Coves East of Seabreeze to Waddington Bay

No surprise, the fog is here as predicted by Environment Canada. In addition, there is a persistent mist that makes this morning’s prime goal staying put and inside. By noon, Karen and I were stir crazy and weighed anchor for a very brief cruise over to Waddington Bay. It was one year plus one day since we had dropped anchor in Waddington.

Another motivator of our decision to move was the forecasted increase in the winds. Waddington provides better protection in any wind.

As we approached the entrance, there were two boats just turning into the entrance from the other direction. We followed them and found one other boat, a sailboat named Ghoster, anchored in the bay. The two other power boats decided to raft together so we dropped anchor only forty yards from where we were last year.

The weather continued to be the same: foggy and misty, teetering on the verge of light rain. So for the next three hours we read, worked on this blog and I processed more pictures.

Waddington Bay foggy harbour

A few more boats joined us in the Bay, bringing the total to seven. The wind picked up as forecast and the afternoon entertainment began. The two boats that were rafted together began to drift under the influence of the winds. They separated and each sought their own individual anchorage. The latter of the two boats headed over to us and the sailboat that we were anchored upwind from. It took them three attempts to decide where they wanted to be and how to prevent themselves from being too close to our boat and the sailboat.

The machinations even brought the white-bearded captain of the sailboat out of his cozy cabin to evaluate his status relative to the large boat that was setting herself between him and the wind.

All told, one other boat drifted seriously near a rocky islet, and another decided to move to another spot across the bay. Whenever the winds blows at anchor, it always seems to start a domino effect of musical chairs as captains reposition, either voluntarily or not, to best advantage.

As Karen was preparing sandwiches for dinner, she called out to me to come and help determine what she was seeing in the water. Black, but certainly not a seal, we quickly determine that we were looking a black bear swimming between two islands. It was our first bear sighting, and continued the entertainment for the afternoon.

As the sun set, we began to see a break in the clouds in the distance. Hopefully the wind will die down as forecast and the clouds will give way to blue skies.

Lady Boot Cove to Seabreeze Cove

I slept in till 10:30 this morning. The low fog from last night has lifted but a low ceiling does remain. It is a bit colder and the pressure has risen some, so we’re hoping for clearing weather later.

Foggy morning

Our travels over to Seabreeze Cove only required an hour. It was an interesting route, through small passes and around rocks and small islands. Though not difficult, it was more interesting than some passages.

Seabreeze Cove is an interesting spot. Surrounded by little islands, you get views out from the anchorage, making the small cove seem much larger. There is plenty of room to anchor, but you must give the drying beach to the East respect as it shoals very quickly and far sooner than you might expect. We anchored in 20 feet of water on a plus 9 foot tide.

The holding was good and we settled into another lazy afternoon. Today’s temperature is hovering around 58 degrees F, making it one of the coldest days so far. Adding the overcast skies to the cooler temperatures, the afternoon looks like it will be spent tucked cozily inside Arctic Star.

Peaceful anchorage

We did spot a new bird on our approach to Seabreeze Cove. It was a Pelagic Cormorant, an all black tall bird that, according to the book we have on local birds, smells and “swims like a fish.” Fortunately, we were not close enough to confirm the odiferous traits of this species. The boat is equipped with XM Satellite Radio so I spent some time catching up on the political race as I did some minor boat-keeping chores.

Laura Cove to Booker Lagoon

Low clouds greeted us this morning. Not too cold and an occasional mist and light rain. We made the most of the morning by doing nothing. About 11AM we begin to muster for a Kayak around Laura Cove at low tide.  

While not the best Kayaking grounds, we nevertheless made the most of it by exploring the shallows and taking a few pictures. Karen made certain she got one photo of me in the Kayak to quench the cries of “where are the pictures of Bob?!?” that typically accompany our vacation photos. 

Bob poses for a picture  

Our neighbor returned from one of his fishing expeditions and was busying himself on the stern swim step of his Uniflite Cruiser named Rockfish. Karen and I paddled to his boat to investigate. He was busy cleaning a 25lb Ling Cod. An ugly fish for certain that hangs about on rocky ledges. What it lacks in looks it makes up for in taste. We hung around the stern of the boat getting a lesson in fish filleting – then low and behold, we were offered a filet of our own. Lacking any fresh seafood on board, we did not turn down the generous offer. 

What a big Ling Cod! 

Heading back to Arctic Star 

 Our departure to Booker Lagoon was dependent on the proper time to enter the lagoon through Booker Passage. This narrow passageway has currents that run strong and is best traversed at slack water. Therefore, we set the power low and had a leisurely cruise off to Booker Lagoon. As we departed, we radioed the vessel Rubenesque, offering up our just-vacated prime anchorage. 

As we approached close to Cullen Harbour and Booker Lagoon, we started to feel some swells from Queen Charlotte Strait. The Lagoon itself is massive, and a favorite spot to wait before crossing this oft-windy and swelly Strait. We waited for “slack”, and although the guidebooks told us to wait for 30 minutes after slack at Alert Bay, it was clear that we could enter sooner, which we did. The passage is narrow but fairly deep. As we moved into the passage, we saw a large group of porpoises chasing baitfish inside the Lagoon. 

Booker Lagoon is so massive that it took us a while to find a spot to anchor that was cozy enough for our taste. We poked our bow into a couple of coves but they were just too open and ordinary. Finally, we found the perfect spot in a cove on the North side. 

The views don't get any better than this 

Anchor set and beer in hand, I’m off to determine how I’m going to prepare that fresh Ling Cod. 

Greenway Sound to Laura Cove

Low ceilings greeted us again this morning. We are on our leisurely schedule timetable which means we’re not going anywhere till early afternoon. 

I walked the docks and took some photos of the marina. Karen continued to devour all matter of books. Originally we talked about going for a hike up the old logging road on Ick Mountain, but that plan fell victim to the desire to “rest a bit more”. We did a little provisioning in the marina store and spent some time with Tom and Ann. Today was the last day for the marina’s helper, so we talked with her as she waited for the floatplane to take her back home. 

The beautiful docks at Greenway Sound 

The main "highway" at the docks 

We way farewell to Tom and Ann and their summer helper  

Life on the Greenway docks  

As the morning turned to afternoon, the skies cleared and the sun made an appearance. That was our signal to bring in our lines and set the bow toward Laura Cove. 

Not much more than an hour later, we were snug in the little cove, stern tied to Broughton Island. There was one boat in the Cove when we arrived. It was an older cruisernamed Rockfish, made by Uniflite . It was anchored in the center of the cove. This presented no problem, as stern tying is the custom when it is crowded here and we had plenty of room to do so. 

The trick with this stern tie is that it was high tide. It is always preferable to stern tie at low water so you get a good look at the rocks, but that is not always possible. I poked the bow in close, taking note of water depths and comparing them to the amount of water we were going to lose at low tide. This computation gives me a target as to where I want the boat to end up and from that spot, I can calculate where to drop the anchor. 

Since it was not low tide, Karen did not have to do her usual “Mountain Goat” act of scampering up the rocks to find a suitable spot to tie to. Rather, she could reach our intended dead tree trunk from the comfort of the dinghy. 

We carefully watched the rocks as the water receded and later took up some anchor rode to move the boat 20 feet further from the rocks, giving us an extra margin of clearance. The nice thing about Laura Cove is that the rock ledge drops precipitously, giving you a nice line of demarcation between the obstructions and clear water. 

Dinner was followed by Karen reading and Bob working on photographs for the blog. All is well today and we look forward to exploring Laura Cove tomorrow.

Jennis Bay then to Greenway Sound

This morning was typical of the region, cloudy. However, the overcast quickly dissipated and we welcomed first, the sun, and then the blue skies. Also, the forecast predicted more clouds for the afternoon; we all embraced the warming rays and set about enjoying the day.

Karen grabbed a book and found a comfy place in the sun to read. I tagged along with Tom as we went to check his crab pots and shrimp and prawn pots. Gathering these sources of protein is a major pastime in these parts, whether you are a boater or a resident.

Tom is no exception. Every day, sometime twice a day, he checks his pots. Today's harvest was small, a couple of dozen prawns and two rock crabs.

Tom pulls in his first prawn trap

The crab trap, however, was empty. Empty of crab and of bait. Tom suspected that the bait bag was at fault, letting the tempting morsels of prawn heads drift off. So, a new bait bag was secured to the trap and back over the side it went to lure more of the tasty Dungeness crabs for the next day.

There was one casualty of the day. My “go-to” 18-200mm lens was rendered inoperative when I slipped and fell getting off the boat. My plan is to make do with my remaining lenses since getting a replacement out here would be a time consuming and somewhat expensive undertaking.

We loafed around Jennis Bay for the rest of the day, waiting for high slack tide so we could go back through Stuart Narrows. When the time came, we said our good-byes to the Allo family, promising to send them lots of pictures of the joyous time we spent in their company.

On the way toward Stuart Narrows, Karen spotted “spouting” near a small island. We were treated to the rare sighting of two Orcas feeding, a big male and his female companion. We had not seen Orca since 2005, so we were very excited and I got a decent picture of the male as he surfaced to take a closer look at us.

This is why we lug the "monster long telephoto" on these trips

Our destination was Greenway Sound to say hi to Tom and Ann, do a little laundry and take on water. Since Sullivan Bay was on the way and we had never stopped there, we took a very short detour and tied up at their docks to see what it is all about.

Kids will be kids

Sullivan Bay is unique because in addition to having a restaurant, store and fuel docks, they also have a number of floating homes.

Sullivan Bay Marina

These give the place the look of “Manhattan on the water” versus the more modest marinas in the region. I was craving chocolate, so a Snickers bar along with a bottle of wine and some garlic rounded out our purchases at the store.

As we tied up at Greenway Sound, we were greeted with the ever friendly smile of Tom. He and Ann created this marina many years back and built it into a respected and renowned landmark in the Broughtons. They are ready to retire and have had the marina for sale for a couple of years now. But with high fuel prices has come less traffic for every marina this year. Hence, the offers are not flooding in, and Tom and Ann continue to wait for the right offer.

Tom invited us to watch Sarah Palin’s acceptance speech with he and Ann, so Karen and I grabbed a couple of beers and joined them in front of the TV. By the time we got back to the boat, grilled cheese sandwiches were about all we could muster the energy to prepare for dinner. Of course, we followed the gooey sandwiches with a Nanaimo Bar from Greenway Sound’s store.