In general, September has been a great month to go cruising, with the exception of 2004. This September would give us the finest weather to date.
Liz and Richard would be our crew for the next two weeks. Ken and Richard teach boating classes together. Richard had a vessel of his own at one time but currently has become land locked. We were looking forward to venturing out with Richard’s local knowledge. I had been in Richard’s boating classes over the years and had heard about his escapades. Was I ready to possibly become involved in one!
Pender Harbour would be our first port of call. The Pender Harbour area was once the winter capital of the Coast Salish nation, specifically the Shishalh tribe, from which the town of Sechelt takes its name. Judging by the wealth of archaeological evidence, the local population in 1800 was greater than it is now. The Shishalh people were highly industrious during the summer months, fishing for salmon, hunting venison and gathering berries, all of which were dried for winter use. They built large dugout cedar canoes and huge communal longhouses (up to 800 feet in length) with separate family compartments divided by cedar screens. Examples of watertight baskets made from spruce root, aprons made of deerhide or woven cedar bark, blankets of mountain goat wool and fishing line fashioned from stout nettle fibre are further evidence of their creativity and diligence.
Winters were a time to celebrate, and Pender Harbour was the gathering place for the many tribes of the larger Sechelt Peninsula area. Dances and potlatches lasting weeks or months, spiritual coming-of-age rituals and performances by medicine men helped to pass the long cold months. A severe smallpox epidemic in 1862 nearly eliminated this thriving people, and the introduction of the residential school system did much to destroy what was left of their culture.
The Pender Harbour area is made up of six communities attached by waterway. In fact it is quicker to get around by dinghy than by road. This harbour consists of many bays that one can anchor in and have shelter no matter what sea conditions exists in the Strait of Georgia. This harbour is one of our favorites that we tend to always stop at on our way North. Someday we will have to spend a week here. There are fresh swimming lakes to walk to and so much more.
As we headed out the next morning we were treated to a display of Minke whales. These whales do not demand the presence like the Orca but they are just about as wonderful to watch. They grow to be 25-30' long and are a dark grey with white band on each flipper. The females can be up to 2' longer than the males. They travel in pods of 3-4 eating sardines , herring, anchovies, and cod. They belong to the baleen whale group and have 2 blowholes on their heads. The spout is not as apparent as in the Orca or Grey Whale. It seems that by the time I get a picture I am taking a picture of water or just the tip of a tail. I hope one day to get a good picture to share. We would witness several of these whales on our way to Cortes Bay on Cortes Island.
Cortes Bay is a protected anchorage on Cortes Island. This bay contains outstations for both the Seattle and Royal Vancouver Yacht Clubs. If you visit Cortes Bay, be sure to use a chart. There is good anchorage in Cortes Bay, but you must avoid the rocks at the entrance. As we were entering a voice came through on VHF channel 16 "Genesis move more to the starboard." We couldn’t see anyone around. Could it be Devine intervention? We figured there was a cottager watching our entrance. We decided to use the Government Wharf to tie up for the evening.
We were now in the thick of Desolation Sound. Numerous anchorages to pursue.
The pristine waters of Desolation Sound are surrounded by steep evergreen mountains, all teeming with wildlife. One of the prime attractions of these waters is their warmth in summer months, which makes them ideal for swimming and snorkeling. Snowcapped peaks of the Coast Mountains soar from the tideline to heights of 7,875 feet (2400 m). The waters can be as warm as the gulf coast tidal stream as the high mountains trap the warm air and there is very little tidal flow out of the region. Not to say tides cannot be extreme in this area.
We would head next to Roscoe Bay Marine Park, by way of Teakerne Arm and Cassel Lake Waterfall. (The long but scenic way around. This park protects a spectacular waterfall that cascades from Cassel Lake directly into the ocean. Teakerne Arm offers a protected anchorage and access to a warm, fresh water lake for swimming or fishing.
This arm is very deep, in fact you cannot anchor unless you are almost under the falls. We choose to tie up to a log boom. This would be our first experience in doing so. It was quite unique and I wouldn’t have any qualms of doing it again in the future. We took the dinghy over to a dinghy dock and embarked on our hike up the falls.
Cassel Falls cascade into the ocean and provides a beautiful viewing area from the trail near the top of the falls. Richard had been here a few times, and in fact this would be one of the locations that he erected his notorious must swim in the nude signs that made the papers several years back. Liz was recuperating from a knee injury so they only went hiking to where she felt comfortable . Ken and I continued hiking up the trail to Cassel Lake. Conveniently placed ropes help to climb the small rock bluffs. Ken stood behind me to make sure I didn’t fall. We know I am never clumsy. This is not a hard hike but care needs to be taken. We arrived at a beautiful lake. Ken went for a swim. I sustained. The hike back down was beautiful, a view of Teakerne Arm. It was now back to the boat and on to Roscoe Bay.
A small fjord and adjacent upland on the east side of West Redonda Island, this park provides excellent opportunities for kayaking, canoeing, fishing, back country camping, hiking and warm water swimming at Black Lake .The anchorage must be transited at high tide as there is a sand spit smack in the middle of the entrance. Once inside we found the bay to be very busy and decided a stern tie was indeed needed. The bay was a beautiful spot and the hike to Black Lake was a welcomed activity off the boat, but the jelly fish were plenty. I wouldn’t want to accidently fall in.
Richard had told us all about swimming in Pendrell Sound, sothe next morning, we weigh anchor and off we went up Waddington Channel to Pendrell Sound. This sound is a fiord that is a famous oyster spawning area. We headed to the end of the fiord and dropped anchor. We decided to stern tie as a precaution. Liz and I decided to take the dink ( nautical term for dinghy not Ken or Richard) out for a ride. We explored around the bay and could actually see oysters growing on trees. (They attach themselves to the bottom of the trees and when it hits low tide they are exposed, appearing to be growing on trees) No camera with us but next time. I might even be able to convince a prairie boy that oysters do grow on trees! Richard donned his wet suit and went for a swim. He says it felt warm enough. The rest of us will never know. The wind was picking up and our location didn’t seem like a very secure one so we opted to depart and head to Prideaux Haven where we knew that the shelter would be better if indeed a bad storm as reported occurred. We ventured back down Waddington Channel and dropped our prawn traps just outside Prideaux Haven to be picked up the next morning.
Prideaux Haven is strategically located as a base for boaters to explore the Sound, this anchorage is an elongated bay dotted with islands, small coves and passageways. Prideaux Haven is one of the most beautiful anchorages in Desolation Sound. This is a marvelous place to explore by dinghy or kayak, paddling among small coves, inlets and islands. Ashore, interesting tidal pools and marshes with an abundance of marine organisms, birds and waterfowl.
Melanie Cove and Laura Cove are favoured anchorages for boaters, although anchorage is available at a number of locations along the shoreline. We choose Laura Cove to anchor. The cove was very crowded with the potential storm warnings. Our success anchoring took many attempts. The anchor kept hanging up on the knuckle. It was after about the third time that we thought all was well that I noticed that we were gaining on the boat anchored behind us. The captain of their vessel was not amused and was indeed happy to see us move upstream and not drift again towards them. I got a new anchor this Christmas!
We pulled the prawn traps and were rewarded and we now headed out to Manson’s Landing to harvest oysters and clams. We decided to stay in the gorge at the marina and were witnessed to a beautiful purplish sunset. Awesome.
Too be continued ........
(I will continue on another post as there are pictures I would like to add and only 2-3 seem to work per post. So far I have learned to optimize, compress, upload. I am trying to figure out how to thumbnail the pictures and possibly do a photoalbum to show the many pictures we have. I do accept help if anyone is reading! Unfortunatly I wrote to much and it will not let me download the pictures.)
