27 Jul 18

We were awakened by a tap on the coachroof from “Massilia” announcing that the bears were back, feeding on the beach adjacent. Of course, we got up immediately. The mama bear and 3 cubs had returned, but left the beach almost immediately when a solo yearling male showed up. We watched him turn over rocks and boulders for the best part of an hour, before he, too, ambled back out of sight into the woods. It was flat calm and we were underway within a few minutes, headed up Call Inlet. The trip up the inlet was leisurely and we took a few detours from the rhumb line to check out various streams flowing into the inlet and a couple of potential, settled-weather anchorages. One of the stops was recommended by BC Trails; Laurie was deputized as a shore party to check out the stream and the reported tidal pools. Unfortunately, the exit spot was steep and slippery and as she committed from the dinghy to the rock face, her foot slipped and she went in the water up to beyond her waste; the water was still cold there, so she was not amused. At least she did not have her iPhone or camera in her pocket when she went in the water. We made it to the head of the inlet just about noon. The water temperature was fully 5 deg C higher than where we were anchored, at a balmy 21 deg C. So, we motored about half a mile back down the inlet to the mid-point between the north and south banks, rafted up, stopped the engines and just drifted. After a quick lunch, we went for long swims in the warm water, which was full of thousands of jelly-fish of various sizes. John gave the hull of “Massilia” a late scrubbing and I changed the prop zinc, which was nearly fully spent; it took 4 dives to get what was left of the old one unscrewed and another 4 dives to install and tighten the new one; all free-dives with only a snorkel and mask and big breaths. That saved me $100 of a diver’s time. Nice to have water warm enough that I could stay in it long enough to get the job done. About 15:00, we were all swum out and rinsed off and decided to come back to the Warren Islands anchorage to see if the bears would come out to play again. We were anchored back in the same place as last night by 17:30, just in time for happy hour and grilled salmon for dinner. Low water (thus exposing the adjacent beach) was at 20:50, a bit late for good photos, but excellent for bear-watching. But, the bears did not oblige with a return appearance. Still, quite a day.

50-34.962’N, 126-11.005’W; Log = 20.8, Sum (2018) = 412.9 N-M