Bill Proctor speaks very highly of the Ahta River, saying it 'is the only major watershed south of Cape Caution that remains unlogged'. We were really keen to check it out, but the poor anchoring possibilities at the head of Bond Sound - similar to many of the other big sounds and inlets - left us a bit hesitant.
We instead planned a dinghy / kayak expedition from Kwatsi, and it ultimately worked really well. We strapped the kayaks on either side of the dinghy and loaded up a way overspec'ed anchor.
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| First kayak strapped on the dinghy |
The dinghy made short work of the 7.5 miles to the head of Bond Sound from Kwatsi. We anchored in 8' of water, which with the dinghy and a huge anchor was no worry, even if the wind came up and with swinging on a falling tide.
The river and surrounding area was fantastic - one of favourite spots of the entire trip. Totally untouched with the river full of salmon.
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| iPhone pano of the river estuary |
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| Beautiful clear water |
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| Yikes. The bear spray makes us feel *a bit* better |
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| Up river |
Some of the salmon in the river (an experiment with the GoPro - not the greatest :) ....)
Heading back to Kwatsi after exploring the Ahta we were overtaken by a superpod of dolphins. Simply amazing with literally hundreds all around the boat. We drifted for a while to enjoy, and then fired the dinghy back up to head around them and get back to the trawler. Some dolphins kept leaving the pod and joining the dinghy to bow-surf, so we eventually just kept at a steady off-plane speed and course and let them have their fun. It was a simply incredible experience.
Short Kwatsi Bay Dolphins Bow-surfing video (with no sound)
Click to follow link on Google Maps
Short Kwatsi Bay Dolphins Bow-surfing video (with no sound)