From Desolation Sound BC

Morning has broken-------

In these deep sided sounds the sun does not come up over the tops of the trees until a little later than you’d be used to, but we’re only about 3 weeks short of the longest day and the dawn is very early.

So this morning we had daylight early, but sun about 8 am.

What sun though, the air is crystal clear, see forever air, so clear that distances in this enormous place are very deceptive.

Desolation Sound is stunning, piloting our ship around in here is an adventure in ever changing vistas. From the low rocky islands with little channels winding into the hidden anchorages of Prideaux Haven to the astonishing vertical granite walls, thousands of feet high, of Toba Inlet.  There is infinite variety here.

We spent our first two nights in Roscoe Bay, walked up to Black Lake where we swam in warm waters dark with tannin from the forest around, lay out sunning like lizards on the rocks, explored the forest trails and watched the deer walk across the path just a few paces ahead of us.

Our next night was in the cove up past Squirrel Cove General store, and stopping at the store was the first time I’d had to bring this big lump to a dock, in among other boats at that. It is not quite like parking a car!

But the ships big single propeller tends to kick the stern of the boat one way in forward and the other way in reverse, so I pulled in and put her in reverse to stop “Grand Mariner” about a metre out, the prop walking the stern across toward the dock on the port side while I  used the bow thruster to push the bow in the same direction.

The fenders touched so gently that Jackie did not wake from her nap on the settee.

Whew!

That general store is great, I’d rate it with the Brooklin General store just down the road from WoodenBoat magazine in Maine, and the Nordland General Store on Marrowstone Island across from Port Townsend. They’re a vanishing breed, but such a treat to shop in, all the unexpected treasures lurking on the shelves and in the corners, and the people behind the counters know all the places, the gossip and the places to go.

Our fourth night was in Prideaux Haven, we wriggled in there through tiny channels, standing up on the top deck wearing polarised sunglasses, watching carefully for the shallows and the rocks and anchored in about 10m of water with just enough space on each side to swing with safe clearance from the rock walls of the cove.

Day five, 10 hours of gentle motoring, Jackie and I taking turns steering on our way up the Homfray Channel, around the corner into Toba Inlet with its snow capped 5000ft high mountains, white foaming waterfalls cascading down through the forests that cling to the rocky sides and past the huge granite walls with horizontal marks where the glaciers that formed this amazing place had ground their way past.

Toba Inlet is like a wind tunnel, I imagine that there are big differences in air pressure from one end to the other which cause high winds in here when everywhere else is calm.  We encountered 25 knot winds in there, enough to make steering our ship downwind a little demanding, but coming back upwind she handled the steep short chop quite happily.

Last night we stopped in Walsh Cove, a tiny harbour in behind Gorges Island in the Waddington Channel.  Its small but very deep, and my first attempt to anchor did not stop us when I backed up so I pulled the anchor up and tried again.  This time was ok, holding at half throttle in reverse but I have all the chain out just in case.  I think its 200 ft of 3/8in chain with a 40 lb Manson Supreme anchor on the end of it (They’re made about half an hour away from my home in New Zealand, very good anchors by the way) so I’m very glad of the electric winch.

Today I’m planning to take us around into Pendrell Sound which has the peculiar reputation of having the warmest water north of Mexico on this coast.

I’ve asked, and was told that its because its on the midpoint of the tidal flows behind Vancouver Island. That is, some of the flow comes around the south past Victoria and through the Straights of Juan de Fuca, and some comes around the northern end and they meet here in Desolation Sound. Pendrell being the nexus. This means that the water here remains and does not flow away carrying the sun warmed water out into the deep, and I feel like going for a swim.

At 50.18 deg. North. 

With snow capped peaks all around.