Late Entry, May 23 - Squirrel Cove

23MAY08

We ended up making a quick run up the Teakerne Arm on West Redonda Island today, checking out the small provincial park created from the waterfall at the head of the bay there (again, a location featured prominently in “The Curve of Time”). Weather is again postcard perfect, although the barometer has been dropping steadily since mid-morning and a blanket of clouds is hovering ominously on the horizon.

There wasn't anywhere to tie up at the park, and as I had just hauled in the anchor I wasn't too keen to set it again in such deep waters (the more rode over the side, the more I have to crank or hand-over-hand back aboard) but there was a small dinghy float in deep water at the trailhead, so I hovered up close to it and let Mandy off for a short hike, while I pulled back twenty yards or so off shore and killed the engine to drift a bit and read a book. There was no one else anywhere nearby, and we were sheltered from the rather brisk northwest wind, so it was a rather idyllic little half-hour or so. But I'd had my fill of the waterfall by that time anyway, so I went back in and picked Mandy up and we motored down the Arm into the clear air where it joined the channel, where the wind was busy whipping the water into a froth against the current. We raised sail and cruised downwind in our first successful test of Don's whisker pole (works as advertised so far—stronger winds will be the real test, but we would have had problems today sailing wing on wing with our #1 jib up without it, so it's worthwhile in these situations at least), but only for a couple of miles until the wind dropped off and we came abreast of Squirrel Cove on Cortes Island.

This seemed a fortuitous coincidence, so we have ducked in the cove rather early in the day (around 2PM) to anchor for the night. There are five or six other boats already here but it's a large area and we don't have anyone particularly nearby.

Tomorrow or the next day, depending on weather and currents, we'll try to get to Campbell River to drop Mandy off for her flight home.