August 27-28 -- In Desolation Sound
It’s not a bad day, but there are strong southeast winds in Georgia Strait. We plan to stay in Desolation Sound until the storm blows over, then we will make a beeline for home. We have a leisurely morning and motor over to Refuge Cove for a few groceries. Tangleberry fuels up and finds a floating hamburger stand for lunch, but we hoist the sails and actually sail for a couple of hours to Melanie Cove, where we raft up, barbecue salmon, and play hearts.
In the morning we dinghy ashore and hike with Grahame and Shirley a mile or so up the Unwin Lake trail. It is quite a climb and good exercise after many hours on the boat. We make lots of noise and don’t see any bears—just thick forest, big trees, dense undergrowth, and a peek-a-boo view of the lake.
Later in the day, we motor to Okeover Inlet and anchor out in front of the Laughing Oyster Restaurant, where we have a reservation for dinner. We had hoped to stay at the government dock here, but it is full and not very well protected from the north wind blowing. The rain is coming down hard now, but we suit up and climb in Grahame’s small dinghy for a ride to shore. We are a soggy lot as we arrive at the restaurant, and we wonder if the Laughing Oyster is laughing at us. After a good meal, we return in even harder rain to our boats, up anchor, and move in the near dark to a more protected bay a couple of miles north.
The night is very quiet, but in the morning we hear the flag flapping, indicating that the wind is turning south and we had better move. . This time we sail a short distance to Grace Harbour, a scenic and sheltered spot , where we raft together with Tangleberry on Skylark’s
anchor. The bay is quite full with boats waiting out the strong southeasterlies in the forecast. The front comes through around noon with lots of rain, but not much wind in the harbour, and after the storm passes the skies clear to give us a beautiful afternoon. We dinghy ashore to an old homestead site, where we pick blackberries, apples, and plums from an ancient orchard. With plenty of bear scat around, we watch our backs all the time and don’t stay too long. Later, we enjoy Shirley’s delicious fruit cobbler with coffee and a game of hearts on Tangleberry.
In the morning we dinghy ashore and hike with Grahame and Shirley a mile or so up the Unwin Lake trail. It is quite a climb and good exercise after many hours on the boat. We make lots of noise and don’t see any bears—just thick forest, big trees, dense undergrowth, and a peek-a-boo view of the lake.
Later in the day, we motor to Okeover Inlet and anchor out in front of the Laughing Oyster Restaurant, where we have a reservation for dinner. We had hoped to stay at the government dock here, but it is full and not very well protected from the north wind blowing. The rain is coming down hard now, but we suit up and climb in Grahame’s small dinghy for a ride to shore. We are a soggy lot as we arrive at the restaurant, and we wonder if the Laughing Oyster is laughing at us. After a good meal, we return in even harder rain to our boats, up anchor, and move in the near dark to a more protected bay a couple of miles north.
The night is very quiet, but in the morning we hear the flag flapping, indicating that the wind is turning south and we had better move. . This time we sail a short distance to Grace Harbour, a scenic and sheltered spot , where we raft together with Tangleberry on Skylark’s
anchor. The bay is quite full with boats waiting out the strong southeasterlies in the forecast. The front comes through around noon with lots of rain, but not much wind in the harbour, and after the storm passes the skies clear to give us a beautiful afternoon. We dinghy ashore to an old homestead site, where we pick blackberries, apples, and plums from an ancient orchard. With plenty of bear scat around, we watch our backs all the time and don’t stay too long. Later, we enjoy Shirley’s delicious fruit cobbler with coffee and a game of hearts on Tangleberry.
posted by Cliff and Orma @ 10:04 AM
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