I will narrate the pics as soon as I have time.
Well, this is it - our long planned, long overdue cruise to Desolation. This was the trip we were leaving on last year when The Queen of Oak Bay lost control and crashed into our boat the day we were leaving. What's different this year is that Anneline's parents are visiting and joining us for the cruise.
The day of our departure crawled closer every so slowly. Tick, tock, tick, tock... We eventually departed Horseshoe Bay around 4 pm on Thursday, August 3 and headed around Bowen Island, up the Sunshine Coast to our first destination, Smugglers Cove. The water was a little upset and we got some spray over the bow, but otherwise the weather was great. Smugglers is a neat little cove, with an outer and inner cove/anchorage and is very well protected. It is quite roomy but requires a stern tie when it gets a little busier.
The next leg of our cruise took us further up the coast, almost to the entrance of Desolation (Sarah Point) to the Copeland Islands (Broken Islands) where we tied up for the evening and waited for Baby Knot, who joined the first week of our cruise. We found a neat little spot on the west side of the islands and even though it was open to westerly blows, we had good holding and the weather remained calm.
We had planned the trip to be in Rebekka Spit (Quadra Island) on Saturday. Rob Savage and his family were there and it was his birthday, so we left the Copelands early. After finding a nice spot, away from most other boats, we dropped the hook in Rebekka and then took the dinghies out for some fishing (yea, right) just outside the entrance. Later we met up with the Savages (just sounds so good to say..!) for a shore side BBQ of prawns and salmon, all caught and provided by Rob, followed by a humongous birthday cake.
Sunday morning we cruised round the bottom of Quadra Island to April Point Resort where the women folk had appointments for the next day (while the men went fishing). A nice little marina with the largest boats I have ever seen in one place. Pity that supplies are so far away (a $20 cab ride there and back). Tuesday we woke to drizzly miserable weather and decided to stay over at April Point for another day and go do some shopping and re-supply. Even though they were fully booked, April Point made room for us.
Wednesday morning we cruised North, through Seymour Narrows and over the top of Quadra to the Octopus Islands. We caught the lower rapids at full swing and saw the speed of the boat going from 20 mph to 36 mpg without any throttle adjustments! The Octopus Islands are amazing and we hauled a huge pot of crab in just a few hours, which provided appetizers for the evening meal. We met up with another Squadron boat, Dunsinane, in Octopus, did a lot of "fishing" (yeah, right) and just enjoyed the natural beauty of the place.
We stayed at Octopus for two nights and when we left on Thursday Baby Knot headed home. We cruised through Hole-In-The-Wall northwards and then headed down to Von Dunop Inlet where we found a spot right at the head of the innermost lagoon. Anneline fell on the rocks and hurt her hand and leg - just what she needed to get out of any chores and have me run around making Gin and Tonics to ease the pain.
Next stop we decided to head for Teakerne Arm. I have read a lot about the waterfall and lake and really wanted to see it. We cruised North after leaving Von Dunop, over the top of Cortez and then down Lewis Channel into Teakerne Arm, West Redonda Island. A sailboat arrived just before us and took the spot I had eyed, right in the waterfall. We stern tied just outside the cove. A walk to the top of the falls is well worth the little effort. Anneline and Megan took a swim in the lake and it was, according to them, not too bad.
From Teakerny we decided to go straight to Pendrell Sound, since this gives us most time to choose where we would like to spend extra time. We headed South down the west side of West Redonda and stopped in at Refuge Cove for supplies and lunch. Refuge is a very rustic and beautiful little spot and the little store is well stocked and has a Liquor Store to boot. Anneline and Leonie did a quick load of laundry and we had a burger and pizza at the restaurant (not quite the right word for it) and then we were on our way again.
Most good spots in Pendrell was taken. This is obviously a favourite spot for many boaters. We decided to stern tie on the outside of the island protecting the cove on the west side of the Sound. This separated us a little from the crowd but no sooner were we tied up when some obnoxious big boat came and tied right next toi us, turned on their generator with the exhaust pointed right at us and then disappeared below deck. The next morning we had had enough of the genny and exhaust gasses and decided to move. We re-anchored just on the north side of the cove. I can now attest that Pendrell Sound has some pretty awesome water - warm and clear. And oysters around the cove almost jump into your boat as you pass by - we had a feast or two!
We stayed in Pendrell for two days and then decided to make the most of the time we were up there and also visit Princess Louisa Inlet. We left Pendrell for Prideaux Haven and decided to pop in and check out Roscoe Bay, which was just packed, and the same was true for Prideaux. We found a spot right at the head of Melanie Cove where most other boaters seemed to be wary of going so, after checking and re-checking our depth, the tides and expected lows for the night, we dropped the hook about 200 meters from the closest boat with some relative peace and quiet, only a few meters from the little islet at the head of the Cove. Another oyster feast followed and we were in bed early so we could tackle the approximately 100 miles to Princess Louisa early the next morning.
Because we had about a 100 miles to go for PLI we left Prideaux early. It was an amazing morning and low clouds dressed the surrounding mountains.
The cruise to PLI was pretty long and we stopped over at Westview for some fuel and to drop our garbage. We arrived in PLI around 3pm and once again it was just packed. We asked unsuccessfully to move some boats on the West side of the dock, tried to anchor and finally gave up and eventually got some guys on the East side to move up and close the gaps so we could get in. By this time it was getting quite clear that, amazing as this trip is/was, it would have been a lot better with less other boats around. Kuredu will not be prepared for Winter cruising like never before. We met some really nice people on the cruise, but also our fair share of real miserable human beings. Oh well...
We left PLI late morning because we wanted to stop off at Malibu Camp for icecream. The lade which met us at the dock said we were in luck and that the shop was open but insisted in giving us a tour first, which was great but the shop was closed when she was done showing us the place and that sucked. I'm pretty sure Megan could have stomped on her foot right then!
We stayed overnight in Secret Cove - one of our most favourite marinas and the next morning popped over to the beach between North and South Thormanby Islands before heading home to Horseshoe Bay.
