Kathy and I headed out for a two week trip to the Gulf Islands. I have not had a chance to write up anything, but I am including some photos.
Check em out at the link.
See ya,
andy
Showing posts with label Tracy. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Tracy. Show all posts
Sunday, August 17, 2008
Friday, August 08, 2003
Blind Channel
We didn't get much sailing today (or any day that we were in the Discovery Islands for that matter), but the scenery more than made up for the madding chug of the Diesel engine. We left Big Bay pretty early so that we could shoot Dent Rapids. We hit Dent just after slack and rode a gentle current North through the pass. As we are cruising along, who do we see but some sailing friends "Magic Dragon" making their way north. They are heading to Shoal Bay so we follow them for a much needed break and a nap (did I mention that we got up really early!)
Shoal Bay is a nice quiet little bay with a small public dock that was pretty much chock full of Bayliners (do you detect a them?) However, it has a nice little pub and looks like it would be a great place to spend a week or so. Our friends on Magic Draon stayed there for several weeks a couple of years ago and enjoyed the experience. We, however, where not able to linger, we had guests and deadlines (the dreaded D word) to attend to. So after a nice mellow nap while we waited for the Blind Channel current to slack off, we pulled up the anchor and headed West through Cordura channel.
The staff was super friendly. In the morning you could walk up to the store for fresh Cinnamon rolls. Later on the fresh bread would roll out, followed by cookies in the after noon. In the evening we enjoyed their find German restaurant. We liked it so much, we ended up eating there two nights.
(5/13/2004): I just read the Shoal Bay newsletter. Turns out that Shoal Bay is now a Nuke Free Zone. So I guess all of you nuclear powered Bayliners are just going to have to go elsewhere!
(5/13/2004): Annemarie Richter of Blind Channel passed away last November. She will surely be missed.
Shoal Bay is a nice quiet little bay with a small public dock that was pretty much chock full of Bayliners (do you detect a them?) However, it has a nice little pub and looks like it would be a great place to spend a week or so. Our friends on Magic Draon stayed there for several weeks a couple of years ago and enjoyed the experience. We, however, where not able to linger, we had guests and deadlines (the dreaded D word) to attend to. So after a nice mellow nap while we waited for the Blind Channel current to slack off, we pulled up the anchor and headed West through Cordura channel.
Sitting on the Shoal Bay Pub deck
As we came up to Blind Channel, I kept on thinking where the hell is it. Finally at the last minute we saw it (Hence the name). Now Blind Channel Resort is totally unlike Big Bayliner. It is just a fantastic place to spend a couple of days. The place was started and still run by the Richter family. Much of resort is decorated with Annemarie's art. Even the dock pilings are decorated. Dock Piling Cover and Detail
The staff was super friendly. In the morning you could walk up to the store for fresh Cinnamon rolls. Later on the fresh bread would roll out, followed by cookies in the after noon. In the evening we enjoyed their find German restaurant. We liked it so much, we ended up eating there two nights.
Our friends stayed for one more night and then took a water taxi back to Campbell River.
(5/13/2004): I just read the Shoal Bay newsletter. Turns out that Shoal Bay is now a Nuke Free Zone. So I guess all of you nuclear powered Bayliners are just going to have to go elsewhere!
(5/13/2004): Annemarie Richter of Blind Channel passed away last November. She will surely be missed.
Thursday, August 07, 2003
Big "Bayliner" Bay
I'm not sure why we decided to stay overnight at Big Bay Resort. Maybe it was because we didn't feel like busting through two sets of closely spaced rapids. Maybe because it was supposed to have a good restaurant. Well it sounded good in theory.
The day started innocently enough. We got up bright and early so that we could hit Yuculta rapids at slack. Yuculta rapid is one of the big ones, with currents that day running at 5.5 kts. The slack was at 2 PM so we got a nice early start so that we could stop by Teakerne arm and check out the waterfall. Not to much wind today, so we motored up to base of Cassell falls. Normally you would stern tie to anchor hear, but the weather was blowing into the Arm and I was feeling lazy. I dropped the hook in about 60 feet of water and let the stern drift towards the shore. Since I had hiked up to the lake last year, I let the girls go and check out the waterfall and the lake, while I watched the boat and snoozed a bit. An hours later, they came back and we pulled anchor and headed back north towards Big Bay.
The rest of the morning was pretty uneventful as we slowly motored north. The scenery up the channels is just incredible with bald eagles poking their heads above the pines everywhere. We arrived at Yuculta just before slack with a half a dozen or so other boars. Since everyone is waiting for the slack, it always seems like a mad rush to hit the rapids exactly at slack. On the north side of the rapids lies Big Bay. This resort is sandwiched on the north and south by two big set of rapids, so everyone tends to leave the marina at exactly the same time. That probably isn't that big of a deal, but the corollary is that everyone arrives at one time. Even though everyone has reservations, there are only a couple of dockhands dolling out the available dockspace. Two dockhands, 6 big ass boats, 10 minutes to dock a boat. You do the math. The problem was that many of the Big-Ass Bayliners couldn't do the math and they would push there way in front of the other boats (read that - me!) and generally yell at everyone on the radio. We finally did waved in for a spot. The dock space pretty much sucked though. They had us back into a little finger that was about 20' long. Our cockpit was face to face with a big cigarette smoking Bayliner. These resorts do not understand sailboats and inability to backup and move sideways (look ma, no thrusters!). Did I mention out of 40 boats, there was only 1 other sailboat. As an added bonus, they had run out of water the day before because tow Big-Ass Bayliners had sucked up 1000 gallons of water apiece. Friends of ours were begging for 25 gallons. They actually used the water to DRINK. Imagine that!?
Since we got there pretty early, we decided to go for a hike and check out the rapids. We hike towards the southern edge of Big Bay where someone is creating a planned development. Kind of strange considering that we were in the middle of nowhere. On the hike back, Tracy and I checked out the swimming hole, but decided to skip it since it looked to slimy. That night we decided to try out their restaurant (supposed to be good). Well it wasn't. The salmon was dry and overcooked, the steak was rough chewy and just plain gross. Highly expensive and highly gross. Skip it by all means.
The day started innocently enough. We got up bright and early so that we could hit Yuculta rapids at slack. Yuculta rapid is one of the big ones, with currents that day running at 5.5 kts. The slack was at 2 PM so we got a nice early start so that we could stop by Teakerne arm and check out the waterfall. Not to much wind today, so we motored up to base of Cassell falls. Normally you would stern tie to anchor hear, but the weather was blowing into the Arm and I was feeling lazy. I dropped the hook in about 60 feet of water and let the stern drift towards the shore. Since I had hiked up to the lake last year, I let the girls go and check out the waterfall and the lake, while I watched the boat and snoozed a bit. An hours later, they came back and we pulled anchor and headed back north towards Big Bay.
The rest of the morning was pretty uneventful as we slowly motored north. The scenery up the channels is just incredible with bald eagles poking their heads above the pines everywhere. We arrived at Yuculta just before slack with a half a dozen or so other boars. Since everyone is waiting for the slack, it always seems like a mad rush to hit the rapids exactly at slack. On the north side of the rapids lies Big Bay. This resort is sandwiched on the north and south by two big set of rapids, so everyone tends to leave the marina at exactly the same time. That probably isn't that big of a deal, but the corollary is that everyone arrives at one time. Even though everyone has reservations, there are only a couple of dockhands dolling out the available dockspace. Two dockhands, 6 big ass boats, 10 minutes to dock a boat. You do the math. The problem was that many of the Big-Ass Bayliners couldn't do the math and they would push there way in front of the other boats (read that - me!) and generally yell at everyone on the radio. We finally did waved in for a spot. The dock space pretty much sucked though. They had us back into a little finger that was about 20' long. Our cockpit was face to face with a big cigarette smoking Bayliner. These resorts do not understand sailboats and inability to backup and move sideways (look ma, no thrusters!). Did I mention out of 40 boats, there was only 1 other sailboat. As an added bonus, they had run out of water the day before because tow Big-Ass Bayliners had sucked up 1000 gallons of water apiece. Friends of ours were begging for 25 gallons. They actually used the water to DRINK. Imagine that!?
Since we got there pretty early, we decided to go for a hike and check out the rapids. We hike towards the southern edge of Big Bay where someone is creating a planned development. Kind of strange considering that we were in the middle of nowhere. On the hike back, Tracy and I checked out the swimming hole, but decided to skip it since it looked to slimy. That night we decided to try out their restaurant (supposed to be good). Well it wasn't. The salmon was dry and overcooked, the steak was rough chewy and just plain gross. Highly expensive and highly gross. Skip it by all means.
Wednesday, August 06, 2003
Tenados Bay
We got a pretty early start leaving Gorge Harbor. A low had moved in during the night and the wind was blowing right into the gorge from the south west. Luckily we were traveling mostly South and then East, so we were able to get some fine sailing in. It is always nice to have a mellow little wind when you have guests on board. We sailed west towards Desolation Sound marine park and into one of my favorite anchorage in the area: Tenadous Bay. Tenadous Bay have it all. Good shrimping, dramatic cliffs and a warm freshwater lake. The lake has a nice bonus in that there is a nice cliff to dive off (complete with a rope swing!).
I think I also mentioned that this bay had good shrimping. I'm not sure why I said that, because I didn't catch a single damn shrimp. Mostly I just hauled the shrimp pot up and down a couple of times. I think the problem was that I was in to deep of water. Never could find the bottom. Well, next summer I will figure it out!
I think I also mentioned that this bay had good shrimping. I'm not sure why I said that, because I didn't catch a single damn shrimp. Mostly I just hauled the shrimp pot up and down a couple of times. I think the problem was that I was in to deep of water. Never could find the bottom. Well, next summer I will figure it out!
The Girls Rowing in Tenadous
Tuesday, August 05, 2003
Gorge Harbor
The entrance to Gorge Harbor is pretty dramatic, cut into the southern side of Cortes is a narrow slot about 100 feet deep. On the western side of the slot, the cliffs are adorned with pictographs that are thousands of years old. After traveling through "The Gorge," the harbor opens up to a bay that is almost 2nm long. On the western arm, their are tons of places to drop you hook and watch the birds on the shore. Tonight, however, we decided to stay at the local resort since we were meeting our friends Tracy and Katie. They had braved multiple ferry trips from Vancouver Island to Quadra Island and then finally to Cortes Island. Being the ever frugal traveler, they managed to hitch hike across Quadra and almost accepted a lift from the local garbage truck. Ahh, the life of cruising. That evening Tracy had a little swim around the boat and we settled in for some fine munchies.
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