March 13, 2005 Continued…….
At the head of Kynoch Inlet is the massive Kynoch Falls, which plunges into deep saltwater and sends out a tremendous plume of spray. I placed our dirty dishes into a mesh bag and lashed them to the bow. We battened down the hatches, donned full rain gear, and prepared to enter the waterfall. It was time to give “Silent Partner” a freshwater bath. Christoph, who sleeps up under the bow, became very interested in securing all bow hatches and sealing all possible points of entry for water. As we approached the base of the falls the visibility was reduced to zero and soon the waterfall was thundering down all around us. I took her out of gear and let the current carry us back out into the inlet. It was excellent and we went back for a second attempt. Not a drop of water in the boat. Upon entering the Heiksish Narrows, a pod of 8-10 dolphins closed in on us and graced “Silent Partner” by riding her bow wave for 10 minutes or so. Lee laid down on the bow and was so close to them he could have touched them. In Matheison Narrows we passed by perhaps the largest tombolo I have ever seen. A tombolo is a spit of land that connects a larger body of land to an island, which has escaped the effects of glaciation. Later in the day we passed through a violent tide rip and battled a head sea for a few hours, but conditions turned favorable again and for the remainder of the day we enjoyed the beautiful scenery of the mountains and had wine and cheese in the cockpit, in our T-shirts in the sun. Toward sundown we approached Butedale, where we spent the evening. Butedale was a town built in 1909, and is now entirely abandoned, it’s buikdings cracking off dramatically into the water and falling off the mountainsides. Butedale’s sole inhabitant, Lou, came down to the dock and greeted us. After hiking a rugged trail up to giant Lake Butedale, we came back down and had coffee with Lou, who was quite a character. We were the first visitors he had had since December 13th, and was quite in the mood to talk. Before bed, he told us that Butedale was haunted, and that he had a ghost for a girlfriend. We made our way back down to the boat, amidst the ruins of the town. Just before I fell asleep, a figure walked past the portlights of “Silent Partner”. I looked outside, but saw no one. I had seen the ghost of Butedale. It was the perfect ending of a perfect day.
