wilderness). It was a fun evening as we chatted with other boaters on the dock and enjoyed a festive night out.