Rig Down Report

Sometimes we need a wheelbarrow to carry all our fish. Nice haul for Justin and Nicole!

Our 2015 season is now over and it was great. We send a big thank you to all our guests & hope to see all of you again in the near future. The fishing was some of the best we have seen in our 32 years of operation. There will be a full fishing report in our next newsletter, but here is a brief summary: The Chinook/King fishing was incredible with more Tyees (fish over 29 ½ lbs.) than we have seen in the past few years. The coho/silver fishing was solid, however the average size was down a bit. The halibut fishing was just O.K. so angler effort was way down. As a result, many anglers turned their efforts to lingcod fishing with astounding success. Lingcod is arguably one of the tastiest fish in the ocean & definitely my family’s favorite fish to eat.
At the end of the season, & after the last guests flew off home, all the crew stayed on for 4 days and started the process of “rigging down” & winterizing the lodge. When they flew out, we were left with the core rig down crew of 5 guys who continued on with the jobs until they were all done and everything was “put to bed” for the winter.
The first & most important job during rig down was to get all the motors off the boats & the gear & electronics out of them. Alex, our professional Yamaha mechanic from Port Boat House on Vancouver Island, flew in and winterized all the 40 hp 4 stroke engines & stored them on racks in our boathouse. Some of our older motors have been shipped back to Port Boat House & will be replaced by new ones for our 2016 season. All of the fleet of Stinger boats were towed in 2 tows of 12 boats in a line (like little ducks) 7 miles across Rivers Inlet to our winter moorage in protected Sunshine Bay. Here they were pulled up out of the water & stored for the winter on one of our old floats. Five of our Stingers were shipped out by Barge to Campbell River where Mike from Fibre Pro Boats who built them will give them a complete re-fit & paint job so they will look brand new.
Many of our guests ask why we go through the hassle & expense of towing the lodge across the Inlet? The answer is ground swell. If we left the lodge in Sportsman’s Bay during the winter, a big ocean swell in a storm would take the floats & buildings up onto the shore at the back of the Bay!
When most of the crew had left the lodge, we disconnected all the water, sewer, power & Internet lines, & winterized the water plant & sewer system. Once that was done we hoped to start to tow all the floats & buildings two at a time across Rivers Inlet. Unfortunately, just as we were ready to start the tow a winter-like storm blew for three days with 5 meter swells & 40 knot winds. Our Bay is very protected so we were fine, but we certainly couldn’t expose our floats & buildings to the rough water. When we cross Rivers Inlet on our way to Sunshine Bay, there is a point where we are completely exposed to open ocean swell & we cannot risk towing in seas over 2 meters or the floats & buildings could be severely damaged. So, we waited out the storm for a few days & continued polishing & cleaning & putting Armor-All, Vaseline & other protectants on everything that could be damaged by the damp & salty environment during the winter. Once the storm had passed, we are able to get 3 tows out in one day, & most of the floats & buildings across the Inlet soon after. It was such a relief!
Once the lodge was safely nestled in Sunshine Bay, & under the care of our caretakers for the winter, the last of the rig down crew left the lodge for the 50 miles/4 hours run in the bigger Whaler-guide boats to travel across Queen Charlotte Sound down to Port Hardy. This is an exciting journey through incredible open ocean terrain with spectacular scenery. Puttering into Port Hardy Harbour is always a bitter-sweet experience knowing that the wonders of the summer in Rivers Inlet are officially well behind us, & the adventure of adjusting to life back in the “real world” awaits.