Desolation Sound and Parts North

July 28

After thirty-six miles of fairly strong following seas across the Strait of Georgia we entered Pender Harbor, which is a large protected bay with several coves and marinas. Using the GPS and the C-Map chips for navigation is like using Mapquest, except it is visual; it keeps you on the correct course to your location. Believe me trying to pick out the correct dock is a challenge; there are no street signs. The government dock is two long docks and the closest to town. Since we have to walk everywhere that becomes quite important. As we approach we can see that the dock is packed and doubled rafted, but at the end of the dock is a 22’ C-Dory and we slide our boat onto the other side of the dock from them. Sometimes being small has its advantages. The boat name was My RNA, which described his profession (biochemistry professor) and her name. Boris must have caught his second wind because he and the other C-Dory owner sat in chairs on the dock and talked and talked, while I was inside trying to stay awake. It was about 6:00 p.m. and it had been a long day. As I checked in with the dock master for moorage that night, she mentioned that the Canadian Legion was having a fish fry at their club up the street. Pender is on the mainland of British Columbia and a beautiful setting. We both gave a thumbs up for the fish fry and started up the hill and scoped out the small town with an art gallery, yarn shop, great grocery store, used clothes, bakery and a few other places of business. The Canadian Legion was just on the outskirts of town, a nice little hall. It was a typical Legion atmosphere; long tables put up here and there, little paper mats on the tables to give it an eating atmosphere instead of a bingo atmosphere and people scattered here and there with a big TV in the corner. Boris was pleased because it had Canadian Friday night football. We waited forever for our food, as did everyone else, but when it arrived we couldn’t believe how good it was, we just devoured it. The fish must have been caught that morning and the batter made fresh that afternoon; we were satisfied customers. Went back to the boat, planned on taking a shower, walked up to where the showers were and they were locked tight, even though I had a key. They lock everything up when the dock master is not there and they leave at 6:00. Oh well, another lesson in a new marina.

July 29

It rained a little last night and it is still windy. Some boats went out in the morning but soon were back. One boater came in and said, “There are holes out there that the boats are falling into.” Many of the boats were coming in for refuge from the weather. You would see people walking down the dock, after tying up their boat, with their foul weather gear on and that is your clue not to leave the dock. At this point we decided it was probably a good move to stay another day. In that case I felt it necessary to go to the grocery store. I just can’t seem to pass up a grocery store in fear that I won’t see another one, and of course the reality is that we will see another small little store in a day or two. But I have discovered that this is a common affliction with women who cruise.

At the beginning of the dock, a fishing boat was tied up selling prawns, crab, and salmon. Myrna, the woman on the other C-Dory and I decided to buy one and cut it in half for our dinners that night. We had almost talked ourselves out of buying one when a man came by and said the fish were excellent. So we did buy one, split it in half, it was outstanding; what a treat.

Someone around here has a wireless connection, so we were able to download our e-mail. It has been kind of tough getting our e-mail, very few places have it and the further north we go the scarcer it seems to become. We also found out that we cannot connect up through our cell phone to the Internet while in Canada. Bummer. Also, it isn’t often we have any bars on our cell phone. Oh well, we are up here for peace and quiet and even if we don’t want it, we will get it.

July 30

The rain poured last night; you could hear every raindrop through the fiberglass. It was quite cloudy and it rained on and off all morning. Went to church at a little music building at the top of the marina and up the hill a ways. They told me they are in the process of floating another church from Campbell River to Pender Harbor. That is how things are moved around here, by water. Amazing. Around noon we left for Desolation Sound, well known for its beautiful cruising grounds. The ride up, about 50 miles, was great; flat seas, little wind, and clouds to keep it cool. We had good cell phone reception on that leg of the trip, so we called everyone. Our first destination was to Galley Bay but realized it was open to the west wind and the weather forecast reported lows would be coming through from the west in the next couple of days. Knowing that, we decided to go to Tenedos Bay instead. It was 6:00 p.m. and we knew we still had three hours of daylight, so we kept going. On the charts it always looks intimidating; so narrow, the little “x”s for rocks, the warning to give the point a wide berth. It keeps you on your toes, but once you get there it usually is much larger and roomier than you had imagined. As we motored in, trying to scope out the area, looking at our radar chart, it suddenly stopped giving us information about ¼ mile to Tenedos Bay. Quickly we brought up the computer, which gave us the information we needed. We dropped the anchor and after the anchor was set we realized from the computer chart that we are directly over an obstruction in the water. Oh well, up comes the anchor, this time we anchor in deeper water. Fortunately this boat is easy to anchor. You must understand that we have been the entertainment for the evening to all the other boaters, except the ones that think we are too close to them.

It was easy to get up in this beautiful anchorage. It is shaped like a horseshoe and at the round part of the horseshoe is a high wall of rock jetting straight up for several hundred feet, rich in different grays colors along with the green and brown from the trees trying to grow wherever there is enough dirt for the roots to take hold. Since it is the end of July the grass is no longer green, it is orange, but the trees are green, tall, and cover the hillsides around us, and the blue sky with a few white clouds give it a beautiful backdrop. Today we are not the entertainment. Other boats have come and gone through the day so their anchoring was now ourentertainment. As we sit in the cockpit with our cup of coffee we can hear the water slap up against the side of our boat from the wake of a dinghy going by, hear that same water crash against the bare rock walls, and above we see and hear a seaplane fly by low and slow. When the birds chirp, it echoes in this cavernous bay. In the afternoon we took the dinghy and explored the coves around this part of Desolation Sound. Almost in the same cove, but not quite, we tied off the dinghy and walked to a fresh water lake. It wasn’t far and we could hear other cruisers all around us. When we broke out of the trail from the woods, we were surprised to see how large the lake was and also to see all the logs stacked up against each other around the entire perimeter of the lake. It made it tough to get to the water, which I didn’t try to reach but Boris did. After we got back to the dinghy we decided to explore more of the surrounding area. Skirting along the shoreline with the dinghy, looking at the rocks that become exposed at low tide, or the shear wall of rock extending straight up; the entire scenery is captivating. As we continue along a small seal watches us with just his eyes barely out of the water. A little further down the waterway we came to a cove with an opening at the base of the cove and we thought that maybe we could go through, if we were careful. Another dinghy, larger than ours, zipped by us and did an “S” through this little pass. So we thought, heck, we should be able to make it if he can. Sure enough, we made it and so did the sailboat behind us and the two motorboats behind him.

There was an exodus of boats this morning and around noon the new ones arrived. This is our second full day at this anchorage, which is a long time for us to be at one location. There is a confident sailor across the way, they are flying a kite from the stern of their boat and I did not see it touch the water once. In the morning as we were getting ready to eat our breakfast we heard a strange bubbling noise under the boat. We have had a problem with water leaking into the boat for about a week, so this was not a comforting sound. Boris said it sounded like water coming in and the bilge pump pumping it out, but we could find no water. I thought maybe it was the wind waves slapping against the bottom of the boat. Finally I opened my window and stuck my head out and to my surprise and amusement I saw a small seal’s little body snuggled up against the bottom of our boat, I guess trying to eat whatever was on the bottom of the boat, with his little legs wiggling to keep him steady. What we heard was his air bubbles hitting the bottom of our boat. What a sweet surprise. As soon as he was aware of me he swam away.

Boris puts a lot of time doing the navigation; all the different waypoints so we can get from point A to B to C to Z safely, including the currents and tides. The navigation we have with the GPS and C-Map on the radar is wonderful. We can see our boat position in real time and can see the depth and where the rocks are if it is zoomed in enough.

August 3

I woke up early in the morning; it was still dark outside with no moon. As I looked out the window, it was so still, not even a ripple on the water, and all the boats had their anchor lights on. The reflections of these lights were beautiful. It was in the dead of night, just black outside with only small bright lights dotted every so often, like bright stars in a dark night’s sky.

This morning we left for Von Donop Inlet on Cortes Island where we will met up with Fred & Sharon; we are excited to travel with them again. Shortly after they anchored, we arrived and proceeded to get the dinghy ready and spent the rest of afternoon and evening with them on their boat.

It was a lovely night on the water with the gentle rocking of the boat, which lulls you to sleep. At 9:00 a.m. we met with Fred & Sharon to go on a short walk, the guidebook said about a thirty-minute walk, over to Squirrel Cove. It was low, low tide with large oyster shells beds standing up with sharp edges, along with moss, mud and muck. It was a challenge for us to get ashore. Many people wear boots, which makes walking through that much easy. Our half hour walk turned out to be almost three hours. The forest was beautiful and the path nicely marked, but we decided that they definitely hadn’t made the walk themselves. Now we just laugh about the half hour walk; though Fred had to climb out on a limb to get the dingy since the tide had come in during those three hours.

After lunch we left for Gorge Harbor Marina on Cortes Island for a couple of days; we needed to do laundry, take a shower, get water, fuel, and get provisions. It was impressive going through the natural cut in the rock, the gorge, and it opened up into a large bay with the marina we were headed for at thenorth end. As we were getting fuel the girl manning the dock told us there was no water, no laundry, and no showers because the well had gone dry. Boy were we disappointed. It was around 3:00 in the afternoon, so we decided to stay anyway; they did have electricity. After we got the boat secured I walked up to the store and noticed that people were washing clothes. I asked inside the store and they said they had fixed the problem; obviously the well had not run dry; we were thrilled. There was a lovely restaurant overlooking the marina that the four of us had dinner that night and the food was scrumptious. This was no Denny’s. After dinner we hurried up and did the laundry. The following morning we took a walk, with our computers to a small café about a quarter of a mile away that was a bakery and also had wireless connection. We were excited to finally connect up, there were business concerns that needed attention.

Since all of our chores were taken care of we were off to play again, this time our destination was Grace Harbor off of Malaspin Inlet. The weather is beautiful, sunny, a few clouds in the sky, a little wind, and it was an easy pleasant ride. The mountain ranges are spectacular, sculptured by the glaciers long ago. Going up the inlet we reached a strong tidal bore; as the water is squeezed through a narrow space it bounces off rocks, swirls in circles, has standing waves and can create a tidal bore which looks like a small wave moving forward. There was just a lot of water activity. We worked our way down the inlet to the last cove and anchored in a lovely, weather protected cove. This time we tied up to Fred & Sharon, which makes going back and forth, actually us going to their boat, much easier. The four of us sit on the bridge of their boat and watch all the boats come in and anchor, while we enjoy shrimp, cracker, cheese, salsa w/cream cheese, and sardines. This turns out to be dinner, way too much for snacks.

The following morning the four of us take a half hour walk, truly a half hour walk this time, to another fresh water lake. This path was a thin trail and when we reached the end, and the lake appeared, it certainly wasn’t inviting, it was a marsh area. As we walked back we discovered another trail, a wider one, and followed that one down to the lake. Soon three other couple arrived and there was much talking between the ten of us. Two of the couples planned to go swimming until they saw a black snake swimming through the water, only his head sticking out. Sharon had seen a small black snake on the first trail earlier and she wasn’t a happy camper about that one. Now seeing the one in the water too only encouraged her to head for the boat. No one went swimming. Later in the afternoon, Sharon and I were again on the bridge of the boat, just absorbing the beauty of this anchorage and the afternoon. When the guys got up we all decided that we would go to a restaurant call the Laughing Oyster for dinner. It came highly recommended by Larry & Joanie. Reservations were made for 6:00 but we took our boat around 3:30 so that we could leisurely explore Desolation Sound in Lancelot and Okeover Inlet. As we slowly drove along the shoreline we discovered many small coves where boats were tucked in back of large rocks for protection. There were many fish farms that look like they were in the beginning stages along these inlets. When we arrived at the government dock, where we were told to dock the boat, we noticed that the floor of the boat was wet. Not a good sign. Boris said he would clean up the water on the floor and for the three of us to go to the restaurant and he would meet us there. The view was magnificent, the restaurant darling, we sat outside on the patio, and the food was gourmet level. It was the best restaurant of anywhere we have eaten on this trip, and my waist will prove that we have eaten at many restaurants. When we arrived at the boat, unfortunately there was more water on the floor. We cleaned it up and headed back to Fred & Sharon’s boat, but it certainly make for a nervous and tense ride back and wouldn’t you know we left our dinghy tied up to Fred & Sharon’s boat back at the anchorage. Boris and I tried to clean up the water as best as we could but we could not figure out where the water was coming from. Boris had a theory that it might be coming into the chain locker and working it’s way back through the boat. We would have to do a few things to determine what would be our next step.

The next morning we woke up early and checked the water problem, it was dry, so we deduced that the water must have been coming in while we were underway. The next day we pulled up anchor and left for Squirrel Cove on Cortes Island, it was only about eight miles. We kept checking for water, but we couldn’t pin point a specific spot. Our decision was that if it continued to be a problem, we would head south and pull the boat out of the water. As we kept checking it, we felt it was just barely dribbling in and we could continued to soak up whatever came in with a sponge and then wring it out All afternoon it rained and it rained hard. Boris nosed around the boat to see if he could find a hint to where the boat might be leaking. He plugged up a hole in the chain locker, which could be running down inside the boat. The rain stopped in the late afternoon and we went over to Fred & Sharon’s boat and had dinner over there, but this time I prepared dinner.

The following day we left for Blind Channel Resort. Left over clouds from the weather of yesterday were above us and it was much cooler, so we dug out the warm clothes we brought with us. For those of you who read our Alaska adventures, and read about my continual whining about how cold it was, I am happy to report that we are toasty warm inside Journey On, looking out all the windows, 365 degrees, at the beautiful scenery. The further north we go the higher and steeper the islands becomes. The scenery is beautiful but rustic and continual; it’s impossible to describe. Today we will go north through three rapids to get to Blind Channel; Yuculta, Dent, and Green Rapids. The water is deep in these narrow channels and often looks like it is boiling, but we are at slack water so it is the calmest it will be; we hurry to get through the other two rapids. Since there are several miles between the rapids the other two start gaining more strength from the swift current passing through; we start seeing whirlpools, standing waves, the surface rippled from the current going in one direction and the wind coming from another. It can get rather exciting as you feel your boat being shoved around and you realize the power of the rapids. We got up on plane and the boat handled better, under control. Blind Channel is not a cove, but a small indent along the side where they put in a marina, restaurant, store, laundry and showers. We connected up with friends of Fred & Sharon, Dale & Mary Anne on Domino, who were on their way back from Alaska. The six of us went to dinner, definitely a thumbs down, but then they can’t all be like the Laughing Oyster. On our way out a fisherman approached us about buying a salmon off his boat. We had such good luck with the one we bought at Pender Harbor we decided to buy one for tomorrow night’s dinner. I stepped onto his boat and peered down the fish hole and saw a large pile of fish; they had already been cleaned. He picked out a large one and put it in a plastic bag for us and we immediately put another bag around it and keep it on ice in our cooler.

August 10

Cameleon Harbor on Sonora Island is our next anchorage. About 10:00 we left to ensure an easy passage through only one of the rapids today, but it is still cloudy, cool, and windy. After the other two boats anchored we tied up to Fred & Sharon. Over the VHF radio friends of Dale and Mary Anne were in close proximity and decided to join us, which they did and tied up the Dale & Mary Anne. They heard the name of the boats as we were communicating back and forth on our way to Cameleon Harbor and realized we were close. The four couples decided we would all get together for dinner, each one bringing something from our boats and we baked the salmon we bought the night before. With the wind gusting up to 20 knots, it was too windy to bar-b-que. The dinner was delicious and the company was superb. The new couple, Jeff & Kathy, had just started their trip and were on their way north, even though they were already pretty far north. Because it was so consistently windy, all of us were keeping an eye on our boats to make sure they didn’t drag. All of us returned to our boats but poor Dale stayed up till 2:00 a.m. doing anchor watch. Fortunately for us, we crawled into the v-berth and went to sleep. No one drug during the night but we could hear the slapping of the water on the bow of the boat all night.

August 11

Today we will go to Melanie Cove in Desolation Sound. There are two rapids to go through today, so timing again is important and we leave around 10:30. My, oh my, the fun never ends. As we get ready to go through Dent Rapids, the boat goes through what Boris and I thought was seaweed, but soon discovered it was much more than that. The outboard immediately started vibrating terribly; there was obviously something very wrong. Allegria, Fred & Sharon’s boat, circled us after we told them of our problem. Boris dropped our “get me home” motor, which is the 10-horse power outboard we use on the dinghy. After it was started, I was steering the boat with that motor because Boris had turned off the big motor to check our propellers; there was a small chip out of one of the blades. Boris put the motor back down and turned it on so that we could have steerage, but had to run it slowly, with the other outboard pushing us through the water, all the while the boat vibrating like crazy because of the damaged propeller. Dent Rapids is quickly approaching. Boris checks the GPS/radar with the C-chip for the nearest marina; it is just around the corner from the Dent Rapids. Boris tells Allegria to  continue on through the two rapids and we will meet them in Melanie Cove later. Their boat does not go fast enough to go through the rapids unless it is slack water, which was now. Our boat can go faster so we could force our way through the rapids if necessary later on. Meanwhile Boris is on the VHF radio saying, “Pan, pan, pan – would all the boats going through Dent Rapids slow down, we are under emergency power.” The boats did. Pan, pan, pan means “Urgent – concerning safety of vessel or person on board or in sight.” As soon as the words came out of Boris’ mouth the Canadian Coast Guard came on and wanted to know our situation. We told them our situation was under control. They wanted to know when we would be going through Dent Rapids, and we told them we were going through them as we spoke and that we were headed for a marina to make repairs. He asked us to get in touch with him when we reach the marina and were safe. It was nice to know that someone was trying to oversee our situation. The boat felt like it was hardly moving and even the instruments inside the boat were vibrating. The level of anxiety was high, even though we were not in any real danger. We inched our way to Dent Island Marina and they were extremely helpful and friendly, plus they did not charge us for our stay and their general mechanic came by to see if we needed any help. Boris got right to work; pulling the propeller off, dismantling, and studying it. Boris discovered we broke three blades, not just one. Luckily we had four replacements and we actually acquired them while in the San Juan Islands from another C-Dory owner, Fred & Robin on Anna Marie. God bless them. Boris worked for an hour or two replacing the blades, putting it back together, and then installing it to the motor. Now to test it – it started, sounded perfect, and didn’t vibrate. So now we have to wait for the next slack water of Yuculta Rapids, which is at 6:30. We were getting antsy, we still had about forty miles to go, so we left a little before 5:00 p.m. There was still a strong current but our boat has the speed and the current was going with us. Little did we realize that we were in for an “E” ticket ride. (For those of you who do not know what an “E” ticket means, that meant a really good ride at Disneyland.) Wow, did we have a ride through the rapids. The water was moving in every direction; we had standing waves, boiling water and deep whirlpools. As Boris is maneuvering us through these rapids the boat slipped into a deep whirlpool, I mean I could look down into it, and when the prop cavitated, it slowed the boat down, but when the motor bit the water again, it spit us out of the hole like a watermelon seed. It was quite a ride; Boris loved it. There were still many miles to go and it was about 5:30 p.m. and at 7 knots we wouldn’t get their till after dark. The current was with us, so the ride was good until we had about fifteen miles to go. The wind picked up and the current was against us and we are now in short choppy waves. Usually we try to stay at 7 knots to conserve fuel, but we decided we wanted to get there before dark and increased the speed to 12 knots. Just before 9:00 we arrived at the entrance to Prideaux Haven in Desolation Sound, but nothing looks like an entrance. Fortunately a boat passed by us and zips right into the entrance and around the rock. We gratefully follow his lead and slowly work our way back into Melanie Cove. There sits Allegria with their anchor light flashing and we pull up along side them and tie off to their boat, happy that we do not have to anchor tonight. We are thrilled to see one another; us because we are there, them because we are safe. It wasn’t easy for them to leave us at the rapids but they needed to if they were to make it through the rapids themselves. Even though we put fifty-one miles under the hull that day, we were still pretty wound up from the day’s events, so we visited for a while with Fred and Sharon, recounting the days adventures.

August 12

This anchorage is absolutely gorgeous; it is a long thin cove surrounded by banks of rock ten to one hundred feet high, and trees, trees,and more trees. Above the trees you can see the majestic mountains rise in their individual shapes; rounded, sharp peaks, deep crevasses, hand crafted by the glaciers. We slept like babies being rocked gently by the water. It is a beautiful morning; blue skies with a few white clouds, sunny and a slight breeze. As we eat breakfast we absorb the serenity and scenery surrounding us. After breakfast Boris & Fred took off in the dinghy to find “Mi Amore”, a boat from San Pedro and friends of Larry & Joanie. I grab a cup of coffee and Sharon and I sit on the bridge of their boat enjoying the calmness, the company, and the moment.

Fred & Boris do find Mi Amore and the eight of us will get together for hors d’oeuvres around 5:30. George is anxious to talk to Dale about his Alaska trip, since George & Winnie plan to go to Alaska next year. We all exchanged information and experiences and a good time was had by all. Mi Amore is a 55 foot motorboat, Domino is a 40 foot motorboat, Allegria is a 36 foot motorboat; we have to keep reminding ourselves as to why we have this 25 ft boat; size is very seductive.

August 13

This was an early morning, Fred, Sharon, Dale, and Mary Anne were going to leave at 7:00 a.m. for Pender Harbor and since we were tied to them we had to untie and re-anchor. Larry, Joanie, Fred, and Sharon have made this a wonderful vacation and we are sorry to see them leave. Hopefully we will meet up with them again soon.

This was a kick back day, a do nothing day. While sitting in the cockpit we could hear kids jumping off the rocks splashing into the water, saw people snorkeling and swimming, listened to the clattering of chain dropping from the boat into the water as new boats came in to anchored, and the echoing of conversations, laughing, and barking dogs. It is a lovely place to spend an extra day.

The anchor is up at 7:00 a.m. and we arrive in Pender Harbor at 2:30 p.m.. It was a 55-mile run, all downwind, fairly rough with white caps and wind streaks on the water most of the way; the boat handled it well. It felt good to get into protected waters and we side-tied again at the same government dock as before. On my way up to register and get ride of trash, I couldn’t believe my eyes because walking down the dock towards me was Fred & Sharon. We were thrilled to see them again so soon. The weather had been bad when they tried to cross in the morning over to Nanaimo, so they turned around and came back. Sharon fixed dinner for us that evening and walked around that part of Pender Harbor, which is lovely. The four of us walked over a quaint bridge, Fred showed us where he picks black berries at low tide, his private stash. Pender Harbor is a large circular bay with many marinas.

The following day we worked our way over to over to Nanaimo, on Vancouver Island, even through it was again windy with heavy following seas. It is time for us to head south, leave Desolation Sound, and return to the United States. Canada and her beautiful marine parks have been a joy to explore.

The Columbia River, between Oregon and Washington, will be our next adventure.