Another day in Campbell River

It's a good thing we both like Campbell River, because just about every time we are here, we end up spending at least one more day than we had planned.

That is somewhat understandable due in part to the location of the city. Five miles south of Seymour Narrows, five miles north of Cape Mudge, with no protected anchorages in between in either direction, it's a place you don't want to leave if conditions aren't just right. A southeasterly at Cape Mudge or a stiff northwesterly through the Narrows can cause you to postpone your departure from here indefinitely until conditions clear up.

This time around, though, it's something a little more mundane: the power is out. Around three am, a transformer blew that supplies at least some of the docks with power. A BC Hydro crew is up working on it right now, but as of 11:30 this morning, they are saying it will probably take the rest of the day to fix.

The only reason we were staying for the day in the first place was to get some work done. Now, it's like we're anchored out again (although Internet service has not been affected): we're cooking on propane, washing up in cold water, and relying on our solar panel to keep our computers charged (which relegates me to my tiny Eee PC and only allows Mandy to work about a quarter of much as she normally could... solar charging is slow!). So, not much is going to get done today. We did laundry when we got in last night, went shopping, and were all set just to get online and get stuff done today. Now we don't know what to do with ourselves. I washed the boat, and Mandy plans to patch up our dinghy sometime today. Otherwise, it's possible I might be more bored here than out at anchor somewhere!

We got to Desolation Sound last week two days out from Pender Harbour, and took on some supplies and spent our first night in Refuge Cove. Then we moved to Prideaux Haven, in the Desolation Sound Marine park itself, for a couple of days... it was busy, but not crowded. We moved up to another small Marine Park north of there called Walsh Cove, and that was great. Warm water, sunshine, some small but interesting islands to explore, and some cliffs with Indian petroglyphs on them (or, possibly, doodles by some teenagers with spray paint. I'm undecided). We read in the sun and went swimming. Mandy jumped off a small cliff a number of times. I did, too, but the warm layer of water ends about four feet down, so jumping in gets really cold, at least until you resurface. But as long as you float about in that top four feet, it's very pleasant.

After Walsh Cove, we headed up through Yaculta and Dent Rapids. It's the first time we have taken that back route and weren't sure what to expect. It was a lot of current, but the guidebooks show good techniques for getting through, and we followed several other sailboats with the same general idea, so it was just a matter of connecting the dots. I have some ideas to make it easier and faster next time around; the guides are all written for people going further north, so they advise cutting some corners at the rapids, but I suspect we would have gone through quicker if we had done things differently.

Our swing up north of the rapids could best be characterized as: windy. Gale force winds have been blowing down through Johnstone Strait for almost a month now. There was a lot of chop in all the channels and a lot of wind in all the bays. We stopped at the resort at Blind Channel because Terry keeps telling us how great the bread there was. We missed the bread but got cinammon rolls, which were good; we also hiked up to see an 800 year old cedar tree (just like other cedar trees, only bigger), and I got Mandy roped into judging a dog show. I think she had fun, though. That will all probably get a post of its own, though. I got pictures... she had to wear a funny hat. Funnier than her normal hats, even.

It was a fun stop, but very expensive, as everything up north of the rapids tends to be. Even so, they were full up while we were there. We only stayed a night. Even that seemed like a mistake, since waves rolling in from the nearby rapids kept us rolling around all night even at the dock.

The next night we tucked into a little spot at Turn Bay just out of the main part of Johnstone Strait. That was a nice little nook, but the wind blew in fiercely. It was the same story at our next stop, Small Inlet in Kanish Bay. Small Inlet actually isn't that small, but we were the only boat in there. A couple of kayakers came through in the afternoon, but that was it. We rowed ashore and hiked up across a low saddle to Waiatt Bay (sp?) which was chock full of boats. It also happens to be, in a convoluted way, south of all the rapids, which explains the difference. It was a great little hike, but a very strenuous row back to the boat, since it was all upwind. Also, we blew a leak somewhere in the dinghy and it wasn't as rigid a platform for rowing on the way back.

That night the gusts came in and batted us around pretty good, keeping Mandy awake much of the evening, but our anchor held like a rock. Even though she was tired the next day, she took the helm through Seymour Narrows coming south... it was uneventful, though, as our timing was right on and the wind was with us.

So here we are in Campbell River for two nights plus an extra. After this, we'll poke around near Desolation a bit more, then head down to Vancouver for our various trips stateside in mid-August.