Into the Mystery

Into the Mystery: entering Fish Egg Inlet (more photos below; click to enlarge)

Fish Egg Inlet reaches eastward from BC’s Inside Passage, extending into the mainland coast and forming part of the Great Bear Rainforest.

Fish Egg is more than just your “average inlet”: it’s a huge complex of bays, islands, reefs, channels and tidal lagoons – an intricate labyrinth that wasn’t even charted until the early 1990s. This, despite being just around the corner from Rivers Inlet, a 45-mile long fjord that was first charted 200 years earlier by Captain George Vancouver’s men.

Cruising guidebooks published since Fish Egg Inlet was surveyed sound an ominous warning to watch out for rocks that were missed on the chart. So it’s no wonder that even today, few boaters stop to explore the inner channels of this remote and mysterious place.

We entered Fish Egg on an overcast July morning and meandered around its islets and channels – albeit cautiously. We had numerous options, and eventually chose a beautiful, private spot deep inside the Inlet, well protected from wind and seas.

The next morning dawned foggy but bright, and the calm water made for wonderful shoreline reflections best viewed from a dinghy or kayak.

During the time we spent in Fish Egg Inlet, we were gloriously alone, save for various birds and a dozen seal moms with their pups. I was glad we hadn’t let the warnings in our guidebooks scare us off.