June 17, 2008 -- Lagoon Cove

The men are up at 0530 to listen to the weather, intending to run up Johnstone Strait before the wind comes up. The report indicates that the wind has beat us to the draw, already blowing 20 knots, so it’s back to bed with plans for a quiet day on the anchor. A new report at 10:00 indicates that it’s now calm, so we motor down Sunderland Channel and into the Strait on water smooth as glass.

After 15 miles, we’re back into the channels, where we encounter foul current (tide against us) of up to 4 knots, making it a slow trip. But Lagoon Cove (50-34 126-17), our destination for the night, is well worth the effort.

Bill Barber, owner of Lagoon Cove Marina (his “retirement project”), warmly greets us and makes space for us to raft up at the dock. This is a great marina --- friendly people, nice amenities, a generous spirit, and lots of fun. A book exchange, internet station, firepit, crab cooking shack, garbage burning barrel, unique exercise station, are all part of the deal. We attend the 5:00pm happy hour in the workshop – the marina supplies the morning catch of fresh prawns and the rest of us bring appies to share. Bill tells his hilarious bear stories and we all have a good time despite the heavy rain outside.

We are starting to see the same boats along the route and meeting cruisers, like Buffy and Dennis, energetic oldies on Kittiwake, a hot J-Class 50, and Eileen and Jerry on Lahaina, Hawaiians who leave their Sabre 50 here and come to cruise the wilderness for six months each year.

Most amusing boat name so far: Windy Spirit, with dinghy, Little Fart.