Hot Springs Cove, the place to be and be seen

It's raining right now in Hot Springs Cove and I couldn't be happier.

Our rounding of Point Estevan from Nootka Sound yesterday was long and difficult, as references all suggested it might be. The wind was from the southeast and the current seemed to set northerly, and you might think this would improve the sea state as they weren't in direct opposition, but it was still far rougher than it should have been considering the relatively moderate (20-25 knot) winds. Not to mention that the combination of current and wind direction served to either push us away from the easterly course needed to round the point, or directly back onto the rocky point itself, depending on our tack. Mandy got sick, the weather was slightly yucky, and it was basically just a very long and tiring day.

So we were happy to get here in the first place, but too exhausted to make the mile and a half hike to the springs... fortunately there is plenty of anchoring room fairly close to the public float at the park, and we had no trouble setting the hook close enough to row in, but far enough to avoid the noisy generators of other cruisers.

This morning I talked Mandy into making me pancakes and then we went ashore fairly early to go to the springs. We'd heard that the daily throngs of tourists who come in by plane or speedboat from Tofino and other points south abate and disappear in the evening hours; the corollary seemed to be that they might not yet have arrived earlier in the morning, and this proved to be correct. After a calm, quiet hike through the old-growth rainforest, we found that we had the pools pretty much to ourselves. A long soak ensued, with the grey skies turning blue overhead, and the ocean crashing into the lower terraces below. Mandy went down and took a dip in one of the tidal pools warmed by the springs, where the ocean crashes in to dilute the water, but I stuck with the higher and hotter pools. They are surprisingly small; as we hiked back out and passed the throngs of day-time visitors, we couldn't imagine that all of them would have an opportunity to soak, even taking turns. We're definitely glad we brought our accommodations along with us!

It's traditional for visiting boats to carve their names into the boards of the boardwalk leading from the public float to the Hot Springs (examples here... we had a chance to inspect first hand, and that's a fine job of free-handed carving Jason and Christy!), which we did not because someone (ahem!) didn't allow me to buy a new Dremel before we left (typical conversation: Me " Wow, this sure would be easier if we had a Dremel." Her "A Dremel is never the proper tool for any job!") but anyway, it causes the 2 klick hike to take a little longer than it normally might as one loiters to check out the boat names and handiwork. As a result of this, however, we found the boat that the Canadian Sunset crew was looking for back in Friendly Cove! We were a little bit late, though... the C'est Si Bon apparently was last here in '98, at least according to their plank. Ghost ship!

We're also just happy to be here. It's a well-protected anchorage, which gave us the opportunity to sort out some sail-related issues this morning (we had a fast mainsail drop yesterday in high winds, which makes for a mess; it needed to be hoisted and refolded; also, the furler ran out of line for the headsail, which meant it all had to be pulled back out and re-wound) and will hopefully allow us to make some other minor repairs tomorrow... the GPS antenna mount is loose, the bilge pump float switch is sticking, and the secondary stove fuel pump is stuck in the on mode.

With a series of lows marching eastward out of the Pacific right now like a conga line, we should have plenty of time to get to all those things, with the occasional break for a dip in the springs (because, who cares if it's raining if you are in a hot spring, anyway?) and it matters not a whit if we are pinned down for a few days. Lack of sunshine for batteries is likely to be the limiting factor; but by the time that becomes an issue, we can probably find enough of a lull to duck out of here and get around the corner into the rest of Clayoqout Sound, which we also plan to explore at our leisure.