Sailing Into the Mountains, Searching for Bears. [Ep 2]

Do you see anything? Not yet. I mean it's a really good view but there's no bears. I just, all I want now is for a grizzly bear to walk onto this beach and I will just keep a very close lookout for one. We're on our way north. On board our Cape George Cutter 36 is my husband Aladino and myself, Maya. After a five-year complete refit to our boat we are finally out sailing, about to explore one of the most wild and beautiful coastlines on earth. Join us for the Northern Voyage. So I did name this whole series the Northern Voyage. But like any good sailor, what's the fun in pointing straight at your destination when you could get there in a crazy zigzag of lines? So that's exactly what we're doing. We are going north but along the way we want to explore the indentations in this coastline. In our last episode we left you right at the mouth of Desolation Sound. Despite its name it's a beautiful cruiser's paradise, famous for perfectly protected anchorages and warm water. So the journey begins in the not at all desolate Desolation Sound where my mom and dad join us for a few days of cruising before we head off the beaten track into the mountains in search of bears. Half spooky, half beautiful, we found ourselves floating in a constellation of moon jellyfish. The warmer waters of Desolation Sound must have allowed for this proliferation because we found them in several anchorages that we visited. They are quite mesmerizing as they mindlessly float past. We allowed a few days to slip quietly by, spending quality time with my parents in an easy and beautiful location. But as lovely as it is to cruise Desolation Sound, we were looking for something else. Something a little more dramatic. Something that we begin to test both ourselves and the boat. And so on the final day of my parents visit, we spotted our friends speeding towards us on the horizon and we knew that the next few weeks would bring us exactly what we were looking for. On board the indomitable Uinta crashing towards us with the spirit of a large expedition vessel are our amazing friends Allison and James. We're going to spend the next month cruising with them up the BC coast and there could be no better friends to sail with. These guys are the definition of go small and go now. Their 30-foot Catalina has taken them to Alaska and back, down inlets that no one else dares to go, through storms and winds that most people hide from. Equipped with an old-fashioned icebox, no windlass at all, and a small tractor engine that rattles with ear-splitting persistence, Allison and James and Uinta embody the spirit of just getting out there. So let's get out there. This channel between mountains winds away from desolation sound but the inlets on this coast have their challenges. Anchoring is going to be a challenge. Like we mentioned in Princess Louisa, the mountains just tumble directly downwards into the sea and there's no ledge for your anchor to catch. So there's a few little um you know little rivers, little streams that come into Toba Inlet and those ledges can sometimes provide anchoring ground but it's never very good anchoring ground. It's never extremely secure. We're gonna have to be really careful and do our best. This first leg of the journey will take us to Walsh Cove which is right at the mouth of Toba Inlet. The journey down Toba will begin the following day. Our goal for Toba Inlet is to anchor in Brehm Bay, a large estuary known for grizzly bear sightings. But like most inlet anchoring options, there is only a fairly narrow ledge where anchoring is possible. And also like most inlets, the weather forecasts won't mean much once we descend into the mountains. Waiting for us in Walsh Cove was Allison and James and our friend Masha, an amazing solo sailor who isn't on YouTube so we feel doubly lucky to get to know her in person. We planned for the voyage ahead and shared an amazing dinner on Masha's boat. With three boats heading up there, we will have to be extra careful with our anchoring to make sure everyone can be safe and well set on the narrow ledge that Brehm Bay offers. This journey begins in the same way our journey up Princess Louisa Inlet began. With a view of mountains growing ever larger, ever closer until we become swallowed by them, squeezing between their rigid flanks, twisting around corners that pull us ever deeper into the saltwater alpine. I don't think I will ever tire of this, that my breath will ever stop catching in my throat as I look up, up, still up into the clouds where the tops of these peaks bury themselves. As we progressed further into Toba, the wind kept getting stronger, the mountains pulling us into their orbit with a constantly increasing gravity. Whitecaps built and we hurtled downwind into the waiting walls, the howling mountains. It would be reasonable to assume that inlets should be nearly without wind, hidden as they are from the patterns of great ocean weather systems shielded by great walls of granite. But oddly, this is not at all the case. The inlets have their very own weather systems, strangely detached from the winds on the outside. When you enter an inlet, you enter a new world, one without forecasts, one where the rock cliffs, heated by the sun and cooled by the moon, make their own winds, which can howl with alarming strength. The wind keeps picking up and we're surrounded by quite a lot of whitecaps now. It's very comfortable downwind sailing, it's perfect, but we're a little concerned about what it's going to be like in the anchorage. At the best of times, this is not supposed to be a really great anchorage and from this wind direction, it seems to be funneling in there. However, we are pretty sure that this is just a regular evening inflow and that it will die down as soon as the strength of the sun lessens, but we're really betting on that because otherwise it's either going to be quite a beat to get out of here or an uncomfortable anchorage. Brehm Bay heaved gently with residual swell and old logging equipment. Like most places on this coast, these forests have been logged and often the logging operations leave debris scattered on the ocean floor that can easily foul an anchor. And so a new piece of the puzzle was introduced. We would have to find the narrow ledge, anchor away from the worst of the swell and away from possible logging debris. We're scouting the area, trying to find the best anchorage, the best of the worst. So yeah, it gets shallow real quick and it's real deep in all other places. There is logging debris. So Uinta has anchored. They're seeing how it goes. Vasa tried, had to pull up again, was too shallow. So we're trying to find the best spot here. Yeah, we'll be probably anchoring in around 30 meter depth, somewhere around here. Oh, they're dragging. Anchor is down and I couldn't be happier. This is everything that I wanted. This is pure, stunning beauty. And all I can hope for now is that a grizzly bear meanders onto that beach. This is grizzly territory. And so I'm going to be out here keeping a very close eye on that beach the whole time we're here. We feel pretty good about our anchoring. We put our anchor down in fairly deep water, 36 meters, and we put all of our chain out. It's moments like these that makes me so grateful that we have good anchor. What a view. Great boats on both sides, great people. Absolutely couldn't agree more. But yeah, it's just to have a good anchor and lots of chain. Perfect. I am beyond stoked. I just, all I want now is for a grizzly bear to walk onto this beach and I will be keeping a very close lookout for one. Maya, I can feel your excitement from over here without you even mentioning it. I am so stoked. Okay, now, weather gods, please make this 12-dog and everything will be perfect. Brem Bay may seem wild and distant from humans, but like everywhere on this coast, it has a long history of human habitation. Toba Inlet lies within the traditional territory of the Clahoose First Nation. According to our encyclopedia of West Coast place names that we carry on board, the Clahoose had their main village at the head of the inlet and it was occupied until the 50s. Where we are in Brem Bay also had a village occupied until the 20s. But beginning in the 40s, extensive logging came to the area. One logging camp was large enough to have its own post office operating until the 60s. And of course, still today, the brown scars of clear cuts are visible everywhere on the coast. We shall feast like bears. Check this out. That's salmon that you caught. You caught a massive salmon. So one side for feeding three boats. It's a one and a half kilo fillet. That's amazing. It doesn't sound like much. Let's call it three pounds. Three and a half. That's amazing, Aladino. I'm so, so excited. Hello. I think we should turn. James spotted him. The light was fading, the boat rocking, and the bear slipped through tall grass, nearly invisible. My heart raced, the camera shook, and the bear disappeared quickly into the shadowy forest. So I've been out here for a few hours now, waiting for the bear. I want, I just, I have these shots envisioned in my head. I want these beautiful close-up shots of the bear coming down to the water. But you know, you can't, uh, you can't plan a photo shoot with nature. So it might not be in the cards. But I'm so glad we got to see that bear last night, even though it was at a bit of a distance and it's not like the footage I got is Nat Geo footage. Nonetheless, I feel really fulfilled to know that we did actually see a bear. That's what I wanted to see. We saw one. So I'm really happy about that. And honestly, it's just been nice to sit out here. Like, I think that's one of the huge benefits of photography and videography. It inspires me to do things that I wouldn't otherwise do. And those things, you know, just sitting and watching and observing are actually really, really pleasant. So yeah, I made some sound recordings. Been watching some seals play around. It's been a really nice morning, actually. I waited and watched high in the rigging for a really long time, but no bears emerged from the tree line. Well, I spent my afternoon watching for grizzly bears and baking oatmeal cookies, those two activities. I wonder if they've ever been done simultaneously before. No grizzlies though, which makes me all the more glad that we saw that one last night. So in real time, it is currently very early summer and apparently these bears are around a lot in mid to late summer. You can come here and watch, you know, several of them on the shores by the river estuary. So I was hoping that we would have a similar experience, but it's, you know, it's, of course, everything's seasonal. So we were lucky to see the one last night. If we see another tonight, of course I'll be excited, but it's not looking likely. We've kept a really good lookout all day and yeah, caught plant for nature. Like with everything, it's always when you've stopped looking that you actually find what you're looking for. The bear is a phantom at the forest edge, a camouflage hunter. He rolls through tall grass and over stumps the color of his fur. For something so large, he hides so well. Part of the awe and terror, I suppose, the always present possibility that perhaps they are right there watching you, languidly hidden in the tall swaying grass. What's your take? We've seen him, for sure. He's big, a really big guy. He's so big. Yeah, they're beautiful. Long copper colored hair, I guess silvery, depending on how the sun shines. Really far away though. And the boat is really bouncy. It's aggravating. Trying to take some shots. Allison and James, you guys are no strangers to grizzly bears on this coast, hey? How does this one stack up? It's a really good distance to say I'm from. This one is pretty unique because it's so golden colored. Like normally they're darker. We've seen them even be almost black and look like black bears. This one is so golden. It almost looks like those Alaskan Kodak bears. Yeah, he's been out surfing for like weeks. He seems really big because we are quite far away. And when his head pops up, we're just like, whoa, this is a big bear. Yeah, massive. Windy anchorage, tough conditions to film in. But I think we've got some good shots. Yeah, I think there's like, he stuck around for quite a while. Yeah, and he sort of just disappeared. Like he would walk by and disappear into the ruts of the grassland. You sort of think it's flat, but then it's completely concealed. So it's very deceiving. Very easy to sneak up on one of those guys. And I definitely wouldn't want to again. No, I don't recommend. Yeah, you guys have a story about a surprise bear encounter, a grizzly encounter. Yeah, we sort of walked into one in Alaska. So now we're recovering bear enthusiasts. The PTSD is real. Yeah. Well, I'm glad that you are here to tell the tale. I mean... Keep a couple of boat lengths between them. Yeah. Stay on the boat. Absolutely. Yeah, we have not left the boat since getting here, but there's been enough views to keep us, keep our curiosity engaged. Yeah. But it won't be the last bear. No. Many more this season. It's still early, so. Yeah. I am so grateful that we got to stay another night and witness the bear move slowly through the estuary. My heart feels like it's still beating faster. Even though we were so far away and safe on the boat, just seeing these animals in person does elicit a true instinctual response. They are beautiful and powerful, and so at ease in their surroundings. True apex predators. And while the footage I managed to capture isn't exactly as crystal clear as perhaps I would have wished for, the memory of the moment sure is. We sailed here on a boat that we completely rebuilt with wonderful friends. And I, for one, am incredibly, incredibly grateful just to be here, surrounded by such beauty, relaxing into this new rhythm of life. The majesty of this coastline rising around us on all sides. A huge thank you for being here. We are so incredibly happy to be able to make these episodes. And as we continue to go north, the majesty and grandeur of the landscape will only continue to increase. We will only see more and more stunning wildlife, and I cannot wait to share that all with you. A huge thank you to the names now appearing on screen for always going above and beyond to make sure that Magic Carpet keeps being produced. A huge thank you to all of our patrons. We really, that's, you know, the patrons are what makes these episodes possible, and so we are eternally grateful to them for keeping this audience funded and for continuing our ability to make these programs without having to interrupt it for sponsors. We are incredibly proud to be audience funded. If you would like to be a part of that, you can join Patreon for as little as $2 a month. It's completely flexible how you would like to donate. We are really grateful for every little bit. And yeah, we will see you, as always, next Friday for more journeys up this stunning coastline of British Columbia. See you then.