Salmon and Otters

July 22 Salmon in Otter Channel
Its a red letter day, or rather a red salmon filet day! Patrick dropped me off for some beachcombing on Pitt Island and he took the dinghy toward Otter Channel to troll for salmon. He caught a lovely silvery coho! I found a large, round cedar burl on the beach. I have visions of a wooden bowl or sculpture from it. It's about the size of a football helmet. It was all I could do to wrestle it out of the jumble of huge driftwood logs it was half-buried in, haul it down to the water's edge and lift it in to the dinghy.

The cats, who seem to have a sixth sense about when seafood is coming on board, met us on the afterdeck where Pat was beginning to clean the fish. As he fileted, the cats demanded their share of "sushi treats" and eventually had enough. We dined royally on salmon filets with a pesto garnish and a drizzle of balsamic reduction glaze. Several more salmon dinners await us in the freezer.

July 21 The Cutest Thing in Hartley Bay
We stayed overnight behind the rock breakwater on the docks at Hartley Bay, a small Indian village with a cedar log cultural center, and friendly people. We talked to a dock neighbor who had had prodigious luck catching coho salmon in Otter Channel, which is on our planned route north. We went to sleep dreaming of beatuiful, thick red fillets... Patrick woke me up at 6:15am with two words, "Lydia! Otter!" I was awake, out of the rack and looking out the upper salon window in bare seconds. Pat had been watching an eagle, and suddenly it had swooped down toward the muddy margin at the bottom of the rock breakwater. That was when Pat realized that the eagle was after a river otter, who scampered for dear life up the rocks and into its den in some thick shrubs at the top of the bank. The otter was already gone despite my record-breaking dash, and since I was awake I thought I'd sit in the cockpit with a cup of coffee and enjoy the early morning quiet. I figured the otter wouldn't be seen for a while - having had the fear of God and eagles put into him by recent events - but I was wrong. It wasn't long before I heard a crunching noise in the water just behind our stern. There was the otter with his head out of the water, chomping down a fish with his mouth wide open. Once he had finished his little nosh, he dove back underwater. I spotted him again, coming out of the water near the place where the eagle had missed him. (I've tried to upload a video clip of the otters several times, and I'm having trouble - I'll try to clip a photo and add it another time. Sorry!)